StickWithANose

In response to Lykins laying down the smack, I’ve started a weekly segment called What Works. This second installment begins to pull back the layers of the Finnish model I discussed last week by examining Finland’s commitment to basic education.

Prior to the 2000’s, Finland’s education system had been considered average by Western, post-industrial standards. In terms of literacy, mathematics, and scientific reasoning, there was little that distinguished Finland from other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development [OECD] nations in academic performance. However, in the past decade, Finland has excelled in international comparisons in all three of these measures. In reading, math, and science, Finland now outperforms not only the OECD average but also much larger and wealthier nations that have long histories with public education, such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Interestingly, Finland has been able to accomplish these academic gains while its education expenditures for primary and secondary education remain below the OECD average as measured by percentage of GDP. Deemed by many the “Finnish Miracle,” this dramatic surge in academic achievement emerged from a series of reforms implemented during a financial crisis in the 1990’s in which Finland forged an alternate path to international trends in educational reform. Like other nations, Finland sought to realign its education system to the demands of a globalizing world so as to build a foundation for a vibrant information- and technology-based economy. However, the Finnish approach to this problem provides us with an alternative model of policy and reform to the market-based approaches now en vogue.

As national policy, Finland focuses its resources on primary education. It is a policy decision based on rich bodies of research suggesting that investment in primary education as children learn basic knowledge and adopt attitudes of lifelong learning pays off in later grades. Beginning at age seven, children complete six years of primary schooling and three years of secondary schooling that emphasizes foundational knowledge, intellectual skills, and life-long learning. Primary and secondary schools in Finland are generally small, well-equipped, staffed by well- educated and well-respected teachers, and geared toward a whole child approach to education. Students generally have the same teacher through their first years of schooling and relations between students and teachers are often characterized as being close and caring.  For educators on this side of the pond, Finland sounds down right beautiful.

Basic education is free of charge for pupils. Textbooks and other materials, tools etc. are free of charge and pupils are offered a free daily meal. In addition, school health care and other welfare services are free to the pupils…

The objective of basic education is to support pupils’ growth towards humanity and ethically responsible membership of society and to provide them with the knowledge and skills needed in life. The education should promote learning and equality in society as well as acquiring knowledge and skills that the students need in studying and developing themselves later in life. Education also aims at guaranteeing sufficient equality in education throughout the country.

What strikes me about the Finnish model is not only its success but that this success is intimately linked to the Finns commitment to equal educational opportunity, or comprehensiveness. From Sahlberg:

In 2004, more than one third of Finnish comprehensive schools had fewer than 50 pupils, just 4% of all schools had 500 or more pupils. Many primary schools therefore have become learning and caring communities rather than merely instructional institutions that prepare pupils for the next level of schooling. The fact that all children enroll in identical comprehensive schools regardless of their socioeconomic background or personal abilities and characteristics has resulted in a system where schools and classrooms are heterogeneous in terms of pupil profiles and diverse in terms of educational needs and expectations. Comprehensiveness, the leading idea in implementing the basic values of equity in education, also means that all students receive a free two-course warm meal daily, free health care, transportation, learning materials, and counseling in their own schools.

At the macro level, Finland’s educational success is a result of sound policy decisions that targets resources toward basic education in small neighborhood schools and provides equality of opportunity. It is a successful system based on solid educational research that offers a powerful alternative to the corporate nightmare threatening the American system.

So what’s the take-away? Several points jump out…

First, small neighborhood schools with low student-teacher ratios in which students work with the same teacher for the first years of schooling is an ideal learning environment. In such settings, teachers get to know their students… how they learn, work, play, etc… and can attend to their educational needs, and small class sizes ensures that they have the time to do so. Our current obsession with teachers specializing in specific grades at the elementary level and filling their classrooms with 25-30 students at a time is a product of the industrial age more so than sound pedagogical research.

Second, for those of you who would dismiss the above because of the costs involved, note that basic education in Finland takes only nine years! [7-16] I know this might sound heretical in the US, but reducing the total number of years students attend basic education could make it possible to transition to a small-school model. Remember: Finland spends significantly less that other OECD nations but is kicking their butts academically!

Third, related to the above, basic education begins at age 7 by which time even late bloomers have had the opportunity to hone their language skills and [god forbid] be kids! There is a wealth of learning that takes place outside of the schoolhouse that directly benefits intellectual growth, but it requires that students have the time to enjoy those experiences.

Finally, make note of the educational objectives Finland has adopted for its students… To foster their humanity and for them to become ethically responsible members of society. No mention of economic goals… no globalization… international competition… nada. Basic education is geared toward teaching students the foundational knowledge of literacy, mathematics, and scientific reasoning; critical thinking skills; and a love of learning. I’ll cover this more in later postings, but it is important to note that in Finland classroom instruction is inquiry-based in collaborative settings in which critical thinking and collaboration are just as important as the curricular content involved. There is an emphasis on students actually working together and enjoying the learning process! As we shall see, this approach to learning is largely responsible for Finland’s success in academic achievement, but it also has made Finland economically competitive in the information age of the global economy.

Next week: Teacher Professionalism & Training

Sources:

- OECD, Briefing Note for Finland, September 9, 2008, www.oecd.org/dataoecd/31/46/41277828.pdf [accessed 10/21/08].

- Pasi Sahlberg, “Education policies for raising student learning: the Finnish approach”, Journal of Education Policy, 2007, Volume 22, Number 2, 147-171.

- Martha A. Brueggeman, “An Outsider’s View of Beginning Literacy in Finland: Assumptions, Lessons Learned, and Sisu”, Literacy Research and Instruction, 2008, Volume 47, Number 1, 4.

- Ian Westbury, Sven-Erik Hansen, Pertti Kansanen and Ole Bjorkvist, “Teacher Education for Research-based Practice in Expanded Roles: Finland’s experience”, Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 2005, Volume 49, Number 5, 477.