Learning from FINLAND

The Finnish system could well provide some inspiration. Indeed, a few of its more resourceful ideas could be implemented here without spending one extra baht on new teachers or textbooks. All that is needed is a little extra courage and foresight and things could change dramatically. Pipe dream? Yes. Impossible? Well, let’s look at how the Finns do it.

In 2000, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ran the ‘Programme for International Student Assessment’ (PISA) – a survey carried out to compare the quality of education for 15 year-olds in some 32 countries. Finland came out top of the class in literacy and in the top five for Maths and Science. Clearly, they are doing something right.

“The interest that PISA has raised in learning outcomes and educational systems in general is impressive,” observes PISA national project manager JouniValijarvi. “It has also dramatically increased mobility of teachers and school administrators between countries, at least in our case.”

In a report entitled The Finnish success in PISA - and some reasons behind it, a group of academics acknowledged that “Finland’s high achievement seems to be attributable to a whole network of interrelated factors, in which students’ own interest and leisure activities, the learning opportunities provided by schools, parental support and involvement as well as the social and cultural context of learning and of the entire education system are combined with each other.” In short, people in Finland value education and it shows.

There are many features that set the Finnish system above the rest. One of the most striking is a sense of equality; each local authority has to provide a comprehensive education for all young people up to the age of 16, regardless of social background or wealth. Cynics in the West have long derided ‘comprehensive’ education – a system that educates children together regardless of ability - arguing it is impossible to manage effectively. Yet, judging by the strength of recent academic performance, in Finland such accusations are not reflected in reality.

Whilst the quality of education differs slightly between institutions, the variation is nowhere nearly as marked as between those in other countries where a hierarchical structure is the norm. There are also relatively few private schools because Finland doesn’t really need them; the education offered by the state is already excellent.

Another major factor that contributes to Finland’s success is that the job of being a teacher is one of the most highly prized in society. When the respected Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat recently asked a mass of 18 year-olds to name their favourite profession, 37% answered “teacher”. This uncharacteristic popularity is not because of salary but because teachers in Nordic culture are highly respected. As a result, the caliber of young people entering the profession is high and competition is fierce, particularly within the Primary sector where universities only accept around 10% of applicants for training. In fact, all teaching graduates are expected to have a Masters degree. This surely makes them one of the most highly qualified group of educators in the world.

Significantly, teachers enjoy a high level of autonomy in Finland. The government provides general curriculum guidelines but the practicalities of teaching and assessment are entirely up to the individual. Teachers also play a key role in school management. Since they get to make key decisions which affect day-to-day educational issues, rather than being dictated to by remote figures from ‘on high’, the outcome is a much more constructive atmosphere for staff. This, of course, also benefits the students.

As if they didn’t have it good enough already, Finnish kids don’t have to take any external examinations at comprehensive level; teachers are trusted to provide accurate and relevant assessment from projects, portfolios and other student activities. Perhaps many parents would reel in horror from the thought of this. But it does mean, in Finland at least, that students study with the intention of learning and developing, instead of simply to pass exams. By allowing educators the freedom to assess as they see fit, society avoids the tendency to focus too closely on school grades - an unfortunate trend that has permeated cultures across the globe in recent times.

One of the major battles confronting educators throughout the civilized world is that of a negative learning culture. Young people today, it is often said, invest more importance in entertainment and their social life than in learning, influenced by excessive media intrusion and a more materialistic society.

Although behavioural patterns and student attitudes towards education present the same challenges in Finland, the learning culture remains largely positive. OECD noted in their report that cultural communication with parents, defined as “frequency with which parents interact with their children in discussing political and social issues, discussing books, films and television programmes and listening to classical music”, had a significant impact on their child’s approach to study. Socio-economic background was found to influence attainment in much the same way as it does elsewhere, although those towards the bottom end of the socio-economic scale still emerged with higher scores than similar students in other countries.

In the 1990’s, Finland’s education reforms were geared towards improving the core curriculum elements of literacy, maths and science. There was, however, little prescriptive documentation from the government detailing how educators and administrators should do their job. Instead, money went in to supplying schools with up-to-date technology and other important resources.

