In Finland, we have this thing called Sisu. It’s a little difficult to translate, but basically, it means grit, perseverance or unwillingness to yield. In practice, it means that a stereotypical Finn does not give up, no matter what. Sisu-driven behaviour can emerge in sports, competition or with anything related to everyday determination in life.
Finnish PhD researcher Elisabet Lahti has studied Finnish people’s perceptions of Sisu and notes how passionate we are about the concept. Finnish people describe Sisu as something that “enables extraordinary action to overcome mentally or physically challenging situations” or as a “fire that burns through anything”. Yes, us Finns can be overly dramatic sometimes.
Singapore Math
Have you heard of Singapore Math? The basic concept of Singapore Math is that fewer topics are taught, but the topics that are covered are taught at a more detailed level.
The learning process consists of three steps:
- Concrete level, where items such as blocks or dice are utilized
- Pictorial level, where the same concepts and problems are represented with pictures
- Abstract level, where the problems are solved in the “traditional” way by utilizing mathematical symbols and digits.
Since Singapore dominates both PISA rankings and TIMMS scores, it’s no wonder everybody is interested in their approach to mathematics.
Finland Math
Traditionally, Finland has also done very well in reading, mathematics and science in the worldwide PISA rankings. Similar to Singapore Math, Finland Math is based strongly around problem-solving.
Although the three steps are not emphasized as formally in the Finnish version, we do use tangibles quite a lot to make the connection between concrete objects and abstract concepts. Even though there are some minor semantic differences between the two, Singapore Math is very close to the methodology used frequently in elementary schools throughout Finland.
How Does Sisu Supercharge Finland Math?
But how about the Sisu thing? The connection between Sisu and learning is having the opportunity to make mistakes, keep learning from them and bouncing back to take on the next challenge.
Eduten’s gamified learning platform is a perfect example of math learning where mistakes are easy to bounce back from and are indeed welcome. The spirit needed to push your limits for one last time to solve the final, most demanding calculation and to collect the missing points is what Sisu is all about: not giving up.
In a digital world, students can try again after failing. Automatic assessment accompanied with immediate and meaningful feedback enables a unique learning process. Failure is not something to be ashamed of, but instead something to learn from immediately and then keep going!
Therefore, it’s possible to combine the best approaches of Singaporean and Finnish pedagogy in digital learning environments: even without concrete objects. It’s possible to utilize the three steps and base the pedagogical approach on problem-solving. But to aim for the best results, we need add something very Finnish. We need Sisu.
