FINNISH LESSONS

What can British Columbia learn from educational change in Finland?

Pasi Sahlberg, PhD CIMO Helsinki 14 April 2011 BCSTA Annual Meeting Vancouver, CANADA

www.pasisahlberg.com

Finland?

A cultural lone wolf

Finnovations

Wife Carrying World Championships

Finland today

Education system performance over time in Finland and developed nations

learning, participation, equity and efficiency

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

I Recovery from the crisis

Deregulation of Collapse of the financial markets Soviet Union Rapid economic growth

Careless borrowing and lending

CRASH

1990

Unemployment rate (%) in Finland

20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Edu

l tiona ca

pe

n o rma rf

ce

Source: Sta+s+cs Finland

GDP at market prices in Finland (Mil )

200000 180000 160000 140000 120000 100000 80000 60000 40000 20000 0 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Edu

l tiona ca

pe

n o rma rf

ce

Source: Sta+s+cs Finland

Education expenditure (% of GNI) in Finland

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Edu

l tiona ca

pe

n o rma rf

ce

Source: tradingeconomics.com

Policies that saved education

Professionalization

Local innovation

Partnerships

Research and development expenditure as a percentage of GDP in Finland

5

na catio Edu

an rform pe

ce

0 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Source: Sta+s+cs Finland

Youth activity

Youth activity (10-29-year olds)

1400

1200

1000

800

Members (in 1000)

600

400

200

1990

1995

2000

II Education in Finland

Education system in 2011

5 4 3 2 1 3 2 1 Grades 9 Universities
60%

Polytechnics

23+ 22 21 20

General upper secondary school 10

55%

Vocational school Apprenticeship training

40%

Work experience 19 18 17 Age 16 Compulsory schooling

Specialist vocational qualifications Further vocational qualifications

Work experience

Basic school

1 Preschool

7 6

Less is more

1100

1000

1200

100
Hours per year

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

United States Mexico New Zealand Russian Federation Scotland Chile Australia Brazil Israel Germany Portugal Netherlands Ireland Spain Slovenia Belgium (Fl.) Iceland Belgium (Fr.) Norway Denmark Luxembourg Czech Republic France Estonia Austria Italy Finland Greece Hungary Korea

Net contact time in hours per year in public institutions

Number of teaching hours per year in lower secondary education (2008)

OECD 2010

How much teachers teach? (2008)

Total annual teaching time in 60-minute hours

Upper secondary

United States Lower secondary OECD average Finland

Primary

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

OECD 2010

Total number of intended instruction hours in public institutions between the ages of 7 and 14 (2008)
9000

Total compulsory instruction hours between 7 and 14 year-olds

8000 7000 6000 5000 4000 Ages 9-11 3000 2000 1000 0 Ages 7-8 Ages 12-14

OECD average

Netherlands

Germany

Denmark

Belgium

Norway

England

Sweden

Portugal

Japan

Spain

Ireland

Italy

Australia

Korea

Greece

Finland

Mexico

Austria

France

OECD 2010

Student achievement and the cost of schooling

580

Finland
560

540

PISA science score in 2006

Japan Korea Australia Germany Ireland UK Belgium Sweden France Spain Netherlands

Canada

520

Austria

Switzerland

500

Denmark United States Norway

480
Portugal Greece

Italy

460 50,000

55,000

60,000

65,000

70,000

75,000

80,000

85,000

90,000

95,000

100,000

Cumulative cost in USD (2006)

OECD 2010

Test less, learn more

Civic knowledge of 8th grade students in some OECD countries

Finland Denmark Korea Sweden Poland Ireland Italy Switzerland Estonia United Kingdom New Zealand Norway Belgium Spain Austria Chile Greece Luxemburg Mexico 400 450 500 550 600

ICCS 2010

Level 1 and below

100%

Level 2 -3

Level 4 - 5

Level 6

80%

60%

40%

Student learning in science (2006)

20%

0%

OECD 2007

Student learning
National averages of 15-year-old students learning outcomes in mathematics 2000-06
560

540

520 2000 2003 500 2006

480

460 USA UK Canada Australia Japan New Zealand Ireland Finland

OECD 2001-07

Equity of outcomes
Variation in student performance in reading (2009)
OECD average 42%
Finland 7.7%

Performance differences between schools

Performance variation of students within schools

The Finnish Advantage

Applicants to primary school teacher education 2001-10

7000

6000

5000

Male Female

4000

3000

Admission:

1st Phase
- high school merits - other merits

2nd Phase
- exam

3rd Phase
- role play/micro teaching - interview

2000

1000

6600

2000

660
Accepted

0 2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

The Finnish Way

Global Trends vs. The Finnish Way

Global educational reform movement (germ) Alternative policies

Teaching core subjects Standardization Test-based accountability Market-based management Data and control

Broad and creative learning Personalization Professional responsibility Educational leadership Collaboration and trust

What can we learn from Finland?

FINNISH LESSON: There is another way

Kiitos! pasisahlberg.com