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No Tests, No Homework! Here's How Finland Has Emerged As A Global Example Of Quality, Inclusive Education

Others/world, 15 may 2022 3:40 am gmt, editor : shiva chaudhary | .

Shiva Chaudhary

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A post-graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication with relevant skills, specialising in content editing & writing. I believe in the precise dissemination of information based on facts to the public.

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Student-oriented approach to education in finland has been recognised as the most well-developed educational system in the world and ranks third in education worldwide..

"A quality education grants us the ability to fight the war on ignorance and poverty," - Charles Rangel

The uniqueness of the Finnish education model is encapsulated in its values of neither giving homework to students every day nor conducting regular tests and exams. Instead, it is listening to what the kids want and treating them as independent thinkers of society.

In Finland, the aim is to let students be happy and respect themselves and others.

Goodbye Standardised Exams

There is absolutely no program of nationwide standard testing, such as in India or the U.S, where those exams are the decisive points of one's admission to higher education like Board Examinations or Common Entrance Tests.

In an event organised by Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat remarked, "It is because they teach their children to face life struggles and not score in an examination," reported The Print .

Students in Finland are graded based on individual performance and evaluation criteria decided by their teachers themselves. Overall progress is tracked by their government's Ministry of Education, where they sample groups of students across schools in Finland.

Value-Based Education

They are primarily focused on making school a safe and equal space as children learn from the environment.

All Finland schools have offered since the 1980s free school meals, access to healthcare, a focus on mental health through psychological counselling for everyone and guidance sessions for each student to understand their wants and needs.

Education in Finland is not about marks or ranks but about creating an atmosphere of social equality, harmony and happiness for the students to ease learning experiences.

Most of the students spend half an hour at home after school to work on their studies. They mostly get everything done in the duration of the school timings as they only have a few classes every day. They are given several 15 -20 minutes breaks to eat, do recreational activities, relax, and do other work. There is no regiment in school or a rigid timetable, thus, causing less stress as given in the World Economic Forum .

Everyone Is Equal - Cooperate, Not Compete

The schools do not put pressure on ranking students, schools, or competitions, and they believe that a real winner doesn't compete; they help others come up to their level to make everyone on par.

Even though individualism is promoted during evaluation based on every student's needs, collectivity and fostering cooperation among students and teachers are deemed crucial.

While most schools worldwide believe in Charles Darwin's survival of the fittest, Finland follows the opposite but still comes out at the top.

Student-Oriented Model

The school teachers believe in a simple thumb rule; students are children who need to be happy when they attend school to learn and give their best. Focus is put upon teaching students to be critical thinkers of what they know, engage in society, and decide for themselves what they want.

In various schools, playgrounds are created by children's input as the architect talks to the children about what they want or what they feel like playing before setting up the playground.

Compared To The Indian Education Model

Firstly, Finnish children enrol in schools at the age of six rather than in India, where the school age is usually three or four years old. Their childhood is free from constricting education or forced work, and they are given free rein over how they socialise and participate in society.

Secondly, all schools in Finland are free of tuition fees as there are no private schools. Thus, education is not treated as a business. Even tuition outside schools is not allowed or needed, leaving no scope for commodifying education, unlike in India, where multiple coaching centres and private schools require exorbitant fees.

Thirdly, the school hours in Finland do not start early morning at 6 am, or 7 am as done in India. Finland schools begin from 9.30 am as research in World Economic Forum has indicated that schools starting at an early age is detrimental to their health and maturation. The school ends by mostly 2 pm.

Lastly, there is no homework or surprise test given to students in Finland. Teachers believe that the time wasted on assignments can be used to perform hobbies, art, sports, or cooking. This can teach life lessons and have a therapeutic stress-relieving effect on children. Indian schools tend to give a lot of homework to prove their commitment to studying and constantly revise what they learn in school.

Delhi Govt's Focus On Education

The Delhi model of education transformed under the Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) tenure in the capital. In line with the Finnish model, Delhi government schools have adopted 'Happiness Classes' to ensure students' mental wellness through courses on mindfulness, problem-solving, social and emotional relationships, etc., from 1st to 8th classes.

Delhi government also introduced 'Entrepreneurial Mindset Classes' in 2019 to instil business and critical thinking skills among students of 9th to 12th classes. The practical approach in this class is indicated in the 'Business Blasters', a competition started by the Delhi government to encourage students to come up with start-up ideas and students were provided with ₹1000. Approximately 51,000 students participated in the first edition of the competition, according to Citizen Matters .

Through these endeavours, India is steadily investing in creating human resources that can get employment and generate employment for themselves.

India is at its demographic dividend stage; more than half of its population is within the working-age group of 14 to 60 years. Education is an essential factor in utilising this considerable advantage to grow economically and socially. Finland's education model is how India can strive closer to its goal and progress as a nation.

Also Read: Connaissance! Delhi Board of School Education Pens MoU To Add French In Government Schools

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clock This article was published more than 4 years ago

What Finland is really doing to improve its acclaimed schools

Finland has been paid outsized attention in the education world since its students scored the highest among dozens of countries around the globe on an international test some 20 years ago.

And while it is no longer No. 1 — as the education sector was hurt in the 2008 recession, and budget cuts led to larger class sizes and fewer staff in schools — it is still regarded as one of the more successful systems in the world.

In an effort to improve, the Finnish government began taking some steps in recent years, and some of that reform has made for worldwide headlines. But as it turns out, some of that coverage just isn’t true.

A few years ago, for example, a change in curriculum sparked stories that Finland was giving up teaching traditional subjects. Nope .

You can find stories on the Internet saying Finnish kids don’t get any homework. Nope.

Even amid its difficulties, American author William Doyle, who lived there and sent his then-7-year-old son to a Finnish school, wrote in 2016 that they do a lot of things right:

What is Finland’s secret? A whole-child-centered, research-and-evidence based school system, run by highly professionalized teachers. These are global education best practices, not cultural quirks applicable only to Finland.

‘I have seen the school of tomorrow. It is here today, in Finland.’

Here is a piece looking at changes underway in Finnish schools by two people who know what is really going on. They are Pasi Sahlberg and Peter Johnson. Johnson is director of education of the Finnish city of Kokkola. Sahlberg is professor of education policy at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. He is one of the world’s leading experts on school reform and is the author of the best-selling “ Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn About Educational Change in Finland ?”

No, Finland isn’t ditching traditional school subjects. Here’s what’s really happening.

By Pasi Sahlberg and Peter Johnson

Finland has been in the spotlight of the education world since it appeared, against all odds, on the top of the rankings of an international test known as PISA , the Program for International Student Assessment, in the early 2000s. Tens of thousands visitors have traveled to the country to see how to improve their own schools. Hundreds of articles have been written to explain why Finnish education is so marvelous — or sometimes that it isn’t. Millions of tweets have been shared and read, often leading to debates about the real nature of Finland’s schools and about teaching and learning there.

We have learned a lot about why some education systems — such as Alberta, Ontario, Japan and Finland — perform better year after year than others in terms of quality and equity of student outcomes. We also understand now better why some other education systems — for example, England, Australia, the United States and Sweden — have not been able to improve their school systems regardless of politicians’ promises, large-scale reforms and truckloads of money spent on haphazard efforts to change schools during the past two decades.

Among these important lessons are:

Education systems and schools shouldn’t be managed like business corporations where tough competition, measurement-based accountability and performance-determined pay are common principles. Instead, successful education systems rely on collaboration, trust, and collegial responsibility in and between schools.
The teaching profession shouldn’t be perceived as a technical, temporary craft that anyone with a little guidance can do. Successful education systems rely on continuous professionalization of teaching and school leadership that requires advanced academic education, solid scientific and practical knowledge, and continuous on-the-job training.
The quality of education shouldn’t be judged by the level of literacy and numeracy test scores alone. Successful education systems are designed to emphasize whole-child development, equity of education outcomes, well being, and arts, music, drama and physical education as important elements of curriculum.

Besides these useful lessons about how and why education systems work as they do, there are misunderstandings, incorrect interpretations, myths and even deliberate lies about how to best improve education systems. Because Finland has been such a popular target of searching for the key to the betterment of education, there are also many stories about Finnish schools that are not true.

Part of the reason reporting and research often fail to paint bigger and more accurate picture of the actual situation is that most of the documents and resources that describe and define the Finnish education system are only available in Finnish and Swedish. Most foreign education observers and commentators are therefore unable to follow the conversations and debates taking place in the country.

For example, only very few of those who actively comment on education in Finland have ever read Finnish education law , the national core curriculum or any of thousands of curricula designed by municipalities and schools that explain and describe what schools ought to do and why.

The other reason many efforts to report about Finnish education remain incomplete — and sometimes incorrect — is that education is seen as an isolated island disconnected from other sectors and public policies. It is wrong to believe that what children learn or don’t learn in school could be explained by looking at only schools and what they do alone.

Most efforts to explain why Finland’s schools are better than others or why they do worse today than before fail to see these interdependencies in Finnish society that are essential in understanding education as an ecosystem.

Here are some of those common myths about Finnish schools.

First, in recent years there have been claims that the Finnish secret to educational greatness is that children don’t have homework.

Another commonly held belief is that Finnish authorities have decided to scrap subjects from school curriculum and replace them by interdisciplinary projects or themes.

And a more recent notion is that all schools in Finland are required to follow a national curriculum and implement the same teaching method called “phenomenon-based learning” (that is elsewhere known as “project-based learning”).

All of these are false.

In 2014, Finnish state authorities revised the national core curriculum (NCC) for basic education. The core curriculum provides a common direction and basis for renewing school education and instruction. Only a very few international commentators of Finnish school reform have read this central document. Unfortunately, not many parents in Finland are familiar with it, either. Still, many people seem to have strong opinions about the direction Finnish schools are moving — the wrong way, they say, without really understanding the roles and responsibilities of schools and teachers in their communities.

Before making any judgments about what is great or wrong in Finland, it is important to understand the fundamentals of Finnish school system. Here are some basics.

First, education providers, most districts in 311 municipalities, draw up local curricula and annual work plans on the basis of the NCC. Schools though actually take the lead in curriculum planning under the supervision of municipal authorities.

Second, the NCC is a fairly loose regulatory document in terms of what schools should teach, how they arrange their work and the desired outcomes. Schools have, therefore, a lot of flexibility and autonomy in curriculum design, and there may be significant variation in school curricula from one place to another.

Finally, because of this decentralized nature of authority in Finnish education system, schools in Finland can have different profiles and practical arrangements making the curriculum model unique in the world. It is incorrect to make any general conclusions based on what one or two schools do.

