Finnish School System and Educational Leadership: March 8, 2019

Dear Friends,

I had such a great day; it was jam packed! We focused on the Finnish School System and Educational Leadership.   We also ate some wonderful foods! 

To start off, we learned a little about the history of Finland and their history with Fulbright.

Next, we learned about the Education System in Finland. There are national frameworks, Finnish Core Curriculum, that each municipality uses to design curriculum around and then each school personalizes that curriculum for themselves.

Teachers are trusted professionals and given autonomy to deliver the curriculum in the best way they see fit. They receive equal pay across cities in Finland.

They have all heterogeneous classes, no tracking...no honors, remedial, etc.  When a student is substantially ahead of other students they are given an “individual path.”  They work in the classroom, typically, with their same age peers doing more advanced work. This is not common. An example shared was a student who moved to Finland from an Asian country who was far more advanced in Math.

The learning differences are very small between poor and good performers.  

They have “positive discrimination,” more funding is given to schools with “inequality.” They may receive up to a 20% increase in resources.

They have an effective system of support for students who do not perform well.  It has three levels of support.  The first level involves classroom support with the teacher, the other two levels are more intensive with additional teacher support.  Funding is used to pay for such teacher support.  This support system is at all schools.  The national average for specialized support offered at a school is 8%.  A school with high specialized support is 20%.   (% extra money)

Students mostly attend their neighborhood schools.  They provide their own transportation, walking, bicycling, city bus, etc.  There are not many private schools.  The parents and community have great respect for and trust in the public schools. 

No authorities test learning; the only standardized test given is at the end of high school. 

There is not high poverty in Finland. Their welfare and social services are strong and efficient.

Schools provide students with most all of their school needs:  school supplies, skates, electronic devices, etc. 

Their per pupil funding is about 8,000 Euros. 

Recess breaks are given through all grade levels. In fact, our Fulbright schedule, so far, has been designed with frequent breaks built in (see photos below). In grades 1-6 (or grades 1-8) they have a 15 minute recess after a 45 minute lesson.  In grades 7-12 (or 9-12 they) have a 15 minute recess after every 75 minute lesson.  It varies from school to school, but each school offers 15 minute breaks after each lesson.  The lessons tend to be shorter in the younger grades, 1-6 or 1-8.  High school lessons are longer. Recess is ALWAYS outside.  “There is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing.” It is common for students to borrow gloves from the overflowing lost and found.

 

There is a conscious effort happening to increase movement in the schools, including flexible seating and movement built into instruction.  “Raise both arms if you agree with X, stretch out a leg if you think Y.”  This is part of the School on the Move campaign. It includes “X break.”

https://liikkuvakoulu.fi/english

The typical school day for grades 3 and up is 8:30 to 4:00. The younger grades have shorter days.  There is an after school program offered, which allows younger students to stay at school longer. 

We met with a few school principals, educational leaders, and Olli-Pekka Heinonen, Director General at the Finnish National Agency for Education.  We learned there are a lot of similarities with concerns in schools and how broad the responsibilities are for principals, with limited support/resources. 

We also learned how respected teachers and schools are in Finland.  Teachers make an average salary, not comparable to the business world, yet the jobs are coveted.  An average salary in Finland is 3,500 Euros a month, teachers make slightly more than that. Only 10% of applicants are able to secure teaching positions.  In order to apply, they must have a masters degree.

Teachers have varying work schedules. Their schedules are broken down by the hours per week they teach students.  Some teach 18 hours and some teach 24 hours.  They are required, on their time as they see fit, to plan before each lesson and to plan/reflect after each lesson. This is not part of their hours.  In addition, the principals assign 3 hours of planning for teachers per week. This includes common planning, conferences, etc.  Teachers are paid the same, salary is not based on hours of lessons. 

There is not a formal evaluation system for teachers. The system is transparent, limiting need for quality control.

A principal we met with observes teachers once a year and meets with them for an hour.  When there are parent and student complaints that prompts more visits and more support offered.



Olli-Pekka Heinonen, Director General at the Finnish National Agency for Education shared that there is a lot of trust with the education system. Teachers have a lot of autonomy and chose how to reach teaching goals.  Teachers trust students to grow with support and gradually release the support they receive.  We need to nurture and maintain the trust, build trust, build relationships. 

Olli-Pekka Heinonen outlined goals (photo):
1.  Educational leadership as professional development
2.  Long term development, funding
3.  Support for learning, personal learning goals and flexible learning solutions
4.  Schools are seen as an essential part of the communities.  Schools promote well being.

Olli liked the Principal Academy described by Michele Miller, a school principal from Colorado, and will look into such a program for Finnish principals.

Wellness for staff and students are valued.

https://www.healthandwellbeing.org/en-AU/home

Schools have community welfare groups (committee) who develop their prevention program. They include parents and students visit meetings.

Parents see education as a tool for social growth, they trust it. They’ve seen the changes since WWII.

There is a new national curriculum for basic education.  It includes subjects and transversal competencies.  (Handout)

Religious education is required by law to happen at school. It is taught once a week based on the student’s religion.  If there are more than 8 students in a municipality with the same religion, the school must offer religious studies for that religion. They are not practiced, but learned about. Finland is a Lutheran country, that is the primary religion.

There are 515,000 students in Finland. Some schools have students who speak 40 different t languages.

Q&A Notes:
Most important actions you take for student learning:
Care about the kids.
Be visible to students.
Listen to what teachers are talking about.
Say positive and encouraging things to teachers.
Have a warm heart and resolute position as needed.
Create an environment where staff want to come to school.
Encourage.
Be inspirational, give a spark, share energy.
Have students help develop school culture. #respect. Use student leaders as positive role models...have peers correct Each other vs. principal (Ex. Proper language -bad words)

We went out to dinner, too.  We had reindeer stew!   

We got back to the hotel around 7:45 PM. Some of my American peers wanted to meet up and connect after dinner, but I was zonked!  Instead, I decided to get up early to write and go for a walk. I was in bed at 8:00 PM and woke up at 2:15 AM.  I started writing this post at 2:30 AM.  It’s now 5:30AM. I'm a slow writer!  :)

Our first full day was informative, engaging, and full of networking, idea sharing, and professional growth.  I am excited to go to a nature center at a national park in a few hours!  We will also have the opportunity to go to a sauna and ice swimming!

All the best,
Vanessa