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"In the teaching profession, you come into daily contact with students and create a relationship that in many cases is characterized by trust and respect."
President of the Finnish Association
of Swedish Teachers, FSL
Teachers ensure the future
Being a teacher is a great profession. You have the privilege of working daily with growing children and young people, following them a little along the way and seeing them grow on many levels. As a teacher, you make the difference. Chances are, most of us have a teacher who has played a role in one way or another in our lives. In the teaching profession, you come into daily contact with students and create a relationship that in many cases is characterized by trust and respect. A relationship that supports each learning path and each individual's opportunity to grow.
Teachers have mainly chosen their profession for the same reason that their work should matter for the future. Students' learning and learning path are absolutely central to the teacher's task. The core of the profession is getting to know students, guiding them on the learning path and participating in the learning process. In today's school, the mission has changed. Increasingly, teachers have become more than just teachers. Nausea in children and young people is visible at school. Support services, such as counselors and psychologists, are in short supply, which in turn means that teachers end up in the spotlight. Teachers are professionals at teaching, but the lack of support services means that the teaching burden is increasing.
The coronavirus pandemic reshaped schools and education on many levels. Overnight, school went digital, evening teaching was done remotely. I would say that not all teachers had the best conditions for the transition, but despite that, all teachers were successful in this transformation. The extensive research-based education that underpins teacher education in the country proved worth its weight in gold in a crisis situation. At the same time, there is a strong teaching staff in our teaching staff. The student and students are focused at all times.
Fortunately, the teaching staff was recognized in many ways for their efforts during the pandemic. The teaching staff were the heroes that matter in vulnerable situations. The resilience, flexibility and adaptability shown by teachers demonstrate how important it is that the backbone of society is maintained.
During the pandemic, society also saw that school is more than just teaching, the importance of school in the welfare society is central on many levels. Parents who, in parallel with their own work, ended up somehow supervising or supervising homework were very overwhelmed. Growing children and young people who thrive on routines, security and continuity were put in an uncomfortable position. The consequences of the pandemic will be visible for a long time in schools, education and society. Student health staff shortages during the pandemic and post-pandemic years further exacerbate the situation.
The post-pandemic period in our schools has been characterized by widespread nausea among students and students combined with great frustration at the lack of support functions. Teachers' coping has been undermined when, in addition to their own task, they have been forced to act as some kind of caregiver. It is not fair to students that teachers are not allowed to be teachers, and it is certainly not fair to teachers not to be teachers. Studies show that teachers in this situation have supported each other. Collegial support has played an important role in teachers' coping. The sense of community at the university, supporting and helping each other in everyday life can be seen as a protective factor in difficult situations, but not as a factor that would offset all the burden that is actually placed on teachers.
From the transition that the school experienced in spring 2020, there are of course elements worth taking into account in everyday life and of course also in school development in the future. Very quickly, teachers realized that part of learning takes place in the human learning relationship, where the importance of supervision is central. We need to have a high proportion of teachers to be able to support each student's learning path where support is truly needed. Interaction is essential. The digitalization of teaching has definitely received a big push forward, and parts of it are here to stay. Lower grades are less affected, while teachers