OECD found that a good library system and moderate computer usage in the young were contributing factors to literacy success. Whilst parents of teenagers usually complain that their kids spend hardly any time reading, the same could not be said for most kids in Finland - 41% of those interviewed listed reading as their favourite pastime, a figure way ahead of most other participant nations. Reading classic literature or historical tomes are always considered worthy but healthy reading, according to the Finns, can also be drawn from newspapers, magazines and, inevitably, the Internet. Even comics and e-mails are considered better than nothing.

In Maths and Science, the results of the survey were equally impressive. The Finnish curriculum gears students towards the application of knowledge and experimental thinking and many of the tasks given to all participating countries centred around these concepts. Results were also aided by the LUMA programme (from the acronym for the Finnish luonnontieteet ja matematiikka ‘science and mathematics’). Launched in 1996, the programme aims to improve teaching in these subjects by providing updates in computer hardware and software, additional teacher-training and allowing for increased experimental studies.

Schools in Finland take a pro-active approach to all areas of school life, keen to ensure that the environment remains a relevant and welcoming one for students. Yet there are other factors, some of which would be ridiculed elsewhere, that seem to contribute significantly to the learning process.

Unusually, many children in Finland do not begin their formal education until they are seven years old, some three or four years above the average school starting age. The belief here is that the youngest children are bound to be more eager to learn with the freedom to play and will take that positive ethos with them throughout their learning careers – a concept which goes against the grain of the ‘test them young’ philosophy prevailing in some other countries.

Secondly, all students are taught in ‘mixed-ability’ groups throughout their comprehensive education. Only those with special needs will be taken out of a regular class, although most of these students will receive their extra support within the classroom. Some would argue that this is a recipe for disaster and almost unmanageable; surely the most and least able will suffer if teaching is directed towards the middle. But when teachers are trained to deliver their lessons in a pedagogical manner, this notion is not too far-fetched. And, incidentally, it works. Since teachers themselves essentially drive the curriculum, greater flexibility allows them to adopt a choice of teaching strategies to suit the needs of individual classes.

Counselling, too, is an integral part of the service and students can easily find support when making academic or career choices as well as seek emotional guidance if needed.

Although this model appears to be something of an educator’s dream, it is worth remembering that Finland has a social advantage over many other nations. For example, it is an economically prosperous country with a small population of only 5 million (almost half that of Bangkok) and therefore not overly burdened with budgeting constraints.

The population is also largely homogeneous, so implementing a cohesive education policy can be a fairly straightforward process. Since ethnic minorities only account for around 2%, the practicalities of assisting non-native speakers are that much less complex than elsewhere. As Finland embraces more immigrants, however, this will inevitably change.

Hannu-Pekka Lappalainen, a counsellor at the Finnish Board of Education, looks realistically towards the future. “I think that we are quite determined to maintain our educational strategy based on the principle of equity and on an effort to minimise low achievement. On the other hand, there remains plenty of work to be done,” he admits. “For instance, in improving the boys' motivation or their writing skills, which are not as good in general as are their reading skills.” Although they fair much better than their counterparts in other countries, particularly in reading, boy’s achievement generally falls well behind that of girls - even the Finns haven’t found the answer to that one!

Perhaps more worryingly, however, is the recent threat to teacher’s autonomy. When the results of PISA were originally published in 2001, the government’s plans, to re-centralise decision-making and take tighter control of the curriculum, were stalled. But the momentum for change was re-energised earlier this year with the introduction of a new national curriculum. “My interpretation as a researcher is that the logic of politics and the logic of research and development are quite different,” laments Jouni Valijarvi who notes that the new national curriculum could seriously compromise some important freedoms. “On the other hand, it pays much more attention than the previous one to the impact of the social and physical environment on learning outcomes,” he adds.

On economics alone, Thailand cannot hope to compete with a country like Finland. However, there is no reason why ministers shouldn’t look at increasing autonomy as a possible starting point in their quest for a more effective education system.

Thailand will feature in the next OECD survey with the results of are due to be published later this year. No-one expects Thai education will come out of the survey with flying colours but it should at least show us where it fits within the vast scheme of things. Administrators should also be able to identify the strengths of the system here, perhaps giving the government some confidence to be that bit more adventurous.

In the long term, taking heed of some of Finland’s educational successes could yield enormous benefits. With the right infrastructure and a seismic shift in social perspective, perhaps Thai students of the future could be proud of their place in the world’s educational hierarchy too.