HIGH LEVEL EDUCATION FOR ALL IN FINLAND Dr. Reijo Laukkanen Docent Learning and Teaching Expo (LTE) 2015 Hong Kong 10 December 2015 Final 1
STRUCTURE OF THE PRESENTATION 1) Finland s Profiles 2) Present Education Context 3) Lifelong Learning 4) Use of Funds 5) Teachers 6) Evaluation and Feedback 7) Curriculum Change in Basic Education 8) Why Finland has Succeeded? 9) Challenges 2
1) Independent since 1917 Member of the European Union Land area 304 000 km 2 188 000 lakes 76 000 islands (min. 5000 m 2 ) Population 5.4 million (17 inhabitants / km 2 ) Two official languages: Finnish (91.2%), Swedish (5.5%) Religion: Lutheran (81.8%), orthodox (1.1%), others (1.2%), no religious affiliation (15.9%) Immigrants: 3,6 % of population (increasing) Farther Christmas 3
ANOTHER PROFILE - PISA 2012 (OECD 2013) MATHEMATICS: Shanghai, Singapore, Hong Kong Finland 14th READIND LITERATURE: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore Finland 6th SCIENCE: Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore.. Finland 5th 4
5
2) PRESENT EDUCATION CONTEXT 6
Population with at least upper secondary education 2014 (OECD 2015,40) Age group % Age group % Age group % 25-64 25-34 55-64 Australia 77 87 65 United Kingdom 79 86 71 Finland 87 90 77 Korea 85 98 54 Portugal 43 65 23 USA 90 90 90 OECD average 76 83 66 China 24 36 12 7
Administration of the Education System Parliament Government Ministry of Education National Board of Education Education/training providers Municipalities, Federations of municipalities, Nonprofit private organisations Schools and other educational or training institutes State regional organisations
Education System Structure 9
BASIC VALUES OF EDUCATION EQUITY: equal opportunities & fairness SUPPORT RATHER THAN CONTROL TRUST: culture of trust 10
Characteristics of Finnish Policy Experimenting before implementing country wide Consulting municipal authorities and teachers Using much research data and researchers knowledge in change Change is incremental through small steps towards the ideal - openness Building on what is at the moment 11
Quick look to policy developments in basic education -1970 s Centralised system 1985: Decentralisation begins 1994: Decentralisation is deepened 2004: A step back towards centralisation 2014: More detailed steering 12
3) LIFE-LONG LEARNING 13
Key competences for LLL (EU) 1) Communication in the mother tongue 2) Communication in foreign languages 3)Mathematical competences and basic competences in science and technology 4) Digital competences 14
Key competences 6) Social and civic competences 7) Sense of initiative and entrepreneurship 8) Cultural awareness and expression 15
Learning to learn Includes knowledge and attitudes dimension Skill and will to accept learning challenges Readiness to continue also as meets difficult tasks Skill to surpass disappointment of failure or risk of failure Ability to enjoy new challenges, learning and knowledge 16
4) USE OF FUNDS 17
RESOURCES FOCUSED TO STRATEGIC NEEDS More resources to the lower secondary education level (1985) Flexible use of teaching groups Part-time special needs education Remedial education when needed 18
Annual expenditure on educational institutions per student 2012 (OECD 2015, 219) US $, Tertiary includes R&D costs 19
Annual expenditure on educational institutions per student (2007, 202) US $ 20
5) TEACHERS 21
QUALIFIED AND SATISFIED TEACHERS Teacher s profession is the most popular choice for those leaving upper secondary education Research-based teacher education All primary and lower secondary education teachers have MA degree Why profession is so attractive? 22
Teacher salaries 2013 after 15 years experiance, US $ (OECD 2015, 439-440) COUNTRY PRE-PRIMARY EDUCATION PRIMARY EDUCATION LOWER SECONDARY EDUCATION UPPER SECONDARY EDUCATION PORTUGAL 36,663 36,663 36,663 36,663 ENGLAND 47,279 44,279 44,279 44,279 FINLAND 29,857 39,701 42,877 46,287 JAPAN n.a. 48,546 48,546 48,546 KOREA 51,594 51,594 51,489 51,489 NETHERLANDS 54,001 54,001 66,831 66,831 OECD average 38,653 41,245 42,825 44,600 23
Teachers as academic and ethical professionals (Niemi 2012) 1) Active role in raising serious questions 2) View themselves as public intellectuals 3) Articulate educational needs 4) Active in public debates 5) Cannot only be implementers 6) Active role in evaluating and improving 7) Refresh their skills, cooperate with parents and other stakeholders, and are active citizens. 24
6) EVALUATION AND FEEDBACK 25
EXTERNAL ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION Evaluation supports the general approach local/school based liberties Sample based national assessment/evaluation No ranking lists individual feedback No high-stake tests School based/municipal evaluation How to use the findings? Challenge 26
INDIVIDUAL FEEDBACK Lines of marks in school reports average (%) of correct answers in the test 100 80 60 40 20 0 poor adequate moderate satisfactory good very good excellent different marks used school X the whole sample 27
INDIVIDUAL FEEDBACK 28
7) CURRICULUM CHANGE IN BASIC EDUCATION 29
BALANCING CENTRAL AND LOCAL STEERING National Core Curriculum - 1972 700 pp. - 1985 around 300 pp. - 1994 110 pp. - 2004 around 300 pp. - 2014 around 475 pp. (imlementation 2016) 30
31
CURRICULUM SYSTEM National goals and distribution of lesson hours National core curriculum Municipal curricula 32
NATIONAL CORE CURRICULUM 2014 Value background Conseption of learning Learning culture Learning environments Wellbeing Work accross subjects Evaluation Support School home cooperation Wellfare services Languages and cultures Worldviews/ideologies Optional issues Year classes 1 2 (subjects, evaluation) Year classes 3 6 Year classes 7-9 Issues that can be decided locally 33
VALUE BASIS Each pupil is unique and has right for good education Humanity, civilisation, equality and democracy Cultural diversity is richness Sustainable way of life 34
7 COMPETENCE AREAS Thinking skills and learning to learn Knowledge of cultures, interaction and impression Taking care of oneself and everyday skills Multiple reading competency ICT competences Working life competences and entrepreneurship Participating, effecting and building sustainable future 35
CURRICULUM Municipality decides on the curriculum structure Curriculum can be same for all schools or same only partly Curriculum must be taken into use in August 2016 36
SOME DATAILES Generic competences Coding Multidiciplinary projects based studies Emphasis of formative assesment Increasing physical activity during school days 37
8) WHY FINLAND HAS SUCCEEDED? Strategy Policy instruments 38
STRATEGY National will for everybody s success/equity Same objectives for all High expectations All teacher education at the MA level Strong allocation of resources to lower secondary education Support for weak students Consensus and respect between stakeholders 39
POLICY INSTRUMENTS USED 1) Setting goals and rules (supply/demand) 2) Resources 3) Inspection (not any more) 4) Teacher education 5) Transparency/stakeholder involvement 6) Centaralisation/desentralization (balanzing) 7) Use of piloting projects/research, etc. 8) Control of text books (not any more) 40
9) CHALLENGES 41
HIGH-LEVEL EDUCATION? Challenges Demographic development Number of weak municipalities Increasing public costs Increasing immigration Increasing unemployment Financial problems 42
43
reijo.laukkanen@uta.fi THANK YOU! 44