Current school reform in Finland aims at those same overall goals that the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development — which gives the PISA exams every three years to 15-year-olds in multiple countries — as well as governments and many students say are essential for them: to develop safe and collaborative school culture and to promote holistic approaches in teaching and learning. The NCC states that the specific aim at the school level is that children would:

understand the relationship and interdependencies between different learning contents;
be able to combine the knowledge and skills learned in different disciplines to form meaningful wholes; and
be able to apply knowledge and use it in collaborative learning settings.

All schools in Finland are required to revise their curricula according to this new framework. Some schools have taken only small steps from where they were before, while some others went on with much bolder plans. One of those is the Pontus School in Lappeenranta, a city in the eastern part of Finland.

The Pontus School is a new primary school and kindergarten for some 550 children from ages 1 to 12. It was built three years ago to support the pedagogy and spirit of the 2014 NCC. The Pontus School was in international news recently when the Finnish Broadcasting Company reported that parents have filed complaints over the “failure” of the new school.

But according to Lappeenranta education authorities, there have been only two complaints by parents, both being handled by Regional Authorities. That’s all. It is not enough to call that a failure.

What we can learn from Finland, again, is that it is important to make sure parents, children and media better understand the nature of school reforms underway.

“Some parents are not familiar with what schools are doing,” said Anu Liljestrom, superintendent of the education department in Lappeenranta. “We still have a lot of work to do to explain what, how and why teaching methods are different nowadays,” she said to a local newspaper. The Pontus School is a new school, and it decided to use the opportunity provided by new design to change pedagogy and learning.

Ultimately, it is wrong to think that reading, writing and arithmetic will disappear in Finnish classrooms.

For most of the school year, teaching in Finnish schools will continue to be based on subject-based curricula, including at the Pontus School.

What is new is that now all schools are required to design at least one week-long project for all students that is interdisciplinary and based on students’ interests. Some schools do that better more often than others, and some succeed sooner than others.

Yes, there are challenges in implementing the new ideas. We have seen many schools succeed at creating new opportunities for students to learn knowledge and skills they need in their lives.

It is too early to tell whether Finland’s current direction in education meets all expectations. What we know is that schools in Finland should take even bolder steps to meet the needs of the future as described in national goals and international strategies. Collaboration among schools, trust in teachers and visionary leadership are those building blocks that will make all that possible.

Education System
Fins and Fun

Homework in Finland School

How many parents are bracing themselves for nightly battles to get their kids to finish their homework every year with the beginning of a school year? Thousands and thousands of them. Though not in Finland. The truth is that there is nearly no homework in the country with one of the top education systems in the world. Finnish people believe that besides homework, there are many more things that can improve child’s performance in school, such as having dinner with their families, exercising or getting a good night’s sleep.

Do We Need Homework?

There are different homework policies around the world. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) keeps track of such policies and compares the amount of homework of students from different countries. For example, an average high school student in the US has to spend about 6 hours a day doing homework, while in Finland, the amount of time spent on after school learning is about 3 hours a day. Nevertheless, these are exactly Finnish students who lead the world in global scores for math and science. It means that despite the belief that homework increases student performance, OECD graph shows the opposite. Though there are some exceptions such as education system in Japan, South Korea, and some other Asian countries. In fact, according to OECD, the more time students spend on homework, the worse they perform in school.

Finnish education approach shows the world that when it comes to homework, less is more. It is worth to mention that the world has caught onto this idea and, according to the latest OECD report, the average number of hours spent by students doing their homework decreased in nearly all countries around the world.

So what Finland knows about homework that the rest of the world does not? There is no simple answer, as the success of education system in Finland is provided by many factors, starting from poverty rates in the country to parental leave policies to the availability of preschools. Nevertheless, one of the greatest secrets of the success of education system in Finland is the way Finns teach their children.

How to Teach Like The Finns?

There are three main points that have to be mentioned when it comes to the success of education system in Finland.

First of all, Finns teach their children in a “playful” manner and allow them to enjoy their childhood. For example, did you know that in average, students in Finland only have three to four classes a day? Furthermore, there are several breaks and recesses (15-20 minutes) during a school day when children can play outside whatever the weather. According to statistics, children need physical activity in order to learn better. Also, less time in the classroom allows Finnish teachers to think, plan and create more effective lessons.

Secondly, Finns pay high respect to teachers. That is why one of the most sought after positions in Finland is the position of a primary school teacher. Only 10% of applicants to the teaching programs are accepted. In addition to a high competition, each primary school teacher in Finland must earn a Master’s degree that provides Finnish teachers with the same status as doctors or lawyers.

High standards applied to applicants for the university teaching programs assure parents of a high quality of teaching and allow teachers to innovate without bureaucracy or excessive regulation.

Thirdly, there is a lot of individual attention for each student. Classes in Finland are smaller than in the most of other countries and for the first six years of study, teachers get to know their students, their individual needs, and learning styles. If there are some weaker students, they are provided by extra assistance. Overall, Finnish education system promotes warmth, collaboration, encouragement, and assessment which means that teachers in this country are ready to do their best to help students but not to gain more control over them.

The combination of these three fundamentals is the key to success of any education system in the world and Finns are exactly those people who proved by way of example that less is more, especially when it comes to the amount of homework.

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Feb 18, 2019

Pasi Sahlberg: What Can We Learn From Finland About Education Reform?

By Sarah Kingstone

This week, members of the EPPE program attended a talk by Finnish educator, author, and policy advisor, Pasi Sahlberg, on international and national assessment, professionalization, and equity in educational reform — themes that he made relevant to the Scottish education system and aspiring teacher candidates.

Main message

After waking everyone up with a video clip of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run,” Sahlberg opened his talk by contextualizing Finland’s (admittedly) surprising global fame following the introduction of PISA in 2001. In the spirit of comparative education exercises, Sahlberg aims to create a space to learn from other countries, perspectives, and approaches to education, not encourage replication of the Finnish system. He, only somewhat facetiously, joked that his work should be prefaced with a “do not try this at home” warning sticker.

Myth Busting

Following his introduction and warning, Sahlberg explicitly addressed the myths about Finnish education and Finnish educational success that have been crafted, peddled out of context, and distributed, by the media in particular. Mythologizing these inaccurate interpretations of the Finnish system can have harmful, though unintended, consequences for students, teachers, and education systems. It is important that we unpack those inaccuracies interpretations here.

1. Finland is NOT ditching traditional subjects for topics/themes/projects

Sahlberg tackles this myth in his Washington Post article : Schools in Finland are continuing to teach traditional subjects, but educational reforms will provide students with learning periods that look at broader, cross-curricular, multi-disciplinary topics like climate change and more local micro-histories. These opportunities will look different from one school or region to another — with a decentralized education system, school municipalities have considerable freedom and autonomy to make decisions that align with the national guiding framework .

2. Finland has NOT done away with homework

Sahlberg clarified that as radically and appealing as this idea might be for many young people, homework has not been banned in Finnish schools. That being said, the ‘2 hours of homework’ standard that had been common in Finland was removed so that teachers no longer feel obligated to give students homework every night, regardless of relevance. Students now have considerably fewer hours of homework, in order to open up more time to engage in creative play.

3. Finland does NOT only employ the academically ‘best and brightest’ in the teaching profession.

Although many countries, including England, and the OECD* have moved to targeting the academically strongest applicants for the teaching profession, Finnish teacher education programs select a breadth of applicants based on consideration of academic performance, skills, and education-related experiences, which results in a cohort of aspiring teachers with Matriculation Examination scores spanning the full academic spectrum. Sahlberg reiterated that academic success in school does not predict teacher quality, but did accept the validity of Schleicher’s comments on the importance of quality initial teacher preparation programmes. In light of this fact, Finnish teacher education programs only accept 1 in 10 applicants and demand at least five years of study. This policy recognizes that “it is better to design initial teacher education in a way that will get the best from young people who have natural passion to teach for life.”

Research Questions

It was evident through the early portion of the presentation, that Sahlberg has spent a considerable amount of time and effort clarifying the misconceptions that have flourished through poorly researched media attention and the desire for governments to find a simple ‘secret’ to solve education’s ‘wicked’ problems.

Spoiler alert, there are no easy solutions. But understanding why some education systems are succeeding while others are continuing to struggle is an appropriate and effective place to start.

Using data collected by the OECD, Sahlberg laid out the stark contrasts between successful and struggling education systems. This gave us all an opportunity to think about how our own national or state/provincial education systems compare. The research suggests that systems that have experienced limited growth or even failure place considerable emphasis on the standardization of excellence. They rank and measure student, teacher, and school success through test-based accountability and competition, and teacher professionalization and capacity-building is dismissed as irrelevant. Successful systems, on the other hand, approach education creatively — there is space in and around the classroom for collaboration; teachers are not overly evaluated or held accountable through bureaucratic mechanisms, but provided with trust-based responsibility; professionalism is ensured through high-quality teacher training and continuous professional development and upgrading programs and opportunities; and the system itself ultimately values equity above excellence.

Keys to Better Education

Sahlberg argues that aspiring to an equitable system — that which can provide young people with what they individually need to achieve success — is necessary to effectively achieve high quality education. He closed by reviewing the 4 ‘keys’ to better education in any nation.

First, governments must invest fairly in all institutions for all students. For nations already divided by high levels of inequality and inequity, such as the United States, Canada, and Australia, initial investment should target the most vulnerable, marginalized, and disenfranchised parts of the population.

Second, special education in the broadest sense — for vulnerable or at-risk populations, students with learning differences, etc — must be strengthened, ultimately focusing on preventing the need for responsive or reparatory programs.

Third, teacher professionalism should be built through high quality teacher training and education programs and continuous professional development and upgrading programs that increase, enhance, and develop teacher knowledge, skills, and capacity.

Fourth, teacher and student well-being should be targeted in a way that takes a holistic approach to education, acknowledging the impact that external stressors have on the quality and effectiveness of the experience in the classroom. The final message that Sahlberg provided reiterated this point. Let the children play! Schools and teachers should be committed to providing children with the time and space to explore, reflect, and have fun the service of positive youth development. Especially relevant to us in the audience, Sahlberg announced that he is using Scotland as a positive case study in his latest book, Let The Children Play.

In his concluding remarks, Sahlberg reiterated the significance of context when discussing the reform of our education systems. Additionally, we should not get ahead of ourselves with idealistic thoughts of educational reform without remembering the powerful role political regimes play in strengthening or undermining equity.

*Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director of Education and Skills: “We need to attract the best and brightest to join the profession. Teachers are the key in today’s knowledge economy, where a good education is an essential foundation for every child’s future success. A quality initial teacher preparation programme, which prepares prospective teachers for the challenges of today’s classrooms, is essential to ensuring teacher quality”

Thanks to Sarah for her contribution this week. If you have any questions or comments in response to this presentation and post, please leave a message below or get in touch via our Twitter account.

What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success

The Scandinavian country is an education superpower because it values equality more than excellence.

