EDUCATION IN FINLAND

Transcription

1 EDUCATION IN FINLAND For the Dutch Delegation 15 September 2014 Aapo Koukku Counsellor of Education Statistics and international affairs

2 Independent since 1917 Member of the European Union 1995 Land area sq. km lakes, islands Finland in brief Population 5.4 million (17 inhabitants / km 2 ) Two official languages: Finnish (91.2%), Swedish (5.5%) Sámi is the language of about people (official status in 3 municipalities) Religion: Lutheran (75.3%), orthodox (1.1%), others (1.4%), no religious affiliation (22.1%) Immigrants: 3,6 % of population GDP (PPP) per capita $ 37,990 (World Bank) Main exports: electronics, forest industry, metal and engineering 2

3 Underlying educational understanding The objective of Finnish education and cultural policy is to guarantee all people - irrespective of their ethnic origin, background or wealth - equal opportunities and rights to culture, free quality education, and prerequisites for full citizenship. (---) All people must have equal access to services of consistent quality. (Government Programme, 2011) The most competent nation in the world by (Government programme 2011)

4 Government s five-year development plan, Education and Research aims to promote equality and quality in education and support life-long learning, for example ECEC administrative and legislative reform Reform of national time allocation and core curricula in general education Efforts to reduce group size in basic education Cooperation and flexibility in upper secondary education Educational guarantee as part of the crossadministrative Youth Guarantee

5 Specificities of the Finnish education system Culture supportive of learning / support to teaching and learning No inspections, no high-stakes testing or national examinations in basic education; focus on learning rather than testing High-quality teachers, high status, professional respect, autonomy in the class room Compulsory education starts at 7, same for all, inclusive, flexible and takes into account pupils individual needs, no streaming nor ability grouping Trust Decentralised Central steering Local decisions Culture of education Public funding Evolution Equality Free education Co-operation

6 Finnish Education System, no dead-ends in the system EARLY YEARS EDUCATION AND CARE A p p r e n t i c e s h i p

7 IMMEDIATE CONTINUATION OF STUDIES 2011 SCHOOL LEAVERS (BASIC EDUCATION) in total GENERAL UPPER SECONDARY 49,6% (2005: 53,3%) VOCATIONAL UPPER SECONDARY 41,2% (2005: 39,4%) DID NOT CONTINUE IN STUDIES LEADING TO A QUALIFICATION OR DEGREE 9,1% (2005: 7,4%)

8 IMPORTANT QUALITY INDICATORS High academic achievement, equal learning outcomes PISA 2000, 2003, 2006 and minor slow-down Small between and within school differences Insignificant number leave basic education without leaving certificate Low drop-out (< 4% in general education and 8.5% in vocational upper secondary education, 2009) Highly educated and motivated teachers Effective use of resources Nearly 7% of GDP goes to education 190 school days per year, 4-7 hours per day in basic education Moderate amount of homework, no need for private lessons after school Class repetition only 2 % in basic education

9 CHALLENGES Demographic trends, aging population Sizes of age groups currently at school fall very rapidly People live longer and are much healthier than ever needs for services and support Differences in terms of learning outcomes within and between schools and regions seem to be growing Risks of exclusion of the youth Economic crisis Pressure on cuts in financing the education sector Push to increase the size of teaching groups Pressure to close and merge schools and to establish bigger units

10 THE YOUTH GUARANTEE Will offer everyone under 25, and recent graduates under 30, a place in employment, education, on-the-job training or rehabilitation within 3 months after becoming unemployed. Background among year olds have completed only basic education; young unemployed jobseekers. Three ministries jointly responsible Funding Education and Culture Employment and the Economy Social Affairs and Health appr 350 meuro for the period of

11 THE YOUTH GUARANTEE Provides employment, training and a customised service More study places in VET New selection criteria into VET: priority to graduates from basic education and those without upper secondary vocational qualification Local authorities responsible for counselling services Support to language learning for young immigrants Employers will receive higher compensation for apprenticeship training Young adults skills programme Workshop activities and outreach youth work as means of support

