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Perspectives on the Finnish Education System and Lifelong
Learning Eero Ropo University of Tampere
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 2
Teacher Education in Finland Eero Ropo
3
Compulsory Education in Finland • History: Dual education system from 1863 to 1970
• Uno Cygneus, Father of the Finnish comprehensive school, proposed a plan and curriculum for the new folk school in 1861 when Finland was still part of Russian empire
• Compulsory general education (7 yrs) was legislated in 1921 (after the Finnish independence in 1917)
• First curriculum in 1925, second curriculum reform in 1946-1952, third major curriculum reform in 1970
• Present: Comprehensive school since 1970 (’Peruskoulu’ in Finnish) • Grades 1–9 compulsory to all
• Secondary level education available for the whole age cohort • High school (2-4 yrs program) • Vocational programs (3 yrs)
• Voluntary preschool year for the 6 year olds in the late 1990s
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 4
Basic Principles of Finnish Education • Mandatory for all children between 7 and 16 yrs old
(since 1921) • Equality of access • Free of charge (from pre-school to university) • School-based curriculum
• National curriculum framework • Municipal & school curricula developed locally
• Prepares for lifelong learning • Teacher autonomy in instruction • Voluntary preschool education offered to all 6 year old
children (95% attend)
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 5
Structure of Finnish Education System • Finnish national anthem by school children • Finnish education system
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 6
Compulsory Basic Education • Grades 1 through 9 • Lower school: grades 1 to 6 • Upper school: grades 7 to 9 • History of the comprehensive school dates
back to 1861 when Uno Cygneus, ”Father of the Finnish comprehensive school”, proposed a plan and curriculum for the new Folk School
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 7
Development of Finnish Teacher Education
• Primary teacher education since 1863 to 1971 • Primary teacher education began in 1863 in the Jyväskylä
seminar (currently University of Jyväskylä) • Seminars were merged to universities in 1971
• Secondary teachers were educated in the universities and the Normal schools since mid 1800 to 1970 • Teacher education to universities in 1974 when Faculties of
Education were established and Normal schools became part of universities
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 8
Teaching as a career in Finland
• Teaching has been a popular career choice among students • Education has been regarded as the best way for social
movement, well-being and good life as a citizen
• Primary school teacher education is one of the most popular degree programs in the universities • About 5-10% of the applicants have been admitted to MA
programs in primary school teaching
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 9
• Popularity of secondary school, subject teacher
programs differs from subject to subject • E.g. Math and science programs are less popular than history or
Finnish language programs
• Teachers are averagely paid in Finland
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 10
• Finnish folk songs by school children
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 11
Schools at Present • About 3300 schools of which 215 have grades 1 to
9 • General comprehensive school (Peruskoulu) has
14 subjects in grades 1 to 6 and a few more in grades 7 to 9
• Religion is a mandatory subject • Newest subject is health education (2004-) • First foreign language at the 3rd grade (English
and German most popular) • Handicraft has been a school subject since 1860s
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 12
• Curriculum system is based on the national core curriculum and the school-based curricula at the local level - textbooks important • Next curriculum reform in 2016
• National Parliament legislates the lesson hour division for different subjects – National Board of Education administers curriculum development
• About 60,000 students graduate from Peruskoulu annually
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 13
Secondary Education
• Upper secondary school - ’lukio’ (high school, gymnasium)
• Prom - 2nd year students' celebration after 3rd yr students have left the school • 2-4 year program leading to Matriculation Examination • ’Oppikoulu’ (’learning school’) was the name for the
school until 1970 when lower grades of ’oppikoulu’ were merged to comprehensive schools and 3 upper grades became independent ’lukios’
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 14
• ’Oppikoulu’ originated from very old trivial schools
(church) - first in Turku and Vyborg (1617) • First lukios for boys were established in 1872 • Lukio is typically a three year program and consists of 75
courses (minimum)
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 15
• Individual curriculum for all students - non-
graded program, everyone studies according to his/her own study plan • mandatory courses (47-52) • advanced courses (min 10) • same subject courses (max 15) • applied courses (max 20)
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 16
• Non-graded system since mid 1990s • This system seems to benefit independent,
responsible students who have good study skills
• Study counsellors available in every school, they also follow the progress of students (1 counsellor for every 250 students)
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 17
• Finnish ’lukios’ are typically small, having 100-400 students, only a few schools having over 1000 students
• 417 lukios in the country, about 100000 students total (2007)
• About 50-55% of the student population goes to lukio from peruskoulu
• Entrance restricted (grade marks based admission criteria)
• Free for students, except books and materials
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 18
Matriculation Exam (ME)
• National exam organized by the independent ME council
• 4 mandatory subjects for a student: mother tongue and 3 others chosen by the student (Second official language, foreign languages, mathematics, history, social sciences, chemistry, physics, psychology, biology, geography, philosophy)
• Students receive two reports at the end of 12th year: ME and lukio
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 19
Vocational Education • Government has guaranteed access to further
vocational or general education for all comprehensive school graduates
• Around 45% of students choose vocational education (in 2007 about 62.000 students made vocational degree)
• Programs are 3 yrs long (120 ECTS credit points)
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 20
• Education free of charge, including lunch and
transportation from home; books and materials not free • 20 credits general studies (same as in lukio), 80 credits
vocational and 20 practical at the work place • Over 200 different vocational programs offered • Around 7000 students combine their vocational