Everyone agrees the United States needs to improve its education system dramatically, but how? One of the hottest trends in education reform lately is looking at the stunning success of the West's reigning education superpower, Finland. Trouble is, when it comes to the lessons that Finnish schools have to offer, most of the discussion seems to be missing the point.

The small Nordic country of Finland used to be known -- if it was known for anything at all -- as the home of Nokia, the mobile phone giant. But lately Finland has been attracting attention on global surveys of quality of life -- Newsweek ranked it number one last year -- and Finland's national education system has been receiving particular praise, because in recent years Finnish students have been turning in some of the highest test scores in the world.

Finland's schools owe their newfound fame primarily to one study: the PISA survey , conducted every three years by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The survey compares 15-year-olds in different countries in reading, math, and science. Finland has ranked at or near the top in all three competencies on every survey since 2000, neck and neck with superachievers such as South Korea and Singapore. In the most recent survey in 2009 Finland slipped slightly, with students in Shanghai, China, taking the best scores, but the Finns are still near the very top. Throughout the same period, the PISA performance of the United States has been middling, at best.

Compared with the stereotype of the East Asian model -- long hours of exhaustive cramming and rote memorization -- Finland's success is especially intriguing because Finnish schools assign less homework and engage children in more creative play. All this has led to a continuous stream of foreign delegations making the pilgrimage to Finland to visit schools and talk with the nation's education experts, and constant coverage in the worldwide media marveling at the Finnish miracle.

So there was considerable interest in a recent visit to the U.S. by one of the leading Finnish authorities on education reform, Pasi Sahlberg, director of the Finnish Ministry of Education's Center for International Mobility and author of the new book Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? Earlier this month, Sahlberg stopped by the Dwight School in New York City to speak with educators and students, and his visit received national media attention and generated much discussion.

And yet it wasn't clear that Sahlberg's message was actually getting through. As Sahlberg put it to me later, there are certain things nobody in America really wants to talk about.

During the afternoon that Sahlberg spent at the Dwight School, a photographer from the New York Times jockeyed for position with Dan Rather's TV crew as Sahlberg participated in a roundtable chat with students. The subsequent article in the Times about the event would focus on Finland as an "intriguing school-reform model."

Yet one of the most significant things Sahlberg said passed practically unnoticed. "Oh," he mentioned at one point, "and there are no private schools in Finland."

This notion may seem difficult for an American to digest, but it's true. Only a small number of independent schools exist in Finland, and even they are all publicly financed. None is allowed to charge tuition fees. There are no private universities, either. This means that practically every person in Finland attends public school, whether for pre-K or a Ph.D.

The irony of Sahlberg's making this comment during a talk at the Dwight School seemed obvious. Like many of America's best schools, Dwight is a private institution that costs high-school students upward of $35,000 a year to attend -- not to mention that Dwight, in particular, is run for profit, an increasing trend in the U.S. Yet no one in the room commented on Sahlberg's statement. I found this surprising. Sahlberg himself did not.

Sahlberg knows what Americans like to talk about when it comes to education, because he's become their go-to guy in Finland. The son of two teachers, he grew up in a Finnish school. He taught mathematics and physics in a junior high school in Helsinki, worked his way through a variety of positions in the Finnish Ministry of Education, and spent years as an education expert at the OECD, the World Bank, and other international organizations.

Now, in addition to his other duties, Sahlberg hosts about a hundred visits a year by foreign educators, including many Americans, who want to know the secret of Finland's success. Sahlberg's new book is partly an attempt to help answer the questions he always gets asked.

From his point of view, Americans are consistently obsessed with certain questions: How can you keep track of students' performance if you don't test them constantly? How can you improve teaching if you have no accountability for bad teachers or merit pay for good teachers? How do you foster competition and engage the private sector? How do you provide school choice?

The answers Finland provides seem to run counter to just about everything America's school reformers are trying to do.

For starters, Finland has no standardized tests. The only exception is what's called the National Matriculation Exam, which everyone takes at the end of a voluntary upper-secondary school, roughly the equivalent of American high school.

Instead, the public school system's teachers are trained to assess children in classrooms using independent tests they create themselves. All children receive a report card at the end of each semester, but these reports are based on individualized grading by each teacher. Periodically, the Ministry of Education tracks national progress by testing a few sample groups across a range of different schools.

As for accountability of teachers and administrators, Sahlberg shrugs. "There's no word for accountability in Finnish," he later told an audience at the Teachers College of Columbia University. "Accountability is something that is left when responsibility has been subtracted."

For Sahlberg what matters is that in Finland all teachers and administrators are given prestige, decent pay, and a lot of responsibility. A master's degree is required to enter the profession, and teacher training programs are among the most selective professional schools in the country. If a teacher is bad, it is the principal's responsibility to notice and deal with it.

And while Americans love to talk about competition, Sahlberg points out that nothing makes Finns more uncomfortable. In his book Sahlberg quotes a line from Finnish writer named Samuli Paronen: "Real winners do not compete." It's hard to think of a more un-American idea, but when it comes to education, Finland's success shows that the Finnish attitude might have merits. There are no lists of best schools or teachers in Finland. The main driver of education policy is not competition between teachers and between schools, but cooperation.

Finally, in Finland, school choice is noticeably not a priority, nor is engaging the private sector at all. Which brings us back to the silence after Sahlberg's comment at the Dwight School that schools like Dwight don't exist in Finland.

"Here in America," Sahlberg said at the Teachers College, "parents can choose to take their kids to private schools. It's the same idea of a marketplace that applies to, say, shops. Schools are a shop and parents can buy what ever they want. In Finland parents can also choose. But the options are all the same."

Herein lay the real shocker. As Sahlberg continued, his core message emerged, whether or not anyone in his American audience heard it.

Decades ago, when the Finnish school system was badly in need of reform, the goal of the program that Finland instituted, resulting in so much success today, was never excellence. It was equity.

Since the 1980s, the main driver of Finnish education policy has been the idea that every child should have exactly the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or geographic location. Education has been seen first and foremost not as a way to produce star performers, but as an instrument to even out social inequality.

In the Finnish view, as Sahlberg describes it, this means that schools should be healthy, safe environments for children. This starts with the basics. Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance.

In fact, since academic excellence wasn't a particular priority on the Finnish to-do list, when Finland's students scored so high on the first PISA survey in 2001, many Finns thought the results must be a mistake. But subsequent PISA tests confirmed that Finland -- unlike, say, very similar countries such as Norway -- was producing academic excellence through its particular policy focus on equity.

That this point is almost always ignored or brushed aside in the U.S. seems especially poignant at the moment, after the financial crisis and Occupy Wall Street movement have brought the problems of inequality in America into such sharp focus. The chasm between those who can afford $35,000 in tuition per child per year -- or even just the price of a house in a good public school district -- and the other "99 percent" is painfully plain to see.

Pasi Sahlberg goes out of his way to emphasize that his book Finnish Lessons is not meant as a how-to guide for fixing the education systems of other countries. All countries are different, and as many Americans point out, Finland is a small nation with a much more homogeneous population than the United States.

Yet Sahlberg doesn't think that questions of size or homogeneity should give Americans reason to dismiss the Finnish example. Finland is a relatively homogeneous country -- as of 2010, just 4.6 percent of Finnish residents had been born in another country, compared with 12.7 percent in the United States. But the number of foreign-born residents in Finland doubled during the decade leading up to 2010, and the country didn't lose its edge in education. Immigrants tended to concentrate in certain areas, causing some schools to become much more mixed than others, yet there has not been much change in the remarkable lack of variation between Finnish schools in the PISA surveys across the same period.

Samuel Abrams, a visiting scholar at Columbia University's Teachers College, has addressed the effects of size and homogeneity on a nation's education performance by comparing Finland with another Nordic country: Norway. Like Finland, Norway is small and not especially diverse overall, but unlike Finland it has taken an approach to education that is more American than Finnish. The result? Mediocre performance in the PISA survey. Educational policy, Abrams suggests, is probably more important to the success of a country's school system than the nation's size or ethnic makeup.

Indeed, Finland's population of 5.4 million can be compared to many an American state -- after all, most American education is managed at the state level. According to the Migration Policy Institute , a research organization in Washington, there were 18 states in the U.S. in 2010 with an identical or significantly smaller percentage of foreign-born residents than Finland.

What's more, despite their many differences, Finland and the U.S. have an educational goal in common. When Finnish policymakers decided to reform the country's education system in the 1970s, they did so because they realized that to be competitive, Finland couldn't rely on manufacturing or its scant natural resources and instead had to invest in a knowledge-based economy.

With America's manufacturing industries now in decline, the goal of educational policy in the U.S. -- as articulated by most everyone from President Obama on down -- is to preserve American competitiveness by doing the same thing. Finland's experience suggests that to win at that game, a country has to prepare not just some of its population well, but all of its population well, for the new economy. To possess some of the best schools in the world might still not be good enough if there are children being left behind.

Is that an impossible goal? Sahlberg says that while his book isn't meant to be a how-to manual, it is meant to be a "pamphlet of hope."

"When President Kennedy was making his appeal for advancing American science and technology by putting a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's, many said it couldn't be done," Sahlberg said during his visit to New York. "But he had a dream. Just like Martin Luther King a few years later had a dream. Those dreams came true. Finland's dream was that we want to have a good public education for every child regardless of where they go to school or what kind of families they come from, and many even in Finland said it couldn't be done."

Clearly, many were wrong. It is possible to create equality. And perhaps even more important -- as a challenge to the American way of thinking about education reform -- Finland's experience shows that it is possible to achieve excellence by focusing not on competition, but on cooperation, and not on choice, but on equity.

The problem facing education in America isn't the ethnic diversity of the population but the economic inequality of society, and this is precisely the problem that Finnish education reform addressed. More equity at home might just be what America needs to be more competitive abroad.

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Enjoyed reading William Doyle’s piece on school education in Finland. Am independently developing a flexible, interdisciplinary, interactive, and affordable learning model for K-12 education in India that integrates concept learning, hands- on activities, and life skills. Look forward to read more on new thinking in learning and education!

> But it has identified, often by studying historical educational research and practices that originated in the United States, many fundamental childhood education insights that can inspire, and be tested and adapted by, any other nation.

Can you elaborate on this? Did Finland learn from specific research that originated from the USA or studies from the USA? If so, which ones?

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Arbenita Zhigolli (left) and Nada Abdi enjoy a handicrafts lesson at Lintulaakso school in Espoo, Finland.

Top of the class: Labour seeks to emulate Finland's school system

After the party’s conference pledge to scrap Ofsted and private schools, does the envied Finnish education system provide the blueprint?

I t’s early afternoon in Lintulaakson school in Espoo, near Helsinki. The younger children are having a snack before starting their after-school activities. Upstairs a group of 12-year-olds are in a craft class, cutting patterns and making clothes on sewing machines.

