Darlene Quayle: European Schools Research and Explorations

Estonia is wired. Every park, café, restaurant, hotel has free wifi connections. The state government sees the value of technology in the schools and there are SmartBoards and document projectors connected to the teacher computers in many of the classrooms.

The school I visited is not a typical Estonian school, but the state determines the curriculum and all schools use the same textbooks. Students must apply and test for placement here—it really is a school for the gifted and for the parent-pressured student. These students are attentive, polite, consistent in completing assignments and homework, and their teachers give them grades for every subject at the end of every class—on-line so the parents can see right away. And this is in third grade.

While there, it snowed several centimeters of snow, and one fenced area of the playground was for students who wanted to throw snow. “You really can’t keep them from it,” explained the teacher. “This is why they come in a minute late from their break.”

In the “Small House,” or grade 1-4 building, students get five 45-minute lessons separated by 15-minute breaks and a 20-minute break for lunch, where student go to cafeteria in the other building—they carry their indoor shoes when they go there. A music specialist come in to teach during one of those class periods. Because there are so many students in the school, there are two shifts of classes. The 1st and 3rd grades meet in the morning from 8:00 until 12:45 and then the 2nd and 4th grades use the same classrooms beginning at 1:00. At the “Big House,” or the large, original school building, grade 5th-12th also shift out classes, with an overlap at midday.

My observations were limited to the 3rd grade classes, but I was fortunately also talk with the Project Leader, or Curriculum Director, about the older grades and the school as a whole. The music instruction at the younger grade levels involves units about different style of music. We observed students learning about marches. Their next unit will be on waltzes. The listened to three famous pieces and wrote notes about their observations. They practiced marching and shared their observations. They will be tested to make sure they can identify the pieces later and will be allowed to use their notes. The students also were able to sing a couple of favorite songs, both as a group and in pairs. The teacher had the students involved in the whole lesson, with movement, listening, writing, discussion and singing.

I watched two math lessons in 3rd grade as well. They were different in that one group was slightly ahead of the other. At third grade, they were finding the connections between symmetry in halves of geometric shapes, equivalent fractions and fractions as division problems. They had already been introduced to using variables in equations, and had an upcoming test on basic facts, including multiplication and division facts to 10s. One teacher says the state is very strict about curriculum, and they use the required texts, but for many of her students it is easy, so she supplements the text with her own items to provide more of a challenge for them. She often uses her computer and SmartBoard to create visual games for Friday review days. Both 3rd grade teachers felt that the SmartBoard was an especially valuable tool for teaching the younger grades. It certainly did move the class along quickly in their studies—a necessity in the compacted, shortened school day.

In grammar studies, students were working on subject-verb agreement. They practice printed writing during the first half of 1st grade, then move into cursive writing during the second half. All assignments, including math, are written in cursive and usually with pen.

Tallinna Reaalkool is very much like a publicly-funded private school. They have a new goal each year; this year the goal is for teachers in the upper grades to learn and use a particular piece of thermal imaging and weather-related equipment. They hired an Educational Technologist whole role it is to train teachers in the technology they are using in the classrooms and to be available for the teachers during lessons when they need help. The parents are supportive and insist on both quality education and their child’s successful performance at school. While they don’t volunteer in the classroom, they often help with field trips, which frequently have as a destination the place of work of one of the parents, and with making the business and political connections for making the wheels turn for school projects small and large: most recently beginning the effort to build a new school building on site.

The primary section of the school includes quiet corners for students to work or to meet before class. Classrooms seat 30 students and most include digital whiteboards.

The secondary school features a large meeting room, suitable for all sorts of events, including dances. In the hallways, there are display monitors that tell about the day’s events.