Big takeaways from the Finland trip

 Forgive the lateness of this post... turns out jet lag effects prompt posting! But I digress...

While I can appreciate the many fundamental differences of the Finnish education system and ours in the states, there is no doubt that this trip has had a profound impact on me. I hope to bring a little Finland into my days and show others that it might be possible to do the same.

 

The differences in our whole system of governmental supports can not be denied. In Finland, they believe education is a major pillar of their society. This is evident even from the positioning of their central square area. There are 4 sides- Church, Government, Education, and Marketplace/harbor. In Finland all education from age 1 through PHD’s are free.    Wait… did you hear that??? Did you REALLY hear that??? Yeah. I said it. Free.  They encourage people to develop new skills for the changing world. They have partnerships with major corporations like Nokia to work on developing technology as well as training the workforce to create and maintain or service the innovations. As a nation they are always prepared to pivot if necessary and they try to work 5 steps ahead to be ready.  In Finland, the secondary schools do not have competitive sports that they play against other schools. If a child has interest in furthering their sports career, they can go to a specialized upper secondary school that will specialize in such a thing. Getting back to the support of education and the belief that it is a major pillar of society, if a person loses their job or is struggling, that person can go back to school at a vocational school at any age for free! Yup free! They can take some courses and update their skills. There are people that can also connect them with work if needed.

 I think the hardest thing for many of us to get our heads around was the difference in schedules for kids and teachers. The system was much more flexible with kids coming at different times and teachers being paid per teaching hour rather than per week/month/year.  One of the biggest differences we kept choking on a bit was the prep time. Teachers who actively teach 24 hours in a week receive 12 hours of prep time. Yup! That’s it! I said it!!!! They get ½ hour of prep for every teaching lesson or hour. They also get an additional 3 hours per week to collaborate with colleagues. Whoa... I think we asked that question probably 25 times because we were all in disbelief.  The administrators that were there acknowledged that we have a lot to prep as teachers and they carried a baffled look on their faces that it would be anything different. Some teachers teach up to 36 classes per week and are paid accordingly.

Most schools have a small administration and they are not there to oversee, assess, or catch teachers or students not doing something right. They are there to HELP teachers and students to succeed. One administrator we spoke to who was the head of school said that his job was to be the Customer Service person and make sure that his teachers had everything they needed to be successful and happy. When asked about disciplinary system for teachers or how they can tell teachers are doing their jobs… most administrators seemed a bit confused at the question. They simply said, if a teacher was struggling not having successful teaching moments, they would simply work with them and make them better. Their teacher training program was so good that someone who is NOT a good teacher would never graduate and do well. So bad teachers would never get into the system to begin with.

Teachers have a lot of autonomy to teach within their classes. They have some basic objectives to teach to, but are given complete freedom to teach their classes and work with their teaching teams together to make great projects and themes. They said that the national standards for education were a very huge 1500 page document but that individual areas or cities boiled it down to a basic 1 pager for each level.

(Copied from https://eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu/national-education-systems/finland/single-structure-primary-and-lower-secondary-education)

Transversal competences at the heart of the curriculum

According to the national core curriculum for basic education (single structure primary and lower secondary education) some of the key aims are:

• developing schools as learning communities
• emphasizing the joy of learning
• emphasizing collaborative atmosphere
• promoting student autonomy in studying and in school life.

Much focus is put on transversal (generic) competences and work across school subjects to meet the challenges of the future. Transversal competence is a mixture of knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and will. Competence also means an ability to apply knowledge and skills in a given situation.

In the national core curriculum, the learning goals of the transversal competences are described with seven competence areas. These areas are:

1. Thinking and learning to learn
2. Cultural literacy, communication and expression
3. Managing daily life, taking care of oneself and others
4. Multiliteracy
5. ICT-skills
6. Entrepreneurial and work life skills
7. Participation in and building sustainable future.

This is a new way of combining competence-based and subject-based teaching and learning. Local authorities and schools are encouraged to promote developing these competences and to consider their own innovative ways to reach the set goals.

