I didn’t know what to expect once I arrived in Finland. I did know that over the last couple of years they had become the ‘rock stars’ of education. And, there is still a lot we can learn, but the big lesson? There is nothing magical going on in education in Finland.
Just like a child’s game on the telephone, over the last few years, a narrative has been told and retold — pulling out parts of the Finnish experience in creating a utopian view of learning for all to aspire to. We have heard about how teachers in Finland are valued and respected like in no other profession; how all teachers have Master’s degrees, and how all students attend their local schools with a relentless commitment to high levels of trust and equity.
There IS a lot to like and some qualities are:
- Their teacher-education programs are consistent and research-based
- They take a longterm view of education, educational policy and election cycles seem unrelated
- Teachers are well-trained prior to and during their careers
- A high level of trust throughout the sector and within all groups involved
- The ability of students to move between academic and technical streams
- Deep connections between different levels of schooling including K-12 and post-secondary
- Lack of hierarchy (students address teachers by their first name) and there are strong student parliaments – an emphasis on democracy
- Strong cultural paradigms that permeate society and influence education
They also have many of our same challenges:
- Roles of parents – how to become involved, but how to properly define what that looks like
- Concerns over teacher compensation and workload
- An ageing society with growing expenditures/stresses on health care
- A growing migration and multicultural school setting
- Student safety and bullying
- Appropriate class sizes
- Usage of digital learning resources in schools
- The role of non-formal and informal learning
- Differences in learning results between girls and boys, and between schools
- Implementing the national development plan at the local level
- Evidence-based leadership
I leave Finland even more convinced we shouldn’t try to model our system after theirs. Jorma Kauppinen, Director of General Education at the National Board of Finnish Education agrees, arguing “you can’t copy or follow [Finnish education] it is part of our history and values.” It is not every country that proudly declares its commitment to a welfare state, and so deeply holds values like the best school is the closest school because every school is a good school. Admirable – but so deep in their culture that it is not easily transferable.
I was also struck by one particular line, on one of the slides from the Director of Education – that the Finnish curriculum (and system) was aligned to PISA. So, that clearly begs the question, if measures change on what we value over the next decade, and we further embrace a different set of competencies, will Finland still be the perfect education model? Finland also realizes this possibility, as their efforts to transform their system are at least as strong as those in British Columbia.
We should learn from Finland’s experiences and continue to chart a journey to where Finland is going next. What was particularly exhilarating about the work in Finland, was their generosity towards learning together and commitment to learning side-by-side British Columbia, and other jurisdictions around the world. I think we definitely can take lessons in their civility and alignment in the education sector.
In looking ahead, I am inclined to paraphrase Bruce Beairsto (from BCSSA Conference — spring 2012) we should not try to be Finland, we should work to be a better version of ourselves.
I taught in Taiwan for two years and I miss the respect for teachers and the teaching profession. I know I’m a good teacher with glimmers of greatness, but I don’t feel respected here. It does sound like Finland at least has that piece of the puzzle figured out. That’s a good place to start given the current “negotiating” mess.
Thanks Christine – it has seemed a difficult year in BC for our profession. It was interesting in Finland – education felt very non-political. I didn’t get the sense of adversarial positions and posturing that seems to often dominate discussions in BC.
So how was that achieved – the “non-political”ness? How are contracts negotiated there? Who’s involved? I truly am curious, not just trying to cause trouble.
Thank you for this post. I sincerely hope it reaches many readers. Too many of us in Education are forgetting the influence of societal/cultural values on the success of an educational system. I believe even if our school district (in Alberta) were to exactly adopt Finland’s, the overall results would be minimal because our culture of education is so vastly different. It is difficult to convince students (especially boys) education is necessary when great financial success in the oil field doesn’t require a high school diploma.
Thanks for the comment James. I agree that so much of Finland’s model is really based on their society and culture. We can learn from Finland – but we need to chart our own course, based on our own history.
Agreed! Like Margaret Wheatley says, “We do need to be sharing what we find, but not as models. From each other, we need to learn what’s possible. Another’s success encourages us to continue our own search for treasure.” We have so many treasures here in BC.
And we have such a wonderful system in BC – I am blown away but what I see in schools on a regular basis. We have a wonderful story to tell.
Thank you so much for reflections and observations from Finland! Your comments reinforce for me that we do have a very good educational system here in BC, but we shouldn’t rest on our laurels. There is definite room for improvement and it should be our goal for the future.
I like the line – you don’t have to be sick to get better – I think that describes our situation in BC. It is also nice not to be in the position of some others in North America – in a state of real or perceived crisis. We are building from strength.
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