Sharing Good Practice
Key things that make the Finnish
education system very successful
By Maarit Rossi
I
n May, I had in my classroom
German and English students
besides my own students. Their
teachers sat at the back of the
classroom. After the lesson, they were
astonished at my methods. I taught
these 5th graders the bases of statistics
in English.
The students sat in groups and
instantly started to compile statistics.
The groups gathered information from
their classmates, for example: how
many siblings they had, how each one
of them had come to school that day
and the colours of their eyes.
The success of the Finnish education
system has been analyzed abroad
and here in Finland. It has been noted
that our strengths include; respect of
the teaching profession, flexibility of
the curriculum, teachers’ high level of
education and autonomy of teaching
methods, free education, student’s
welfare, free school meals and school
transportation.
Secrets to success
1. In our society education is still
appreciated. This is reflected in the
high volume of people who apply
to join the profession. For example
the Helsinki University takes 120
applicants yearly. In 2015, there
were 1,832 applicants, 120 were
chosen. Under 10% of the whole
amount. The teachers have Masters
degrees in various subjects. In
salary, teachers are the middle
class. The salary increases by the
working years. Also, teachers can
achieve bonuses, which are granted
by the principal for a job well done.
2. Flexibility with the curriculum
means that I know which content
belongs to different year classes
and what my students are meant
to learn during the year. With my
colleagues, we can plan and carry
out study modules in the best way
based on our judgments. We take
notice of the current local events.
We can also arrange the core
content, so it supports the learning.
The curriculum isn’t a list of things to
do. It’s a guideline for our planning
and execution.
3. I have a full autonomy in teaching.
I can choose the materials and
teaching methods myself. Usually,
the teachers collaborate in choosing
the study books. However, I can
still teach the way I want to, even
with my own material. There are
no school inspectors or national
tests. I observe the learning daily.
The students have many breaks
during the day. They go out and
play together in the schoolyard. I
can make my own tests collaborate
with a colleague on tests. We don’t
give much homework. Childhood
is about being together with your
family and friends and getting a
lot of active exercise outside. The
principals have conversations with
teachers where they discuss and
plan. I have room to be creative in
my work!
4. To study is free. This gives everyone
an equal opportunity to education.
The students have a chance to go
on with their studies all the way to
the university if they want to. We
don’t have term fees! The children
get free books and they get a free
warm meal daily. The schools also
have a school nurse who makes
health checkups yearly and helps
the students with their physical
issues.
5. We also help the students in
many different ways. The teachers
observe students’ progress and if
a learning difficulty appears, the
student will get special tutoring.
Instead of control, competition, stress,
standardized testing and the ranking
list of schools, we have warm relations
with students, collaboration with
colleagues. We get highly professional,
teacher-led
encouragement
and
assessment. Our approach is truly
different from the other school
systems I have read about in other
countries globally.
I will end with this quote, “If you look
closely and open your mind, you may
see the School of Tomorrow.” - William
Doyle
Source: www.tes.com/us/news/breakingviews/how-finland-can-school-america
14 | Sep - Oct 2016 |
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