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The Finnish perspective has arrived: PD sessions commence in Australia
He’s the author of Testing 1, 2,3: What Australian education can learn from Finland, and this month teacher, writer and tragic Midnight Oil fan Michael Lawrence joined other educators in Orange, NSW, to take teachers through a one-day session of a Finnish perspective to education.
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I was lucky enough to attend ASEF Classnet 14 in Helsinki at the end of 2018, and I was impressed by what I saw at the Gymnasiet Larkan. I spent three days observing students in both formal and informal contexts and found myself intrigued by the student confidence, independence, engagement and sense of having a voice valued by teachers. The rapport between teachers and students was collegial rather than paternal. The teachers were respected and trusted to craft their pedagogical practice to suit their students and students engaged in a n umber of global projects in practical, hands on exchanges with schools in the Asia-Europe Foundation. The system I noted, was grass roots up rather than the imposition of top down autocratic curriculum and high stakes assessment. Students had projects and the school was open well beyond school hours, used as a gathering and learning hub for the community.
Since my initial ASEF Classnet conference in 2018, I have lead two projects and continue to build opportunities for global collaborations, something that is sorely lacking in so many Australian schools. Our excuse is that our curriculum doesn’t allow time and so such things are pushed into extra-curricular contexts. The Finnish model doesn’t appear to cram content, it allows for deep learning and exploration.
Most of all, I loved the appreciation of gender equity, wellness and mutual respect that was apparent in the relationships of staff, students and parents. They recognise the value of each and took time to appreciate it in an authentic way. I do think we have much to learn. Perhaps we could start by designing schools with greater flexibility in mind and curtail the imposition of more content so that students don’t feel disempowered. Perhaps we could leverage the student’s interest in particular subjects and negotiate and integrate subjects more meaningfully. Life isn’t lived in isolated disciplines. We draw upon all subjects as we negotiate life in a meaningful way. Instead of insisting all students do specific subjects, perhaps nurturing their natural talents and integrating the other subjects in relevant ways might be productive.
As a practicing educator of 33 years, I feel incredibly disheartened by the stress we place upon our students. The numbers of students needing special consideration because of anxiety disorders is on the rise. If we don’t change our paradigm, can we at least demonstrate the process of working through productive failure, so that they see us as equally fallible and where we model the ways that failure can be used as a tool for learning?
Creativity, collaboration and curiosity might be better served by taking some lessons from the Finnish experience.
All opinions are my own.
Juliette
Juliette,
Thanks for your observations. As an educator, I found that Finland was something of an educational nirvana; all the elements that inspire a teacher and student were present and the focus was always on enjoying learning rather than on grades.
I agree that we do have much to learn though at the moment; we have almost painted ourselves into a corner where many see it as almost impossible to turn around. Sadly, until we do so thousands of Australian students will turn their backs on education, believing that it is not for them.
In any other industry, ignoring world’s best practice will is a disaster, and this is the case in education. It’s just not obvious that it’s occurring as most of us (I was in this boat too) are not aware that we are doing it.