Report to CouncilJulie Podbury’s tour to Finland 2012

Finland - General Monocultural society Highest PISA Literacy & Numeracy Results

with Highest Social equity ( see following graph)

Education is culturally very highly valued Majority of citizens have university

education Parents expect their students to reach

Tertiary education

Average performanceof 15-year-olds in science – extrapolate and apply

Low average performance

Large socio-economic disparities

High average performance

Large socio-economic disparities

Low average performance

High social equity

High average performance

High social equity

Strong socio-economic impact on

student performance

Socially equitable distribution of

learning opportunities

High reading performance

Low reading performance

Shanghai- China

KoreaFinlandHong Kong- China

SingaporeCanada

New ZealandJ apan

Australia

NetherlandsBelgium Norway ,EstoniaSwitzerlandPoland,I celandUnited States LiechtensteinSwedenGermany,

I relandFrance, Chinese Taipei,DenmarkUnited KingdomHungary,Portugal

Macao-China I talyLatvia

Slovenia GreeceSpainSlovak Republic,Czech Republic CroatiaI sraelLuxembourg

Austria LithuaniaTurkey

Dubai (UAE) Russian Federation

Chile

Serbia440.000

460.000

480.000

500.000

520.000

540.000

560.000

1525354555

Durchschnittliche Schülerleistungen im Bereich Mathematik

Low average performance

Large socio-economic disparities

High average performance

Large socio-economic disparities

Low average performance

High social equity

High average performance

High social equity

Strong socio-economic impact on

student performance

Socially equitable distribution of

learning opportunities

High reading performance

Low reading performance

2009

Basics of the education system Students start school at 7 years of age Pre- school year at 6 years of age From 9 months – 6 years pre schooling

available with highly qualified staff supporting child’s learning, growth and development.

Key words in Finnish education quality, efficiency, equity and internationalization.

Other factors education is not run by politicians Very little accountability and bureaucracy TRUST of teachers. No inspectors. There is

a A certain knowledge held by Government & the community that what is going on in the schools is exactly right.

5 years for Masters in Primary Education. All teachers have Masters

Schools Pre primary 9 months to 6 years Pre-school 6 years Basic Comprehensive education from 7

years of Age Years 1-9 Upper secondary Y10-12 stream to

academic or vocational University or Polytechnic from either

upper secondary stream

Primary school Lower end of comprehensive 4 hours per day 8-12 Free school lunch Free transport to/from school Free textbooks & materials After school kids usually go to clubs or

other activities

Middle school (14 year old) 30 hours per week 75 minute periods 3 languages. Finnish, Swedish and

English Very little subject choice although you

can do an additional language Very little IT evident in schools

Upper Secondary Y10-12 Academic (60%)or vocational

colleges (40%) 8am to 4 pm, 5 terms, incomplete days

if desired 75 courses to complete upper

secondary qualification 36-38hrs each Then you can undertake matriculation

and do university entrance exam

Reports Two formal report per year Junior brief comment From Y8-12 number level 1-9 Some schools starting to open IT

dialogue with parents Very little testing Mostly assignment and book work

Teachers Salary is very low by Australian standards Starts at around $27K AUD pa increments at

years 1, 5, 8, 10, 20 and none higher Teachers can earn higher salaries for more

hours Hours as average set by government eg:

Finnish 20 hours, History 23 hours, Maths & Science 21 hours, English 22

Teachers work independently with full autonomy

Points of interest Class sizes 15-20 primary, 17-22 junior

high, senior high up to 30 Practical classes, inc. science max 16 School size max 1000 (seen as too big) 92% go from comprehensive to Upper

sec Min/max no hour per subject set by

govt. delivery and much of the content teacher choice

Teacher training 12 teacher training institutions in Finland and

they are all on school sites attached to universities practical teaching component is a major

aspect of the highly qualified Finnish teachers Duties of Teacher Training Schools

Provide teaching Tutor student teachers Teaching experiments and research Also provide in-service education

More on teachers 8000 students , 3000 student teachers and 800

teachers in all Teacher Training Schools in Finland

Training provided for comprehensive and upper secondary

Slightly higher pay at TTC, but it is part of our work. Slightly less lessons. It is 1/4 or 1/5 of the typical Finnish load.

In most cases 5 teachers in a class. (TTC) I main teacher plus four trainees students love it.

PD NEVER allowed on school days

Good average results Very old fashioned teaching Teacher directed Text book driven No catering for brighter kids Brighter students seemed bored Best teaching from an Australian

teacher in an English/Drama class