Cultural guest, writer Tommi Kinnunen considers himself first and foremost a teacher. He returned to his work after exhaustion. In the novel that was just published, he wrote a lot of his own experiences, because the book is about a tired teacher.
The teachers’ workload has only increased since the pandemic, when they are trying to catch up on the learning deficit that arose during the corona restrictions. Even though more resources have been given, qualified workers cannot be found. Now the same teachers are just trying to teach more.
– The problem is that no more hours have appeared in the day. Where do you get that time?
Kinnunen is worried for a reason. He has just returned to work full-time after work burnout.
The joy was gone
A year ago, the new curriculum had entered into force. Kinnunen did everything he could to fulfill the goals.
He woke up early in the morning with the rest of the family. When the spouse and daughter went to school, Kinnunen started preparing the lessons. After the actual teaching hours, assignments had to be checked and entries made in countless tables and forms.
Illat Kinnunen wanted to dedicate the evenings to family life, but as soon as the child had gone to sleep, the work continued well into the night.
The cycle was only broken when the spouse became worried and urged to consult a doctor.
Then Kinnunen realized how exhausted he was. The joy was gone, and he was as taut as a violin string. The writing of the novel had also stopped. He had tried to write it on weekend evenings, but after the summer the text had not been produced.
Writing is a nice hobby
Kinnunen is known for his books. He immediately entered the ranks of Finland’s most popular authors with his debut novel _Neljäntienristeys_, which was published in 2014. Since then, four novels have been published, three of which have been nominated for the Finlandia Prize. That’s quite an achievement.
The fifth novel _Pimeät kuut_ (WSOY) has just been published, and that’s why Kinnunen sacrifices his jumping class for an interview. Nowadays, the job description of writers also includes publicity.
However, Kinnunen considers himself first and foremost a teacher. His full-time job is teaching the mother tongue to high school students.
He describes writing more as a nice hobby. He is horrified by the idea that the payment of the loan repayment would depend on how good the text is.
– The thought of whether the books will sell enough or whether I will get a grant would seem scary. I don’t think so.
That’s why Kinnunen has stayed in his job as a teacher. He sees himself specifically as a teacher.
There was a lot of individuality in the novel
This time the main work also made it into the novel, because the main character of the _Dark Moons_ novel is a teacher. Kinnusen’s novel is again set in history, in the 1940s, but with a lot of personal experience.
You could even thank work exhaustion for the fact that the novel turned out the way it did.
– A lot of my own fatigue came into the book. An awful lot, Kinnunen sighs.
The main character of the book, Elna Suorajärvi, is an elderly teacher who ends up teaching in a small village school in the north, close to the border of the Soviet Union. After the wars, conditions are miserable and there is a shortage of everything. Even the school is some kind of twisted version of a real public school. Elna has to teach 1st to 6th graders alone.
The task is almost impossible. Elna is exhausted and desperate. He feels he won’t survive.
– The doubt of one’s own professional skills is very personal in the book.
Kinnunen has taught the mother tongue himself for 23 years. Along with his own exhaustion, he also suddenly felt that he could no longer teach.
– I wondered where my knowledge had flowed. Before, I felt that I was a reasonably good teacher.
The novel also ignores many assumptions related to the teacher’s work. Like does a teacher have to like kids to be a good teacher. Elna clearly does not love children, but is nevertheless a skilled teacher.
One of the themes of the novel is vocation – because that is what a teacher’s job is considered to be. Still.
In the book, parents and villagers assume that Elna somehow \”makes\” the children read and count, even though there are no textbooks and other supplies are missing.
According to Kinnusen, there are a lot of old-fashioned concepts and downright mystification associated with the teaching profession.
– For example, after distance education during the corona period, there was a lot of talk about how students’ lives will get back on track when they get to school. Let’s think that all kinds of good things happen in the school, a little as if by itself. People don’t see that someone, i.e. the teacher, has to actually do those things there.
Dreams of a career as a dramaturg remained
Kinnus became a teacher by chance. He didn’t have a vocation stemming from childhood.
– I was supposed to become a dramatist. I made it to the last stage of the entrance exams of the University of Theater and I ended up in the first place. It hurt a lot then.
In order to do something, Kinnunen decided to apply to study Finnish, because he had always read a lot and liked writing. Turku was chosen as the place to study and he is still on that path. Kinnunen, who grew up in Kuusamo, has lived in Turku for 30 years now.
Finnish language studies with minor subjects felt so comfortable that Kinnunen no longer attended the Theater College.
As a sensible person, Kinnunen wanted to get a clear profession for himself, so he decided to become a teacher. At first, the decision seemed like a big mistake, but after getting to practice, his eyes opened.
– The school was full of active students who asked clarifying questions and challenged me. It was awesome.
The writer’s career began with a \”prank call\”
Writing also came into Kinnusen’s life by chance. He hadn’t dreamed of that either.
In 2012, on a whim, Kinnunen went to the short story course at the working school. He no longer remembers why.
– Maybe I was bored at the time.
– Time passed and nothing was heard from Jon. I thought they must have been pretty bad texts.
– I thought it was an organized prank call. I laughed and sniffed Anna-Riika. It took a long time before he could convince me that he was really a publisher.
Pyysalo had sent the texts to WSOY, and there had been enthusiastic about them immediately.
The call from the publisher started Kinnusen’s sideline career as a writer.
There are crying and exhausted students in high school
Kinnusen’s career and life have been shaped more or less by chance, experimentation and even a momentary whim.
The author thinks that nowadays idleness and randomness seem to be forbidden to young people. They must be goal-oriented, self-directed and efficient.
The result is exhausted high school students and students that we read about in the media(3-12570318).
Kinnunen sees the same thing every day in his work.
– It’s really terrible. It’s not that crazy teachers demand too much, it’s that the curriculum is piled on way too heavy.
In recent years, the importance of graduation essays has increased when applying for a place to study. The importance of mathematics has also been increased, even though the field does not require a calculator, but completely different skills.
– In high schools, those who have no interest or ability for it are now trudging through long mathematics. It is very frustrating for the student.
According to Kinnusen, young people today are viewed only as a resource for society. They want to quickly enter the labor market and pay taxes for pensions.
– It can’t be like this that there are crying students in high school and the experience of too many high school students is that they don’t make it. If young people are already crushed in high school, how will they cope throughout life?
The teachers are too nice
Kinnunen is upset for the young people, but also for the teachers. He’s not the only exhausted teacher. There are more and more career changers (3-12555673).
– Now an educational institution has been created that creates a bad feeling for both teachers and students, Kinnunen shakes.
He admits that the teachers are also at fault. They are too nice.
The school has gone through radical changes at a fast pace, and the teachers’ job description has changed a lot. Last spring’s strike brought a small salary increase, but the huge amount of work has not disappeared. And the extra hours in the day that Kinnusen longed for still haven’t appeared. On the contrary – the demands on teachers are only increasing.
– Teachers are such a bunch of idiots! Whatever is said or requested, it is done kindly, Kinnunen gasps.
The autumn semester is already in full swing and the autumn matriculation papers are looming on the horizon. Kinnusen’s schedule is tight, as it is known that there are writing supervision shifts in addition to other teaching.
But with what skill did Kinnunen overcome his exhaustion and dare to return to work?
– No way. Exhaustion hasn’t gone anywhere. We will work here and see what happens.
_You can discuss the article on 12.9. until 11 p.m._