Education in Finland The Economist

The Finnish education system has become a global standard. PISA student results are impressive and are improving year after year.

Since the 1970s, Finnish authorities have suggested that all students achieve the highest standards and that in other countries it is only considered elite.

The central element of success has been lasting change and innovation. Every 10 years the study program is modified for primary (7-16 years) and high school (16-18 years).

In the face of traditional content, priority is given to communication skills, critical thinking, teamwork, and problem solving related to factual facts.

The model requires coordination among teachers, as part of the whole, who are supposed to be professionals in constant change and learning.

Since 2016, first-year children choose the topics they want to develop in their projects, and which correspond to what interests them most. Students share their project results with peers and other classes.

Children also agree on joint projects that work together. The teachers never provide their students with their work, but they guide and accompany them.

In the model there is a permanent mixture between traditional and new media accessed by different technologies. Projects start by consulting books, not the Internet.

The main pillar of “learning by phenomena” are the teachers. They enjoy great social standing, which they gain from their scores, and the trust of students’ parents.

The educational independence of teachers is complete, but this does not prevent them from overseeing their performance and also evaluating them in their results.

The teachers receive several hours of training and are supported by technology tutors and support from the university evaluating the entire process and its various components.

In Finland, there are nine candidates for every educational student position. The file is assessed, there is a difficult entrance exam, but above all, an interview and a practice.

It is assumed that being a teacher requires, in advance, an exceptional ability to teach. Not everyone can be.

Education in Finland, as well as in other countries with high PISA scores, shows that good teaching requires high-quality teachers.

Hence, not everyone who attends a regular school has the characteristics of being a good teacher. You must be strict in the entry system.

In Mexico, under the current government, steps have been taken in a process of changes in the educational system that included, among other things, better and better teachers. That was left behind. (With information from Elisa Celio, El País, 11/24/19)

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