Outside, children play in an enormous outdoor space, equipped with a climbing frames, football pitches and basketball courts. “Hey, Petteri ,” one boy yells casually at the principal, Petteri Kuusimäki. “Next year can we start school a bit later, at 10am?” Kuusimäki jokes with them. It’s all first names here.

The Finnish education system is the envy of the world . Along with Tove Jansson’s Moomins , Nokia phones and Iittala glassware, it has become one of the country’s most celebrated exports – and it’s easy to see why.

Its students consistently score well at the top end of the Pisa international league tables, and as Kuusimäki walks me round his school he describes a kind of education utopia – a place where teachers are highly trained, revered and trusted , and children’s wellbeing is paramount.

Pupils in the school cafeteria at lunchtime.

There are no Ofsted-style inspections, no streaming by ability, no national exams until 18, no school uniforms, no school league tables and no fee-paying private schools.

At its party conference this week, Labour committed to follow Finland’s lead and not only scrap Ofsted but abolish private schools by forcing their integration with the state sector. Explaining the policy, the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, told BBC Radio 4: “In some countries, it is not allowed to charge for education in any form … in Finland, for example.”

The British Labour party is far from alone in its enthusiasm for the Finnish education system. Every year hundreds of delegations of teachers and policymakers from all over the world pour into Helsinki to see this nirvana for themselves. So popular has it become that international visits are strictly regulated and have to be paid for – a presentation costs €682 (£607) per hour and a school visit €1,240.

Children take part in a classroom discussion.

In the past two months there have been groups from Israel, Brazil, China and Korea. In the coming weeks there will be visits from New Zealand and Lithuania.

Meanwhile, Finland’s influence is spreading far and wide. Last month a school opened in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam based on the Finnish curriculum and pedagogical approach, with Finnish staff on the teaching team.

Kuusimäki tells me Finland’s schools are well-funded and built around the principle of equality of opportunity for all pupils. He is baffled when I try to explain that some state schools in England are so strapped for cash that they are asking parents for donations. “As you may know, everything is free in Finland,” he says, university included.

There is just one fee-paying school in the country, the International School of Helsinki, which has mainly catered for international employees of Nokia and other industries. Otherwise, charging fees is illegal and parents are happy by and large to send their children to their local school. “We really don’t have bad schools,” Kuusimäki says.

In class children are listened to and respected, school lunches are free, detentions are rare and exclusions pretty much unheard of. Kuusimäki gave his last detention 15 years ago, and is visibly horrified at the idea of excluding a child from school. “As a principal, you can’t think like that. We are responsible for these children and their lives. We can’t give up.”

But things are changing slowly. Schools are becoming more diverse – 20% of pupils at Lintulaakson school are from immigrant backgrounds, elsewhere it is 75%. The curriculum has been revised and Kuusimäki says more has had to be done to stretch gifted children.

A compulsory pre-school year for six-year-olds has been introduced to help with school-readiness, and there is talk of starting even earlier, while the minimum school leaving age has recently been raised to 18. Meanwhile, parents “shopping for schools” is on the increase.

Finnish education experts would be the first to admit they do not have all the answers and methods in one country do not always translate to another. John Jerrim, professor of education and social statistics at the University College London Institute of Education, does not believe England should be looking to Finland. “Its Pisa scores have actually been in decline. And there is no reason to believe their high scores on international tests are due to their schools. So there is no reason to try to copy Finland.”

Second-graders Menni Pietiläinen (left) and Nathan Mulote.

Not even on outlawing school fees? “The resource will just be shifted elsewhere,” Jerrim says. “There are lots of potential unintended consequences, for example, pushing up house prices near good schools.”

In 2013 the celebrated Finnish educator Pasi Sahlberg paid a visit to Eton College, the most famous of the UK’s ancient, elite boarding schools. Once a maths and science teacher in Helsinki, Sahlberg now tours the world spreading the word about the wonders of Finnish education and advising on education reform.

“It was like going 200 years backwards in time,” Sahlberg recalls of his visit. “I remember thinking while walking the corridors of Eton and watching students there that even if I had a chance to enrol my own kids to that school I would probably say ‘no, thank you’.”

With its illustrious history, bizarre uniforms and £40,000 a year fees, Eton – which educated the current British prime minister and many before him – is a million miles from the modern egalitarianism of Finland’s schools.

Second grader Menni Pietiläinen reads a book after official school hours.

“I am often asked by people what is the most important thing I learned in school,” Sahlberg says. “I say that to learn to understand that there are different kinds of people in this world and that regardless where we come from we can be in same school and learn in same classroom. Eton boys won’t learn that in their school.”

Like Jerrim, Sahlberg is sceptical about other countries trying to simply copy the Finland model. “There are so many myths about what the Finnish system is and is not. This idea of copying has done a lot of damage.” Finland’s schools are rooted in the country’s distinctive history and culture; the population is small (5.5 million), and taxes are high.

“You can’t go to Finland and cherry-pick the things that seem to be interesting and say, ‘We want to do like Finland is doing’. It’s much more complicated than that.” He also thinks it’s unrealistic for Labour to promise to abolish private schools. “It’s come too far this whole private education thinking. It’s very hard to remove it altogether.”

It would be better, he says, for Labour to focus on strengthening the existing state sector in England, which has become fragmented through academisation and free schools. “Just abolishing something, saying private schools should be made illegal, it’s not going happen.”

Young people

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Why were Finnish schools so successful with distance and in-person learning during the pandemic?

The Future of Schools and Teacher Education: How Far Ahead is Finland?

By Eduardo Andere
August 30 th 2021

On 18 March 2020, schools in Finland closed. On 14 May 2020, they reopened successfully. Why was Finland successful in transitioning to distance education and then back to face-to-face learning and teaching?

There is an a priori answer. Finns have a view of education and learning that often contradicts common wisdom (such as worrying less about the standardized performance of children and teachers’ accountability) to truly serve the wellbeing of children by empowering the highly selective and trained teacher force with trust.

Finns are passionate about face-to-face education even in the age of technology-driven educational services. They have invested heavily in new or refurbished twenty-first century superschools, which create superb and highly resourced teaching and learning environments that facilitate the face-to-face and digital interactions between teachers and students. Together with a serendipitous policy mix of national, local, and school decisions, the school is no longer only a place to teach and learn subjects but also a phenomenon where the whole learning experience and children’s growth occur. They put a lot of effort into making sure that the children feel safe under a relaxed culture of interaction between students and teachers.

The Finns have invested in two structural foundations to facilitate the pedagogic interaction: a powerful teaching force and a technological infrastructure (sound broadband internet access and educational tools so that teachers can navigate different pedagogic proposals and environments). They have reduced the number of smaller, less well-resourced schools, and instead, they have established large superschools to house more resources for many students. Fewer, well-resourced schools, rather than many low-resourced schools, is one of their key ideas.

Digitalization in schools followed digitalization in life—but schools went one step further. More screen time is not learning. Therefore, Finnish schools decided to provide digital access for everyone and train teachers and students with skills on how to use this technology for learning and wellbeing. They don’t force digitalization but make sure that if teachers and students want to explore digital means, all the schools are ready for them.

Since collaboration among all school agents (teachers, students, and parents) has always been essential in the Finnish model of education, and since the society and parents have a high value of education (for example, the teaching profession is one of the most highly demanded fields of university studies by high school students), it was not very difficult for schools and teachers to communicate with parents and students during the pandemic.

The pandemic accelerated the turn-of-the-century trends: more digitalization, flexible technology, teamwork, and a focus on the wellbeing of students and teachers. So, what should we expect in the future? In the short term, new spaces for outdoor activities, more digital skills, more constant formative evaluations for students, and more strategic planning for future crises in the long term.

Here are the key learnings shared by Finnish teachers, experts, and principals during the pandemic:

The need to keep the information and communication channels open and frequent among all people.
The need to bring the newly acquired skills into daily lives, perhaps with remote sessions once a week or per school term, as modern technology companies do.
The knowledge that we are living, in part, the normality of the future.
The pandemic is a phenomenon with solid consequences: loneliness kills.
A school is a place to learn academic skills and, perhaps more importantly, grow and share with others. A school is a place where one can safely fail and recover.
Teachers took a tremendous digital leap.
The majority opinion seems to be that closing schools hurt students.
Face-to-face teaching and learning is the correct form of education and deep learning.
Although the pandemic has driven the digital leap at all educational levels, the coronavirus will not change school curricula. The issue is how to approach rather than change the school curricula.
Education has been, and continues to be, the number one priority in Finland.
When everyone (students, parents, teachers, community) works together, we can get the best results.
Lifelong learning is not just a phrase; it is a necessity for every one of us.

Face-to-face education is so important to achieve. Digitalization is an instrument, a means to an end. Digital technology complements the work of teachers. The dual vision of digital preparedness and children’s wellbeing, backed by the already-in-place teachers’ pedagogic command, facilitated the successful transition back and forth between distance and face-to-face learning during the 2020-2021 coronavirus crisis.

Eduardo Andere has a Ph.D. in Political Science from Boston College, an MA in Economics from Boston University, and an MPA from Harvard University. He's a researcher and writer of comparative education and learning. He is the author of The Future of schools and teacher education: How far ahead is Finland? , Teachers' perspectives on Finnish school education: Creating learning environments , and The lending power of PISA: League tables and best practice in international education .

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Unlocking Finland’s Secret: A Revolutionary Approach to Homework and Testing

June 26, 2023

Did you know in recent years Finland has been hailed as a global leader in education? Well, yes Finland is consistently achieving top rankings in international assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). One of the key aspects that sets Finland apart from other countries is its unique approach to homework and testing. Unlike traditional systems that emphasize heavy workloads and high-stakes examinations, Finland’s educational philosophy promotes a balanced and holistic learning experience. In this blog post, we will explore Finland’s innovative strategies regarding homework and testing, and discuss how these approaches contribute to the remarkable success of the Finland education system .

1. The Role of Homework in Finland:

Finland takes a remarkably different approach to homework compared to many other countries. In Finnish schools, the emphasis is not on the quantity but on the quality of homework. Instead of assigning excessive amounts of homework, Finnish educators focus on promoting meaningful and purposeful assignments that reinforce classroom learning. Homework is viewed as a tool for self-reflection, consolidation of knowledge, and promoting independent thinking. Additionally, the Finnish system recognizes the importance of free time for children to engage in recreational activities, develop social skills, and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Consequently, Finnish students have significantly less homework compared to their peers in other nations, allowing them ample time for rest, relaxation, and pursuing extracurricular interests.

Also read: What is Finnish education System?

