Tell us a little about yourself
I would describe myself as an intercultural urban citizen born with a Finnish heart and a South-European soul. I was raised in a family of two national backgrounds and have lived in Finland, Tanzania, Spain, and Australia. As my parents came from two different cultures and represented two distinct ways of seeing the world around them, I grew up wondering, and witnessing, how crucial communication is in human interaction and how it shapes us and our surroundings. I ended up studying communication at the University of Jyväskylä and after graduating have worked with communications and marketing in different organizations both in the public and private sectors.
My friends and colleagues would describe me as a highly organized and goal-driven person, who rarely sits still. I’ve also been portrayed as “a technology enthusiast in artist’s clothes”, and “a business hippie”, which probably depict my tendency to be super practical and driven but at the same time inherently creative and free-spirited. I would say that the biggest denominator of my identity is my passion for dancing and my love for documentary films.
Why do you want to work at HundrED?
I haven’t been a student for decades but I still love learning and think everyone should as the world around us changes at high speed. However, conventional ways of teaching and learning both at schools and workplaces aren’t exactly designed to motivate and stimulate our brains. Being able to advance HundrED’s mission to “identify, amplify, and facilitate the implementation of impactful and scalable education innovations” inspires me profoundly. One of my most memorable experiences was a short but sweet period of time teaching kids about sustainability through used materials. It opened my eyes to the importance of thinking about education from a fresh perspective. That’s what I aspire to do and promote at HundrED.
Why should we change our schools?
A more interesting question in my opinion would be “Why should we not change our schools?” How we mainly learn today is still focused on content and not context. Quoting Douglas Thomas, Associate Professor at Communication, “When you live in a world where information is changing all the time, the speed of change will outstrip our ability to transfer it. We have shifted from a world that is about content to the world of context.” Education needs to adapt to the changes our societies are going through and the knowledge we have gained and keep acquiring.
Why is innovation in education crucial today?
Innovations are the power to keep stones rolling and are a tool for addressing the need for change described in the previous answer.
Three HundrED innovations you love and why
Digital Wellbeing and SEL are my pet peeves but if I have to name certain innovations from these categories just a couple of dozens might be:
Love Letters for Computers for its high impact and high scalability. I love the content and think even adults could use it to learn more about computer science.
acSELerate (SEL program) for its truly holistic approach. The innovation fosters an age-graded SEL curriculum and considers the whole learning ecosystem from teachers, to school administrators to parents. As a fan of measurability, the set of defined standards, indicators and tools that enable the measurement of process and outcomes developed here really speaks to me.
I’m also truly excited to find out what kind of innovations are brought to the spotlight through our Gamified Curricula call. Such an interesting topic!
Contact Information
Karin Metsäpelto
