Guest column: US should try Finland education initiatives

Written by

CINDY JONES
GUEST COLUMNIST

MURFREESBORO — Recently, Henna Virkkunen, Finland's minister of education, gave a brief interview in The Hechinger Report. What makes this so interesting is that Finland's public education is number one in the world, bar none, as cited in the PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) report.

Their test scores are the tops, parents are pleased, and their teachers exceedingly happy. Most importantly, the children are the benefactors of this amazingly simple and logical system.

Here are the main points of why it works so well:

1. Teacher Training — Finland's teachers get the best preparation. They do a five-year master's program and because they are studying at the university, teacher education is research-based. Students get a great deal of teacher training during their studies. Finland has something called "training schools" — normally next to universities — where the student teaches and gets feedback from a trained supervisor. Teachers are very well paid. She writes, "In Finland, we think that teachers are key for the future and it's a very important profession — and that's why all of the young, talented people want to become teachers."

2. Materials teachers use — Teachers in Finland can choose their own teaching methods and materials. There are no mandated textbooks or tests. They are considered experts of their own work, and they test their own pupils. Virkkunen states: "I think this is also one of the reasons why teaching is such an attractive profession in Finland because teachers are working like academic experts with their own pupils in schools."

3. Teacher Evaluation — Finland values its teachers highly, as do most countries in the world today. The Minister of Education writes, "Our educational society is based on trust and cooperation, so when we are doing some testing and evaluations, we don't use it for controlling [teachers] but for development. We trust the teachers." Looking at the international PISA report, it seems to be working fantastically. Trust and respect are two important things in Finland — and I wonder where these went in America?

4. Immigrants and Minorities — In Finland, at present, there are few immigrants but the country knows this will change. Therefore, to help non-Finnish speaking immigrants, the governments provides special schools, for a year or so, to not only teach Finnish but also to assist the immigrants in acclimating to the culture. "When they know enough Finnish to achieve successfully in the regular classroom, they go to regular school."

She continues, "I think in Helsinki, they are teaching 44 different mother tongues. The government pays for two-hour lessons each week for these pupils. We think it is very important to know your own tongue — that you can write and read and think in it. Then it's easier also to learn other languages like Finnish or English, or other subjects." In America we put immigrant children in the regular classroom and wonder why they, without intensive help at first, don't perform well on tests written in English. Does this really make sense?

4. Teacher Unions — In Finland the unions are very strong and work hand-in-hand in instituting reform, collaborating about new ideas, and sharing insights. The Minister of Education explains, "It's a totally different situation in Finland. For me, as Minister of Education, our teachers' union has been one of the main partners because we have the same goal: we all want to ensure that the quality of education is good, and we are working very much together with the union. Nearly every week we are in discussions with them. They are very powerful in Finland. Nearly all of the teachers are members. I think we don't have big differences in our thinking. They are very good partners for us." Yes, partners. This can be the way in America, too.

5. What can America learn from this successful system? Virkkunen says that is a hard question, as Finnish customs, history and traditions are different. However, she points out one central idea: " ... I think that teachers are really the key for a better educational system. It's vitally important to pay attention to teacher training, in-service training, and working conditions. Of course, the teachers always say we also have to pay attention to their salaries." Teachers in Finland make salaries comparable to other Finnish professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. Teachers in America certainly do not.

6. Upcoming Teacher Shortages in America — In Finland teaching is a life-long career and only a few teachers leave their jobs. In America, it is estimated that within five years, over 50 percent of new teachers will leave the profession, probably due to low pay, difficult working conditions, etc. In Tennessee our pending legislation involving the stripping of bargaining, tenure modifications, and so on, certainly won't help Tennessee attract best and brightest — and keep them from leaving. In Finland, " ... we have to develop some kind of mentoring system because the new, young teachers need support. Often the feedback I hear from young teachers is that it is not easy to cooperate with parents, for example, so that is one of the areas where young teachers need support from their colleagues." In Murfreesboro City Schools, Dr. Linda Gilbert has instituted such a mentoring program and her doing so shows how ahead-of-the-curve Dr. Gilbert has been.

7. What is something special about Finland's educational system that most people don't know? Three things stand out:

a. "We are quite good at giving special support to students with learning difficulties. About 25 percent of our pupils receive some kind of special support, but in regular classrooms — often the teacher has an assistant in the classroom. "

b. "We also think it is very important that there aren't too many pupils per teacher. We don't have legislation limiting class size, but the average class size for all grades is 21. In first- and second-grade, it's 19."

c. "Our students spend less time in class than students in other OECD countries. We don't think it helps students learn if they spend seven hours per day at school because they also need time for hobbies, and of course they also have homework."

Therefore, in looking at these main points of the world's most successful educational system in terms of not only test scores, but their people's total satisfaction, then why is Tennessee and America racing, headlong, in opposite directions?

We hear talk of extending the school day and some schools in our area have no recess whatsoever. This is counterproductive. We hear about regulating teachers and tying test scores to their salaries — merit pay. Do we do this to doctors or lawyers or even legislators? No. Neither do the Finnish people. We hear about how teachers' unions are promoting mediocrity. No, not so. And, to be honest, I have yet to see any proof or research on this myth that keeps circulating.

But, whether or not Finland's methods, briefly outlined here, would be feasible in America is a debate to be had. However, rather than reinventing the Public Educational Wheel, why not look to what is working elsewhere — and be brave enough, and smart enough to copy part, or all, of it?

Cindy Jones is a fifth grade teacher at the Discovery School at Reeves Rogers in Murfreesboro.