2. Assessments in Finland:

Moving Beyond Standardized Testing: Unlike many countries that heavily rely on standardized testing as a measure of student performance, Finland adopts a more comprehensive and holistic approach to assessments. The Finnish education system prioritizes continuous evaluation and formative assessments over high-stakes exams. Teachers regularly assess students’ progress through a combination of observation, classroom discussions, project work, and practical assignments. This student-centered approach allows teachers to understand each student’s unique learning style and adapt instruction accordingly. By focusing on individual growth and providing constructive feedback, Finnish educators foster a supportive and nurturing learning environment, free from the stress and pressure associated with high-stakes testing.

3. The Benefits of Finland’s Approach:

Finland’s approach to homework and testing has several notable benefits. Firstly, by reducing the emphasis on homework, Finnish students experience less academic stress and have more time for relaxation and extracurricular activities. This balanced approach promotes overall well-being and fosters the development of well-rounded individuals. Secondly, the shift away from standardized testing allows for a more comprehensive evaluation of students’ abilities, including their critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaborative skills. This holistic assessment aligns with the needs of the 21st-century workforce, which values creativity, adaptability, and teamwork. Additionally, the focus on formative assessments provides students with regular feedback, allowing them to understand their strengths and areas for improvement, and promoting a growth mindset.

Conclusion:

Finland has revolutionized the conventional notions of education through its unique approach to homework and testing. By emphasizing purposeful homework and prioritizing holistic assessments, Finland has cultivated an educational system that nurtures well-rounded individuals, fosters critical thinking, and instills a genuine passion for learning. While every educational system faces its own challenges, Finland’s remarkable success serves as an inspiration for other nations to reassess their approaches to homework and testing. By adopting a more balanced and student-centered methodology, countries can establish educational environments that prioritize well-being, stimulate creativity, and effectively prepare students for the demands of the future. Finland’s educational paradigm shift stands as a testament to the transformative power of reimagining traditional education systems, emphasizing the vital importance of continually questioning and improving our approaches to teaching and learning. If you are interested in providing your child with a Finnish education curriculum, look no further than finlandeducationhub.com – your comprehensive resource for all your needs.

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Finland’s basic education act & general education policy.

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Education has been a national priority in Finland for over three decades, with the country developing a unique holistic approach that continues to evolve and has produced significant results; often being hailed as a world-class education system. One of the basic principles of Finnish education is that all people must have equal access to high-quality education and training. The same opportunities for education are available to all citizens irrespective of their ethnic origin, age, wealth, language, or location. The basic right to education and culture is recorded in the Constitution, while education is free at all levels from pre-primary to higher education. Key elements of Finnish education policy include quality, efficiency, equity, well-being and internationalization. Geared to promote the effectiveness of the Finnish welfare society, education policy is built on the lifelong learning principle. Education is also seen as an end in itself. Recent reforms aim to further develop schools as learning communities, emphasizing the joy of learning and a collaborative atmosphere, as well as promoting student autonomy in studying and in school life. Finland’s holistic and trust-based education system produces excellent results, ranked near the top in reading, maths, and science as well as in overall child well-being levels.

The Basic Education Act covers all children of compulsory school age. The local authority has an obligation to arrange basic education for children of compulsory school age residing in its area and pre-primary education during the year preceding compulsory schooling.
Key elements of Finnish education policy include quality, efficiency, equity, well-being and lifelong learning.
Results from the international PISA tests comparing 15-year-olds in different countries in reading, mathematics and science, show that Finland has ranked near the top ten in all three competencies since 2000 and under the top three in Europe.

Last update: 2021

Finland’s Basic Education Act (1998) and amendments .

The National Core Curriculum for Basic Education is one of the other key frameworks.

Education Reform 2016

Many aspects of the Basic Education Act are complemented by the devolved nature of decision-making in Finland whereby municipalities have control over strategic decisions and budgeting.

Finland’s Basic Education Act and general education policies won a ‘Silver Award’ in the 2015 Future Policy Awards for its unique, holistic approach to education. Key elements of Finnish education policy include quality, efficiency, well-being and life-long learning with an overarching goal that all people must have equal access to high-quality education and training irrespective of their ethnic origin, age, wealth, language, or location. Finland’s trust-based education system produces excellent results, both in terms of child well-being and international test scores for reading, mathematics and science where Finland has ranked near the top since 2000.

Our “Best Policies” are those which meet the Future-Just Lawmaking Principles and recognise that interrelated challenges require interconnected solutions. The World Future Council’s unique research and analysis ensure that important universal standards of sustainability and equity, human rights and freedoms, and respect for the environment are coherently considered by policymakers.

Sustainable use of natural resources

Finland has maintained strong efforts to provide sufficient funds for education. The country increased its expenditure on education in absolute terms at all levels by 8% between 2008 and 2011. In 2018, the annual expenditure per student by educational institutions for all services for all levels of education was around US$11, above the OECD average of US$ 9,487. Likewise, levels of expenditure in education relative to GDP (6,3%) were above the OECD average (4,9%) in 2017. [1]
However, there are concerns over the ongoing cutbacks in funds allocated for classroom sizes and the ongoing educational commitment of the government.

[1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/527983/finland-education-expenditure-as-a-share-of-gdp/

Equity and poverty eradication

Promoting equity, equality and the well-being of children is a key pillar of the Basic Education Act. The country has one of the narrowest gaps in achievement between its highest and lowest-performing schools and continuing efforts are made to reduce differences in quality between schools. This happens inter alia through the financing system (tuition fees are banned and even the few independent schools are publicly financed.)
The best interests of the child are also a central component that all educational decisions emanate from. Instead of working to memorize information for standardized tests, Finnish students are encouraged to think creatively and learn simply for learning’s sake. Creative play and problem-solving are central in the classroom, creating an informal and relaxed setting.

Precautionary approach

There has been significant focus on innovation and piloting new evidence-based approaches in the Finnish education system, including the use of combinations of alternative pedagogical approaches like the phenomenon approach [2] , where students are required to participate in at least one multidisciplinary module per Year to explore real-world phenomena that can be viewed from competing and complementary viewpoints.
Many of the guidelines and principles that have been introduced are based on sound scientific evidence, such as the benefits of allowing children adequate free time between lessons and not overburdening them with too much homework. Finnish students do the least number of class hours per week in the developed world, yet get the best results over the long term.
Long-term teacher-based assessments are used by schools to monitor progress and these are not graded, scored or compared; but instead are descriptive and utilised in a formative manner to inform feedback and assessment for learning.

[2] https://www.oph.fi/sites/default/files/documents/new-national-core-curriculum-for-basic-education.pdf

Public participation, access to information and justice

There is a very transparent and participatory process for formulating education policy involving all stakeholders, including children. For example, during the recent reform of the core curriculum, the National Board of Education sent a survey to all Basic Education and Upper Secondary students for feedback. Over 60,000 students participated. Municipalities are also asked to undertake similar participatory exercises.
Over 60 civil society groups such as the Finnish Parents League and teachers’ unions were actively and widely consulted, continue to serve on education working groups and even wrote key sections of the core curriculum.
There are a number of provisions for vulnerable groups and minorities in the law (for example, the statutory duty to provide education in a child’s native tongue, have education provided in hospital and have tailored religious education for minorities), although the NGO interviewee saw some room for improvement in terms of more active participation of all groups.

Good governance and human security

One of the innovations in Finnish education policy is the development of a ‘trust-based’ system that largely avoids monitoring, testing and inspections, though extensive evaluations occur. This has freed up resources to be spent on the many teaching innovations seen in Finland.
Educational evaluations are undertaken every four years by the Ministry of Education and Culture. Evaluation tasks are then allocated to the Finnish National Board of Education for follow-up. Financial auditing is undertaken periodically by the National Audit Office.
There is an active Ombudsman [1] for Children in Finland who represents and consults children and youth councils and has an action plan for children. Since 2016 children are asked every two years in a survey what factors does good life consist of and in what way are these factors part of children’s own lives and the results of the survey are then incorporated into legislation and decision-making.

Integration and interrelationship

Child rights are very much mainstreamed through the Basic Education Act and the National Core Curriculum which explicitly states that the highest principles of how to work with children come from the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other relevant international agreements.
The system is responsive and the Act, general education policy and core curriculum are all adapted based on ongoing evaluations. This has led to regular (at least 6) revisions and reforms.

Common but differentiated responsibilities

The law is well adapted to its cultural and historical context. Despite this, and its many innovations, key elements of the law could be transferred.

Starting in the 1970s, Finnish policy-makers realized that they could no longer rely on their natural resources or small industrial core to stay afloat economically, and instead started focusing on building a strong knowledge-based economy. The education system became part of a public mission to improve not just some of the students, but all of them. At the time Finland’s education system was in dire need of reform. Teachers had varying degrees of education, students didn’t have access to equal education resources and an emphasis on regular standardized testing and teacher tracking was showing mediocre results. Instead of focusing on creating schools that were the best, Finland’s education policymakers focused on creating a level playing field, where all schools offered excellent resources for learning. Since then, the main driver of Finnish education policy has been the idea that every child should have exactly the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or geographic location.

The purpose of education as defined by the Basic Education Act (1998) is: ‘to support pupils’ growth into humanity and into ethically responsible membership of society and to provide them with the knowledge and skills needed in life.’ Education, furthermore, ‘shall promote civilisation and equality in society and allow pupils to develop themselves during their lives, aiming to secure adequate equity throughout the country.’ There is a strong general focus on the all-around development of each child’s personality.

Alongside these aims in the Basic Education Act, education and research policy priorities are outlined in the Government’s five-year Development Plan for Education and Research. The Basic education plan (June 2011) and the Education Reform of 2016 aim to ‘strengthen the best comprehensive school system in the world to guarantee equal opportunities for all. Key objectives include:

Promoting equality in education.
Enhancing the quality of education at all levels.
Supporting lifelong learning and education as an end in itself.
Reducing gender and regional differences in skills and education levels as well as the impact of socioeconomic background on participation in education.
Combatting unemployment and exclusion among young people through education.
On the international stage, aiming for the top in professional expertise, higher education as well as research, development and innovation activities.