12 PUBLIC-PRIVATE-PEOPLE-PARTNERSHIP MODEL F U N D I N G Employers to receive higher compensation for apprenticeship training Young Adults Skills Programme Support to language learning of young immigrants More study places in VET Youth guarantee Counselling services for basic education graduates A place in further education guaranteed to all who have just completed basic education New selection criteria Workshop activities and outreach youth work as means of support Support to youth employment P P P P

13 Administration and steering Parliament Government Ministry of Education and Culture Regional: Centres for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment Regional State Administrative Agencies Municipalities or Federations of Municipalities (Education providers) Educational institutions FNBE

14 Central steering vs local decisions Central o Educational priorities o Min. time allocation o National core curricula o Size of state subsidies Local o Educational priorities o Local curricula o Alloc. of subsidies o Class size o Recruitment o Teacher evaluation o Quality assurance

15 Finnish system is holistic and based on trust Comparison between the Finnish and general western models GENERAL WESTERN MODEL THE FINNISH SYSTEM Standardisation Strict standards for schools, teachers and students to guarantee the quality of outcomes. Flexibility and diversity School-based curriculum development, steering by information and support. Emphasis on literacy and numeracy Basic skills in reading, writing, mathematics and science as prime targets of education reform. Emphasis on broad knowledge Equal value to all aspects of individual growth and learning: personality, morality, creativity, knowledge and skills. Consequential accountability Evaluation by inspection. Trust through professionalism A culture of trust on teachers and headmasters professionalism in judging what is best for students and in reporting of progress. Source: Kupiainen, Hautamäki, Karjalainen: The FI education system and PISA, 2010.

16 A STEERING SYSTEM BUILT ON THE PRINCIPLE OF TRUST Flexible and decentralised educational decisionmaking, guiding principles being 1. common values, goals and high expectations 2. central monitoring of the whole system and support 3. local implementation and responsibility Far-reaching financial autonomy of local authorities No inspection, national tests or ranking lists in basic education Focus on self-evaluation and cooperation, selfevaluation supported by national sample-based evaluations that are used for the development of education

17 Optional SCHOOL CURRICULUM and a year plan based on it MUNICIPAL CURRICULUM Needs and municipality Q QUALITY CRITERIA strategies at the level National Core Curricula (renewed by 2014) Government s Decree (renewed 2012) on the General National Objectives and Distribution of Lesson Hours Education Acts and Decrees

18 New national core curriculum for basic education 2016 Thinking and learning skills Cultural competence, interaction and communication Taking care of oneself, everyday skills Comprehensive literacy ICT skills Entrepreneurship Civic skills 18

19 Education Act and Decree NATIONAL GUIDELINES AND AUTHORITY, LOCAL IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL General goals for education, core subjects, general principles for provision of education, students rights Government s Decree More precise formulation of general objectives, national allocation of teaching hours National Core Curriculum Basic values and tasks, learning conception, principles and guidelines for how to organize teaching and learning and other activities in schools, objectives and main contents in the core subjects, cross-curricular themes, principles and guidelines of student assessment, description of good performance and finalassessment criteria, and principles and guidelines for support of learning and welfare

20 NATIONAL GUIDELINES AND AUTHORITY, LOCAL IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL Municipal/school curriculum Implementation/conceptualization of national guidelines, local allocation of hours, defined objectives and contents of subjects and themes in every grade, practical provision of instruction, guidance, support and other activities of the school Quality criteria National framework for the development of basic education Including tools (quality cards) which connect national goals and guidelines to local conceptualization Education providers use these tools according to their own needs

21 CURRICULUM AS AN INTERACTIVE AND STRATEGICALLY IMPORTANT PROCESS Three layers of curriculum: national core curriculum, municipal curriculum, school curriculum and year plan All these are created in an open, extensive and interactive process curriculum is more a process than a product Curriculum is a strategic document and it reflects our best understanding of humanity, society and learning; it also connects the work of every school to municipal and national strategies National quality criteria for basic education support the conceptualization of the core curriculum at the local level

22 Focus on earliest possible support Special support Extensive assessment & individual plan Intensified support Ped. assessment & learning plan General support

23 Maximising potential: every child is unique Learning environment Creativity Encouragement Fairness Self-esteem Joy of learning Critical thinking Community Responsibility Curiosity