ja ’lukio’ studies and make both vocational degree and ME in a four year program
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 21
PISA Results In Finland • PISA = Program for International Student Assesment by
OECD • Overall Finland has been among the three best countries in
reading, mathematics and science results in 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009 PISA studies
• Focus on minimizing learning difficulties (half of graduating students have engaged in special education)
• Teachers • Schools • Homes • National mentality
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 22
We Know That…
• “the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers” and that “the only way to improve outcomes is to improve instruction” (Barber and Mourshed, 2007)
• Schools therefore have a duty to provide their pupils with an education that will enable them to adapt to an increasingly globalised, competitive, diversified and complex environment, in which creativity, the ability to innovate, a sense of initiative, entrepreneurship and a commitment to continue learning are just as important as the specific knowledge of a given subject.” (2008/C 319/08 of 21.11.08)
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 23
Some Explanations for Success in PISA • High quality of applicants into teacher education
• Only 10-15 percent of appilcants are accepted into primary teacher education programs
• Two stage selection process: school report and interview into primaryTE
• Acceptance into secondary teacher education programs based on subject knowledge
• Research based teacher education programs • 5 years of studies minimum (MA or MSc degree) • Every student involved in research (MA Thesis) • Portfolio is the main method in evaluation; enhances individual
reflection of student’s own strenghts and weaknesses as a teacher • Professional mentoring in practice schools for teacher students
• Universities have own practice schools (Normal schools)
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 24
• Educational culture in the schools
• Trust to teachers’ work (no inspectors) • No regular national testing (teachers design and administer their
own exams) • Teachers involved in planning school-based curricula (based on
national curriculum framework) • Teacher autonomy and responsibility is emphasized in the
school system • Teachers focus more on educating students than maximizing
their test performance
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 25
Current Issues in Finnish Education • Continuation of students school path from preschool to 9th grade • Learning difficulties and inclusive education • Growing multicultural student population • Social problems in the schools • Inservice teacher education • School leadership and management in transition
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 26
Higher Education • Finland has a dual higher education system
• 16 universities (1.1.2010) • 26 polytecnics (1.1.2009)
• It is possible to apply to higher education after a Matriculation exam or vocational degree
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 27
• Total of 307300 students in higher education (2005)
• Ministry of Education policy: 50% of 30-34yr olds have higher education degree by 2015
• The Universities Act requires that universities promote free research, offer scientific and artistic education based on research and educate students to serve their country and humanity. In carrying out this mission, universities must interact with society and strenghten the impact of research on society.
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 28
• 11 multidisciplinary universities, 1 schools of economics and business administration, 2 universities of technology and 2 art academies
• New university legislation in 2010 • All universities are public, autonomous
institutions governed by themselves and funded mostly by support from the state budget (outsiders in the governing boards)
• 2 universities are owned by a university foundation
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 29
• Universities are autonomous and independent of state (also financially)
• Freedom of research and education • Degrees are based on Bologna treaty (180-300 ECTS)
(since 2008) • Students are accepted to study Master’s degree but have
to take Bachelor before making the Master’s (MA, MSc) • Entrance to universities very restricted: typically 15-20%
of the applicants are accepted at the Univ of Tampere; 30-40% to universities of technology
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 30
• Most popular programs are primary school teacher
education, psychology, mass media, social sciences • Open university system offers university level basic
studies to everyone interested
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 31
Polytechnics or Universities of Applied Sciences (ammattikorkeakoulu)
• Professional higher education degrees offered in the areas labour market requires highly educated professionals
• Polytechnics are municipal or private institutions, authorized and supported by the Ministry of Education
• Are autonomous in their internal affairs
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 32
• Degrees offered are: • Polytechnic Bachelor degree (different names like
insinööri, tradenomi, etc) • Polytechnic Master’s degree (not permanent yet) • Further education and specialiazation studies • Open polytechnic education
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 33
• Tampere University of Applied Sciences • Health care (Nursing) • Technology and business administration • Art and media • Teacher education
• About 10,000 students
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 34
Lifelong Learning in Finland
• Lifelong learning has been educational policy issue from late 1970s
• School system renewal in 1970 and vocational education reform in 1970/80 were designed to promote lifelong learning • No dead ends for young people in their degree
oriented studying
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 35
• Higher education system (polytechnic institutions) was reformed in 1990s
• Basic idea to give larger number of age cohorts access to higher education (official goal 70%) and promote work life oriented higher education overall (nursing, engineering etc.)
• Access from polytechnic institutes to universities were designed, but the transfer is still not widely used
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 36
Adult Education • Both general and vocational adult education aimed to
promote the idea of lifelong learning • General adult education institutes supported by the
state and municipalities (e.g. community colleges) • Courses do not lead to degrees
• Vocational adult education institutes offer same degrees as institutes for young students • Curricula fitted for adult purposes • Shorter programs – previous skills tested in working
context exams
Eero Ropo, 3.10.2012 37
Thank you!
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