Finnish Education systemLook to systems that outperform New Zealand in PISA testing,

‘The exceptionally high attainment of Finnish students in PISA 2000, 2003 2006 and 2009 in all three literacy domains has aroused continuous international interest

toward the Finnish education system.’

Main differences between models

General Western Model

Finnish model

Standardisation

Focus on literacy and numeracy

Accountability by inspection

Flexibility and diversity

Emphasises broad knowledge

Professional trust of principles and teachers

Finnish children begin school only the year they turn seven, and there is very little stress on academics in a child’s life before that.

The crux of the Finnish education system is the compulsory nine year basic education.

That means comprehensive state education from 7 -16Teachers in Finland spend fewer hours at school each

day and spend less time in classrooms than American teachers. Teachers use the extra time to build curriculums and assess their students. Children spend far more time playing outside, even in the depths of winter. Homework is minimal.

90% of students go on to further education which is split into vocational and academic routes

All education is free including textbooks and stationery.

Free school meals are also available for all

In Grades 1-6 students are taught in homerooms and then in grades 7-9 by subject teachers.

Homeroom teachers often teach groups up to 5 years in a row

Some, but not all, schools contain all year groups on one site

Not until sixth grade will kids have the option to sit for a district-wide exam, and then only if the classroom teacher agrees to participate. Most do, out of curiosity. Results are not publicized.

Both classroom and subject teachers attain master’s degrees the former in education, the latter in their respective subject(s).

The academic status of classroom teacher education has undoubtedly contributed to the continuous popularity of teaching profession

Teachers are trained as commencing researchers, capable of searching for and applying scientific findings in their own work.

Finnish students seem to pose a dilemma for comparative education research in terms of the importance accorded to motivation and interest on learning. While Finnish students have performed among the top in PISA for three times in a row in all domains,they have regularly come out in international studies as less interested and less motivated than students in most other countries, and have sometimes even been interpreted as just not liking school.

Other factors

• Finland is a monocultural society• Reading is a common pastime across

social strata • Phonetic language which follows rules

and has changed little, unlike English• Schools can dismiss teachers if they

are not satisfied with their work. Teachers seldom strike

Should we

• Consider some of these ideas

• Copy ideas like standardised tests and league tables from educational dinosaurs like the UK and US

• Have a healthy discussion about the slight improvements we could make with fresh thinking

Want to read more?

• The information in this presentation came chiefly from

• http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Why-Are-Finlands-Schools-Successful.html#ixzz1mO9EMs6P

• http://www.minedu.fi/export/sites/default/OPM/Julkaisut/2009/liitteet/opm46.pdf

• http://finnish-and-pisa.blogspot.co.nz/