Saila Purho

1. If you could make one major change to global education, what would it be?

Access to cost-free, quality education should be inclusive for all children and adolescents, regardless of their backgrounds. I wish all students could receive a free lunch every day, as well as free learning materials, health care, counseling, and transportation – not to forget about free access to well-educated teachers and a quality curriculum. Is it possible? Yes, but it requires solidarity through taxing.

2. Describe your teaching style or philosophy. Do you have any unique teaching methods you use to keep students engaged?

I strive to be a creative, inspiring teacher who can make use of an eclectic choice of different teaching techniques, methods, and activities. I genuinely care for my students and am passionate about many subjects/ topics – this has been a successful recipe for engaging students’ minds, as inspiration and attitude are contagious. Adding an element of surprise is my wild card.

3. Tell us about your favorite teaching experience pre-TGS

I was a homeroom teacher to a rather challenging class with multiple issues, to say the least. After an exhausting fall semester, we engaged ourselves with a pantomime project, “Life”. It was a powerful, emotional, full-circle journey to human life. The stage was first red; you could hear a heartbeat and see fetuses play with their fingers and toes. A cry waked them up, and the stage was filled with tunes from a baby music box, and our babies started crawling and sitting… and so forth. At one point, the now adult students danced wedding waltzes! It was incredible to see how committed the students were; they poured their teenage hearts out – the whole audience sensed a magical moment of unity, something touching our souls.

4. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be?

I would love to visit the raw and wild Iceland: to explore the hot springs, volcanoes surrounded by black lava fields, and the thundering waterfalls. To me, Iceland is also the land of magic and mythology with sagas, elves, trolls, and witchcraft stories. The stranger sides of Iceland are present in Icelandic cinema, literature, and cultural heritage, which I find fascinating.

5. What is your favorite book, and why?

I actually have two favorite books. *The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao* by Juno Diaz This book is vibrant, superb, weird, wonderful, fierce, and tragic. Thank you for introducing the mythology of Fuku and Zafa to me! *Summer Book* by Tove Jansson Tove Jansson is famous for creating the Moomins (whom I also love). But the Summer Book takes me back to my own childhood when summers were endless and filled with adventures: I was ambling over the waterfront and forests, carving boats from bark, building tree houses, sleeping in tents, and escaping from the ball lightning.