24 EVALUATION Education is evaluated locally, regionally and nationally Schools are not inspected Strong focus on both self-evaluation of schools and education providers (1999 legislation on education made self-evaluation and external evaluation mandatory) and national evaluations of learning outcomes The main aim of the national evaluations of learning outcomes is to follow at national level how well the objectives have been reached as set in the core curricula and qualification requirements. Results of evaluations are used for the development of education and in order to support and guide learning Consequently, the results are not used for ranking the schools, despite of the pressure from media, no competition or comparison of schools no fear of punishment, economically efficient In higher education the polytechnics and universities are responsible for the evaluation of their own operations and outcomes.

25 EVALUATION cont. At national level self-evaluation of education providers learning outcomes of basic education thematic evaluations evaluations on students health and wellbeing (THL, National Institute for Health and Welfare) International evaluations complement the national evaluations produce information on Finland s ranking compared to other education systems PISA, TIMMS, PIAAC new evaluations to extend the international comparability of education

26 EVALUATION cont. Government decree from 2009 outlines and priorities of education evaluation funding aims of evaluation activities principles of implementation Education evaluation plan for , prepared by the Ministry of Education and Culture (in cooperation with relevant parties) National Education Evaluation Centre as of 1 May 2014 merger of Finnish Education Evaluation Centre, the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Centre and National Board of Education (unit for evaluation of learning outcomes) centralisation to form a functional unit with a higher impact strengthening the independent position of evaluation activities third party evaluations and evaluations carried out to monitor learning outcomes.

27 FUNDING Majority of education is publicly funded Two-tiered public funding - The State - The local authorities or other education providers The State subsidy for operating costs (cover 31,42% in pre-primary and basic education; 41.89% in upper secondary and polytechnics) Per capita funding system without earmarking The funding criteria are the same irrespective of ownership Basic education completely free of charges for the pupils Higher levels payment for study materials, meals, transport Financial aid for full-time studies

28 EDUCATIONAL EXPENDITURE Public spending in 2011 (incl. public subsidies such as scholarships and grants to students), all levels of education of GDP Finland 6.8% Netherlands 5.9% OECD average 5.6% EU 21 average 5.6% of public expenditure Finland 12.2% Netherlands 11.9% OECD average 12.9% EU 21 average 11.5% Source: Education at a Glance 2014, OECD

29 Educational funding Operative costs per pupil/student in 2011 basic education ( ) general upper secondary ( ) vocational upper secondary ( ) polytechnics ( ) 1 difference between regions 2 difference between fields of VET Source: FNBE Statistical yearbook 2012

30 Compulsory instruction time low Hungary Czech Republic Finland Korea Poland Estonia Germany Sweden Norway Japan Denmark Greece OECD average Mexico Belgium (Fl.) Iceland England France Ireland Spain Canada Luxembourg Netherlands Australia Israel Chile Primary Lower sec OECD Education at a Glance 2013

31 OECD: Education at a Glance 2012

32 TYPICAL TEACHER in Finland 96% of class teachers completed university education has an average of 15 years of teaching experience 94% are employed full time and 77% have a permanent contract is 44 years old on average Source: TALIS 2013

33 TYPICAL PRINCIPAL in Finland 100% completed university or other equivalent higher education 98% completed a teacher education or training programme 97% a school administration/principal training programme 72% instructional leadership training has an average of 11 years of experience as a principle and 17 years of teaching experience 25% employed full time, no teaching obligations 71% employed full time, with teaching obligations Source: TALIS 2013

34 Finnish teachers are supportive Finnish teachers believe in: equity and encouragement individual support strengthening the pupils thinking skills developing the pupils self-confidence and tolerance Source: From goals to interaction. Evaluation of pedagogy in Finnish basic education 2008 (National Council for Evaluation in Education in Finland)

35 Most teachers are required a master s degree Kindergarten teachers 180 ECTS (3 years) Class teachers 300 ECTS (5 years) Subject teachers 300 ECTS (5-6 years) Teachers of vocational studies: Master s/bachelor s+work experinece+pedagogical studies of 60 ECTS) Principals: teacher education + e.g. certificate in educational administration

36 TEACHER EDUCATION TODAY kindergarten teachers 180 ECTS (~3 years) class teachers teach at grades 1-6 in basic education main goal is to educate pedagogically thinking teachers, and to support their personal growth, and their understanding of human development.

