The author of "The Cloakroom Area of Finnish Primary Schools" introduces: Qian Wen Dan, a master student in the School of Education of the University of Veskla, Finland, and a special researcher at the Sino-Finnish Education Research Center of Tampere University, Finland. This article was originally published in Shanghai Education-Global Education News, 20 17, 12. Since 2 1 century, all countries in the world have been thinking about what kind of education can adapt to the development of society in 2 1 century. China's discussion on this issue has never slackened. On September 3, 20 16, the Ministry of Education of China issued the Core Literacy of Chinese Students, pointing out that the core literacy of 2 1 century should focus on cultivating "all-round people" and be divided into three aspects: cultural foundation, independent development and social participation. This is similar to the Global Education Monitoring Report released by the United Nations in 2005: "The quality of education should not only pay attention to the progress of students' academic performance, but also promote their social and emotional development and cultivate their life skills, values and creativity. "As a physical place for students' activities, what kind of space design can meet this demand? How to ensure that students can exercise the core skills needed in 2 1 century in this space? It has become an urgent problem for educational reformers in various countries. In 2006, the Finnish State Board of Education held a seminar with the theme of "Future School-Learning Environment, Teaching Methods and Architecture", and shared their experiences with more than 65,438+000 educators from 265,438+0 countries. Therefore, based on my experience of visiting and studying in Finnish primary and secondary schools, classroom observation and interviewing local teachers, I analyze how Finnish classrooms are designed and arranged to meet the needs of core literacy in the 2 1 century. Finnish classrooms-Let the learning place become a "home in the daytime" Finnish educators believe that the classroom is not only a place for students to learn knowledge and develop their abilities, but also a "home in the daytime" for teachers and students to gather and live together. Therefore, the design and layout of classrooms in Finland reflect the humanistic care for teachers and students everywhere, which is embodied in the following aspects: First, every classroom in every school in Finland has a cloakroom or a cloakroom. No matter children aged 2 or 3 in kindergarten, primary and middle school students or even college students, the first thing to do when they arrive at school every day is to take off their clothes and shoes, put on thin clothes and socks, and easily enter the classroom for a day's study activities. Aren't they afraid of cold? This is because: First, every classroom in Finland is equipped with a good ventilation system and temperature control system, which keeps a constant temperature of more than 20 degrees all the year round. Once children enter the classroom, the ventilation system will automatically exhaust and replace it with fresh air. Secondly, there is a soft carpet in the classroom, so it won't be cold to walk around in socks. Students can also sit or discuss on the floor and relax. Susane, a Finnish primary school teacher, told me that they think that "when people feel comfortable, relaxed and free to stretch, they are more likely to concentrate and think freely." Putting your coat, shoes and schoolbag in the cloakroom can also make the classroom cleaner and have more activity space and interactive space. "Secondly, Finnish primary and secondary school classrooms pay special attention to the careful selection and use of furniture, colors and daily necessities. The interior of the classroom is dominated by warm colors, which makes people feel comfortable, convenient and lively when they walk in. Classrooms in primary and secondary schools are generally big windows, which basically occupy a wall. At the same time, it is also equipped with curtains, so that teachers and students can freely adjust the required luminosity according to the weather and seasonal changes, or the required atmosphere, and create the taste of home. Each classroom is equipped with a pool, hand sanitizer, toilet paper, mirrors and even a sofa for children to use. If students are thirsty in class, they can go directly to the pool behind the classroom to get water to drink without saying hello to the teacher. Such a free, comfortable and lively learning environment is to make students fall in love with school time and regard school as their "daytime home". Finally, Finnish teachers decorate the classroom with students' works to create a sense of belonging between teachers and students. A major feature of Finland's basic education is the implementation of the general teacher system in primary school, that is, a teacher has to teach almost all courses (including Finnish, English, mathematics, religion, environment, music, handicrafts, etc. ) and carry it from grade one to grade six, so that teachers can enjoy a high degree of autonomy to dress up their classes. Their layout of the classroom mainly presents two characteristics: first, they dress up the classroom according to their personal style and educational concept, such as how to put the tables and chairs, whether to study in groups of three or five or the traditional rows of seats; What color to choose for carpets and curtains; How to dress up at the door of the classroom and where to post the class family photo. When the teacher designs these, the classroom is not only the place where he works, but also the "home" where he dresses up. In addition, in order to strengthen teachers' sense of belonging to the class, a primary school teacher's office has been set up in the class. It is a compartment where teachers can observe students' every move through the glass. Second, the teacher decorated the classroom with students' works. Unlike China, Finnish teachers don't screen students' works. Even immature works will be generously placed in the classroom, which is an recognition for students and makes them feel that they are part of it when they walk into the classroom. Practice is greater than words. In this invisibility, teachers and students establish a sense of belonging to the class. Finnish classrooms-let the learning environment support teaching ideas and methods. Ilkka Salminen, a famous Finnish campus designer, said: "The design of the classroom should first serve and support the teaching philosophy of the school. Many students don't like traditional classrooms, but in some schools in Finland, there are potential learning spaces inside and outside the classroom. All classroom