curriculum. The certificate given to
students at the end of year 9 is given by
teachers. On the basis of the teachers’
assessment, students are selected
for further studies. To help with this,
the national core curriculum contains
assessment guidelines in all core
subjects. Emphasis is placed on the
student’s own self-assessment in a bid
to develop their capabilities to assess
themselves and to support the growth
of self-knowledge and study skills.
Special Educational Needs
Provision in Finland
respected and trusted in Finland as
the rest of the world is led to believe?
From my very informal investigation
and from the extremely anecdotal
data that I gathered, I found that it
is indeed true. In Finland teachers
are held in high regard. While out
shopping for souvenirs, I struck up a
conversation with the shop attendant,
I wanted to know what she thought
of teachers, She made me aware of
something that I had already heard,
only the best students get into the
school of education at the universities.
She confirmed that all her former
school mates who went on to study
education were the best and brightest
students in her school. Another thing
which I found very interesting was that
all the teachers I spoke to had chosen
teaching as their first career option.
This has not been my experience in
other countries. Many teachers I have
spoken to elsewhere often, went into
teaching after their first career choice
fell through or they were in another
field and decided that they would
prefer to be a teacher. I am not saying
that this makes them less of a teacher
but I simply found it refreshing that the
teachers I spoke to in Finland all wanted
to be teachers above everything else.
The competition to get into the faculty
of education is so stiff. It is said that
over 80% of applicants do not get
through.
teachers have the right to decide on
the methods, materials and even the
textbooks that their students use.
This autonomy starts at the top as
local authorities determine how their
schools are run and not the central
government. I recognise that this
takes an incredible amount of trust by
the government in the capabilities of
the people in education to do the best
by their students but that’s the point,
educators are fully capable.
Tests, what tests?
This was the response I received
when I asked about the national
tests that the students have to sit.
For a country that does so well on
international benchmark tests, you
would be forgiven if you believed that
their students were being tested daily
in preparation for these international
tests. There are no national tests for
students in basic education in Finland.
In Finland the main type of assessment
is the continuous assessment during
their course of study. Teachers are
responsible for the assessments
in their respective subjects on the
basis of the objectives written in the
Autonomy at All Levels
Teachers have autonomy over what
happens in their classrooms as long as
they stick to the curriculum. There is
no one going in and telling them how
to teach and what to teach when. They
are the professionals and they are
treated as such. This is something that I
am extremely passionate about, given
the
gradual de-professionalisation
of teachers in many other countries
across the globe. Teachers in Finland
have pedagogical autonomy. It
was wonderful to discover that the
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Class Time
In Finland they provide special
educational needs provision in the
mainstream schools. They are big on
practicing inclusion wherever possible.
Intensive one on one support is
provided to students who need it. This
support is provided where needed in
upper secondary and even in tertiary
and vocational institutions.
Concluding Thoughts
It has been extremely difficult to keep
to the 2000 word limit for this article.
I could have easily written a whole
lot more but space would not allow.
The time spent in Finland was quite
invigorating and showed me what is
possible when the government and
the citizens of a country are all singing
from the same hymn sheet when it
comes to education. There has been a
lot of talk about adopting the Finnish
Education system in other countries. I
strongly believe that a lot of the success
of their system is rooted in how the
entire society functions and hence not
easily replicated. I do however believe
that aspects of the Finnish education
system can be adopted with success.
I suggest that other countries adopt
their policies on teacher autonomy.