School Visits for Educators

School visits are for everyone interested in Finnish education and eager to see how schools work and how learning occurs inside a school. We host yearly hundreds of national and international visitors, and we are happy to host you in our schools. We have 90 public early childhood education units, 46 comprehensive schools, and 11 upper secondary schools.

During the visit, you will hear from the school staff about the daily practices of the school and their focus areas. You also can ask questions from the staff. You will see different learning spaces and some school visits include visits to classrooms to observe teaching. The group size is 15-25 participants, bigger groups can be accommodated.

School visits are usually 3 hours, and they end with a school lunch. School lunch is an essential part of the school day and part of learning in Finland. Shorter, 1-2 hours, visits are also possible. School visits are possible during the school year.

We can organize a visit to an individual school, or we can build an in-service training program around school visits and expert sessions. See more below. 

In-service Training Programs for Educators

Develop your professional competencies, pedagogical approaches, and school culture together with our experts and schools. Our in-service training programs are built of different contents and learning methods to maximize your experience inside the Finnish education system.

Whether it is STEAM and digitalization, sustainability, entrepreneurship, or online safety and social well-being, we are glad to help you broaden your capabilities. Our courses are a combination of expert sessions, hands-on activities, discussions and reflections, and school visits.

We have experience in hosting different groups and creating just the right type of training program for the visiting group. Our training programs are usually for 5-10 days, and the group size is 15-25 participants. Bigger groups can be accommodated.

We are happy to offer our in-service training programs onsite in Oulu, abroad, or online.

Job Shadowing for Educators

Understand and see the Finnish school life during a job shadowing experience. We offer a job shadowing program to groups of educators. The job shadowing program can be from one week to three months. The minimum number of participants for a job shadowing program is 6 educators.

During job shadowing, you will see, how Finnish teachers work inside the classroom with the students. You will also familiarize yourself with the operational culture of the school.

We can organize the job shadowing program in our early childhood education units, comprehensive schools, upper secondary schools, and in our development unit. Job shadowing is possible during the school year.

Courses and Job Shadowing for Erasmus+ KA1

We have extensive experience in working with the Erasmus+ -program, and welcome educators from different European countries to learn from us. Our services for Erasmus+ include professional development courses and job shadowing experiences for groups of educators.

We can design our professional development courses to match the Erasmus+ grant. Our job shadowing program is a combination of a professional development course and experiencing school life during a few days in the school.

Thematic programs, visits, and camps

We offer 1-10 days’ thematic programs for students and youth (e.g., camp school, summer school, and youth excursions), which are a way to experience Oulu, Finland, and develop skills and competencies and get inspiration to build their own future.

The visits can have a theme such as science, culture, art, sustainable development, entrepreneurship, and/or English. The pedagogical approach is based on learning by doing and experiential learning. The visit program can be complemented with visits to local companies, extended learning environments (e.g., Fab Lab), and cultural places. The suitable group size for these programs is 20-30 participants, aged 13-20.

Become a student and learn in a Finnish school

We also offer the student groups the experience of studying in an Oulu school for a fixed period (e.g., 1-2 weeks). During the program, the participants will become students at the school and experience learning at a Finnish school. Group size can be 4-14 students, aged 13-20.

International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme for Youth

Study the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme in Oulu. The Diploma Programme (DP) at Oulun Lyseon lukio (Upper Secondary School) meets the needs of highly motivated and ambitious students and is recognized and respected by the world’s leading universities. The IB staff members are experienced and highly educated individuals with an international mindset and driven by high professional standards. The learning environment is modern and well-equipped. The learning materials and methods are carefully developed to prepare students for further education and working life.

Programme length is 3 academic years: one year of pre-DP and 2 years of diploma studies. Programme is for students aged 16−19. Tuition includes education, accommodation, and lunch during school days. 

Consultation and Expert Services

Develop your education system, pedagogical approaches, or school culture together with the experts from the City of Oulu. City of Oulu’s Educational & Cultural Services employs more than 5000 professionals from different areas of education and learning.

We offer consultation and expert services on educational development in early childhood education, basic education, general upper secondary education, adult education, and basic education in arts. We have actively participated in different types of development projects from teacher training and curriculum development on the local, national, and international levels. Our experts work in the development unit, schools, and early childhood education. Our experts have extensive experience in the design, implementation, and reporting of different development work.

We are happy to offer our consultation and expert services onsite in Oulu, abroad, or online. This service is designed for education providers, municipalities, and other public and private organizations.

Below you can find links to useful materials about the Finnish education system.

• Read more about the Finnish education system (Finnish National Agency for Education)
• Download the Finnish education in a nutshell in various languages (Finnish National Agency for Education)
• Read more about early childhood education and care (Finnish National Agency for Education)
• Basic education (grades 1-9) (Finnish National Agency for Education)
• General upper secondary education (Finnish National Agency for Education)
• Vocational education and training (VET) (Finnish National Agency for Education)
• Higher education and research (Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture)

The Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture has published short videos about the education system. Have a look at them.

• Education in Finland in brief
• The Finnish Way: Comprehensive education
• The Finnish Way: Vocational education and training
• The Finnish Way: Higher education