Finland's Education System

Successes and Challenges

Successes

•Ranked first in reading, third in math, and fourth in science in the 2000 PISA (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2010)

•Ranked first in reading, math, and science in the 2003 PISA (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2010)

•Maintained first and second rank in all three subject areas for the 2006 and 2009 PISA results (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2010)

•Required that all teachers hold a masters degree (Downey, 2012)

•Changed the teaching program focus to research at the higher education level (Downey, 2012)

•Increased teaching salaries (Downey, 2012)

•Changed the professional status and desirability of the teaching profession in the public view (Downey, 2012)

Challenges

•Minimal ethnic diversity, with a population of 94.3% of Finnish heritage (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013)

•Minimal religious diversity, 82.5% worship at the Lutheran Church of Finland (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013)

•Minimal group work in elementary education (Casteres, 2010)

•Minimal higher order questioning in elementary education (Casteres, 2010)

http://finland.fi/Public/default.aspx?contentid=190181

School Infrastructure and Organization

Curriculum

National Curriculum Framework for Basic Education are key in regard to content for mastery in each grade and course

· Local education authorities and teachers approve the school level curriculum

· High school curriculum includes history, religion, physics, chemistry, math, foreign languages, biology, psychology, and philosophy

· Evaluations are only for academics nothing involving sports

· Languages are high priority, Swedish is mandatory

· Compulsory school age is 7

• The infrastructure and organization of the schools in Finland are very uniform as far as the type of education each child recieves in every school system.
• Each child attends public schooling, because there are no private schools in existance there; eliminating high tuition costs (Partanen, 2012).
• Schooling is very accessible for their children, and funding is not an issue unlike many other countries.
• As for accountability in their education system Partanen (2012) exclaims that "As for accountability of teachers and administrators,there’s no word for accountability in Finnish,” he says. “Accountability is something that is left when responsibility has been subtracted” (p.1).
• It seems as if Finland does not doubt their country's school teachers but respects and appreciates them for what they do.

References

Notes

See notes attached.

• Casteres, Remi. (2010, May 20). Ecoles. Limitations of the Finnish educational system. Retrieved from http://ecoles.alternative-democratique.org/Limitations-of-the-Finnish
• Central Intelligence Agency. (2013, Jan 8). Finland. World Fact Book. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/fi.html#top
• Downey, M. (2012, Jan 30). The finnish success story: Lessons ignored. The Atlanta Journal - Constitution. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/918557006?accountid=35812
• Franko, A. (2011). Finnish lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in finland? CEPS Journal : Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 1(3), 167-170. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1095116382?accountid=35812
• Freeman, A. (2012, August). Finland’s Education System: 10 Surprising Facts That Americans Shouldn’t Ignore. Take Part. Retrieved from http://www.takepart.com/
• Hancock, L. (2011, September). Why Are Finland's Schools Successful? Smithsonian. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/
• Korpella, S. (2010). Religion lessons support kids’ identities. Retrieved from http://finland.fi/Public/default.aspx?contentid=190181
• Ministry of Education and Culture (2009). Finland. The Results of PISA 2000, 2003, 2009. Retrieved from http://www.minedu.fi/pisa/2009.html?lang=en
• Partanen, A. (2012, March). Finland's superior schools focus on cooperation, equity . CCPA Monitor, 18(9).
• Pöllänen, I. (2012). Finland: Perhaps the World's Best Education System. Skipping Stones, 24(4), 20
• Sahlberg, P. (2011). Lessons from Finland. American Educator, 35(2), 34+
• Taylor, A. (2012, November 27). System is the best in the world. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/finlands-education-system-best-in-world-2012-11?op=1

Population

•5.3 million (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013)

Economic Profile

•Primarily export base

•Welfare state

•National social security system

•Historically best performing economy

•Recession in 2009 (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013)

Education

•Reform of nine year basic education system in 1972 (Sahlberg, 2012)

•Equal education to all citizens despite economic inequalities (Sahlberg, 2012)

•Foundations, "the modernization of the everyday social environment and a preparedness for collaboration" (Franko, 2011)

•Ranked first and second places in math, science, and reading literacy in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD) Programme for Internation Students Assessment (PISA) in the 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009 results (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2010)

Assessment

Student and teacher relationships

•Many of Finland's schools are small enough so teachers know all the students

•Colleagues work together to help struggling children succeed

•Children spend more time outside and teachers give minimal homework

•Teachers can have the same student for 5 years in a row, allowing them to build strong connections

•Low student/teacher ratios with an average class size of 20

•Science teachers have a maximum of 16 students per class

•Students are not separated into gifted or special eduction classes, they all learn together

•Learning is focused on the student and the students interaction with their peers and teachers

•Teachers give students 15 minutes of recess after every lesson

•Teachers only teach four hours a day so students are not overwhelmed with class

• What makes Finland so successful with their education system and their children's test results rankings could be due to their unique assessment strategy.
• Taylor (2012) stated in the New York Times that " They rarely take exams or do homework until they are well into their teens."
• Without the added pressure of test taking and hours completing their homework when they get home from school, it seems that this strategy gives the children an opportunity to enjoy what they are learning without the pressure of being tested on everything.
• Even though this strategy goes against the assessment methods of other countries, this is successful for a reason and they are not defining their student's intelligence based on score results at such an early age.
• Finland's Education has been prove to be competitive and one of quality.
• They work it out with assessment tools as established by the Act for Comprehensive Education.
• These tools of assessment have a task, and a principle.
• They promote the teaching of self-assessments to students.
• Students and teachers work as collaborators of the learning and knowledge development process inside the classroom and outside of it.
• The idea of teaching self-assessment to our students is to provide with skill that will aid them organize their ideas and set goals they want to accomplish at small and long terms.

Finland's Educational System

By: Saybl Hardin, Rachel Ferris Schank, Alexis Colon, Tracy Bullett Moore, and Tracy Obuchowski