Three Swedish skinheads looked at the new Finnish teacher as if he were the lowest form of humanity.
Markku Kanervan on your head. He had thought he could get the 16-year-old boys who had come to PE class under control at once, but the trio quickly made it clear what they thought of the linen head giving instructions.
It was pointless to expect compliance with the rules or any kind of cooperation in general.
The situation still vividly returns to Kanerva’s mind, even though it has been more than 30 years.
We easily condemn the behavior of children and young people, but it would be important to find out what is behind it.
In the early 1990s, Kanerva played for Borås’ football pride IF Elfsborg and taught some classes at the local middle school. The idea had been the chairman of Elfsborg, who had heard the Finnish reinforcement of the club trained as a teacher in addition to his playing career. The club boss thinks that working at a local school would help him adapt to the Swedish environment.
Kanerva, who taught mathematics and physical education among other things, adapted to school life surprisingly well, but when he encountered adolescent skinheads, he ran into a wall.
– It was quite a shock. I thought I would get respect when I played in the city team, but everything else, Kanerva now recalls with amusement.
A personable coach
Decades later, in the fall of 2019, Kanerva became the hero of soccer-playing Finland, the “Basic Markku” of the whole nation, who as head coach led the men’s national team to the EC final tournament for the first time.
Kanerva’s coaching career would not be the same without his work experience as a teacher. The teacher training in Helsinki in the 1980s, countless substitutes and 12 years (1993–2004) as a class teacher at Haaga elementary school have left an indelible mark on the football maestro.
When Kanerva returns to visit Haaga elementary school on a March morning in 2024, there will be plenty of people talking in the teacher’s room.
Some are familiar faces from their years as teachers, some from the younger generation, to whom “Rive” is familiar from colleagues’ stories and the Huuhkajie rudder.
The students are also excitedly spinning around the national team pilot. Nimmari and group photo requests are pouring in, and Kanerva tries to take every question into account.
– Rive is not named “Professor” in football circles for nothing. As a teacher, he was extremely pedantic, but at the same time really close to his students. It has certainly been useful also as a coach, Kanerva’s long-time friend and teacher colleague Kari Ant-Wuorinen says.
As a coach, Kanerva has emphasized how important it is to create a relationship of trust with each player so that the team gets the most out of itself. Meeting different children and young people as a teacher gave this a valuable perspective.
Teaching is still a big part of Kanerva’s identity. It is a matter of the heart that he has been deeply concerned about in recent years.
A broken home drove a gang
Let’s go back to the early 1990s. The icy first encounter with the skinhead youth troubled Kanerva, who is known as an analytical person.
After class, he went to see the principal and asked how he should act. The trio didn’t want to do anything in class and hung out in the gym wearing street clothes. The principal let it be understood that it would be a victory if the young people stayed off the street during the lessons.
– It would have felt like giving up, and I couldn’t settle for that. I wanted to see if there was any way to get the boys to participate.
Kanerva asked each boy for a personal interview and asked what kind of sports they liked. The answers included gym, boxing and football. They were said to be useful when you had to fight in the streets.
Kanerva agreed with the principal and the boys about the exceptional arrangements. The young people, who were comfortable in their own conditions, could do a gym program prepared by Kanerva or football exercises during the lessons. The trio still didn’t let their teacher off easy. Kanerva had to be constantly vigilant that the boys did not take advantage of their different freedoms and go their separate ways.
Trust was built slowly, but built nonetheless.
– One of the biggest successes was when, at the end of my wash, the boys came to ask if they could play volleyball with the rest of the group. I said absolutely.
After getting to know each other better, the boys started to tell about their home conditions. It was harsh to hear.
– I knew that their harassment was largely about playing a role and covering up one’s own insecurities. However, it was arresting to see how a broken home and lack of support drove young people to seek acceptance from gangs.
– Many teachers today feel the same way. There are poorly motivated students and harassment. We easily condemn the behavior of children and young people, but it would be important to find out what is behind it. Act instead of stating.
Once upon a time, Kanerva had the ability to get to know the backgrounds of skinhead youth and understand where the problems stemmed from. He is aware that many of today’s colleagues are in a tight spot. There are a lot of troubled youth, and there is not enough time for all students.
Kari Ant-Wuorinen, crafts and physical education teacher at Haaga elementary school, agrees with Kanerva’s thoughts.
– I’ve been lucky with my workplace and our students, but in the big picture, there are more and more students in schools who need various kinds of support. And a lot of support that the school can’t even provide. That’s where you really need the help of professional helpers.
Teaching has given Markku Kanerva a lot. One of the best experiences was teaching physical education to disabled children in Sweden. Even one successful push-up was a source of great joy, which taught me to appreciate the little great joys in life.
12 years at Haaga elementary school left many warm memories and friends who are still in the field.
Because of all this, Kanerva has closely followed the twists and turns of the school world and has spoken publicly about the issues that bother her. In 2020, he said in an interview with the teachers’ trade union OAJ that he was afraid that the vocation of teachers would be taken advantage of.
– The passion of people in the social and health sector as well as in the education sector is to help others. It seems that the authorities believe that people will stay in these jobs, even if the workload increases and the salary does not increase in the same proportion, Kanerva says now.
The national team coach is worried about, among other things, the growing class sizes, resource cuts and the increased demands of many parents towards the school.
– I have always been of the opinion that the primary responsibility for raising children belongs to the parents. School and hobby activities support this educational work.
– Teachers’ basic job is to guide children and young people to learn and support their skills. You should be able to prioritize these basic things.
Kanerva says that a few of her teacher friends changed fields because they felt that they could not do their basic work well enough.
– We can’t afford that, because there is a shortage of teachers anyway.
Kanerva has a clear opinion about the salary level of classroom teachers. The salary of teachers depends on many different factors, such as the duration of the employment relationship. Today, the average salary of a classroom teacher is around 3,700 euros per month, the salary of a starting classroom teacher is just under 2,900 euros per month.
– Nowadays, a classroom teacher has to be sometimes a psychologist, sometimes a policeman, sometimes a teacher. It’s quite a comprehensive job that requires a university degree. Taking all of this into account, I don’t think the pay is where it should be.
Although the teaching duties have changed to the role of an active follower some time ago, the inner teacher has not disappeared from the soon-to-be 60-year-old football enthusiast.
In the season 1998–1999, when Kanerva was playing in the Champions League in HJK, teaching brought him a unique title. In the opening group, HJK beat Portugal’s pride Benfica 2–0 and grabbed a 2–2 draw from the second match.
The Portuguese press, upset by the results, got more water in their mill when they heard that one of HJK’s players worked as a teacher in addition to playing. Lusitaanimedia named the entire HJK team the amateur team and Markku Kanerva the world’s best soccer-playing teacher.
Meriitti still makes Kanerva smile.
– I don’t know if it’s true, but I hope that the headline conveyed the message that even a football player playing at the top can acquire a civilian profession. However, a sports career ends at some point. It is important not to fall on empty.
Huuhkajat is fighting in the further qualifiers for a place in the summer European Championships in Germany. Finland will meet Wales at the opening of the further qualifiers in Cardiff on Thursday, March 21. The winner of the match will play against either Poland or Estonia for a place in the competition.