CHASING IDEAL EDUCATION: Series 7 - Part 2:Finland

by Sharon Roberts

Finland has one of the top ranking educational systems in the world. In fact, the World Economic Forum has ranked it first and Michael Moore agreed in his latest documentary, Where To Invade Next” when he focuses on it for 20 minutes.  However, in recent years, it seems Finland has been dethroned by Denmark, and this may be coincidental, but at the time Finland lost its first place standing, there were severe budget cuts in their educational system. 

Firstly, literacy is very important to the people of Finland. Even before a child is born, every mother gets a box (maternity package) from the Mother Care Center which consists of three books. a book for the mother, a book for the father, and a book for the baby.

Formal education does not really begin until the age of 7 and until then free daycare is available. You will find children ages 1 - 6 years playing and learning side by side. While children are further divided according to more specific age groups, they spend a lot of time together. This enables younger children to look up to and learn from their older counterparts, while it encourages older children to be more caring and compassionate.  Individual teachers decide on curriculum. While some of it is structured, for the most part, children are encouraged to play freely and independently with their peers. Much of the exploring takes place outdoors and in nature. Often kids make their own toys using sticks and other things they find in nature, boosting their creativity and imagination. The focus for Kindergarten students is to "learn how to learn" and is strongly believed that when children develop learning to learn as a life skill and see the real life applications of the knowledge they gather, they will become lifelong learners.

Following an holistic approach, Early Education in Finland also strives to develop children's mental, physical, social, and emotional skills. This means little children are taught to use their five senses to understand the world around them and are guided on how to regulate the feelings triggered by their senses. For example, if a child is frightened by hearing thunder, he is encouraged to figure out what he could do.  In Finnish Kindergartens, children discover effective and positive ways to balance their emotions and express themselves.

Teachers are revered and undergo a demanding, research-based five-year masters program. In general, parents do not participate in a child’s education. The system departs from the norm where external requirements like standardized testing and government control is prevalent. The curriculum is designed to engage children and foster their interest in the world around them. Class time is not divided into subjects as students are encouraged to explore their environment, making learning more relevant. Primary school has a 15 minute break every 45 minutes of instruction and children have the same teacher for the first 6 years. Cooperation is emphasized over competition. It is claimed that the gap between high and low performers is low and they try to capture weaker students early. They follow the belief that if you learn without joy, you will forget easily so experiential learning through play and movement is emphasized, again teaching how to learn rather than what to learn is emphasized.

While Finland boasts an excellency in literacy, dyslexia does exist. Formal reading instruction begins at age 7 but 40 per cent of students are able to read by that time.  After a few months in school, most children can decode words and also pseudowords, via letter-by-letter decoding which is not hampered by rules and rules to break rules such as in English. Finnish is one of the most transparent languages in that there is a consistency of links between sounds or phonemes in speech and the graphic letters. Finnish children must learn to master the sounds of fewer than 30 letters/graphemes, and these can be relied upon to be perfectly consistent in their sound/written representation. The application of phonics in the Finnish language works.

Highlights:

• formal education does not start until they reach 7 years of age

• small class sizes

• lots of breaks for primary grades

• healthy lunches

• lots of outdoor play / nature

• looks at needs of whole child

• emphasis on responsibility

• learning to learn philosophy

Sharon Roberts is a Davis Dyslexia Facilitator based in Ontario. https://dyslexia.ca/