37 TEACHER EDUCATION TODAY (cont.) class teacher s Master s degree (300 ECTS, ~5 years) the science of education as the major, 140 ECTS, including the master s thesis and 20 ECTS supervised practical studies minor subject, 60 ECTS consists of all the 13 school subjects a class teacher teaches at the first 6 grades of the comprehensive school. at least 25 ECTS common academic studies (e.g. languages, ICT) 75 ECTS optional academic studies in different disciplines

38 TEACHER EDUCATION TODAY (cont.) Subject teachers teach at grades 7-9 in basic education (ages 13-16) and at the general upper secondary school (ages 17-19) teach typically two or three subjects, e.g. math and physics Master s degree (300 ECTS, ~5-6 years) about 140 ECTS subject matter studies in the major subject, including the master s thesis about 60 ECTS in pedagogical studies for teachers including 20 ECTS supervised practical studies about 25 ECTS common academic studies (e.g. languages, ICT, communication studies) about 75 ECTS optional academic studies in some other discipline

39 TEACHER EDUCATION TODAY (cont.) Principals teacher education + e.g. the certificate in educational administration CPD-programs provided: preparatory leadership program, leadership program for new principals, pedagogical leadership program, pedagogical leadership and the use of ICT, mentoring leadership program

40 CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD) OF TEACHERS No legislation governing CPD Obligation to participate is partly defined in collective agreements Teachers are obliged to participate 1-5 days a year according to the collective agreements Local administration can decide which programmes and forms can be accepted as CPD

41 Teacher training institutions can select heavily Intake into teacher education 2012 (% of those who applied) o Class teacher education 12 % o Subject teacher education 10 %-53 % o Vocational teacher education 30 % Statistics Finland, universities

42 Teacher education principles o Learning actively and critically - not by adapting existing models o Learning is about active selection of information and forming one s own ideas o Learning is about shared, community-based knowledge building o Learning to be a teacher is a lifelong journey

43 TALIS 2013 (Teaching and Learning International Survey) most Finnish teachers feel that they can influence progress-related matters of their students teachers are able to pose good questions to their students have control of undesired behaviour at a good level most teachers (and principals) of lower secondary level think that interaction between teachers and pupils functions well

44 TALIS 2013: If I could decide again, I would still choose to work as a teacher * United States Sweden Norway Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree Iceland Finland 0,0 20,0 40,0 60,0 80,0 100,0 120,0 OECD TALIS database * US response rate did not meet requirements

45 TALIS 2013: I think that the teaching profession is valued in society * United States Sweden Norway Iceland Strongly disagree Disagree Agree Strongly agree Finland OECD TALIS database * US response rate did not meet requirements

46 OECD: Education at a Glance 2012

47 Teacher and principal salaries in Finland (permanent contract, average gross salaries per month 2011) kindergarten teacher 2,452 class teacher, primary education 3,357 subject teacher, lower secondary 3,664 subject teacher, general upper secondary 4,128 VET teacher 3,813 principal, basic education 4,894 principal, general upper secondary 5,613 Average salary in the municipal sector in Finland 2011: 2,848 (men 3,319, women 2,728 ) Source: Satistics Finland

48 LEARNING CULTURE KEYS TO SUCCESS HOW WE SEE IT Professionalism of teachers high status and quality of teachers high quality of teacher education high quality of instruction Autonomy empowerment of municipalities and schools spirit of trust and support interactive, cooperative way of working Supportive ethos minimizing low achievement early intervention individual support HIGH STANDARDS active role of student good student teacher relationship COMPREHENSIVE EDUCATION SYSTEM Attainable for all, flexible structure and curriculum strategy, non-selective, inclusive, central steering, local impelentation and responsibility

49 Education in Finland Ministry of Education and Culture information in Finnish, Swedish and English Finnish National Board of Education information in Finnish, Swedish and English