Global Teacher Prize 2016 - Top Ten Finalists | Page 3

Maarit Rossi
Kartanonranta School, Finland

Maarit experienced an epiphany following a constructive learning seminar at Leeds
University she attended with a group of compatriots. Aware that students found
conventional maths teaching uninspiring, she developed a fresh approach. After
testing it in schools across the country, she went on to co-author 9 Finnish maths
curriculum textbooks.

Maarit is driven to prove the subject is not boring but challenging, stimulating and
fun; a tool to make sense of the world rather than a list of rules. Her students often
learn outside the classroom by taking unconventional approaches to real-life
problems (measuring a large circle with shoes to demonstrate the effectiveness of
pi, for example). Maarit’s methods have resulted in above-average PISA
mathematics scores for her school (with Finland often top overall) as well as in
national tests. Girls tend to do better in maths in her school than boys (the reverse is
generally true in OECD countries).

With a colleague she met on a Fulbright teaching exchange, Maarit produced Paths
to Math, a website offering maths resources in three languages. She ran STEM
subject projects for the Economic Information Bureau for Finnish Industry, forging
close links with schools in other countries, and worked as Project Manager for the
EU New Opportunities for Women programme. She has featured in the Huffington
Post as well as on Finnish and Korean television.

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