There are a number of educational methods and modalities, stipulated in the Basic Education Act, core curriculum, the education reform in 2016 and through general guidelines that are integral to Finnish education policy:

Teacher Training: teaching is regarded as one of the most prestigious and hard-to-master professions in Finland. In order to be employed as a full-time teacher a master’s degree either in education (primary school teachers) or in subjects that they teach is required. Teacher training programmes are among the most selective professional schools in the country. Only one in 10 will qualify and be accepted to teacher preparation programmes, where they are trained to work with all types of students, including those with disabilities, language barriers, and other learning-related issues. Selection is focused on finding those individuals who have the right personality, advanced interpersonal skills, and the right moral purpose to become lifelong educators.
Teacher Autonomy and Trust: Finnish teachers have a lot of autonomy over their classroom. While education policy is set at the central Ministry level, including very general guidelines about what children need to know at each grade level, schools are free to use their own methods to comply with national standards. A national curriculum set by the local government – with input from the national teachers union – explains what should be learned but not how to teach it. Teachers learn to develop their own curricula, methods and tools, assess their own pupils’ progress, and continuously improve their own teaching. Teachers are paid to spend two hours a week on professional development throughout their careers.
Absence of strict monitoring: While learning outcomes are monitored, there are no external inspections of schools or teachers, league tables, or standardized testing to constantly monitor student progress. Instead, parents trust teachers as qualified professionals and teachers trust one another and collaborate to solve mutual problems.
Student-centered approach: The local authority is obliged to provide education in each child’s native language (including Finnish, Swedish, Saami, Roma, or sign language). Unlike some countries, the Finnish education system has no ‘dead-ends’ where subject or specialism choices at one stage restrict future study or career paths. Students can always continue their studies at an upper level of education, whatever choices they make in between. Students are given guidance counseling. Pupils that temporarily fall behind in studies are entitled to remedial teaching while a learning plan is prepared, in collaboration with the pupil, for those children that require regular support in learning. The pupil’s workload in basic education must be such as to allow him or her enough time for rest, recreation and hobbies.
Pre-primary education: A majority (98%) of 6-year-old children attend free pre-primary education. The emphasis is on learning through active play, the child’s individuality and the importance of acting as a group member. Pre-primary pupils, as with all pupils attending basic and upper secondary education, also get a free meal every day. Pupils who live over five kilometers from the place where pre-primary education is arranged are entitled to free transportation.
The principle of lifelong learning entails that everyone has sufficient learning skills and opportunities to develop their knowledge and skills in different learning environments throughout their lives. This viewpoint is integrated into education policy and other policy sectors relating to education and training. The aim is a coherent policy geared to educational equity and a high level of education among the population as a whole.
The Phenomenon-based Learning approach (PhenoBL) helps pupils to apply the learned course material to all kinds of problems in real life. Pupils learn to answer a real-life problem by researching and finding a solution by looking at the issue from different angles and perspectives. The focus of the approach is on subjects as the European Union, Climate change and Community being.

It is difficult to definitively point to causation when it comes to education policy. However, data from the OECD’s 2015 and interim 2018 education reports shows that Finland remains one of the top educational performing countries in the world and has one of the highest levels of educational attainment among OECD countries. In 2019, 44,3% of 25-64 year-olds had at least completed upper secondary education (against an OECD average of 41%) and 45, 9% [3] held a tertiary degree (OECD average: 38%). Results from the international PISA survey conducted by the OECD, comparing 15- year-olds in different countries in reading, math, and science, show that Finland has ranked near the top in all three competencies since 2000, on par with South Korea, Singapore, China, and Estonia.

The average student-teacher ratio is 9 students per teacher compared with 14 [4] students per teacher, on the OECD average. While according to the World Economic Forum, Finland ranks third in the world for competitiveness thanks to the strength of its schooling.

More than traditional educational achievements, however, our expert interviewees highlighted the all-around classroom experience and development of students into ‘good humans’ with an equal focus on arts, play and ethics. Finnish schools are founded on promoting the total well-being of children, requiring by law that each school provide free food, access to health care, and on-site counseling and guidance. Every school must have a welfare team to advance child happiness in school, creating a safe, healthy environment conducive to learning. Outdoor, practical learning opportunities and health related physical activity sessions are a regular feature. Unsurprisingly, the most recent UNICEF child well-being report card (2020) ranked Finland in the top 5 [5] globally amongst advanced economies for overall child well-being.

The system has also benefited teachers, who are generally respected and considered trusted professionals who have earned the freedom to teach with a large degree of autonomy. At both primary and secondary schools, Finnish teachers spend over 100 hours [6] less per year teaching than on average across OECD countries while often achieving better results and they are paid to develop their skills throughout their careers.

Striving for equality also seems to have paid off. International studies have shown differences between Finnish schools in terms of quality and attainment are comparatively small, and the percentage of dropouts in compulsory education is negligible. This compares favourably with neighbours like Sweden who have striven for a different, market-based, educational model in the last decade and have seen inequality across schools rise and international education rankings fall sharply.

There are concerns from experts over maintaining educational excellence, equity and equality since there were recent cuts in the budget at state, municipal and local levels and at the National Board of Education. Socio-economic more advantaged students outperformed more disadvantaged students by 61 points compared to 79 points in 2009 (OECD average 89). Only 6% of disadvantaged students were the top performers in reading (compared to 26% of advantaged students). In addition, 13% of the less advantaged students performed in the top quarter. But in contrary to the OECD average girls outperform boys in Mathematics in Finland [7] . It is undeniable, however, that thus far Finland’s holistic model of education has led to remarkable results in the areas of child well-being, educational attainment and economic competitiveness that serves its students, communities, and country very well.

[3] https://data.oecd.org/eduatt/adult-education-level.htm

[4] https://data.oecd.org/teachers/students-per-teaching-staff.htm

[5] https://www.unicef.org/media/77571/file/Worlds-of-Influence-understanding-what-shapes-child-well-being-in-rich-countries-2020.pdf

[6] https://data.oecd.org/teachers/teaching-hours.htm

[7] https://www.oecd.org/pisa/publications/PISA2018_CN_FIN.pdf

While many aspects of the policy could be readily adopted by any country with a well-functioning system of state-provided education, all the expert interviewees expressed the view that some elements of the Finnish model could not be fully appreciated without examining Finnish (or Nordic) culture. They suggested the widespread use of a trust-based system using consensus techniques based on ‘the common interest’ without recourse to unnecessary competition, exams, school inspections and league tables is closely tied to Finnish cultural values and a Nordic way of operating. One of the interviewees was skeptical that this Act could be replicated in other countries that did not have similar societal attitudes towards education unless it was preceded by a broad national conversation and agreement on a change of direction in education policy (like the one that happened in Finland itself in the 1970s).

In August 2019 the first school-based on finish pedagogical approach has opened in Vietnam. The project has been supported by Education Finland, a programme operating in the Finnish National Agency for Education. The private school with 200 pupils covers grades 1-9 and the teaching staff is supported by teachers from Finland. Finish education experts and architects helped to build up the school and designed the learning environment. [8] The Vietnam Finland International School (VFIS [9] ) is also the first not-for-profit international school belonging to a public autonomous university in Vietnam and aims to reinvest all incomes back into the school to develop the programmes, learning environments, facilities and professional staff.

[8] https://www.oph.fi/en/news/2019/first-school-based-finnish-pedagogical-approach-has-opened-vietnam

[9] https://vfis.tdtu.edu.vn/home

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What Country Has No Homework

Homework can be a lifelong nightmare for students, while others find it to be a necessary part of the educative process. Nonetheless, some countries have abolished the requirement of homework, while others have adopted it.

Table of Contents

This article will discuss which country has abolished homework and the reasoning behind such decision.

Overview of Homework in Different Countries

The opinion on homework is controversial. In some cases, students develop a sense of responsibility, organization, and improved grades by doing homework.

On the other hand, too much or too little homework can be a source of stress for students and parents, detracting from the quality of life. The amount of homework assigned and the amount of hours spent on it greatly vary from country to country. Students in Asian countries, like Japan, South Korea, and China, are amongst those who spend the most time on homework.

On the other hand, countries such as Finland and Denmark assign less homework, but still allow students to get enough practice on their academic skills to excel in exams.

History of Homework in Finland

Finland is a country located in the Nordic region known for its educational advancements and standards. During the eighties, Finland started an education reform. Since then, the country has abolished mandatory homework and included the practice of less is more into their school system.

Rather than assigning students hours of homework, teachers prefer to give more meaningful and creative tasks and projects. No longer must students worry about homework, as students can dedicate their time to leisure and extra-curricular activities while having the same grade level as students in countries where homework is mandatory.

Finns have a culture of knowing how to read, rather than what to read, and classroom activities and short exercises provide enough practice for students.

The Effects of Abolishing Homework

The decision to abolish homework has proved to be a successful and beneficial plan for the future of Finland. Students have more time to have a balanced life and to pursue activities, such as music, team sports, and part-time jobs.

Also, the decision gives more time and space to students to focus more on their studies and projects. For example, Finland implements a philosophy known as de-emphasis of testing. This means that the focus is not entirely placed on top results, but rather in the acquisition of knowledge.

Therefore, instead of focusing solely on grades, the emphasis is placed on learning how to think and how to learn.

International Recognition of Finland’s System

Finland has a universal, publicly funded educational system that is completely free and voluntary for students between the ages of 6 and 1 Other countries, such as Sweden and Denmark, follow the Finnish system and accomplishment of de-emphasizing on the testing and exam scores.

The policy of no-homework has even been recognized internationally. Books, such as The World’s Best Education System by Melinda Schawacher, and Pasi Silander’s book, The Education Revolution in Finland have given Finland’s system credit.

Criticisms of Abolishing Homework

Although Finland has achieved success with its system and educational advancements, there still remain some critics to the decision to abolish homework. For example, opponents argue that students are not compelled to sit down and study and that this decision allows students to succumb to distraction.

Moreover, some may argue that students develop better time management skills when managing their own time and dedicating it to homework; this way, they learn how to structure their studies and better manage their academic life.

Alternative Homework Policies

Not all countries are ready or willing to completely abolish homework. Therefore, other policy suggestions have been made to reduce the amount of homework assigned.

For example, in the United States, the Homework Policy Council suggests limiting homework to 10 minutes per grade level. In Brazil, the Justa Causa movement urges for the reduction of homework for primary school students. Also, in some countries, parents have started movements to reduce the number of hours spent on homework.

The Pros and Cons of Homework

Overall, some students receive beneficial results from doing homework while others find it to be a stressful obligation. Homework has both pros and cons, as it allows students to acquire more knowledge and practice, as well as improve their grades, but it also has shortcomings, as it takes away from the quality of life and social life of students.

The education system ultimately needs to address the needs of the students and address the proper amount and type of homework. Too much or too little homework can be a source of stress.

In conclusion, Finland has revolutionized the use of less is more in the educational system by abolishing homework. This decision has proven to be beneficial for Finland’s students, as they can dedicate their time to leisure and have more potential to excel academically.

The decision to abolish homework has also been recognized worldwide, as other countries have followed the Finnish system with similar results. Nonetheless, other countries have adopted alternative homework policies in order to prevent the burden of too much homework on students. Finland’s no-homework policy has pros and cons, from allowing the students to dedicate their free time to other activities, to not allowing the students to better manage their own learning process.

Despite the criticism, the decision to abolish homework has been a success for the Finnish; therefore, it is worth considering for other countries as well.

