Today we spent our day in the company of students of all ages from two different schools: Filosofiska and Globala Highschool.
First, we all gathered at the Filosofiska school, a school that has a type of curriculum based on the idea that every class of children, regardless of their age and starting from primary school, has one philosophy hour per week where they do not receive grades, the focus being solely on absorbing the information. We spent a lot of time in the company of the principal, Lisa, who took time out of her busy schedule to give us a tour of the school and explain to us at length how things work in their school, something we appreciated very much, as it enriched our experience even more.
During our time at Filosofiska, part of our group (two female students and two female teachers) was able to attend such a lesson, in the company of seventh-grade students. The classroom teachers were so welcoming to us that they held the class in English, and we were able to participate in discussions alongside the students. It was an incredible experience because from our interactions with them, we could easily tell how valuable this hour is for their development: the children could easily formulate valid arguments and support their point of view, while maintaining a warm, respectful, and fascination-filled atmosphere. Also, the topic was carefully chosen, linking not only to things studied throughout the year but also addressing a question that more and more people are asking themselves: is artificial intelligence conscious? We consider that the time spent with these children and their teachers, and the multitude of questions we were able to ask afterwards—not just about their school and how it works, but also about their lifestyle, their perspective on what they learn, and even about their culture—were extremely useful.
The group that did not participate in this philosophy class had the opportunity to observe another valuable form of learning, namely outdoor education. They accompanied a class of younger children on a field trip to some botanical gardens where they learned about beekeeping. The experience was not just theoretical, but also practical, and our colleagues were able to ask questions, spend time outdoors, and even taste some honey alongside the little ones.
After lunch, our group reunited to go to Globala Highschool, a high school heavily focused on sustainability, not only in the subjects taught but even in the way the school operates (for example, all the food served at the school cafeteria is vegetarian, in order to reduce the institution’s carbon footprint).
Two of the high school students, who had actually finished lower secondary school at Filosofiska, gave us a tour of the school, then introduced us to their class. There, we were able to ask a series of questions, and from these discussions, we learned more details about the way they learn at school, as well as about the Swedish educational and evaluation system. For instance, the main way of learning in their school is through teamwork: throughout the year, students have to complete several large, usually interdisciplinary projects, and this helps them greatly in preparing for the end of high school. In Sweden, in addition to the national exam which is very similar to the Romanian Baccalaureate, students must prepare, during their last year of high school, a complex, very well-documented project on a topic of their choice; this is not only required for graduation but can also be requested by certain universities, depending on the specialization they want to pursue.
The last activity of today was one final meeting with Marianne, with whom we had dinner on the rooftop of a building in Stockholm, watching the sunset and reflecting on all the things learned throughout the day. Marianne also showed us the final result following the feedback she had requested from us regarding words that express the needs of young people our age.
We were very delighted to see how much relevance our answers had for her, as well as to discuss some things that perhaps we do not all agree on, but which make a lot of sense to us when we talk about emotions and needs. It was a very peaceful and safe environment in which we all enjoyed each other’s company, and at the end, we had a moment where we verbalized our gratitude for the people with whom we have the opportunity to spend this time.