One of the quote they use for inspiration for their system is this:
’Either we prepare them for life or for exams. We choose the first.’
This is one of the most powerful sentence to be inspired from in order to make a good educational system.
We all know, and according to a research, Finnish students show and give the highest standard of knowledge in the world. In conclusion, they read more than other kids and they also rank first place in science and they hold the fifth place in mathematics.
In Finland, the secondary education has two stages:
The following are 7 principles of secondary education:
1. Equality
- Of all Schools.
All the schools are equally financed and they have the same equipment. Most of them are public ones and only some are semi-public, which usually means they teach in a foreign language like English, German, or French.
Finns seek to preserve all of the languages spoken in the country: you can receive secondary education in Swedish (second main language) or Sami (one of the official minority languages).
- Of every subject.
Concentration on one subject is not encouraged here.
- Of the parents.
It is not allowed teachers to ask about the place of work of a parent.
- Of every student.
Students are never divided into classes according to their performance in grades or assumed career preferences. To take things even more further, there are no ’good’ or ’bad’ students: both gifted physically or mentally challenged kids, all study together. Finns also work quite hard on the integration of the special students.
Teachers have a good thinking and don’t give emphasis to their personal attitude towards certain students. Every relationships should be smooth, and if they aren’t, that eventually leads to a termination of a contract with a teacher.
2. The Education is totally free, and all the students do not have to pay for:
- the lunch
- tours, museum visits, and all out-of-class activities
- a school bus that picks up and drops off students if a school is more than 2 km away
- school books, writing supplies, calculators, and tablets for them
Also it is prohibited to charge the parents for any purposes.
3. Practical approach
Finnish people go by the sentence: ’Either we prepare them for life or for exams. We choose the first.’ That is the reason there are no exams in Finnish schools. The teacher decides whether or not to carry out midterms and tests. There is only one compulsory standard test — a final to write before graduation from secondary school. But teachers don’t give their students any special training for it.
School is the place to learn useful skills that can come in handy in real life in the future. Finnish kids know how to do and pay their taxes, also, how to create promo websites, calculate a percentage discount, or draw a wind rose to find one’s way around.
4. Individual approach
An individual education plan is designed for every child in the school. All the books, homework, exercises, and in-class activities — everything is selected for each child individually and graded accordingly, because every child has different way of thinking and creativity.
Tutoring and remedial teaching are also available for those who require it.
5. Voluntariness for every student
Forced knowledge is never done upon students. Teachers do all their best to involve children in any kind of academic activities, but if they are not interested in that or not capable of studying, they are will be oriented towards a more practical profession.
No one is going to keep giving F’s to students like this. It is quite essential to be well-prepared for adult life, and that’s why repeating a year in school is not considered a shameful thing.
6. Trust
Every relationships in Finnish schools are based and built on trust with everyone. For example, there are no sudden checks on the teachers. This educational system only gives general recommendations, and allowing teachers to choose an adequate method for teaching, freely.
The students are allowed to occupy themselves with something quiet if they are not caught up in what is going on in class or have finished doing their task. It is thought that the student is the one to choose what is best for him.
7. Independence
The teachers help their students learn how to think, analyze, and gain knowledge independently. It is essential to be able to find necessary information from open sources, while memorizing countless formulas, especially with the Internet available – can be viewed as a waste of time and energy to do so.
What about the grades?
Grades are given according to a ten-point scale, but from 1st to 3rd grade there are no grades at all. Every school in Finland have an electronic blackboard system that is called ’Wilma.’ It allows teachers, social workers, doctors, and psychologists to give feedback to students and keep in touch with their parents at the same time. There are no fears for the students for receiving a bad grade: grades are used to motivate students, not to discourage them which is what happens in many countries. Nor do the teacher’s reputation and salary depend on his or her students grades.
Some other information:
The school grounds are not fenced. Some other interesting fact is that in class, the kids are allowed to sit on the floor or carpet.
Something else that is quite different is that there is no school uniform or any dress code for the students, they understand on how to dress from a young age so no rules are needed for that. But children do have to bring a second pair of light shoes with them, especially in winter.
If the weather is warm, the classes are usually taught outside and the younger students are taken outside during the breaks.
And, this is something every student wants to hear and that is hardly any homework. Their philosophy is that, kids should enjoy their free time and the parents are tough not to help their kids with homework, they say that it is better to organize a family hiking, swimming together, a visit to a museum etc.
Finland doesn’t claim that their education system is perfect, but compared to other countries, it is quite different and improved in a better way.
Also they never stop fine-tuning this system, and they are constantly trying new things and researching how it corresponds to the latest social changes and scientific developments.
They do an amazing job and kids don’t hate going to school because they care and want to make the most fun time during the time in school, and the stress is down to zero. They are enjoying life, and they have time to study as well.
They are trying an even better system right now, so keep reading FOYND to find out.
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