New Insights Engelska (GLP21)

Paula Keltto är lärare i engelska vid gymnasiet Vaasan lyseo. Hon är en av författarna till GLP21-serien New Insights, och hoppas att serien ska ge nya perspektiv på engelskstudierna och uppmuntra de studerande till att fundera på vad som händer i världen omkring dem.

I teach English at Vaasan lyseon lukio which is a fairly big upper secondary school in Ostrobothnia. Besides teaching, I am also a censor on the matriculation examination board and I’ve previously worked on the book series Insights and the digital book Abilities.

I enjoy teaching English because the curriculum for English gives me so many opportunities to focus on things that I find truly interesting and important. I can, for example, talk about multi-culturalism and diversity or nature, climate and ecology. We can plan everyday climate actions as a part of our lessons, or talk about current events around the world and analyze their effects. I love the fact that I can get carried away by the themes that our studies include and I can commit to the core values of the national curriculum. Respecting human rights, improving equality and wellbeing, building skills to lead a sustainable lifestyle – these are some of the things that I am passionate about. These are also some of the things that New Insights deals with. I hope our material will help teachers in their efforts to educate the youth, give them food for thought and make them think about what is happening in the world around them.

I grew up a long way from here, in Los Angeles, California. I’ve mostly taught mother tongue English, but also English as an additional language, history, government, economics, information technology, drama and film, plus coaching swimming and volleyball. At some point teaching in Europe seemed like it would be a good adventure, and, dear readers, so it has been. As a teacher, I am interested in asking tough questions and messing about with media and digital literacy. I’ve enjoyed working on this book series, especially collaborating with the other authors. I hope they are as interesting to use as they have been to create.

In the early 2000s, I was living in and teaching English in Los Angeles, California, and I had a mean case of itchy feet. On a whim, I packed up my books and a completely inadequate coat and headed for Helsinki. I regret to say I knew nothing about my new home. In the intervening years, I got married, had children, got a better coat, moved to London and back, and here I am, still trying to make great enchiladas and staying up all night to watch Lakers and Dodgers games.

I spent more than 20 years as an English teacher, both mother tongue and English acquisition, also occasionally teaching drama, history, government and technology courses. These days I am the Diplomas Division Head at the International School of Helsinki, and I teach a Film course. I worked with a great group of educators on the Insights series, and when Otava said they were getting the team back together, well, how could I say no? I hope the series is as interesting to use as it was to create.

Teijo Päkkilä är lärare i engelska vid Seinäjoen lukio. Han har deltagit i arbetet med flera läromedelsserier i engelska och har också varit aktiv inom olika utvecklingsprojekt inom språkundervisning. Nu är han en del av författargruppen till Otavas förnyade serie New Insights.

I’m currently teaching at Seinäjoen lukio, which is a relatively big high school in Finland. The main focuses for me as a teacher have always been how to keep the students motivated and engaged and how to get to be active participants during the lessons. I’ve realized, hopefully, that good learning material and well-planned lessons play an important role spiced with the teacher’s active role in creating dialogue.

This is my fourth book series that I’m working with now, the earlier ones being Culture café, Open Road and Insights. When it comes to projects, I’ve participated in several national and international development programmes and projects spanning from the first European Language Portfolio one to projects with Canadian high schools to develop practices both in the province of Alberta and Finland.

Annukka Suonio är lärare i engelska i Tammerfors. Hon är en av författarna bakom den populära serien Insights, engelska för gymnasiet, och nu också serien New Insights, som följder den nya läroplanen.

I miss the ball a lot when playing golf and more often than not lose the ball altogether, maybe sports aren’t my thing. My passion has always been languages. I’ve studied English, Swedish, German, Spanish, Latin, French, Russian and Japanese and have come to realize that language learning has to have a real connection to your everyday life to be meaningful and interesting.

Being a teacher is great, because you learn new things every day while working together with your students and colleagues. I want to provide all of my students, both those who already seem to know it all and those who struggle with English, with a feeling that they can and will learn more. I’m interested in developing online learning environments and writing teaching materials. And the best part is that you never have to do any of it alone: writing and teaching are team efforts.

Our Insights team received a prize in 2019 (Otavan Kirjasäätiö), but the best prize is the continuous positive feedback you can give and receive in a classroom or online.

Elisabeth Ekstrand är filosofie magister i engelska och tyska från Åbo Akademi. Hon har mångårig erfarenhet av att undervisa språk på gymnasium. Hon arbetar också som översättare, redaktör och språkgranskare. Elisabeth Ekstrand har arbetat med serierna Insights Engelska, New Insights Engelska (GLP21), Magazin.de tyska (LP16) och Magazin.de Tyska (GLP21) för Otava Utbildning.

Ingrid Rönnow har arbetat som lärare i över 20 år. Nu arbetar hon som lärare i svenska, främst för invandrare, och franska vid Arbis i Helsingfors. Ingrid har också arbetat som läromedelsredaktör och språkgranskare för Otava sedan år 2015. Hon har en examen från Uppsala universitet och har studerat vid Stockholms och Helsingfors universitet.