Finnish View of U.S.
Former Finland teacher discusses differences Between teaching in Finland and America
On November 28th, 2016, Timothy D. Walker wrote an article about a teacher who worked as a schoolteacher in Finland for seven years, who now works in the United States. She describes how teaching in Finland compares to teaching in the US
Kristiina’s Past in Teaching
Kristiina Chartouni is a Canadian citizen by marriage and holds a master’s degree in foreign-language teaching from Finland’s University of Jyväskylä, and moved to Florida, due to her husband’s employment situation.
Shortly after struggling to maintain an income and dropping out of an ESL teacher-training program, a school in Tennessee contacted her about a being a teacher at their school.
After that, she had the equivalent of a full-time
teaching job as a foreign-language teacher at two public high schools.
Teaching Frustrations
In Tennessee, Chartouni Discovered a different teaching environment where Chartouni felt like she was “under a microscope.” Chartouni adjusted to a schedule of relatively frequent observation and evaluations of her teaching, something she had never experienced in her home country.
After Chartouni received her teaching timetable at the start of each school year, she would be given the freedom to prepare curriculum-aligned lessons, which matched her preferences and teaching style. (A principal or an administrator in Finland may have briefly observed a teacher’s lesson, but not on a regular basis.)
By Jaysen Bouwers
“I miss that feeling of being trusted as a professional in Finland. I wanted to do my best all the time, because they trusted my skills and abilities.”
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