The curriculum is the trade description of the degree

Each degree programme at SAMK has a curriculum. It describes the content of studies in the degree programme and the competences the graduates will have. In this sense, the curriculum is the trade description of the degree programme, which defines the aims, contents and implementations of the programme. The students and teachers have to know the curriculum really well. The students draw up a personal study plan on the basis of the curriculum and the tutor teachers help the students in this process.

A possibility to construct a degree

Within a few years SAMK’s curricula will become more flexible. The students will have more possibilities to choose their studies and thereby to construct a degree which corresponds to their needs and desires.  In the future, the curricula will have core competences, which e.g. every engineer and nurse needs to have. In addition, the curricula will include complementary studies, which each student can include in his or her degree. For example, a student who is planning to sell prefabricated houses in the future can include studies on sales and marketing in his or her degree. If a student is interested in management, he or she can include management studies in the degree.

Co-operation in the design of the curriculum

Each degree programme has a council with representatives, e.g. from the work practice. The council comments on the curriculum throughout the designing process. It is important to have representatives from the employment market in order to design curricula which give the students the skills they will need at work.

In addition, SAMK has an Education Committee, which includes representatives from different fields. This Committee deals with the curricula for Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees  and further education. Finally, the curricula are approved by the Vice President of Education.

The article is a brief version of the Finnish original by Marja-Leena Blomroos & Sari Kahri. Photo by Tomi Glad (Exchange students in autumn 2015 at Tiilimäki Campus, Pori.)

A firm touch not a light stroke: The student wants to be noticed

Marja Flinck was voted as the best teacher by the students in 2014.

Flinck teaches clinical psychology and substance abuse work in the Degree Programme in Nursing. She also supervises the students’ Bachelor’s theses. She makes things in a way which some consider old-fashioned: “I call the students by name in every class. I think it is important to be called by the name.”

“I have a motto: the best thing you can do to another person is to tell them, what they mean. The students feel that I respect them and they are important. In addition, I enjoy my work. The students develop their professional identity by growing into it. You can’t just teach it, but you have to learn it in the same way you grow into parenthood.

Flinck encourages students to use their own self as a measure to see whether the things are as they are claimed to be. According to Flinck theory has no meaning, if the student can’t understand it and use it. When the students use their own self as a measure, they also develop empathy and understanding which is wider than their own experiences.

At the moment, Flick mainly supervises Bachelor’s theses. She says that it is great to see, when a student surpasses the threshold to creativity and invents something new. She also has a support group for those students whose thesis has been delayed for some reason.  This means a lot of positive feedback and dividing the work into small pieces.  Flinck says: “I ask them, for example, to write the introduction first and send it to me, when they have completed it.  This can be the beginning for some students and then they can move forward. Next I can ask them to write three sentences about the topic of the thesis and so on. “

The research problem is usually constructed in a group. The students guide each other and Flinck helps them. When the students present their thesis to the group, the students give big applause to each other and say: “I should have done this earlier.”

Photo: Veera Korhonen

Original article in Finnish by Anne Sankari,  translation by Tuija Huokkola.

MONTHLY IMAGE: In my big brother’s lap

Paula Majuri: In my big brother’s lap, oil painting 45 x 60 cm, 2014.

Paula Majuri was born in Oulunsalo 1985. She lives with her family in an old log house in the countryside in Parkano. She graduated as an artist in spring 2015.

“ At the moment I’m mostly interested in painting. When I applied for the art school in Kankaanpää, I did it because of sculpture, but painting triumphed. Portrait painting is my greatest passion.  My own children and nature close by are good sources of inspiration. My latest paintings  are oil paintings. Oil painting with layer technique is challenging, but the result is very rewarding. Especially in portrait painting the layered approach results in a lively impression.

My dream is to make wall paintings or other big works. When one paints bigger works, one gets the feeling of being part of the work. However, at the moment I have to consider the size of the paintings carefully, because my studio is not very big.  In the future, we will build a studio in the building outside, where I can make bigger paintings and even sculptures.

The work In my big brother’s lap is a picture of my own sons. It depicts the moment, when the big brother holds his two days old little brother in his lap for the first time.”

> paula.majuri@gmail.com

SAMK in figures: Effects on the surrounding area

SAMK in figures: Effects on the surrounding area

Over 400 graduates are employed in Satakunta every year
Bachelor’s theses and practical training demand 450 man-years
Over 1,200 people from Satakunta participate in further training at SAMK annually
Over 400 companies and societies co-operate with SAMK