Finnish schools: myths in the international press, context features and new technologies
Instead of the preface: Electronic industry, forests, engineering - the key export items of Finland. Nevertheless, education is another area that is perhaps even more widely known to mere mortals, due to its B2C orientation and thanks to numerous publications in the press, electronic media and mentions in parental chats, usually accompanied by something in the spirit of all of us will be so ”or“ ours will not do so exactly ”- depending on the degree of optimism of the parent. In the article, I will talk about what is actually happening in schools in Finland and with the system of secondary education. Without details and try the case.
Key findings:
1. For countries such as Kazakhstan or Russia, the export of the educational system of general education schools is practically impossible and irrelevant at the national level, although it is possible to reapply individual programs and elements within both public and private initiatives.
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2. The Finnish experience is the most exported and universal in developing children’s cross-subject skills and empowering schools to modify the program.
3. Over the past ten years, there has been a gradual drop in the level of Finnish schoolchildren relative to international competitors, which is recognized by the Finnish leadership. New training programs designed to return Finland’s status of “leader in education” were launched only in the second half of 2016, so it’s still very, very early to talk about their performance.
About Finland, which is not Kazakhstan. And not Russia.
Start with geography and demography. Speaking about how much we transfer the experience of anything - one of the first questions to ask ourselves - and how are countries, cities different, people - those whose experience we take and those who use it. The specificity of Finland, as a country, is quite remarkable:
- Small population. There are 5.5 million people in the country, and they live concentrated in the south, in a very small area.
- Extremely homogeneous population. 89% of the population are ethnic Finns, 5.5% are Swedes. Problems with different religious trends and beliefs, too, in fact, no.
- Minor difference in incomes of the population.
- According to statistics from 2008, 1/3 of schools is less than 50 pupils; only 4% are schools for 500 or more.
And now compare this with the average number of 336 pupils per school in Kazakhstan, a diverse ethnic population, which varies considerably depending on the region and differs significantly in income level.
It is quite reasonable to assume that this alone limits the possibility of a complete transfer of the Finnish system into our realities, although it does not mean that its individual elements cannot be used in isolation by embedding them in national plans.
Where do the legs of the “Finnish education system” grow from the period of leadership in PISA
From the 1980s-1990s, for the most part. The main changes introduced at that moment:
- The same school program and free for all schools.
- Qualitatively trained teachers in elementary school.
- The degree of “teacher” opened the doors not only for work at school, but also in the public and private sector, which removed the limits of the profession and allowed to grow further.
- Development of a culture of trust in teachers.
The result of this period was the leadership of Finland in the PISA rating - first in 2000, then 2003, 2006 and positions in the top 5 in other periods. In 2013, another article appeared in Business Insider. About the fact that now Finland - only the 12th in the list. And about what to do with it.
Difficulties of Finnish schools
“The unexpected position as a global educational leader and role model distracted Finland from the focus on continuous improvement and renewal. Some argue that the focus on explaining past successes for thousands of tourists and education has distracted Finns from developing their own system. Others say that PISA’s popularity has stimulated other countries to change their curricula. These countries took PISA questions and began to formulate lessons based on these questions, which raised the average level of answers, ”Pasi Salberg explained the situation at the presentation of PISA results.
In short, the main difficulties of the current system are:
- Low interest in science among schoolchildren. 65% of students showed poor results in this area. 2/3 of them are boys.
- The big difference in the success of boys and girls. Girls, in general, show significantly better results (author's note: she tried for a long time to understand why and what threatens, but she did not understand.
- Minimum in absolutes, but growing, relative to previous years, the difference between schools.
- Lack of motivation for children in progress. Finland has its own leveling and a big focus on the fact that no one is left behind. Unfortunately, this leads to the fact that talented children in school can be very, very boring.
Fresh reforms. Quite fresh.
“I still believe in our education system,” says the Finnish Minister of Education and Culture, and is preparing a reform plan. Those that concern grades 1–6 were presented in August 2016. Programs for grades 7–9 are planned in 2017, 2018, 2019.
What is stored in them:
- equal access to education for all
- significant focus on teacher education
- responsibility and freedom at the level of individual schools and districts
What is changing:
- Adding a cross-disciplinary module in the mandatory program. Within the framework of it, the guys solve problems that are not related exclusively to one subject, but give the opportunity to apply different knowledge. Interestingly, it is precisely on this occasion that the Ministry of Education and Culture even released a separate release, completely dedicated to the thought “no, we do not refuse subjects at school, we simply add a cross-disciplinary module. Media resources that speak about the abolition of subjects in Finnish schools are wrong. ”
- Introduction of a tutor for each school. The task of the tutor is to help with the use of new pedagogical practices and to promote the use of new digital technologies.
- LUMA-program, with the task of stimulating the study of mathematics and the natural sciences, from kindergarten to university level. The focus of the program is on training with specific life examples and in the natural environment (nature, enterprise, and so on).
