Educating Talents for the Future: Industrial and School Co-operation in Practice

The purpose of this symposium is to introduce an innovative way to educate mathematically gifted secondary school students in the boarding school environment in Finland. Päivölä is a private independent boarding school. Nokia, the largest IT company in Finland, supports the mathematics program in Päivölä. The school selects annually 20 students according to the “excursion weekend” tests. Students are mathematically talented 15-18 year olds; they graduate from senior secondary school in 2 years. In this symposium we report students’ perceptions (N=20) on studying in Päivölä. Furthermore, we report empirical findings on the moral reasoning of these students with the well-known Defining Issues Test. Industrial perspectives on mentoring gifted students are introduced and teachers from Päivölä share educational views and practices.