Creating Schools Where Students and Teachers Want To Be.

Michael Lawrence and Dr. Fabio D’Agostin have written the Book: ‘Creating Schools Where Students and Teachers Want To Be‘.

Michael tells us, “We worked together many years ago at Chanel College. In the following decades we both taught at other schools before fate brought us back together.

“Like most Australian educators, I knew that what we were doing was far from perfect, but I simply accepted that it was the best possible practice. On my first visit to Finland my host left me outside a classroom. I sat in a quiet corridor for 20 minutes, the teacher arrived and we entered the class where I was stunned to see 20 students all quietly working away. As I was going through the reasons why this would not happen in Australia he gave me a look akin to pity and said, ‘So you have had the students at school for 10 years and you cannot leave them to work in the class without a teacher… So what have you been teaching in all that time?

“I was lost for words.

“This visit was the first of many visits to Finland and led to writing the book ‘Testing 3,2,1 What Australian Education Can Learn From Finland’ (Melbourne Books, 2020). Fab was mid-way through a PhD on Emotions in Education.

“In 2023 I took a group of educators from Australia and Greece to Finland, including Fab. When Testing 3,2,1,… was published there was no talk of teacher shortages or an education crisis but things took a rapid turn for the worse. Almost daily media reports tell of increasing numbers of teachers leaving the profession and record numbers of students reporting mental health issues amidst classroom disengagement and flat-lining results.

“Finland performs consistently high in international education rankings while teaching is one of the most popular career choices and student disengagement and mental health issues are rare.

“Fab and I pledged to investigate elements of the Finnish system such as student engagement and ‘behaviour’, with a view to seeking ways of implementing anything which could help our own ailing system.

“Education is too important to risk pushing students away from it. A Finnish teacher who taught in Australia described it in a professional journal as ‘30 to 40 years behind’. The Finnish teachers are told to study best practice, then see if they can improve it.”

‘Creating Schools Where Students and Teachers Want To Be‘ is available at bookstores or from Melbourne Books.

Dr. Fab (left) and Michael have been speaking about education at schools, libraries and bookstores around the country.