designs are designed to stimulate students' intrinsic interest in learning. An educational creative designer should be able to make the classroom bring learning motivation to children and make every moment of their learning activities here an interesting life experience. "In the article" Finnish national curriculum and characteristics of primary and secondary schools ",the author points out that the concept of Finnish basic education is to develop students' personality to the maximum extent and enhance their cooperation and interaction ability; Students should not only learn scientific and cultural knowledge, but also cultivate social skills and life skills. This coincides with China's "2 1 Century Core Literacy". So, how do Finnish classrooms use space to support the school's teaching philosophy? First, create free space and support students' individualized development. Take Norssi, a primary school affiliated to Westley University, as an example. Every inch of school space is a place for individuals to study. There is a sofa in the corner of the classroom, a round table activity area outside the classroom, comfortable benches in the aisle and a quiet personal space in the library. Students in the lower grades of primary school have two free reading classes every week. Students can read anywhere they want, regardless of occasion and posture. This kind of free space not only meets the needs of personalized learning, but also provides students with the possibility to share their peers anytime and anywhere, because it can also be a place where groups of three or five can gather freely. The second is to use the flexibility of desks and chairs to build a cooperative learning space in Finnish primary school classrooms. In the classrooms of Finnish primary and secondary schools, the traditional arrangement of tables and chairs is still used in the lower grades. In the third grade, more people sit in a circle with desks and chairs, or put three or five desks and chairs together, which is convenient for students to carry out cooperative learning and for teachers to give group guidance. Some desks and chairs also have wheels, which is convenient for teachers and students to move and combine flexibly according to their needs. In some classrooms, traditional chairs are replaced by fitness balls. Because students are allowed to do more sports activities, they can take part in group discussions at any time. The connectivity of desks and chairs in Finnish schools also provides an important guarantee for the development of students' interaction and social skills. The third is to combine the fixed classroom with the "theme classroom" to promote the synchronous learning of students' cultural knowledge and life skills. Cultivating life skills is a major feature of basic education in Finland. The school not only offers life education courses such as handicrafts, carpentry, home economics and sewing, but also has "theme classrooms" such as handicraft room, woodworking room, home economics class, sewing room and sewing machine room, so that students can truly "learn by doing". For example, the woodworking classroom is a workshop with all kinds of machinery and materials, in which children make all kinds of creative works. In the family economics classroom, there are all kinds of kitchen utensils for making food, such as refrigerators, microwave ovens, panels, knives and so on. And the chess pieces are not bad. Children pick up pots and pans and learn the necessary life skills in practice. There are cloth rooms, looms and sewing machines in the sewing classroom, which are all finished products designed and processed by children themselves, and some simply put them on themselves. Finnish Classroom-Nature and community are the best classrooms "Nature is the best classroom" has become a common sense in Finland, which makes Finnish classrooms open. Children as young as kindergarten go to the forest for activities every week. Even in the distinctive Finnish forest kindergarten, they teach in the forest every day. Even if it rains, kindergarten teachers still take their children to play in the drizzle, infiltrating life education. In a kindergarten in Huxley, I asked Anna, the director, "What is the most important ability that children learn when they are active in the forest?" Anna told me, "This is teamwork. Climbing up and down in the forest makes it easier for children to learn to support and cooperate with each other. You give me a hand, I give you a hand, you manage the east, I manage the west, and solve problems together to make them good team members. "Junior high school and senior high school students conduct field surveys in the forest. I personally experienced many classes with nature as the classroom in Finland. For example, in the seventh grade geography and biology class, the teacher moved the class to the forest near the school. The students' task was to collect different types of leaves in the forest and record what soil each leaf grew in. The teacher divided the students into different groups, and each group acted separately. Finally, students report the survey results in their own groups. If this group receives two kinds less than other groups, it is necessary to analyze the reasons. It also allows students to freely express the gains and feelings of this trip. The understanding of plant species and growth environment obtained from this must be more effective than oral teaching by teachers. At the same time, another manifestation of the openness of Finnish classrooms is the connection with local communities, parks, stadiums, museums and other social resources. When I was in Norsey Primary School, I followed the teacher and took the pupils to the handicraft museum. The teacher will design the theme of this handicraft class, the museum will provide children with manual materials and places, as well as a platform for display, and the librarian will assist the teacher to guide the children to operate. In such a big environment, the development of students has received the greatest support from all walks of life. In short, the classroom is not only a place for students to learn knowledge and develop their abilities, but also a place for students to share knowledge, establish good interpersonal relationships and develop sociality and emotion-here, children gradually become a complete and independent "person". The design of Finnish classroom is arranged from three dimensions: students' living place, learning environment, life skills and social ability, so as to provide students with more humanistic care, more personalized development support and more effective cooperative learning space, better stimulate students' inner interest in learning and meet the needs of core literacy in 2 1 century.