Have you ever wondered what societal infrastructures increase happiness and if those systems and supports are transferable? So has Watershed’s middle school educator Amy Robbins, Ph.D.! And she’s been awarded a prestigious Fulbright-Hays scholarship to study it! Amy is one of 15 U.S. educators participating in the inaugural Fulbright-Hays Seminar in Finland. During this four-week seminar, Amy and her cohort will explore the “infrastructure of happiness” that makes Finnish society thrive by delving into Finland's strengths in education, sustainable development, nature, and overall well-being.
The program includes travel across the many cultural and geographical areas of Finland, including the Capital Region, North Karelia, Lapland, the Southwestern Coast (including Fiskars Village, Åland Islands, and Turku), and Tampere. Throughout the seminar, Amy and her group will learn about the special features of the Finnish education system and their approaches to sustainable development, getting up close to Finnish history through visits to places like Suomenlinna Fortress. They’ll also experience sauna culture and the midnight sun, practice multidisciplinary learning in nature, learn about Finnish sports (like pesäpallo), and practice arts and crafts, like glassblowing! Her journey will provide her with deep insights into how these elements contribute to the Finnish nation's high levels of happiness. With these experiences, Amy plans to create an enriching curriculum project for her middle school students, which she plans to implement in the '24-'25 school year at Watershed.
About her upcoming journey and course planning, Amy said, “There's so much I'm looking forward to in this seminar! Through this program, I'm hoping to infuse my teaching with global, personal storytelling as well as develop cross-cultural partnerships; I can't wait to bring my learning experiences back to Watershed and to the ‘Project Happiness’ Expedition that I'm developing for trimester 2, where we will ask: What factors create a happy society? And what role can I play in building happiness in my community?”
In addition to laying the groundwork for this brand new middle school Expedition course, Amy hopes to further these studies by exploring the possibility of a future Finland May Term course. These educational initiatives will incorporate the knowledge she gains about Finland’s unique infrastructure while connecting it to the world’s great challenges like the UN Sustainable Development Goal of Good Health & Wellbeing.
The Fulbright-Hays Seminar is made possible through the Fulbright Finland Foundation, with funding from the U.S. Department of Education. Amy is eagerly looking forward to sharing her new knowledge and experiences with her students and the entire Watershed community. Kiitos, Fulbright Finland!
