A “Jinanese” in Finland

s. Eira Kasper is principal of Vaskivuori Upper Secondary School in the Finnish city of Vantaa （sister school of Jinan No. 2 Middle School） and president of the Vantaa Association of Secondary School Principals. As an educator with 20 years of experience， she has been an enthusiastic promoter of cultural exchanges between Jinan and Vantaa and China and Finland， as well as builder of a friendship bridge between the students and teachers of the two cities and two countries.

Giving Is More Pleasurable

than Receiving

In October 2003， Vaskivuori Upper Secondary School and the Jinan No. 2 Middle School signed an agreement on forming friendship school ties. Since then， Eira has led delegations to visit Jinan eight times， conducting exchanges in art education， the teaching of the Chinese and English languages， physical training and research-based learning projects. To promote friendly exchanges and cooperation， she gave a detailed presentation of the new curriculum reform in Finland， and， in contacts with Jinan school principals， she shared what she thought were the qualities they all should have. She has also encouraged educational resource sharing between the two countries.

As a world-famous principal of an upper secondary school and an advisor to the new curriculum reform carried out by China’s Ministry of Education， she has given many lectures on education to Jinan educators and offered suggestions concerning the city’s development of education.

She was invited to give a lecture entitled “Finland’s New Curriculum Reform” respectively to the faculty and staff of the Jinan No. 2 Middle School and to the principals of all schools in Jinan. In the lecture she elaborated on credit management， modular teaching， elective courses， general technology courses， integrated curriculum of practical activity， and the overall quality evaluation and management model involving such aspects as guidance to students’ course selection， classroom teaching management and evaluation of students’ progress.

She gave a detailed account of Finland’s curriculum reform， involving system and teaching mode reforms， the curriculum system and teaching materials， evaluation of students and the upper secondary school examination system， providing valuable experience for Jinan’s curriculum reform.

In lectures entitled “How to Be a Good Principal” to over 200 principals in Jinan respectively in 2006 and 2008， she said “The work of a principal is to serve the school”. “Learning knows no limits so all teachers should be actively involved.” “The principal should delegate responsibilities”. “Staff are entitled to have a good principal； moreover， they have the obligation to help the principal achieve success.” Her explanation of Finland’s educational system， teacher evaluation mode and student evaluation methods were most enlightening.

For the smooth implementation of Jinan’s curriculum reform， Eira has invited several education delegations to visit Vantaa City， where they inspected the education and teaching management in Finland’s schools， participated in academic discussions and learned the experience and practices of Finland in curriculum reform. She has put in a great deal of energy and financial resources into training teachers for Jinan. She not only provided them with board and lodging at her home， but also travel expenses in Finland.

With her careful arrangement， the teachers from Jinan sat in on classes and participated in academic seminars many times. These practical and effective academic exchanges have played an important role in advancing educational reform and development and raising the school management level in Jinan.

Dialogue between Chinese Dragon Dance and Finnish Folk Songs

Eira loves traditional Chinese culture. In Finland， she has become an energetic promoter of Chinese culture and all kinds of cultural exchange activities. From 2003 onward， she has organized an annual China Week in her school during which activities such as cooking， painting and calligraphy are held. She also invites teachers from Jinan on exchange visits to participate in the China Week where they teach Finnish teachers and students how to make Chinese knots， paper-cuts and Chinese paintings， to speak some Chinese and write Chinese characters.

This has further expanded the influence of the China Week in Finland. Now schools that hold China Week activities have increased to four from only one at the beginning. She is the first to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with her students in Finland. She has set up a “Chinese language” course in her school. Now， several Finnish students communicate with students of the Jinan No. 2 Middle School through e-mails.

She even managed to help the Finnish students to learn the dragon dance. The seven-member dragon dance became an important item of the China Week last April.

She has also actively propagated Finish culture in China. In 2003 she and the director-general of the Education Bureau of Vantaa City led a 21-students chorus of her school to visit Jinan. Their a cappella performance with a purely natural and Finnish flavor caused a great sensation in Jinan.

In 2004， recommended by Eira， Finnish music teacher Jukka Lehtinen came to Jinan on a month-long teaching mission. He gave musical training to the chorus of the Jinan No. 2 Middle School， taught spoken English on Finnish topics and Finnish language to English teachers. In the report-back performance at the end of the mission， his excellent conducting and the Jinan No. 2 Middle School Chorus’ euphonic singing won warm applause from the audience composed of the city’s music teachers and principals. Music has helped further enhance mutual understanding between the people of the two countries.

Since then， the Finnish songs sung by the Jinan No. 2 Middle School Chorus have become part of the repertoire in various concerts and the school’s cultural festival. The chorus has won the first prize many times in the Jinan Senior High School Choral Festival. In 2007， Eira， on behalf of Vaskivuori Upper Secondary School， gave a full set of floor ball equipment as a gift to the Jinan No. 2 Middle School， hoping that Chinese students would learn this unique Finnish sport. This resulted in a friendly match between the Finnish delegation she led and Jinan No. 2 Middle School in April 2008

Friendly Youth Begets

Friendly Future

Eira has made great efforts to expand the scale of exchanges between schools of the two cities. In 2007， with her zealous promotion， the “Vantaa-Jinan Bridge”， a working network between friendship schools， was built in Vantaa. This has led to sister school ties being established between Vantaa Sotunki Upper Secondary School and Shandong Jigang Senior High School， Vantaa Varia Vocational College and Jinan School of Business and Trade， Jokivarsi Elementary School and the Hongjialou Primary School， and Helsinge Upper Secondary School and the Jinan Foreign Languages School. The Jinan No.7 Middle School and Lumon Upper Secondary School， and the Jinan Jinwulu Kindergarten and a relevant pre-school education unit will soon follow suit. The scope has been expanded to cover vocational schools， junior middle schools， primary schools and kindergartens from being originally only between upper secondary schools.

In the past eight years， exchanges of visits have provided an important platform for administrators， teachers and students in Jinan to learn the advanced experience in school management， education and teaching， to observe Western civilization at close quarters， and to broaden their international perspective.

The head of the basic education bureau in Vantaa has described Eira Kasper as an outstanding school administrator and expert on education； moreover， she is an outstanding international activist who has witnessed and promoted vigorous development of educational exchanges between Vintaa and Jinan.

Eira cherishes deep affection for Jinan. Many times she said with emotion that Jinan is her second home and every visit has left a deep impression. For years she has worked hard and made indelible contribution to improving administration level of schools and promoting the reform and development of education in Jinan. The Jinan Municipal Government conferred on her the honorary title of Spring City Friendship Award in 2009 and the title of Honorary Citizen of Jinan in 2011.