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There's no Homework in Finland

THERE'S No Homework In Finland Finland's school system accomplishes some impressive feats: 93% THEIR HIGH SCHOOL 78% GRADUATION RATE IS AT 93%. 75% COMPARED TO 78% IN CANADA. AND 75% IN THE US. %! ABOUT 2 IN 3 STUDENTS IN FINLAND WILL GO ON TO COLLEGE. That's the highest rate in all of Europe. AND THEIR TEST SCORES DOMINATE EVERYONE ELSE. Mean scores for PISA test (Program for International Student Assessment) 2006. 520 530 540 550 560 570 Finland Hong Kong Canada Taiwan Estonia Japan New Zealand Australia Netherlands Liechtenstein So what makes Finnish students so successful? STUDENTS GET PLENTY OF TEACHER INTERACTION. Finland and New York City have the same number of teachers. But Finland has nearly half the number of students. FINLAND NYC Students: Students: 600,000 ALMOST 1.1 MILLION Student to teacher ratio: Student to teacher ratio: 1 TO 12 1 TO 24 THOUGH 1 IN 3 FINNISH STUDENTS RECEIVES SOME SORT OF SPECIAL HELP IN SCHOOL... There are no separate classrooms for accelerated learning or special education. STANDARDIZED TESTING IS KEPT TO A MINIMUM. BEFORE A NEW YORK STUDENT REACHES HIGH SCHOOL, HE OR SHE WILL HAVE TAKEN 10 STANDARDIZED TESTS. Collectively, US students take 100 million standardized tests a year. FINLAND'S ONLY STANDARDIZED TEST IS TAKEN WHEN STUDENTS ARE 16 YEARS OLD. KIDS HAVE MORE TIME TO BE KIDS. AN AVERAGE US 5TH Finnish students GRADER HAS 50 MIN. rarely do homework OF HOME WORK until their teens. PER DAY. 10-11 YRS. ÖLD 13-14 YRS. ÖLD And while US elementary students average 27 minutes of recess... ... STUDENTS IN FINLAND GET 27 MIN 75 MIN ABOUT 75 MINUTES DAY. Most importantly? Finland knows good teachers are essential. TEACHERS IN FINLAND ARE ALL REQUIRED TO HAVE A MASTER'S DEGREE. (Which is fully subsidized by the state.) ONLY THE TOP 10% OF GRADUATES ARE ACCEPTED INTO TEACHING PROGRAMS. AND FINLAND'S TEACHERS ARE AS ESTEEMED AS THEIR DOCTORS OR LAWYERS. The rest of the world could learn a lot from you, Finland. Sources: [1] http://www.scribd.com/doc/82204617/Global-Graduation-Rates-By-Country-Source-OECD [2] http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/48343652/ns/today-back_to_school/t/home work-overload-gets-f-experts/ [3] http://www.businessinsider.com/finland-education-school-2011-12?op=1 [4] http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019676789_finland14m.html [5] http://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/publications/secret-finland%E2%80%99s-success- [6] http://www.time4learning.com/testprep/index.php/new-york-state-standardized-test-prep/educating-teachers.pdf This work is under a Creative Commons license. Brought to you by: Online Classes.org BY NO ND OnlineClasses.org

Does Finland Have it Right?: Cutting Down on Homework

Homework+takes+up+far+too+much+time+of+the+day+for+students+who+are+also%0Ainvolved+in+extra+clubs+or+sports.+It+leaves+no+room+for+time+to+relax+at+home%2C+spend+time+with%0Afamily+or+even+get+jobs.

Homework takes up far too much time of the day for students who are also involved in extra clubs or sports. It leaves no room for time to relax at home, spend time with family or even get jobs.

December 21, 2017

After a grueling eight hours of schoolwork and learning, students should be able to go home and relax, right? Wrong. Instead, they have to spend what should be free time doing homework. On average, high school students have about 3.5 hours of homework every night. This means that students spend 11.5 hours of school and homework every day, 47.9% of their day. This is a ridiculous expectation to e for teens who are also to join clubs and involved in extracurricular. With almost half of their day being school, how are students supposed to have time for anything else?

Assuming teens get the recommended eight hours of sleep, adds up to 19.5 hours taken up of a 24 hour day. Add on to that an hour for eating, 20.5 hours. Let’s say the student is involved in a school activity or sport, which practice for three hours day. All together, adds up to 23.5 hours, giving the student just half an hour to relax, be with family, or just have time to themselves. Research shows that homework actually does not boost student achievement when and the only homework is stress. Understand that teachers will never completely eliminate homework, but they should instead focus on quality vs. quantity. , more homework would mean that the student would understand the topic, but in actuality, it really only hurts the student. Imagine you have a lump of homework sitting in front of you and you would like nothing more than to just lay down and sleep. Do you spend your time completing the work to your full ability, or do you look up the answer key because you cannot stand the idea of doing 30 math problems? Most would choose option two so they could move on to the. However, if the student saw five problems that covered what they had done in class, they would be able to complete them to their full ability, retain the information, and move onto their project without feeling overwhelmed.

Homework also has physical repercussions. With the amount of work assigned today, pulling all-nighters is not foreign to high school students. Not to mention, stress caused by too much homework results its own physical side-effects. c cause headaches , exhaustion and weight loss, which are ridiculous to experience because teacher assign too much homework.

Finland has banned homework entirely, and it has shown incredible boosts in student achievement. In fact, the graduation rate in Finland is at 93% , America falls at just 75%. They also have a rate of 2 in 3 of their students attend college, the highest rate in Europe. They also far exceed international standardized testing. Their tests scores on the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) beat out everyone else, with them scoring n average 20 points higher than their runner up, Hong Kong. Although the success of Finland could not be solely on the fact that they do not have homework, it is still one of the main factors that differ from America and cause them to be more successful.

Banning homework clearly shows better success rates and that American students are overworked when it comes to homework. 3.5 hours of homework is completely unnecessary for student success, and teachers should heavily consider cutting down their workload for the benefit of the student body.

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Finland has no private schools – and its pupils perform better than British children

Finland ranked seventh in the world in oecd's student assessment chart in 2018, well above the uk and the united states, where there is a mix of private and state education.

Labour’s plan to add VAT to private school fees has refuelled a long-standing debate over state versus private education.

Rishi Sunak has accused Labour of stoking a “class war”, while the independent sector has warned of widespread closures if the plans take effect.

This system is replicated in many countries across the world. Finland , however, has no fee-paying schools at all.

Everyone from six to 18, whether in a state-run or independently-run school, is entitled to it free of charge. It’s a policy of which the Finns are particularly proud.

And it’s proven to be successful, with Finland ranked seventh in the world in 2018 on its Pisa score (the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment), well above the UK and the United States, where there is a mix of private and state education.

Parents do not contribute financially to their children’s education, and textbooks, materials, and school meals are provided free – all funded by taxpayers.

‘Education is a human right’

Pasi Sahlberg, a former teacher and policymaker in Finland turned professor of educational leadership at the University of Melbourne, Australia said Finland’s system was built on the idea “ education is considered a public service and a human right” with “equal opportunity of access to schools and universities regardless of who students are or where they live”.

He told i : “This was considered to be the central idea in having an equitable and well-functioning education system.

“In Nordic countries in general, education has been the driver of social mobility and equality in society.

“The current model of Finland’s education is still based on those common values and ideal of Nordic values where there is not much room in education for profit, especially in school education sectors.”

A relatively young nation, only gaining independence in 1917, Finland does not have embedded traditions in its education system of centuries-old public fee-paying schools.

Compulsory schooling in Finland starts at the age of seven rather than five and goes up to 18.

It began a comprehensive reform of its school system in 1970 and two years later, primary and lower secondary education (grades one to nine) became free of charge across the board. Further reforms in the early 2020s saw six-year-olds in pre-primary and upper secondary school students included in this.

It means education in Finland is now free for all Finnish citizens from pre-primary up to higher education.

Siru Korkala, senior specialist at the Finnish National Agency for Education, described the policy as the “cornerstone” of the nation’s educational policy.

“Finland’s commitment to equal access to education for all children and young people, regardless of their socioeconomic background, has been a cornerstone of its educational policy,” she told i . “By providing free education, Finland ensures that all students have equal opportunities, which can help improve overall educational standards.”

The only areas that do require any parental outlay are optional, non-compulsory activities or services, such as school trips or extracurricular activities.

Private schools in Finland

Private schools (those not operated by the government or local authorities) do exist in Finland but are mostly faith-based, Steiner, Montessori or university-run.

Of 2,100 institutions providing primary and lower secondary education, only 65 of them are private and the majority of their funding comes from the government.

They must follow the national curriculum guidelines and cannot be run for profit – charging for tuition in basic education is prohibited by the Finnish constitution.

There is one exception to this: the Helsinki International School is a fee-paying institution.

Mr Sahlberg, author of the 2021 book Finnish Lessons 3.0: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland , said: “Most schools are funded by local governments, they employ the teachers and run the schools.

“Central government’s funding formulas stipulate the levels of funding at local levels and provide subsidies to those local governments with less wealth.

“Efficiency is therefore a big driver of the economics of education that means schools try to do more with less funding based on their circumstances.”

World class schooling

Finland’s education system gained global attention in 2000, with the first ever published Pisa results in 2000.

The survey of 15-year-old students around the world in maths, reading and science found Finland topped the chart in reading, and came third in science and fourth in maths.

In 2018, results remained higher than most other Western nations’ in seventh place overall, just behind Canada, South Korea and Japan. The UK was ranked in 10th place and the US in 21st.

Within Finland, disparity in results between schools is negligible. “Student performance is similar across all schools in Finland,” said Mr Sahlberg.

What lessons can be learnt?

Mr Sahlberg said what the UK could take away from the Finnish model is a “complex question” and depended on what people in different parts of the UK want.

How Finnish schools teach every child to spot fake news - and what UK parents could learn

“I know Scotland and Wales are moving ahead in different ways than England, for example”, he said. “Both of those jurisdictions in the UK have produced education policies and reforms that are building more equitable education systems than they have had before.”

He maintained the best way to get higher performing education systems is to have policies which put “enhancing equity of education as a priority”.

“It is possible to have a two-tier system of schools [private and government] in this approach, but governments should, just like the OECD has advised over and again, manage school choice in the two-tier system so that state schools don’t turn out to be a second choice for parents,” he said.

Ms Korkala highlighted five key areas of focus: equality and inclusivity, fewer standardised tests, teacher education and professional respect, less homework and stress and pupil and student welfare.

She said in Finland all students, regardless of their background or learning difficulties, receive “the same high-quality education”, emphasis is on continuous assessment rather than standardised tests and teachers are “highly respected in society” with a high standard of education.

The amount of homework had been reduced to relieve pressure on pupils and all have access to student welfare services, including psychologists and school social workers and healthcare services.

Could this be the way forward in the UK?

Dr Jennifer Chung, from University College London’s Institute of Education, has studied Finland’s education system in depth. She said transferring that model would be a “challenge”.

“The issue is really the ecosystem that education system exists in,” she said.

