Timothy D. Walker

Tim Walker is a contributing writer for The Atlantic and an American teacher based in Finland. He writes regularly about Finnish education at Taught by Finlandand is the author of the book Teach Like Finland: 33 Simple Strategies for Joyful Classrooms.

Child Learn & Play

The joyful, illiterate kindergartners of Finland

The country's early-childhood education program indeed places a heavy emphasis on "joy," which along with play is explicitly written into the curriculum as a learning concept. "There's an old Finnish saying," Holappa said. "Those things you learn without joy you will forget easily."