Innovative Learning in Finland

26.9.2010SibenikMarianna NieminenMicrosoft Finland

Education system - Finland

• The main objective of Finnish education policy is to offer all citizens equal opportunities to receive education

• Guarantee everyone (not just Finnish citizens) the right to free basic education

• The public authorities are obligated to guarantee everyone an equal opportunity to obtain other education besides basic education without being prevented by economic hardship

Education system - Finland

• A major objective of Finnish education policy is to achieve as high a level of education and competence as possible for the whole population

• Over 90 per cent of those completing basic education continue their studies in general upper secondary schools or vocational upper secondary education and training

• The public authorities are obligated to provide for the educational needs of the Finnish- and Swedish-speaking population according to the same criteria

Some factors behind Pisa success

• Teacher education

• Comprehensive pedagogy

• The structure of the education system

• Students’ own interests and leisure activities,

• School practices

• Finnish culture

Partners in Learning Public – private – partnership in action

• From year 2003 brining together education leaders and educators around the world

• Supports transformation of education and achieving the goal of student centered learning

Building

Capacities

Growing

Communities

Research for

System Change

The goal

Innovative Teaching and Learning research

• Its primary focus is to study effective change in teaching practices and learning experiences.

• It views ICT (technology) integration as an essential enabler to innovative teaching and learning.

• The pilot study year (2009 – 2010) included Finland, Indonesia, Russia, and Senegal.

• The research will extend to more countries after the pilot year.

A multiyear global research program designed to investigate the factors that promote the transformation of teaching practices and the impact those changes have on students’ learning outcomes across a broad range of country contexts

National/Regional

Level

School/Teacher

Level

National or

Regional

Program Supports

Innovative Teaching

Practices

Innovative Teaching

Practices

Students’ 21st

Century Skills

National or

Regional Education

System

Educator Attitudes

School Culture and

Supports

ICT Access and

Support

Classroom

Level

Student

Level

Context and Inputs Practices Outcomes

Student-

Centered

Pedagogy

Student-

Centered

Pedagogy

Extension of

Learning

Beyond the

Classroom

Extension of

Learning

Beyond the

Classroom

ICT Integrated

Into Teaching

and Learning

ICT Integrated

Into Teaching

and Learning

School / Teacher level

Students’ 21st century skills

…involve:

• Building knowledge

• Collaborating

• Solving problems and innovating

• Using ICT for learning

• Communicating skillfully

• Students planning their own work and monitoring

their own progress

Remarks of Finnish results

• Innovative teaching practices are an important goal

• Shared vision and discussion with teachers is important

• Teachers have inadequate capabilities for change

Remarks of Finnish results

• ICT access develops quickly

• Student-computer ratio: large variation between schools

- student-computer ratio good at most of the Finnish schools

- ratio under 10: almost at 80 % of all Finnish schools- ratio less than 5:

- 50 % of secondary schools,- 36 % upper primary schools- 35 % primary lower primary

- large variation between schools

- regional and school-level differences

Remarks of Finnish results

• Use of ICT has a significant role at a school’s daily life

• ICT responds to the needs as a tool for learning

and teaching at 78 % of schools

• ICT enables teaching according to the goals at 74 % of schools

Remarks of Finnish results

• Finnish teachers have strong constructivist beliefs about teaching and learning

Remarks of Finnish results

Innovative Teaching Practice:

•Enables balanced growth and development

according to students’ own interests and

capabilities

•Gives students choices in the forms of self-

development

•Aims at understanding and interpreting future

•Builds in ICT at a tool for achieving educational

goals and development of education

•Emphasizes 21st Century skills as an essential part

of teaching and learning

Ritaharju School – The school of the future

• Ritaharju joined Microsoft Innovative Schools program 2007 one of 12 pilot schools around the world

• The school started working August 2010

Ritaharju School – The school of the future

• 4 administrative bodies under one budget and director

1. Education :

• comprehensive school grades 1-9, age 7-16, 700 students

• school psychologist services

2. Municipal social and health service:

• day-care age 0-6, consists of pre-school education starting age 6, 120 children

• school health service

3. Municipal library service

4. Municipal youth services for spare time

In all 100 adults and 850 children, including special needs children working together

Ritaharju School – The school of the future

• Fundamental idea: support the personal growth of each child and profit of synergy in operational culture and economy

Challenges:

• High barricade between administrative bodies since 17th century, all authorities has been working in their own ”sandbox”

• How to create a new operational culture where we work together to build new learning culture to support children achieving 21st century skills?

The building supporting collaboration

Thank You!