Stepping Back 160 Years: A Journey Through Finland’s Educational Heritage

As part of the Jyväskylä Teacher Training School’s celebratory year of their 160th anniversary, the school’s primary school classes visited Soihtu Exhibition Centre in Seminaarinmäki campus. During April and May a total of 244 students participated in the University Museum’s time travel workshops where students stepped back in 

time and explored what it was like to study at their school 160 years ago. The Jyväskylä Teacher Training School of today is the descendant of the Jyväskylä Teacher Training Seminary’s training school which was established in 1866. 

In the time travel workshops participants navigated from one activity station to the next throughout the exhibition. At each of the activity stations the students got to explore what the teaching of different subjects has been like in the past and complete tasks related to the history of the Seminary. Tasks included building with Fröbel blocks, practicing the alphabet on a slate, and figuring out what’s inside Uno Cygnaeus’s suitcase. While having fun and exploring the museum, the students learned about the history of the training school and the cultural significance of the Jyväskylä Teacher Training Seminary. 

A self-guided version of the workshop is open for all museum visitors from 3th of June to the 1st of August.