industry & reform
Different approach
A Finnish perspective on our education system .
By Michael Lawrence
In the shadows of last year ’ s teacher strike in New South Wales , a number of people asked me how the Finnish education system would deal with the issues causing dissatisfaction for Australian teachers .
It is an excellent question . It is rare for a teacher to leave the profession in Finland . Indeed , teaching is one of the top career choices for young people in Finland . While teacher pay there is similar to that of Australian teachers , the conditions under which Finnish teachers operate are very different and comprise the main reason for the popularity ( and success ) of the profession there . Perhaps the best illustration of this is Pasi Sahlberg ’ s response to the question about how to best evaluate teachers .
“ In Finland , we don ’ t ask ‘ How can we evaluate teachers ?’ we ask , “’ How can we best support teachers ?”
The Finnish teacher is a trusted professional , and to be conducting frequent performance evaluations would be undermining this trust . This is one of the reasons why the teaching profession is able to attract excellent candidates . The Finnish teacher ’ s assessments are trusted . As one Finnish educator said to me during a discussion about NAPLAN : “ Why don ’ t they just ask the teachers ?”
Our insistence on micro-managing our teachers and students with things like NAPLAN , standardised curriculum and ongoing evaluations and assessments has seen both ( the teachers and the students ) lose the motivation and enthusiasm that autonomy and trust brings . And it is this that is at the heart of the success of the Finnish system .
When I recently asked a Finnish colleague how their students had managed through the period of remote learning , the response was : “ They have tried to not let it impact their studies .” Here in Australia , many students saw it as an opportunity to disengage . Such is the difference between having ownership over something and having it thrust upon you .
More than half of Australian teachers report that they suffer from anxiety and 18 percent report symptoms meeting the criteria for moderate to severe depression ( Stapleton , 2019 ). Finnish teachers were surveyed in 2012 about what it would take to make them reconsider their choice of career . Salary was rarely mentioned and the most popular response was the loss of their professional autonomy .
Much like a medical or law professional would , the Finnish teacher has autonomy in how they interpret and teach the curriculum – any form of standardisation is frowned on ; they create their own assessments and they are encouraged to be innovative . In many ways this resembles the university lecturer here , who is expected to be doing research as well as teaching .
Money is available for teachers to do special projects . One teacher I know took 10 students to China to look into the latest in automotive manufacturing and engineering . The teachers I met there took it for granted that my visit was on a similar grant ( it definitely was not !) and that Australian teachers share this autonomy .
Teachers choose their profession because of a love of learning or a desire to work with young people . As a teacher of music , I wanted to share the magic that is
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