Pandemics, like other global challenges, are unquestionably curricular issues. They are curriculum issues not only because of the disrupting consequences of Covid-19 and the economic and social crisis alike but also because people have, through their own activities, contributed to global catastrophes and perpetuated injustices. This article attempts to answer the question: How does Finnish curricular thought, including the role of the teacher and the core curriculum for basic education, respond to the various global crises? While reviewing the current situation, the article also imagines a post–Covid-19 curriculum. Reactivating what is still powerful in Bildung/Didaktik and emphasizing the importance of education’s ethical dimension and the teacher’s role as a curriculum theorist offer the means for dealing with the theme. In addition, understanding the structure of the National Core Curriculum document, the political dimension of the Finnish curriculum’s design process, and the educative possibilities in subjects and multidisciplinary modules, the teacher is capable of creating opportunities for educational experiences that are (ethically) significant for students, proactively and in terms of crises.
Glossary termsBildung/Didaktik: Bildung is sometimes defined, very adequately, as a general theory of becoming human. In the Finnish context, Bildung, sivistys, stands for education emphasizing one's development to autonomy, and accordingly, one's ability to make ethical decisions when participating to the advancement of the culture and society. Didaktik stands for a curriculum tradition drawing on Bildung (=Bildung/Didaktik), and still having an impact on education in Finland. Didaktik has traditionally stressed the importance of classroom curriculum, and the autonomous role of the teacher. It is the task of the teacher to interpret, not just to implement curriculum.Curriculum: Curriculum is a widespread curriculum tradition having its roots in the nineteenth century America. Since then, it has had a bureaucratic-administrative character prioritizing functionality, efficiency, predictability, and accountability. Tyler's (1949) Basic principles of Curriculum and Instruction addressing rational curriculum planning is mentioned as the icon of the field. The concept is often used as an antithesis to the subjectbased approach of teaching when highlighting the child-centered curriculum and the comprehensive objectives of education. The instrumentalization of education, utility as a criteria for curriculum knowledge, is built in the Curriculum. It is the task of the teacher to implement the curriculum. The objectives of education according to Basic Education Act:1.The purpose of education referred to in this Act is to support pupils' growth into humanity and into ethically responsible membership of society and to provide them with knowledge and skills needed in life. Furthermore, the aim of pre-primary education, as part of early childhood education, is to improve children's capacity for learning. This is the accepted manuscript of the article, which has been published in Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies, 2020 (http://www.bloomsbury.com)
BackgroundBecause the working age population in Finland is decreasing, working careers must be extended at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of working life, unemployment must be reduced, and disabilities, absences and presenteeism due to illness and psychosocial strain must be curtailed. The overall aim defined in the Finnish strategy for social and health policy titled Socially Sustainable Finland 2020 is to lengthen working careers by an average of three years by 2020 when compared to the year 2010. The better people feel in the workplace and the more healthy they are, the longer their working careers will be and the more productive they will be. At the moment, the minimum cost of lost labour inputs, occupational accidents and diseases and health care costs are 25 billion euros a year according to calculations of Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.Description of the problemThe strategic importance of personnel well-being and work ability as human and intellectual capital of the organisation is a scarcely researched topic. In this presentation we will introduce the emerging concept of wellbeing at work capital.ResultsThe foundation of well-being at work capital lies in the so called extended view of intellectual capital, which includes the following: work-place social capital and leadership, structural i.e. organisational capital, knowledge capital, and psychological capital. Psychological capital refers to mental resources like self-confidence, resilience, optimism and hope.ConclusionsIn addition to traditional ideas of intellectual capital, there is an increasing need for attitudinal capacities like entrepreneurship, the capacity to lead oneself and the ability to use one’s own resources in a sustainable way. From the point of view of an individual, being an active participant in the modern working life requires, most of all, capacity for lifelong learning and renewal.
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