INTO SCHOOL and Future Songwriting were presented at the Creative Transformations Conference, held in Helsinki as one of the event series celebrating Finland’s presidency of the Commission of the European Union. Organized by Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture, the conference saw inspiring talks on the key role of culture in sustainable development, and how policies can buttress democracy and tackle present and future challenges with a focus on culture and education. Participants mostly consisted of culture policy officials from national governments and international organisations like UNESCO, the Council of Europe and the OECD.

One of the key principles of the INTO SCHOOL and Future Songwriting project, creativity in the classroom will also receive support at policy level in the EU. “We look forward to launching the CREASSESS project during the Finnish Presidency. The objective is to further improve the assessment of creative and critical thinking skills in schools and to provide new tools to support teachers and students in this.”– as Mr. Navracsics confirmed.

After closing two very successful pilots in Finland, the project will move to Germany and France, while continuing in new schools in Finland. Stay tuned for news on how INTO SCHOOL attempts to promote music education and creative learning globally.

We are happy to announce the successful launch of Future Songwriting, a European project based on the INTO SCHOOL concept.

​Two school pilots began this March, in Santamäen Koulu and the bilingual French-Finnish School HRSK in Helsinki. In the next 2 years, 15 school pilots are coming to Germany, France and Finland.
 
Future Songwriting introduces a new model to music education. Using creativity and digital tools and activating children’s innate potential the project aims to create the future of teaching and learning music.
 
The two-year project is coordinated by Teosto, and is co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Commission.
 
Creativity in the classroom
Children have innate creativity and ability to engage with music. Future Songwriting aims to give room for their potential by putting music creation in the foreground. Music is taught through a creative process using digital tools where everyone can contribute. The concept is based on a comprehensive model developed by INTO SCHOOL: an award-winning Finnish innovation.
 
Digital Tools for All
As a first step of Future Songwriting pilots, teachers receive training to get familiar with the technical tools and methodology. Tools and training are tailored to suit all levels of skill, and facilitate a creative and rewarding process. The involvement of active musicians ensures that participants receive up-to-date knowledge and a hands-on experience.
 
Research-based Innovation
The University of Arts Sibelius Academy, the University of Cologne and Musical Futures accompany the project, observing the model based on creativity and student involvement. Research carried out by the Music Technology Group from University Pompeu Fabra will focus on the technological aspect of the model. Future Songwriting brings together scholars, educators, musicians, teacher educators and the music industry to collaboratively develop better and more creative learning environments and equip teachers with knowledge and tools to facilitate creative music-making in their classrooms.
 
European Cooperation through Music
School pilots in Germany, France and Finland, coordinated research by institutions based in four European countries, and project communication by Artisjus, the Hungarian association representing composers and musicians makes Future Songwriting a collaborative effort reaching not only across countries, but also professional fields and age-groups, through the universal language of music.
 
Future Songwriting is a collaboration of INTO SCHOOL (Finland), Teosto (Finland), University of Arts Helsinki (Finland), Pompeu Fabra University (Spain), University of Cologne (Germany), Sacem (France), Artisjus (Hungary), Musical Futures (UK).

Follow the project on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/futuresongwriting.eu/

We're happy to announce that we’ve been nominated for GESS Awards 2019 int the category of Best Product to Promote Arts, Music and Drama in the Classroom.

The GESS awards highlight and reward the quality and diversity of educational products, resources, services and people, as well as the best educational establishments and the most dedicated members of the teaching profession.

Award winners will be announced at a Gala Dinner to be held at the H Hotel Dubai, on 27th February 2019.

​For more info about the awards, visit gessawards.com.

INTO SCHOOL has been awarded by global education nonprofit HundrED, as one of the 100 most inspiring K12 innovations across the world. INTO SCHOOL was one of the innovations selected from 36 countries to be recognized. 

INTO SCHOOL was chosen due to its unique pioneering status and the ability to create a scalable impact, reaching several countries globally.

“We’re so pleased to have been selected as one of HundrED’s 100 global innovations. INTO SCHOOL was created to ensure teachers are able to engage learners, and to improve outcomes. Being offered the opportunity to extend this beyond Finland using HundrED’s platform, a network of global educators and innovators, is amazing. We are excited to see just how much further our work can be scaled,” says Janne Hiedanniemi, Head of Education of INTO SCHOOL.
 
HundrED aims to share best practices and K-12 innovations across borders to help improve the future of education globally. To achieve this, a team of researchers investigated innovations from around the world to determine 100 projects that are already changing the face of education. Over 1,000 innovations were identified through research, events and recommendations and then 160 were evaluated by HundrED’s academy made up of educational experts, educators and students (ages 11-19 years old) from 28 countries on their innovativeness, impact and scalability.

Saku Tuominen, CEO of HundrED, said: “Spreading innovations such as INTO SCHOOL across borders can be a game changer for education, worldwide. We will continue to encourage as many stakeholders as possible including schools, educators, administrators, students and organizations to get involved so that we can work towards a positive future.”
 
Media inquiries:
Kari Saarilahti, CEO
kari@intoschool.org
+358 40 595 3361
​

The Future Songwriting project will introduce, pilot and validate INTO SCHOOL music education concept, developed in Finland, to Finnish, German and French schools.

In the concept, pupils compose, write and produce their own songs with the help of digital tools. The aim of the concept is to bring creative music-making in the core of music education in schools and kindergartens encouraging teachers and students to focus on creativity. It provides equal opportunities for everyone to create music, and to take part in creative processes, expressing themselves through music and the arts.

The project also gets to highlight copyright issues and authors' rights to a number of communities and families within the EU, in a natural and positive way: children making their own creations offer a great example of creative ownership and cultural property.

"Modern music technology has opened up new possibilities in teaching as well as learning music and arts. For example, earlier musical background or mastering traditional instruments is not needed any more," says Tuomas Hiedanniemi, Head of Pedagogy of INTO SCHOOL.

Future Songwriting is a collaboration of INTO SCHOOL (Finland), Teosto (Finland), University of Arts Helsinki (Finland), Pompeu Fabra University (Spain), University of Cologne (Germany), Sacem (France), Artisjus (Hungary), Musical Futures (UK).

The 2-year project is expected to be launched in October 2018 with a total budget of 840,000 EUR.