laajaalaisia

Laaja-alainen is a Finnish adjective meaning broadly based or multidisciplinary. The form laaja-alaisia is the plural partitive used to describe multiple items of this type. In everyday and official Finnish usage, laaja-alaisia can refer to broad-based knowledge, skills, or competencies.

In the field of education, laaja-alainen osaaminen (broad-based or cross-cutting competence) is a central concept. It denotes competences that go beyond subject-specific knowledge and enable individuals to participate effectively in society and working life across different contexts. Examples commonly associated with laaja-alainen osaaminen include communication and collaboration, problem solving, learning-to-learn skills, digital literacy, information management, ethical and sustainable thinking, and cultural or linguistic awareness. The idea is to integrate these cross-cutting skills with disciplinary learning.

The term is frequently used in discussions about Finnish curricula and educational policy. It appears in descriptions of the national core curriculum and in vocational education, where curricula aim to develop both specialized knowledge and laaja-alaisia taitoja that support lifelong learning and adaptability in the labor market.

Beyond formal education, laaja-alaisia can describe people, programs, or initiatives characterized by broad, cross-disciplinary capabilities rather than narrow specialization. In this sense, the term emphasizes flexibility, versatility, and the ability to apply knowledge across different fields and situations.