The cornerstones to all that we do
Curiosity and creativity
At HEI Schools, we create rich learning environments for children to wonder, explore and experiment.
We humans have a natural desire to explore the world around us – to wonder. Touching and playing with different objects, exploring new spaces, and asking questions are key ways in which children express their curiosity and creativity. Wondering, being curious, and approaching the world in new ways are serious attempts at understanding, meaning making and learning.
At HEI Schools, children’s curiosity is fostered and nurtured to enable it to blossom. We encourage children to ask questions and stop to wonder about the world with them. We provide children with possibilities to follow their curiosity and to see where it leads us and them together. For us, perseverance and positive bull-headedness are important signs of children’s desire to understand and learn about the world around them. Taking up and following children’s ideas and initiatives is part of supporting and enriching their curiosity.
At HEI Schools, curious children are creative children. When exploring the world, children create new ideas, activities, and ways of looking at the world, both for themselves and for us. Highlighting this creativity is a central way to build more ground for it to flourish and to further explore and learn about the world through children’s imaginations.
Active participation
At HEI Schools, children’s own perspectives and opinions matter and their viewpoints are heard and actively sought. Children have opportunities to take action, individually and together. Adults encourage and strengthen children’s participation.
Active participation is a central feature of human life. Children, even newborns, do not merely react to the world, but actively seek to engage with it. Active participation gives the child a sense of competence, ownership, and commitment to his or her community. This experience is of great significance for the child’s (and the community’s) identity: who they are and who they want to be. It is important for children to experience that others are interested in what they have to say and that their viewpoints matter. This creates an experience of membership, of belonging to a community. Active participation also supports children’s growth as ethically responsible members of their society and provides them with the requisite knowledge and skills in life.
At HEI Schools, active participation is promoted by giving children opportunities to be part of the decision-making processes regarding matters that concern them. Children are also encouraged to express their opinions on different communal matters and to make an effort in changing the practices at HEI Schools. Adults also support children’s multiple ways of expressing their opinions and of being part of the community.
Culture of trust
At HEI Schools, we design inclusive spaces, where dignity and safety are the norm and where diversity is recognized and embraced. Everyone is welcome, encouraged and supported.
Feeling safe, respected, and trusted are basic preconditions for any human being to be able to learn. Trust means reliance on the other, especially in the face of novelty, uncertainty, or risk. When people trust each other, this type of a relationship can enable everyone to grow, learn, develop and become more united. At heart, a culture of trust is grounded in reliable practices and routines as well as the possibility to venture outside these practices and routines. Culture is built on mutual respect, valuing and embracing diversity, and a commitment to shared responsibilities. Importantly, in a culture of trust, trust is both given and earned.
At HEI Schools, a culture of trust is seen as a precondition for children feeling safe, expressing themselves, and exploring their world. Children (and adults) are allowed to try, to make mistakes, and to fail without cost. This is seen as crucial to learning. Being allowed to experiment, move, play, and explore safely is an essential feature of a culture of trust.
Sustainable way of living
At HEI Schools, children are educated to be responsible actors who resolve challenges, respect cultural diversity, and contribute to creating a more sustainable world.
Sustainability, as a way of living, is not simply about being environmentally aware. It means a direction of development that covers today’s needs without taking away the possibilities of future generations. Preserving and taking care of the environment in all of its forms is a prerequisite for social justice and of well-functioning societies. Our actions need to match our understanding of the possible impacts and implications that our way of life can have on the lives of future generations and our planet.
At HEI Schools, children learn in and about the environment and act for the environment. We educate children to be ethically responsible and critical members of their society, who are respectful and compassionate towards others, be they humans or any other forms of life. We promote the learning of skills, values, and conduct needed for a sustainable way of living, both socially and environmentally. Children are guided to pay attention to the choices they make and to become aware of the consequences of their actions.
At HEI Schools, education is not limited to children – it includes the whole HEI Community, from families to operators. By providing information and raising awareness about how to better take care of ourselves and the environment, we want to empower people to change the way they think and work together towards a sustainable future.
Learning everywhere, all the time
At HEI Schools, every situation is seen as having multiple different learning opportunities for children. Children’s holistic learning and development are also fostered by the adults who learn with them.
Humans are biologically wired and culturally tuned to learn. The central means through which humans learn are social interaction with others and the cultural tools around them. This is why high-quality interaction is regarded as a crucial factor for effective education.
At HEI Schools, learning is not limited to specific activities or the classroom. Rather, learning is approached holistically, and each interaction, between children themselves or children and adults, is understood as offering possibilities for learning. Play in its different forms is a strong element of learning at HEI Schools. Children do not play to learn, but they learn while they play. Play is the natural means through which children educate themselves. In and through play children learn to think creatively, how to get along and work with other people, and how to control their own impulses and emotions.
At HEI Schools, learning environments are carefully designed to promote children’s learning as well as to support the pedagogical practices used. They provide opportunities for interaction, play, exploration, as well as for rest and unwinding. The learning environments form a comprehensive learning landscape for children and encourage them in active, communal, and independent learning.
In HEI Schools we learn
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Learning forms of expression
Learning forms of expression equip children with possibilities to express themselves. Artistic experiences and expression promote children’s formation of positive self-image, social skills, and the capability to understand the surrounding world.
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Learning area includes:
Musical activities
Crafts & visual expression
Verbal & bodily expression
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Exploring and interacting with the world around me
HEI Schools promotes children’s capability to observe, analyze, and understand the surrounding world. We support the development of children’s linguistic and mathematical skills through different activities in everyday life. Through science and environmental education, we strengthen children’s relationship with nature as well as their awareness of sustainable ways of living.
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Learning area includes:
Linguistic skills
Mathematic skills
Science & Environmental skills
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Understanding the world we live in
We support children’s growth as conscious human beings and help them to understand what it means to be an ethically responsible member of society. We aim to design inclusive spaces in which dignity and safety are the norm, where diversity is recognised and respected, and where everyone feels encouraged, supported, and included.
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Learning area includes:
Cultural competence
Ethics education
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Practising a healthy way of living
At HEI Schools, we promote children’s socio-emotional competence by practicing empathy and compassion, self-regulation, and naming and recognizing our own and others’ emotions. We also discuss the importance of healthy nutrition, physical activity, rest, and personal hygiene with the children. We encourage them to be physically active in different ways.
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Learning area includes:
Socio-emotional competence
Physical wellbeing