The past week has went by incredibly fast. It has also been a very challenging week with some frustration and confusion. Namely, it was the first real week of university.
I am the stereotype of a law student in Finland a.k.a. I never went to classes. And if I did, I surely didn’t prepare for them – you go to classes to listen, right? Getting law students to speak in lectures is like pulling wisdom teeth. Extraordinarily hard, that is.
In Australia there are lectures and tutorials you must attend. As the cherry on top of a cake you also must prepare for tutorials. Luckily you are given very clear instructions about what to do for a tutorial but unfortunately it takes hours to prepare. And why do you have to prepare? Well, to explain it shortly, I might just say that because it is like an elementary school in which the teacher decides who gets to share their knowledge.. and just like in elementary schools, you also get a grade for participation. For someone who dislikes going to classes and loathes being active in them the only words that describe the system are “oh crap”.
Ok. I have gotten it out of me. Now it’s time to focus on the good sides… and despite of what you might think based on the last paragraph, there are good sides! It is extraordinarily good that students have all sorts of assignments to do – all the time. It is also awesome that you have to go to classes – where else would you network and get social support? And even more importantly, where else would you get answers to questions that books don’t cover?
To my (very) enormous surprise, I am actually in the process of shifting to the mindset that the system in Australian universities is so much better than in Finnish universities. It might be quite convenient for students to just hit the books on their own. It might also be extremely cheap, too. But it is questionable whether that is the right way to study? Does it teach one to think? At least in law it was a very strong presumption that the student should think in the same way as the author. Is that deep understanding?
It may be day two of week two but I have already been obliged to write probably 50 pages of assignments altogether. That is something that is so very unfamiliar to a Finnish law student. And it is actually a shame – Finland may have amazing school system but is it a good idea to say goodbye to pedagogism at tertiary level? I’d say no.
Written while listening to Two Birds by Regina Spektor.
