For those not in the know, Finland has one of the most well regarded school systems in the world. They typically score the highest marks on international tests even though standardized testing plays no role within their school system. Last weekend at RSCON3, two educators and a high school student shared with us the secrets of Finnish education.
The road to success began in the 1970's when Finland made a commitment to improving its school system. At that time Finland decided to provide the best teacher training possible and that all teachers would be required to have master's degrees. Finland loves its teachers, but more importantly, Finland trusts its teachers. Teaching is considered to be as prestigious a profession as medicine or law.
Kindergarten does not begin until the age of 6 and formal instruction begins at age 7. Until then children ... play.
Education is free in Finland and private schools are rare. What exactly is paid for? Meals, medical care, dental care, transportation and education to the end of university, as well as educational support for students who struggle. No student in Finland is burdened with student debt.
Although there are overall curriculum goals, autonomy is given to teachers and schools for planning and implementation and teachers are given a great deal of time to develop programming.
What struck me in particular during this talk was how different the experience of high school is. The typical cool, geek, jock cliques that are so prevalent in North America are not part of Finnish youth culture. Bullying appears to be a non-issue to the speakers (although, I think this needs further clarification) and students are not restricted to attending one school. In high school students select their courses based on what is offered at different schools. For example, a math course might be taken at one school, but on another day a student might go to a different school for art.There is no such thing as a catchment area. Students have mobility to pursue their specific interests. How freeing is that? No one is stuck!
Within the school system there is no prohibition of friendships between teachers and students. Teachers seem to take a personal interest in the lives of their students and appear to be part of a community that extends beyond the bell. How different from North America. The overriding sense that I had was that there is a great deal of respect between all parties involved in education in Finland.
Finland: land of the sensible!
If you would like to learn more, here is the link to the presentation. https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2011-07-29.0723.M.674074A2DEC62AA476D42F614D858C.vcr&sid=2008350
You can connect with Finnish educators on twitter with the hashtag #finnedchat
The road to success began in the 1970's when Finland made a commitment to improving its school system. At that time Finland decided to provide the best teacher training possible and that all teachers would be required to have master's degrees. Finland loves its teachers, but more importantly, Finland trusts its teachers. Teaching is considered to be as prestigious a profession as medicine or law.
Kindergarten does not begin until the age of 6 and formal instruction begins at age 7. Until then children ... play.
Education is free in Finland and private schools are rare. What exactly is paid for? Meals, medical care, dental care, transportation and education to the end of university, as well as educational support for students who struggle. No student in Finland is burdened with student debt.
Although there are overall curriculum goals, autonomy is given to teachers and schools for planning and implementation and teachers are given a great deal of time to develop programming.
What struck me in particular during this talk was how different the experience of high school is. The typical cool, geek, jock cliques that are so prevalent in North America are not part of Finnish youth culture. Bullying appears to be a non-issue to the speakers (although, I think this needs further clarification) and students are not restricted to attending one school. In high school students select their courses based on what is offered at different schools. For example, a math course might be taken at one school, but on another day a student might go to a different school for art.There is no such thing as a catchment area. Students have mobility to pursue their specific interests. How freeing is that? No one is stuck!
Within the school system there is no prohibition of friendships between teachers and students. Teachers seem to take a personal interest in the lives of their students and appear to be part of a community that extends beyond the bell. How different from North America. The overriding sense that I had was that there is a great deal of respect between all parties involved in education in Finland.
Finland: land of the sensible!
If you would like to learn more, here is the link to the presentation. https://sas.elluminate.com/site/external/jwsdetect/playback.jnlp?psid=2011-07-29.0723.M.674074A2DEC62AA476D42F614D858C.vcr&sid=2008350
You can connect with Finnish educators on twitter with the hashtag #finnedchat
Thanks for your great post about Finnish education. In my town Jyväskylä town center area there are now 5 upper secondary school witch all have same timetable classess to start and end. There is 10-15 minutes walk to each school, so students can go another school during the day study example language which wasnt his or her school. We have computer system WILMA, which help them to choose courses from another schools and student councellers like me just click them in courses. Our students can also go to vocational school for six weeks example to study economics or hotel and restaurant studies (or what he wants) and also in possible to do both the schools and degrees at the same time. In Jyväskylä school principals and student councellors plan beginning school year together, so their can decide example which languages are teached in which school.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Jyväskylä, Finland, Timo Ilomäki @ilotimo
Hi Timo and thanks! I was wondering about the logistics of taking courses at different schools. Interesting.
ReplyDelete