- Multiliteracy (knowledge of several languages) for the possibility of studying subjects in these languages
Instead of an afterword:
The Finnish system is definitely in the top and I do not want to diminish its significance in any way, however, trying to shift it to local realities - you should always ask yourself 2 questions:
1. How relevant are these things in my environment?
2. Are those the things that brought Finland to the lead?
For - what if you do not reapply that?
Key findings:
1. For countries such as Kazakhstan or Russia, the export of the educational system of general education schools is practically impossible and irrelevant at the national level, although it is possible to reapply individual programs and elements within both public and private initiatives.
')
2. The Finnish experience is the most exported and universal in developing children’s cross-subject skills and empowering schools to modify the program.
3. Over the past ten years, there has been a gradual drop in the level of Finnish schoolchildren relative to international competitors, which is recognized by the Finnish leadership. New training programs designed to return Finland’s status of “leader in education” were launched only in the second half of 2016, so it’s still very, very early to talk about their performance.
About Finland, which is not Kazakhstan. And not Russia.
Start with geography and demography. Speaking about how much we transfer the experience of anything - one of the first questions to ask ourselves - and how are countries, cities different, people - those whose experience we take and those who use it. The specificity of Finland, as a country, is quite remarkable:
- Small population. There are 5.5 million people in the country, and they live concentrated in the south, in a very small area.
- Extremely homogeneous population. 89% of the population are ethnic Finns, 5.5% are Swedes. Problems with different religious trends and beliefs, too, in fact, no.
- Minor difference in incomes of the population.
- According to statistics from 2008, 1/3 of schools is less than 50 pupils; only 4% are schools for 500 or more.
And now compare this with the average number of 336 pupils per school in Kazakhstan, a diverse ethnic population, which varies considerably depending on the region and differs significantly in income level.
It is quite reasonable to assume that this alone limits the possibility of a complete transfer of the Finnish system into our realities, although it does not mean that its individual elements cannot be used in isolation by embedding them in national plans.
Where do the legs of the “Finnish education system” grow from the period of leadership in PISA
From the 1980s-1990s, for the most part. The main changes introduced at that moment:
- The same school program and free for all schools.
- Qualitatively trained teachers in elementary school.
- The degree of “teacher” opened the doors not only for work at school, but also in the public and private sector, which removed the limits of the profession and allowed to grow further.
- Development of a culture of trust in teachers.
The result of this period was the leadership of Finland in the PISA rating - first in 2000, then 2003, 2006 and positions in the top 5 in other periods. In 2013, another article appeared in Business Insider. About the fact that now Finland - only the 12th in the list. And about what to do with it.
Difficulties of Finnish schools
“The unexpected position as a global educational leader and role model distracted Finland from the focus on continuous improvement and renewal. Some argue that the focus on explaining past successes for thousands of tourists and education has distracted Finns from developing their own system. Others say that PISA’s popularity has stimulated other countries to change their curricula. These countries took PISA questions and began to formulate lessons based on these questions, which raised the average level of answers, ”Pasi Salberg explained the situation at the presentation of PISA results.
In short, the main difficulties of the current system are:
- Low interest in science among schoolchildren. 65% of students showed poor results in this area. 2/3 of them are boys.
- The big difference in the success of boys and girls. Girls, in general, show significantly better results (author's note: she tried for a long time to understand why and what threatens, but she did not understand.
- Minimum in absolutes, but growing, relative to previous years, the difference between schools.
- Lack of motivation for children in progress. Finland has its own leveling and a big focus on the fact that no one is left behind. Unfortunately, this leads to the fact that talented children in school can be very, very boring.
Fresh reforms. Quite fresh.
“I still believe in our education system,” says the Finnish Minister of Education and Culture, and is preparing a reform plan. Those that concern grades 1–6 were presented in August 2016. Programs for grades 7–9 are planned in 2017, 2018, 2019.
What is stored in them:
- equal access to education for all
- significant focus on teacher education
- responsibility and freedom at the level of individual schools and districts
What is changing:
- Adding a cross-disciplinary module in the mandatory program. Within the framework of it, the guys solve problems that are not related exclusively to one subject, but give the opportunity to apply different knowledge. Interestingly, it is precisely on this occasion that the Ministry of Education and Culture even released a separate release, completely dedicated to the thought “no, we do not refuse subjects at school, we simply add a cross-disciplinary module. Media resources that speak about the abolition of subjects in Finnish schools are wrong. ”
- Introduction of a tutor for each school. The task of the tutor is to help with the use of new pedagogical practices and to promote the use of new digital technologies.
- LUMA-program, with the task of stimulating the study of mathematics and the natural sciences, from kindergarten to university level. The focus of the program is on training with specific life examples and in the natural environment (nature, enterprise, and so on).
- Multiliteracy (knowledge of several languages) for the possibility of studying subjects in these languages
Instead of an afterword:
The Finnish system is definitely in the top and I do not want to diminish its significance in any way, however, trying to shift it to local realities - you should always ask yourself 2 questions:
1. How relevant are these things in my environment?
2. Are those the things that brought Finland to the lead?
For - what if you do not reapply that?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/322154/
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