Nordic countries denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden all rank among the highest in the World Happiness Report. It's not magic, nor are Nordic babies born with an extra level of "happy cells."
Instead, one of the sources of happiness comes from the way the education systems allow Nordic children freedom and fun while learning.
Tapping into this secret is Hong Kong's first Nordic Education Hub, jointly established by Top Creative Education Hub and InNordics, a local education center, for children aged three to 12.
The school is situated in a seven-story building in Happy Valley, originally a primary school for the neighborhood. Apart from the Nordic Education Hub, the building also houses classrooms for The Sprout Creative Kindergarten.
Both Nordic Education Hub directors have extensive knowledge of the different way of teaching. Liu Yong-yan, who is also the Top Creative Education Hub school manager, lived in Sweden while Alan Ng, founder of InNordics, did his undergraduate studies in Finland.
Of course, due to our different educational systems, a direct copy-and-paste of the Nordic way is not going to grant local children immediate happiness.
But there should be components of Nordic education from which Hong Kong educators can use, building a supplementary way for future generations to experience, learn and apply.
Said Liu: "Self-directed learning is one of the most important elements in Nordic education. Once interest is developed, children are very much willing to learn, do projects, dig deeper, find out more. And our job is to inspire instead of intervening, allowing the room to make their own choices."
Having studied in one of the Nordic countries, Ng was surprised and inspired by the way people learn and work. "When I was studying in Finland, I found their model of thinking falls more on the collaborative side, which is something beyond simply raising questions and discussing, because of their understanding of how it is only through collaboration that new chemistry can be unleashed," he said.
"For example, given the competitive nature of Hong Kong, some companies tend not to showcase their latest products during start-up exhibitions, fearing that their technology would be copied.But my experience in Finland showed me how companies of the same nature were willing to share with others and even look for possibilities to collaborate. I also experienced the same mentality doing group projects in university."
So even before the Nordic Education Hub received the necessary licenses, it designed and tested its 21st-century-skills programs in different Nordic countries before training its instructors in Hong Kong.
The programs include Finnish skill-based movement activities and STEAM science education; Swedish social-emotional learning; Norwegian 3D model designs with augmented-reality experience; and the Danish reading and writing program.
As the school's programs for kids are fun-based, local parents may think children may not do well academically in a "happy school."
But Liu believes that academic results are not the only predictor of a child's future.
"For children's development, they need whole-person education built in their way of thinking, vision, the balance of the mind and the body, and even recognition as a world citizen. With education out of the curriculum, children's potential can be activated.
"And if a child can be provided with these visions from a really early age, he or she can grow into a well-rounded person," said Liu.
Website: innordics.com/nordic-education-hub-hv
charlie.ng@singtaonewscorp.com
