When we talk about young people’s wellbeing, the discussion often turns to mental health services. A few years ago, a different question was posed within the City of Helsinki’s general upper secondary education network: could everyday school life in itself better support students’ wellbeing and trust in the future?
“The City’s mental health services for children and young people were under strain. The situation required us to review our practices: how could we organise everyday life in a way that would improve the wellbeing of children and young people, as well as staff?” explains Head of Student Welfare Riina Ståhlberg.
Hope belongs in everyday school life
These reflections gave rise to the ‘pedagogy of hope’, developed jointly by the City of Helsinki’s general upper secondary education and student welfare services. It is based on the idea that schools do not merely teach academic subjects, but also help to build students’ wellbeing, their ability to deal with adversity, and their belief that they can shape their own future.
Head of General Upper Secondary Education Tarja Aro-Kuuskoski points out that the aim is not to invent an entirely new pedagogy:
“The pedagogy of hope is not just a project, but a shared umbrella that helps us focus our attention on the most impactful everyday practices.”
Another area of focus is what is already working at schools.
“I have seen how both teachers and students feel inadequate. That is why it has been important to focus on the strengths that we already have,” says Aro-Kuuskoski.
The pedagogy of hope can also be seen in very concrete solutions. For example, students are encouraged to consider in their personal study plans how they will take care of their own ability to study. Research has shown that physical activity, recovery and the rhythm of everyday life are absolutely essential to the conditions for learning. In student welfare services, this same approach is reflected in the fact that school social workers and psychologists also ask students what they themselves are doing to strengthen their ability to study.
When hope is integrated into the school’s operating culture
The pedagogy of hope does not arise from individual lessons. It is gradually built in everyday school life: in how students are interacted with, what kinds of discussions teachers have amongst themselves and with students, and how principals manage joint development efforts. That is why management is also part of building the wellbeing of students.
It was precisely for this reason that the ‘Managing the Pedagogy of Hope’ development project, supported by the Finnish Work Environment Fund, was launched. The development work was carried out in collaboration with principals, student welfare services and teachers. Milestone Coaching & Consulting served as a specialist partner.
One of the most high-profile stages of the project involved ‘Roadmap to Hope’ work processes, which were carried out at all Finnish-speaking general upper secondary schools in Helsinki. In these processes, representatives of the management and staff at each general upper secondary school took time to think about, from their own perspectives, where the pedagogy of hope is already visible and what aspects should be strengthened next. Many strengths of the pedagogy of hope were already identified: at many general upper secondary schools, a strong sense of community and cooperation between the students and staff were seen as strengths. Students are treated with respect, caringly and as individuals.
At the same time, the project participants noticed something important. General upper secondary schools are not required to do things the same way, but it is good for them to be moving in the same direction. Shared objectives bring clarity and equality, whilst the general upper secondary schools’ own approaches enable the pedagogy of hope to be genuinely integrated into the everyday life of each school.
Practical tools to support management were also developed during the project. For example, the ‘pedagogy of hope management toolkit’ brings together methods that enable work communities to assess their own practices, engage in pedagogical discussion and plan development efforts together. The methods are published for all schools to utilise.
The development work was meaningful for the specialists of the project as well.
“Schools form Finland’s greatest infrastructure of hope. Our heartfelt thanks go out to all education professionals who interact with children and young people every day through the eyes of hope,” comment Elina Aaltolainen and Anna Savonen, the project’s lead specialists from Milestone.