why teach through a topic?

For years, Finland has been the by-word for a successful education system, perched at the top of international league tables for literacy and numeracy. Finland is about to embark on one of the most radical education reform programmes ever undertaken by a nation state – scrapping traditional “teaching by subject” in favour of “teaching by topic”.

What would change?
More academic pupils would be taught cross-subject topics such as the European Union - which would merge elements of economics, history (of the countries involved), languages and geography.
There are other changes too, not least to the traditional format that sees rows of pupils sitting passively in front of their teacher, listening to lessons or waiting to be questioned. Instead there will be a more collaborative approach, with pupils working in smaller groups to solve problems while improving their communication skills.

Whilst the effects of this type of curriculum are still unknown, British primary schools still favour the topic approach to teaching.
Below are a few photos from my school's stunning whole school topic this year.