Because this has been mentioned in 3 of my classes within the last week, I wanted to explore the Finnish education system and what exactly makes it so successful. After “revamping” their education system (much of which involved changing the requirements to become a teacher), Finland is constantly competing for the “best” education in the world, but unlike its Asian competitors (Japan, Singapore, Korea, etc…) who stress hard memorization, competition and immense studying, they have less homework, less time in schools and less testing. So how is this country’s education so successful? Would any of these techniques they use work if implemented in the Canadian education system? Would this even be possible? A few of the practices I found interesting:
- Finnish children start pre-school at age 6, with an emphasis on the importance of learning.
- All students receive the same “basic” education until grade 10, and are then are given the choice to continue to an upper secondary school or 3 year vocational school (both of these programs have a heavy emphasis on curriculum and Finland is also known to have some of the most qualified employees in the trades).
- Teachers are highly respected in Finland, comparable with Doctors. (To become a teacher you must have a masters degree in your subject area and less than 10% of applicants are accepted into their teaching program. Less than 10%! (Maybe we could actually get a job if there were only 10% of appliccants accepted each year).
- There is a high level of professionalism associated with teaching, as they could be considered “master teachers” (as well continue to call them in EDCI 432) for their subject.
- Teaching is viewed as a life long career, highly professional, and a desired career choice. Unlike the US (and Canada), where many teachers (50%) quit the profession after a mere 5 years, it is a highly desired career choice, and one that not many people (once accepted) quit.
Looking for more information about this successful system? I read this blog that contains videos and an interview with Henna Virkkunen (Finland’s Minister of Education).
http://profesorbaker.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/finnish-educational-success-the-secret-revealed-again/
Also, though American, this article stresses some of the main differences between western education and Finnish.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2062465-1,00.html
I think the professionalism that goes along with teaching speaks volumes for the success in Finland.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the website you posted Ashton. I first heard of teachers requiring Masters degrees for teaching in Switzerland. In order to teach high school in Switzerland you are required to have a Masters degree. This fact makes me wonder how students and teacher rate in Switzerland compared to Finland, and what school-specific, curriculum specific and educational(ie. teacher training) specific factors account for the difference.
ReplyDeleteI really like the concept in Finland that a. they are willing to incorporate new methodologies and have the flexiblity to do so and b. that teaching is viewed as a professional lifetime career, and therefore teachers are respected by their society. I think North America could learn a lot from some of the systems in place in Europe.
I agree with Tracey in that I think one of the key points in this article is professionalism. This makes me think, would more be accomplished in our schools if teachers were not consistantly defending themselves to the media? would there be more leeway in our classrooms to try alternate methoodologies?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I believe that it's a good idea to have teachers have a masters degree; as far as time goes, everyone in our program has put in enough years to have completed a masters-or at least they will by the time our program is over. With this extra schooling there may be more behind the teachers allowing them more respect (like in Finland).