Although Finland has “many things right” in its education policy, she pointed out that other social, economic and cultural factors in the country must also be taken into account in its success, such as: viewing teaching as a university-educated profession rather than a vocation, a high value placed on education in society and political consensus over education policy.

Whereas a “powerful private sector” and political involvement in education “makes it much tougher to exact change” in England, she said.

“There’s continuity and there’s change but if there’s too much change you won’t know if the policy is working or not.

“England’s education policy is very politically charged. You have to decide whether it’s about the policy or is it about the politics.”

A comment from the Independent Schools Council, representing more than 1,400 independent schools in the UK and overseas, would suggest it is still the latter.

Its spokesperson said: “It is our understanding that no political party in the UK is currently suggesting that they would wish to emulate this model.”

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Poland’s children rejoice as homework is banned. The rest of the world watches on for results

Some studies have shown little benefit to homework for young learners, article bookmarked.

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Ola Kozak is celebrating. The 11-year-old, who loves music and drawing, expects to have more free time for her hobbies after Poland ’s government ordered strict limits on the amount of homework in the lower grades.

“I am happy,” said the fifth grader, who lives in a Warsaw suburb with her parents and younger siblings. The lilac-colored walls in her bedroom are covered in her art, and on her desk she keeps a framed picture she drew of Kurt Cobain.

“Most people in my class in the morning would copy the work off someone who had done the homework or would copy it from the internet. So it didn’t make sense,” she said.

The government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk enacted the ban against required homework this month amid a broad discussion about the need to modernise Poland's education system, which critics say puts too much emphasis on rote learning and homework, and not enough on critical thinking and creativity.

Under the decree, teachers are no longer to give required homework to kids in the first to third grades. In grades four to eight, homework is now optional and doesn't count towards a grade.

Not everyone likes the change – and even Ola’s parents are divided.

“If there is something that will make students enjoy school more, then it will probably be good both for the students and for the school,” said her father, Pawel Kozak.

His wife, Magda Kozak, was skeptical. “I am not pleased, because (homework) is a way to consolidate what was learned,” she said. “It helps stay on top of what the child has really learned and what’s going on at school.”

(Ola's brother Julian, a third grader, says he sees both sides.)

Debates over the proper amount of homework are common around the globe. While some studies have shown little benefit to homework for young learners, other experts say it can help them learn how to develop study habits and academic concepts.

The rest of the world will be watching Poland’s results closely.

Poland's educational system has undergone a number of controversial overhauls. Almost every new government has tried to make changes — something many teachers and parents say has left them confused and discouraged. For example, after communism was thrown off, middle schools were introduced. Then under the last government, the previous system was brought back. More controversy came in recent years when ultra-conservative views were pushed in new textbooks.

For years, teachers have been fleeing the system due to low wages and political pressure. The current government is trying to increase teacher salaries and has promised other changes that teachers approve of.

But Sławomir Broniarz, the head of the Polish Teachers' Union, said that while he recognized the need to ease burdens on students, the new homework rules are another case of change imposed from above without adequate consultation with educators.

“In general, the teachers think that this happened too quickly, too hastily,” he said.

He argued that removing homework could widen the educational gaps between kids who have strong support at home and those from poorer families with less support and lower expectations. Instead, he urged wider changes to the entire curriculum.

The homework rules gained impetus in the runup to parliamentary elections last year, when a 14-year-old boy, Maciek Matuszewski, stood up at a campaign rally and told Tusk before a national audience that children “had no time to rest.” The boy said their rights were being violated with so much homework on weekends and so many tests on Mondays.

Tusk has since featured Matuszewski in social media videos and made him the face of the sudden change.

Education Minister Barbara Nowacka said she was prompted by research on children’s mental health. Of the various stresses children face, she said, "the one that could be removed fastest was the burden of homework.”

Pasi Sahlberg, a prominent Finnish educator and author, said the value of homework depends on what it is and how it is linked to overall learning. The need for homework can be “very individual and contextual.”

“We need to trust our teachers to decide what is good for each child,” Sahlberg said.

In South Korea, homework limits were set for elementary schools in 2017 amid concerns that kids were under too much pressure. However, teenagers in the education-obsessed country often cram long into the night and get tutoring to meet the requirements of demanding school and university admission tests.

In the US, teachers and parents decide for themselves how much homework to assign. Some elementary schools have done away with homework entirely to give children more time to play, participate in activities and spend time with families.

A guideline circulated by teachers unions in the US recommends about 10 minutes of homework per grade. So, 10 minutes in first grade, 20 minutes in second grade and so on.

The COVID-19 pandemic and a crisis around youth mental health have complicated debates around homework. In the US, extended school closures in some places were accompanied by steep losses in learning, which were often addressed with tutoring and other interventions paid for with federal pandemic relief money. At the same time, increased attention to student wellbeing led some teachers to consider alternate approaches including reduced or optional homework.

It's important for children to learn that mastering something "usually requires practice, a lot of practice,” said Sahlberg, in Finland. If reducing homework leads kids and parents to think school expectations for excellence will be lowered, “things will go wrong.”

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IMAGES

Finland's "No Homework" School System
No Tests, No Homework! Here's How Finland Has Emerged As A Global
No homework in schools
There’s No Homework in Finland. Which countries have the best education
The Thirst for Learning: There’s NO homework in Finland
Homework should be banned

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is homework banned in your country #dddx #shorts #europe #map #mapping #homework
Does your country banned homework? #mapper #europe #mapping #map
got banned for absolutely NO REASON
What are your thoughts about homework being banned

COMMENTS

No Tests, No Homework! Here's How Finland Has Emerged As A Global
Finland schools begin from 9.30 am as research in World Economic Forum has indicated that schools starting at an early age is detrimental to their health and maturation. The school ends by mostly 2 pm. Lastly, there is no homework or surprise test given to students in Finland.
The truth about Finland's great schools: Yes, kids do get homework, and
Finland has been paid outsized attention in the education world since its students scored the highest among dozens of countries around the globe on an international test some 20 years ago.
Homework in Finland School
For example, an average high school student in the US has to spend about 6 hours a day doing homework, while in Finland, the amount of time spent on after school learning is about 3 hours a day. Nevertheless, these are exactly Finnish students who lead the world in global scores for math and science. It means that despite the belief that ...
Pasi Sahlberg: What Can We Learn From Finland About Education Reform?
Finland has NOT done away with homework. Sahlberg clarified that as radically and appealing as this idea might be for many young people, homework has not been banned in Finnish schools. That being said, the '2 hours of homework' standard that had been common in Finland was removed so that teachers no longer feel obligated to give students ...
What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success
Educational policy, Abrams suggests, is probably more important to the success of a country's school system than the nation's size or ethnic makeup. Indeed, Finland's population of 5.4 million can ...
Opinion: Finland's education system breaks every rule
The homework load for children in Finland varies by teacher, but is lighter overall than most other developed countries. This insight is supported by research, which has found little academic benefit in childhood for any more than brief sessions of homework until around high school. Related: Demark pushes to make students graduate on time
Why the U.S. can't replicate Finland's educational success
When people triumph Finland's education system, they enumerate a laundry list of reforms aimed at radically altering the country's scholastic approach: no homework, no standardized tests ...
Education in Finland (No Homework, No Standardized Testing)
Moore discusses Finland's education policy (almost no homework, no standardized testing), speaking with Krista Kiuru, the Finnish Minister of Education. Moor...
Finland's education ambassador spreads the word
Finland's former chief inspector is no longer needed - except as a global spokesman for Finnish success, as Peter Wilby discovers ... Even 15-year-olds do no more than 30 minutes' homework a night.
Top of the class: Labour seeks to emulate Finland's school system
Finland's schools are rooted in the country's distinctive history and culture; the population is small (5.5 million), and taxes are high.
Why were Finnish schools so successful with distance and in-person
Education has been, and continues to be, the number one priority in Finland. When everyone (students, parents, teachers, community) works together, we can get the best results. Lifelong learning is not just a phrase; it is a necessity for every one of us. Face-to-face education is so important to achieve.
There's No Homework in Finland
Finland -Nordic education is often held up as a shining example of best practices. Students are given a great deal of freedom, can pursue interests, and teachers are held up as shining examples to ...
Unlocking Finland's Secret
Well, yes Finland is consistently achieving top rankings in international assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Phone: 9810248717. Email: [email protected]. ... Finland's approach to homework and testing has several notable benefits. Firstly, by reducing the emphasis on homework, Finnish ...
Finland's Basic Education Act & General Education Policy
Selection as a Future-Just Policy. Finland's Basic Education Act and general education policies won a 'Silver Award' in the 2015 Future Policy Awards for its unique, holistic approach to education. Key elements of Finnish education policy include quality, efficiency, well-being and life-long learning with an overarching goal that all ...
Education in Finland
The educational system in Finland consists of daycare programmes (for babies and toddlers), a one-year "preschool" (age six), and an 11-year compulsory basic comprehensive school (age seven to age eighteen). Nowadays secondary general academic and vocational education, higher education and adult education are compulsory. During their nine years of common basic education, students are not ...
What Country Has No Homework
Finland is a country located in the Nordic region known for its educational advancements and standards. During the eighties, Finland started an education reform. Since then, the country has abolished mandatory homework and included the practice of less is more into their school system. Rather than assigning students hours of homework, teachers ...
There's no Homework in Finland
There's no Homework in Finland. THERE'S No Homework In Finland Finland's school system accomplishes some impressive feats: 93% THEIR HIGH SCHOOL 78% GRADUATION RATE IS AT 93%. 75% COMPARED TO 78% IN CANADA. AND 75% IN THE US. %! ABOUT 2 IN 3 STUDENTS IN FINLAND WILL GO ON TO COLLEGE. That's the highest rate in all of Europe.
Does Finland Have it Right?: Cutting Down on Homework
Finland has banned homework entirely, and it has shown incredible boosts in student achievement. In fact, the graduation rate in Finland is at 93% , America falls at just 75%. They also have a rate of 2 in 3 of their students attend college, the highest rate in Europe. They also far exceed international standardized testing.
Finland has no private schools
Finland ranked seventh in the world in OECD's student assessment chart in 2018, well above the UK and the United States, where there is a mix of private and state education
'Why I believe homework should be banned', by one primary school student
We have looked at Finland banning homework and we have seen the impact it has made compared to other countries. This is why I think homework should be banned, not just in my school but in all schools.
Finland bans mobile phones from classrooms in bid to boost exam results
James Crisp, Europe Editor 27 June 2023 • 11:57am. Finland is to ban mobile phones in school classrooms in a bid to reverse slumping exam results. The country's new Right-wing coalition ...
Poland's children rejoice as homework is banned. The rest of the world
Poland's children rejoice as homework is banned. The world watches on Ola Kozak, 11, right, and her younger brother Julian Kozak, 9, sit at the table where they used to do their homework