David Cameron starts with the Finnish to make teaching a job for the elite

19-1-2010

David Cameron starts with the Finnish to make teaching a job for the elite

Finnish children have some of the best education in the world, according to regular surveys

The pupils wear combat trousers, tracksuits, trainers. One even wears a woollen hat. They crouch over glass containers, poking around for earthworms, ants and even stick insects.

In each corner they have sprinkled different foods: raisins, fish food, sugar, seeds. Every ten minutes they prod again, jotting down how many insects have gravitated to each corner.

The class of 18, four of whom have special needs, work in small groups regardless of ability. They mill between one classroom and a second, their eyes wide, spurred by curiosity.

This is a snapshot of Finland’s comprehensive schooling in which students come consistently near the top of international tables.

Finnish schools are the inspiration behind some of the Conservatives’ planned education reforms to raise the qualifications and status of teaching in England, turning it in David Cameron’s words into a “noble profession”.

Yet Finland’s education system is radically different from England’s. This group of Finnish children, aged 10 and 11, have never worn a uniform, and have been at school for only four years, having started at 7. There is no setting by ability and children will be taught together until they are 16.

Their biology lesson, like the rest of their classes, was designed solely by their teacher. Finnish schools write their own curriculum, within a framework set by the Government and local authorities. Nor has their school, Käpylä comprehensive in north Helsinki, ever been subject to a national inspection or been in a league table.

Once a year older pupils can sit a national test in one subject, such as Finnish or maths, but results are sent to the school rather than to parents. “I share my results with parents but not all schools do,” says Sirpa Kopsa, the principal. Käpylä, housed in three-storey 1950s buildings more akin to apartment blocks, has a slightly austere atmosphere in its quiet, clean corridors. But it’s play-based approach to learning is apparent.

In one classroom, outside which children have left their boots and shoes in lines according to local custom, a young bearded teacher in jeans sets his class of nine-year-olds a challenge. In their excitement, children climb on tables, bustle around their teetering towers of traffic cones and, along the way, learn something about basic engineering and teamwork.

Behind such fun lies careful planning. Teachers at Käpylä, as everywhere in Finland, have master’s degrees that take a minimum of five years’ study and often longer. Only 10 or 12 per cent of applicants are accepted, so great is the demand.

Finns value education highly and teaching is a respected profession, although several whom The Times spoke to complained vehemently about their pay. “Yes, people respect it,” says Anna-Kaarina Poso, 29, a primary teacher at the school. “It does not always show in the pay and the environment. There are always cutbacks. You start to wonder whether the people who decide things appreciate us.”

“But when you talk to people and talk to the parents they appreciate and respect the things we do here.”

Primary teachers earn €37,584 (£33,5007) a year and secondary teachers €43,944. But according to a comparison by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), using 2007 figures, teachers in England are slightly better paid based on purchasing power.

For the past decade, Finland’s schools have been an object of international fascination after random tests of children aged 15 in maths, science and reading showed Finland top or close to the top among OECD countries three times.

Jarkko Hautamaki, Professor of Special Education at Helsinki University, said such tests had made Finland’s schools “our most famous national export”. He predicted another top-five performance in last year’s tests.

However, his colleague Sirkku Kupiainen, of the university’s centre for educational assessment says the tests may simply correlate more closely to what children are taught at 15 in Finland and less to other countries.

Employers have their grumbles. Although basically satisfied with Finnish education, businesses say the system, which is free throughout, takes far too long. “The average age of graduation in universities is now 28, which is very high,” says Markku Koponen, director of education at the Confederation of Finnish Industries EK.

But Reijo Laukkanen, the Finnish Board of Education’s head of international relations, is adamant that such a small country has no choice but to invest in its workforce. “With 5.3 million people, we cannot afford to leave anybody behind,” he says. “We are lucky that policymakers from different political parties have followed the same vision, of equity and quality.” (Times)