Cooperative Learning Abroad

2013

Schooling & Community
Chiba University
Seinäjoki University of Applied Scienceschooling & Communit

GlobalStudy
ProgramGlobalStudy
Program2013

Learning Environment: Schooling & Community

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Learning Environment:
Schooling & Community

ITn this course, stundents exploredimpacts of schooling and community onStepsPurpose

IntroGain basic understandingof each other and about
education in Finland and Japan

Conducted Schedule[Day 4] Introduction of both universities
3 Lectures on education in Finland[Day 5 (afternoon)] Lectures on education in JapanGroup work

his course was interdisciplinary in[Day 5 (morning)] Visit design project

scope and practical in focus. As such,[Day 6] Visit Finnish design in Teuva

studentsʼ learning experiences from critical,

the class first laid down the theoreticalreflexive and international perspectives. In

foundations for understanding normalized

particular, we focused on the construction

learning environment. Then Chiba

of a normalized educational system andand Seinäjoki University of Applied[Day 9] Visit city hallculture in a local community in Finland

Sciences students engaged in active,

by examining learning environments suchcollaborative and experiential learning[Day 10] Family Visitas schools, library, bookstores and family,through a group project on a specificas well as linguistic and spatial practices

topic related to educational equity andamong community members. The students

diversity. The students reflected on theirof Chiba University and Seinajoki University

assumptions, thoughts and actions, andof Applied Sciences considered how thosethen collaboratively created and presented

normalized learning environments impacted

practical approaches to the topical issues.

individuals who might find themselves
having an area of mismatch.

1[Day 7] Visit city centerField Research 1[Day 8] Visit design expo in Helsinki

Understand local conditions[Day 11 (morning)] visit daycare cneter
Review facts, findings andgenerate ideas[Day 11 (afternoon)] Lectures by high schoolteacers, adult education center
Group work

Field Research 2

Revisit local conditions[Day 12 (morning)] Visit Rytmikorjaamo project

Idea Generation 2

Prototype education programideas[Day 12 (afternoon)] Group work

Presentation

Present the idea[Day 13 (afternoon)] Presentations

Idea Generation 1[Day 13 (morning)] Group work2

BA

efore starting the main program withstudents from Seinäjoki University ofby Seinäjoki University of Applied

Applied Sciences, we spent some time toSciences for us to learn about the Finnish

understand daily life in Helsinki, the capital

education system, teaching environmentof Finland, and to experience the way local

and social media. We also had the chancepeople live in the countryside, through ato exchange with Finnish students our mostbrief stay at a summer cottage equipped

memorable learning experiences. And wewith sauna and located beside a lake. We

had the opportunity to visit a class of thethought that it was important for us who

Department of Design, in which students

had never been to Finland before, to bewere busy designing a picture book.

able to compare life in Helsinki, which has
been named one the easiest places to liveon earth, and life in Seinäjoki, a more rural
town where most of our program tookplace.

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variety of lectures were prepared4

T

he church and the city center included
community spaces to be used by theresidents. We visited the church which wasadorned with mural paintings made byTove Marika Jansson, the author of Moomin.
Seinäjoki has, indeed, developed an entire
tourism industry centered on the art ofTove Janson and Alvar Aalto. This regionis also famous for its wood-work industry
which has a long history. There is a modernTcomplex facility which offers lessons tohe center of Seinäjoki city was designed

young wood-work artists and functions also

by Alvar Aalto and gathered impressive

as a shopping center.

structures, including the church, city hall,library and theater. We had the chance totalk with the Mayor of the city, who guided
us through the city hall and taught us
about Seinäjokiʼs history and contemporaryconditions. Seinäjoki does not look as
vigorous as Helsinki, but it remains a highly
valued cultural center of this part of Finland.
56BU

esides the field research trips, thestudents from Chiba University andduring the lectures and field research,

Seinäjoki University of Applied Scienceseach student group engaged in discussions

worked in small mixed groups in theto point out some of the concerns theuniversityʼs classroom. They engaged in a

Seinäjoki community and/or schools

few brainstorming tasks to rethink about

might have. By negotiating each other's

their normalized views, especially regarding

differences in perspectives, every groupthe community culture, school system, andselected its own focal issue and came up

spatial organizations. For example, thewith a possible suggestion to improve thestudents drew images of their calendar insituation.

their minds and shared them with others
in class. By so doing, the students got an
opportunity to see how each individual saw
a “reality” differently, which helped themunderstand multiple perspectives.

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sing the information and facts collected8

AParticipantss a final product of the program, each
student group presented their ideas

to improve the possible situation in theChiba University

local community and schools. Within thelimited amount of time, the students tried

Naoya Hashimoto (3)their best to complete the collaborativetask. For example, one group introduced
how individual space in a lounge room at
the university could be secured without
breaking a sense of community by altering
the normalized use of furniture andspace. Other groups also attempted tointegrate their findings from the lectures,
discussions and field research into their finalpresentations. The process of collaborative
work to come up with one comprehensive
presentation by negotiating each otherʼs differences became a precious learning(Team) Caﬀeine Addicts

Asahi Hiramatsu (2)Asahi

Yuki Kinoshita (3)Elegant Elephants

Toshiyuki Nakagawa (3)./. com

Hitomi Nakamura (2)B-dashMakoto Nishida (4)AsahiHaruka Satomi (2)Caﬀeine Addicts

Joka Syu (2)Caﬀeine Addicts

Ohra Takahashi (2)./. com

Aoi Tsumura (1)./. com

Atsushi Uehara (1)Elegant Elephants

Yuka Yanagisawa (2)Elegant Elephants

Tomohiro Yasui (4)B-dashexperience for the students.

Applied Sciences had the opportunity

Seinäjoki Universityof Applied Sciences

to know about him-/herself and others,

Toni Jämsä

Asahi

Katri Järvinen./. com

Anna Lassila

B-dashEero Mäntyharju

Elegant Elephants

Giau Nguyen./. com

Hannu-Pekka Piiparinen

B-dashToni Valtee

Caﬀeine Addicts

Iina Öörni-SorvariCaﬀeine Addicts

In GSP Finland, the students of Chiba
University and Seinäjoki University ofand experience a way of interculturalcommunication through the collaborativework. This program helped students realize
how communication was more than justlanguage, and how diverse we were beyond
nationalities.

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