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What is it that Finland is doing that's so different to

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everybody else's style of education? Sure

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enough, if we're really enjoying our learning process,

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we are going to be learning much more and

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we're going to remember it for a much longer time than

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if we're disinterested and we're disengaged, which

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unfortunately is a current pattern for many

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children in many schools, and I would say in most

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high schools throughout Australia. Welcome to Neuroeducation, where

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we're exploring the neuroscience of how to switch on the brain to

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supercharge learning. I'll be sharing with you innovative teaching techniques,

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effective parenting strategies, and educational advocacy. I'm

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your host, Angie Dee. Together, let's revolutionise children's

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learning. Hello and

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welcome back to Neuroeducation with Angie Dee.

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I'm so glad to have you here, thanks for tuning in. Today

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we're going to be looking at what is the global climate

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of education? We all know all the things that

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we don't like to see in current education and we know all

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of the things that We feel like are

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outdated in our factory style method of education over

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standardization of teaching and too much teaching to

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the test and worksheets. However, What

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other methods of education are out there that are

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doing fabulous work in education? What

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other countries are doing incredible things and what

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is possible? If we look on an international scale

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and some incredible studies done internationally to

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look at who is succeeding in education, not

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just in maths, in reading and in science, but

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also in life skills that prepare children to

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succeed in the real world, Finland, again

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and again, tops the scale. What is

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it that Finland is doing that's so different to everybody

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else's style of education? Well,

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I was interested, so I explored a little bit and watched

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some interesting documentaries on education in Finland. And

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one thing that I discovered was the importance they

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placed on something that just might surprise

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you. When teachers were asked, what is

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the most important thing for your students in Finland? The

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teachers responded by saying the student's happiness.

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I was taken back because I don't know of

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any school here in Australia where they would

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put that as the top priority. They might say

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they try to make learning fun and enjoyable, but

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as the top priority, I was quite taken aback. In

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Montessori, ironically, she has

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a quote where she says, the happiness is

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the best test of the method of education. So

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the happiness of the child is important. And now we know

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this with neuroscience, where we can see that

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serotonin and dopamine, two happy hormones,

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are literally the best hormones that are

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neurotransmitters that switch on our brain and make

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it work. So what is it that Finland is

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doing to make their children so happy and to make the

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educational experience enjoyable? Well,

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what they do is actually start school at

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the age of seven. And so those primal years

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of zero to seven, which we know in psychology is

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forming the subconscious brain of the child, they

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are allowed to be outdoors, to be

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in kindergarten, to be learning and to be so

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much more free than what you would see in

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our education methods around Australia, where children are

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even in prep. where they're four and a half to

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five and a half years of age, where they are already

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having to tick off so many boxes in the curriculum, having

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to sit down for test after test. And in Queensland, where

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we have the C2C curriculum called

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the Curriculum to Classroom, they have to sit down

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for test after test after test. Not

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in Finland. In Finland, The official schooling

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doesn't start until the age of seven. And when school

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does start, happiness is at the forefront of

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the mind of educators. I want you to think for

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a moment now, as a parent or as a teacher, your

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own educational journey, what are the things that you remember the

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most about your schooling? What were some of those educational

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experiences that stood out to you the most? Sure

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enough, if we're really enjoying our learning process,

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we are going to be learning much more and

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we're going to remember it for a much longer time than

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if we're disinterested and we're disengaged, which

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unfortunately is a current pattern for many

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children in many schools and I would say in most

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high schools throughout Australia. So, how do

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we put happiness at the forefront of the education? In

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Finland, children's interests and

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their choice is taken into account for almost every

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area of their learning. What are they interested in learning? How

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can you take an interest into a subject? And

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how can they expand on that? And how can they research that and

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find out what they're really interested in? Fortunately

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I have a exciting story of

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a school on the Gold Coast where I found out

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recently All Saints has a

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Wonder Room and in this Wonder Room they

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are allowed, the students are allowed to ask questions about

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anything they want and it's a room to explore their

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interests and explore their creativity. And

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I thought, how fantastic. That's one huge step

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in the right direction, because we know when they're interested and engaged, the

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learning is exponentially better. When we think about education,

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we also have to think about what is the end purpose? What are

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we preparing children for in the greater scheme of

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things? Really, if we think about education, we

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want to be preparing children for the real world.

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We want to be preparing children for what they're going to

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do when they leave school. What kind of person are they

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going to be? Are they going to be kind? Are they

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going to be compassionate? Are they going to be a social citizen

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or a global citizen that thinks about how can they make the world a

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better place? And what kind of

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parent are they going to be to bring up the next generation? Are

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they going to be able to follow their passions and their interests to

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succeed in their own endeavours, which takes

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resilience and grit and all of these things. These are

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the kind of skills that are fundamental in

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Finland and they see as crucial to help children succeed in

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the future. And it's great to see some schools in Australia starting

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to prioritise these and starting to bring them into

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the forefront of education. When we

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think about what kind of social citizens

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we would like that graduate from grade 12 and

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then walk into our world as adults and start shaping the

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future generation of our planet, we

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also have to think, are they going out there to make

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our world a better place? The Green School in Bali

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is an incredible school that is thinking about just

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that. The Green School is about how to help guide children

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to become social citizens of this planet, to take care

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of our environment and to take care of our planet. And

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every single subject at that school has purpose. about

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how they can impact their local and their

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global communities for the

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better. And what's incredible is when I got to go and visit

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the Green School in Bali, talking to the children about

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how they were excited for their learning journey

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and what they were learning was impactful in

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their practical world. So when they were doing art

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one of the young girls said to me we're creating these artworks for

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an art show that's raising money for a local charity and

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another student told me that they were creating dioramas to

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show how they felt they could filtrate the

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water systems better within their local school and

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another student was explaining that they actually

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take reused cooking oils they

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filter the vegetable cooking oils, and

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they use that as fuel in some of the buggies in

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school. So they're learning so many creative skills, they're

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learning innovative skills, and they're learning how to implement

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it in their daily world. So, I

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feel like if we can take something from these schools, it's

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A, the happiness of the child. If we put that at the forefront of

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our educational messaging as parents and

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as teachers to make sure that they're enjoying their learning, we're

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going to transform that learning process and we're going to

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transform the entire educational process for the child. And

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what does that do? If we do this again and again on

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a daily basis and a weekly basis, a monthly basis, the

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years of the children's learning that is enjoyable, where

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they're doing work that they enjoy, that leads to

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adults that do things in life that they also

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enjoy, which is incredibly important, which we know in psychology, if

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we're doing something we're passionate about and also has a greater impact, we

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are, as adults, are much happier. And in Finland,

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sure enough, they score right at the top of

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countries that are the happiest in the world. So it just shows what

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we do in education creates a greater impact for

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all of the adults that we're growing to the next generation. Thank

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you for listening to our podcast on neuroeducation

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and I hope that you can do us

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a big favour by subscribing on

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our YouTube channel and also giving us a review on

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Apple Podcasts and Spotify and have

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a look at all the links down below for any more information you'd