The core curricula for subjects have been written in a way that the most important competence objectives are linked to the subject’s learning goals. The competences are also assessed as a part of subject assessment. So, every school subject enhances the development of all seven competence areas.

The emphasis is set on collaborative classroom practices. The National core curriculum (Perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelman perusteet 2014) introduced multi-disciplinary, phenomenon- and project-based studies where several teachers may work with students studying the same topic.

 

We spoke a lot about phenomenon-based teaching and project-based teaching. What we found is that often kids are broken into “nests” or groups or wings of students (much like CPP Middle School breaks into the white, gold, and black families or teams). Students are then housed in multi-age groups with more than one teacher and often a special education teacher as well. There are moments during class time to teach or work as a whole group, but also many moments where kids break up into smaller work groups or even had access to small rooms where teachers could pull students to a quiet room to work. Classrooms were large open spaces with some moveable nooks and some small rooms as well.  Teachers could teach multiple subjects and engage students in meaningful activities through projects. Not all instruction is project-based. Some admittedly needs to be direct instruction and practice (some math, for example), but even then, there is investigative practice and hands-on practice.

Longevity

Schools are built with multipurpose and longevity in mind. Since the country believes it is important to support all of its citizens, cities design schools so that if 50 years ahead there are no longer children in the area to support a school, they can reuse the buildings as senior centers. They have done a lot of research about cognitive decline and physical decline in aging adults and found that if you do not continue to seek input and new experiences for your brain, your life expectancy decreases. Schools do not have gang bathrooms, they are all individual bathrooms, often with a bidet or little shower in there. They have multiple sinks and ovens so classrooms can turn into apartments. When we visited Lappset, the playground makers, they even spoke about playgrounds they are making for seniors.

Independence and Trust

The goals of not only schools but the society is to create independent citizens. The government systems are set up to support this with large family leaves available for both parents (yes it is not set as a man/woman either!). Nursing mom can get more time, then other parent can get 3 months on their own with the baby which helps them to not only form an individual bond, but also teaches them how to manage a house and growing baby at the same time. Free childcare is available in schools from 1 on. Students are taught to be independent at an early age. Many will walk or bike to school on their own and are TRUSTED to do the right thing always. Schooling is not generalized to one size fits all. Classes are mobile and one student could interact with several teachers in the course of the day, all their to help to create individualized learning plans for kids as they grow. Once they pass their matriculation exams at the end of 9^th grade, they are still required to go to “upper secondary” schools until they are 18. In the upper secondary, which they apply into, they are learning about their chosen career path. It can be academic university or vocational.  Students have varied schedules in their school day and are trusted to attend classes and use their free time (15 minutes for every hour of class) wisely to unwind and be outside rain or shine. Schools provide cross country skis, rinks for ice hockey or field hockey, and even outdoor nature walk areas for them.

 I joked a lot while we were there that it reminded me of New Hampshire and their “live free or die” motto. There were definitely opportunities for mischief or injury, but there seemed to be a “screw around and find out” sort of feeling. If you don’t listen and make good choices, you suffer the natural consequences. Simple.

So what does it all mean to me?

Emphasis in teaching was to teach the WHOLE HUMAN. This means for my grade level, give many opportunities to play. Investigate. Use hands-on materials. Have discussions and learn how to engage in social interactions including both 1:1 and group. I need to bring in my inquiry methods that I learned in the museum world and be more of a tour guide and facilitator than a sage on a stage. Teaching students to respectfully question the world will set them up as critical thinkers and good communicators- something that is truly needed in the world to come. Helping students manage their emotions and value their own mental health as well as the health of others is an important thing. Giving more opportunities for them to share crafts and materials as well as snacks family style will offer moments of independence. And probably most important- time! I can take time for investigations and play and allow the kids ample transition time and more opportunities for outdoor play and fresh air. Academically, I am going to find more opportunities for multidisciplinary experiences and projects to tie things together. I think we have a good start, but I can’t wait to dive in more and really craft some good things!

Teaching and learning is supposed to “SPARK JOY” and this trip certainly has sparked mine!  Thank you again to the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes for creating this opportunity and doing all you can to bring our world forward together.