“After some three decades of teaching, it came as an immense shock to visit Finland and find that I could not give reason to most of the practices my country were using. Questions such as:
“Why are you using standardized testing? Is it creating improvement and if not, why do you continue with it?
“Are all your students the same? Then why would you teach them the same things at the same time?
“As the teacher you are responsible for the wellbeing of your students, why do you expose them to high stakes testing which can do great harm?
“In Finnish schools (I was there again escorting a group of educators just a month ago) I witness calm, happy students, not just engaged but inspired at school. Teachers meet our group of international educators at the door, show us around the school while speaking frankly about the challenges they face (a drop in the results for male students, electronic devices etc) before returning to their class where we find students who have continued working (unsupervised- one Finnish teacher commented, “So do your students stop working as soon as you are not looking over their shoulder?”).”
You may ask, ‘Why Finland?’
“It has been a world leader in education for decades – Estonia, which topped the latest PISA results have created a system based on the Finnish model.
“Finland’s students report lower anxiety about school, and teaching is one of the most desired careers for young people, right up there with medicine and law. Currently, only one in six applicants gain entry to teacher education courses. Teaching is a highly respected profession with great professional autonomy, and trust in the professional judgement of the teacher.
Continue reading “Finnish Schools update by Michael Lawrence.”
HuG 