Opettavaiset

Opettavaiset is Finnish an adjective meaning instructive or didactic. It describes content, materials, or methods that are designed to teach or convey knowledge explicitly. The form is primarily used attributively to modify plural nouns, for example opettavaiset tehtävät (instructive tasks) or opettavaiset tekstit (didactic texts).

Etymology and form: Opettavaiset is formed from the verb opettaa (to teach) with the present-participle suffix -va and the standard plural ending -iset, yielding the plural adjective used to describe multiple items. The closest singular form is opettavaisen or opettava, depending on the grammatical construction, but opettavaiset is the common plural.

Usage and nuance: Opettavaiset emphasizes the instructional purpose of content. It is often used in educational theory, curriculum design, and classroom materials to distinguish resources that aim to teach clearly from those that are merely informative or entertaining. It can contrast with terms like didaktinen or pedagoginen, though in practice there is overlap; opettavaiset tends to foreground explicit teaching aims.

Common collocations and contexts: opettavaiset tehtävät, opettavaiset tekstit, opettavaiset harjoitukset, opettavaiset esimerkit. The term is more common in formal writing, analyses of learning materials, and discussions of instructional design than in everyday speech.

See also: didaktinen, opetus, pedagoginen, opetussuunnitelma.