RAIJA AIRIO

Teacher of English
Assisting Principal
raija.airio(@)ouka.fi

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

KUUSILUOTO UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL
Maunonkatu 1, 
90100 OULU
FINLAND
 

tel. +358-44-7039281,
fax  +358-8-55849279

My jobs

Before I started to work at Kuusiluoto Upper Secondary School in August 1994, I had taught in comprehensive schools in Rantsila and Oulu in the years1974-79 during which time I also did my teacher training, in Kiiminki Comprehensive School (1979-85) and Kiiminki Upper Secondary School (1985-94). In the seventies I also taught adult students Swedish and English at Haukipudas Opisto in the evenings. 

Kuusiluoto Upeer Secondary School was a pilot school in a project called KIMMOKE. The National Board of Education  launched this project in 1996 for the development of language teaching and learning in Finland. It was a five-year project. All the language teachers in our school were involved in this project, but we had each our own specific themes which we developed and our common aim still is to improve our students’ readiness and willingness to use foreign languages as a means of communication at large. We want to make them realize that language is a tool to handle meaningful information both in  written and spoken form. While doing this we especially focus on improving their oral skills. Also evaluation,  particularly that of their spoken language, is a subject of investigation.

A three - year Socrates Comenius 1 project YET (Youth, Europe and Theatre) started in 2001. In 2004 we already have the 4th YET on the way!
 

My latest projects

1. Finland’s way to the information society 1996-97 (5 study weeks)

This was a supplementary pedagogical education of teachers the goal of which was to train teachers into experts in pedagogical applications of information technology, and to provide them with the resources to develop the learning culture and cooperative ability of their own schools. As a final report Jorma Kreivi, the headmaster, and I  prepared a plan how to develop the learning environment of teaching languages in Kuusiluoto school.

2. A Language Teacher as a Developer of her own work 1996-97 (5 study weeks)

Six smaller projects concerning my teaching procedures in the classroom. The report also includes my teaching philosophy, my motto and ideas about learning a foreign language.

3. Lingua-B project on reflective teaching and classroom action research (5 study weeks)

Lingua-B project which concentrates on reflective teaching and classroom action research aimed at developing an in-service training model for teachers of foreign languages in different European countries. My personal project dealt with oral presentations: how to arrange them in a large group in a time-saving manner and how to make the listeners active participants in the situation. Peer- and self-evaluation were brought into the process for this purpose hoping that the speaker will get feedback which will guide her further studies.

4. E-mail project to Austria 1999

5. E-mail project to Belgium

5. Practising oral skills using drama and the language lab 1999

6. Information Technology in teaching 2001

7. Co-ordinating the introduction of the new national curriculum in the upper secondary schools of Oulu and of course in my own school as well.

8. The chair of the Federation of Foreign Language Teachers in Finland SUKOL in 2005-2007

In London
In Ireland 1999

My hobbies

Many of my hobbies have had something to do with teaching. In OAJ, the Teachers’ Trade Union, I was the chair of the local union in Kiiminki. I also used to be an elected representative in its various bodies at local, regional and national level. In the 80s I was the chair of the Language Teachers’ Association in Oulu and in the 90s a member of the board of The Teachers of English in Finland and The Federation of the Foreign Language Teachers SUKOL in Finland. In 2005-2007 I am the chair of Sukol.

Together with my colleague Marja-Leena Oikarinen we wrote two Test ant Train packages (1996 and 1997) which the English Teachers’ Association publishes and sells annually to Finnish Sixth Form Colleges. In 2001 Sanna Leinonen-Nuorgam joined me in writing the package of  2001.

I created the link lists for English teachers and to the text book which I used in my teaching i.e. Blue Planet published by Otava. In spring 1998 I spoke about the educational applications of the Internet in teaching English in six Saturday seminars arranged by Otava.

I relax by walking in winter time and by playing golf in summer time. Yoga, Pilates, travelling, watching films and reading are my favourites as well – whenever there is a spare moment!