The Telefonplan School in Stockholm
My first week here in Stockholm has been amazing on a variety of counts. First, Stockholm is a beautiful city in which to be living and becoming reacquainted with it has been a pleasure. While spring may be revving up in most other cities (maybe with the exception of New York from what I hear), Stockholm is still in (light) winter mode. But it’s still bearable and enjoyable. I started the week visiting a school in Stockholm, The Vittra Telefonplan School.
Sweden is an interesting country on many counts. While they have been perceived as having perhaps more liberal attitudes on a variety of social, political, and economic issues, I’m not sure this extends to their education system. But these attitudes are evident in the the Vittra Telefonplan School (named for the area in Stockholm in which it is located, Telefonplan) and their whole background and approach. This school is part of the growing worldwide trend of marrying for profit ventures with public education, something comparable to the American charter school movement and philosophy, the model to which this school comes closest to. Vittra Telefonplan is a progressive, forward-looking, non-traditional school which, although it is what is called a “free” public school (the concept of a paid private school is virtually unknown in Sweden), it is overseen by the for profit Vittra Company (if that’s the right word).
They really don’t profess to abide by any specific educational philosopher or philosophy (although I could see a little of Piaget's influence when he stated that sometimes the best type of learning takes place where the teacher 'isn't'.) . They’re just very much connected to the concepts advanced by 21st century learning ideas and proceed from there. For example, as far as I could tell, one contemporary approach that seemed to be in use was that of project-based learning. Technology, as you can imagine, is used with all its inherent possibilities and permutations. And also as you could well imagine, this school and its approach (there are a few others like it in and around Stockholm as well) has attracted international attention. They told me they receive a good number of requests by visitors to come to the school but they mostly decline. It interferes with their learning day too much. That made me feel even more privileged to be there with them for just about the entire day.
The first thing that tells you that this school will be a totally different experience is its architectural environment. The design firm Rosan Bosch has operationalized the “education disruption” model and designed a space unlike any school I’ve ever seen. The building, itself, has an industrial shell and this industrial look is retained throughout. (They are building a new school next door for the older students—the school spans approximately ages 6-13, and the achitects, characteristically, have shared the blueprints and model with students for their reactions—which the students eagerly told me).
There are few traditional classroom designs with things like desks, or anything else that would identify it as a conventional 'school' (check Gallery 4 for pictures) utilized. Light streams in from all directions. Bright colors overflow. Even the overhead lighting is creatively emitted through attractive cones. There are asymmetrical sofas (or 'sitting islands'), chalkboard houses, and learning tables, but there are also chairs (in all shapes and sizes) that students can sit on around a table in addition to some bookshelves interspersed throughout-- (they actually contain books by the way). There are also the usual lockers located in the school to which students have access throughout the day. Blue Mountain (and it really is designed with the idea of a mountain and lookout point) functions as the school’s gathering space for group social activities, and under the mountain is a cave where students can gather for a lesson or to watch a video presentation since it has a built-in screen. There is also a model of a tree under which students can sit and read, talk, or just think. The Chalk House (and it really is a house that is made up of chalkboard sides) has multi-media functionality inside.
Then there’s the teachers and their teaching.
One of the teachers met me at the metro and we walked together to the school. She gave me a brief overview of the school and its instructional approach, but nothing could have prepared me for what I eventually experienced. When I got to the school, I met the rest of the teaching team for the upper grade students—all were young, motivated, and committed to Vittra’s educationally progressive concepts. We had a brief discussion about the PISA test and how Sweden has continued to react to their (not very good) 2012 ranking. I think they were somewhat surprised when I told them that the average American teacher does not know (or probably care) about the performance of US students on the PISA (probably a good thing considering our ranking). But I probably shouldn’t have been that surprised about this. I received the same reaction in the Netherlands as well.
I had pretty much free reign in the school throughout the day, typical of the relaxed, informal, trusting, and innovative style the school exemplified. I was able to watch a social studies lesson, a math lesson, and a language lesson (students travel to teachers in their respective spaces but not in any self-contained sense). All lessons were first led by the teachers using an LCD projector and screen while students sat at Blue Mountain. Because every student has an iPad loaned to them by the school which they manage skillfully, they’re able to connect right into the lesson itself. The teacher’s media presentation was followed by a student media presentation which, on the day I was there, consisted of interactive online multiple-choice quizzes on specific content area topics in which the students enthusiastically engaged.
Some lessons I learned... The teachers and students were all candid about the school. They knew it was not for every student or teacher. Some students remain there for their entire primary school experience and others leave at some point. Some parents like it and some don’t. Just like any other school. You need to buy into its teaching and learning approach and trust the model. As a teacher, being called by your first name by twelve year olds shouldn’t bother you. You should also be able to bend and shape preconceived notions of how students learn and how teachers teach. These preconceptions are fairly robustly tested throughout the day. You may even have to learn to be comfortable with constantly being surprised. And as a student, you shouldn’t expect a teacher to advise you on your every move. You need to be in charge of your own learning and be OK with that for most of your time at Telefonplan—as one very articulate, insightful student told me about his experiences at the school.
After a brief spring break in late April, the students will be returning to begin a final unit on producing documentary films, tying these to various themes in content areas. I was sorry I wasn’t going to be around to see their final products. They will be amazing.
Also—a brief aside. The day after I visited the Telefonplan School, I travelled with the Fulbright group to an all-day conference at Uppsala University, just outside Stockholm. Uppsala was founded around 1477 and is one of the most highly regarded universities in Sweden, and, probably, the world. Some of the eminent scholars connected to its intellectual history include the Swedish astronomer and physicist Anders Celsius, and the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus. The Fulbright people here in Stockholm are an extremely welcoming and warm group of individuals. They planned a great conference which gave about 16 of us insiders' view to some of some well-known sites at Uppsala (the cathedral and its museum should not be missed!) led in an extremely informative tour by the former director of the Vasa Museum (the most visited museum in Scandinavia). If you do ever find yourself in Stockholm, a day-trip to Uppsala should be obligatory (see Gallery 4 for some photos)..
For the upcoming week, I will be visiting, perhaps, the most well-known music school in Sweden for talented musicians, the Adolf Fredriks Music School. I will also be visiting another for profit Vittra school in Sodermalm. It should be a very interesting time.
