(SUKOL – Federation of Foreign Language Teachers in Finland)

Outi Verkama

Mrs Verkama has made a successful career of over 30 years in language teaching in both a lower and upper secondary school (comprehensive school) and in senior secondary school in Finland. For the past six years she has also been working as a coordinator for language teaching and multiculturalism in educational administration in Tampere.
Mrs Verkama is a dedicated professional with a passion for teaching, and very creative and resourceful in her approach to the classroom. Examples of this resourcefulness and creativity are the many different teaching materials and the contribution to the national curriculum she has produced.

As a result, she has an open mind when it comes to trying new teaching methods, approaches and co-teaching. One simple word to describe her teaching would be ‘joy’. Her classroom is a place for curiosity, joyous learning, play and fun. She encourages her students to actively use language in communication and to learn by doing and practicing. Working as a language teacher she has always been willing to share her knowledge in order to support language learning and teaching in Finland.

Her contributions to language teaching in Finland are considered outstanding and therefore she has had a significant influence especially early language teaching and learning in Finland. Mrs Verkama has a deep respect and appreciation for the many cultures she has had the opportunity to experience. These experiences include taking part in different international school programs as well as taking the lead on many other international school projects.

For the past six years, Mrs Verkama has divided her working days between teaching primary school students and working as a language teaching coordinator in educational administration in Tampere. She has had an influence on the national early language learning curriculum and has produced many online and printed materials for language learning in cooperation with other language teachers. She is dedicated to both of these working roles and comes up with new ideas for language learning and
multiculturalism at schools.