Assignment 4 EDST1101:

Comparing Chile and Finland’s Education Systems with a Key Focus on Educational Attainment

Chapter One
A comparative analysis of the education systems in Chile and Finland with a key focus on educational
attainment

Questions Facts
Key Words

Before reading this chapter, which countries’ education system do you think would help their students
to get the best examination results?

Chapter Overview

This chapter is a comparative analysis of the education systems and practices of professional learning
communities in Chile and Finland. Comparative education monitors the discipline of the social sciences
within these countries. Taking this from an international education perspective means we can discuss
scales present, including the development of culture, language and learning to live together.

Geographical Introduction

Chile is located in South America with a population of 17,067,369 where Spanish is their first language.
Chile has a total of area of around 756,102 square kilometers, making it the 38 th largest nation in the
world (Collier and Sater, 1996). In comparison, Finland is a lot smaller than Chile with a total area of
around 338,424 square kilometers square and a population of 5,520,535 people. Finland is located in
Nothern Europe, bordering with Sweden where the majority of people speak Finnish (Mäkelä, Tuomi a nd
Haapalainen, 2010).

Contextual Education Overview

Chilean schools are made up from a system that has an 8–4 structure. Pupils in Chile start primary
school at the age of 6 until they are 13 years old. Once completing primary school, they will then attend
secondary school, or ‘middle education’ as it is known in Chile, from the age 13 to 17 (Scholaro, 2018).
Prior to 2003, secondary education was not mandatory for students aged fourteen to seventeen.
However, a reform to the Constitution was passed in 2004 which made twelve years of education
compulsory for all children. After secondary education children can elect to go for industrial,
commercial, technical or mixed training, which quips them for a job for life if they work well. The oldest
Chilean university is the Universidad de Chile, established in 1622 as the Universidad de Santo Tomás de
Aquino, but became the Real Universidad de San Felipe in 1738 for a while before assuming its current
name. Higher education leads to better employment opportunities for both women and men in Chile
compared to those with lower levels of education.

This table shows the structure of the Chilean Education System.

Education Grades Age Years

Basic 1-8 6-13 8
Middle 9-12 13-17 4
Professional-Technical N/A 13-17 4
Licentiate 13-16 17-21 4
Master’s Degree 17-18 21-22 2-3
Doctorado (Doctorate) 19-21 22-24 3-5

In comparison to Chile, Finland schooling starts later than schools in Chile. Pupils in Finland will start
compulsory school at the age of seven and attend until the age of sixteen. Primary schools in Finland
consists of Grades 1-6. Once finishing Grade 6, they will then move up to Lower Secondary for Grades 7-
9 until the age of sixteen (Ahtola and Niemi, 2013). Teachers only spend 4 hours a day in the classroom
and take 2 hours a week for "professional development". Between 2005 and 2015 enrolment in early
childhood education in Finland increased among all age groups but the enrolment rate is still lower in
the early years than in several other OECD countries.

The table below shows the structure of the Finnish education system.

Education Grades Age Years

Basic 1-9 7-16 9
General Upper 10-12 16-19 3
Secondary
Vocational Upper 10-12 16-19 3
Secondary
Bachelor N/A Any 3-4
Master N/A Any 1-2
Doctorate N/A Any 2-4

The curriculum in Chile is intended to prepare students for the work force and further studies in higher
and technical education. In 2002 the Chilean Government implemented a new curriculum where they
established mandatory school objectives and taught content. This meant content and teaching
methodology was up to date. However, the new curriculum gave every school in the country a choice
whether to adapt their own curriculum, if it followed the framework, or follow the one determined by
the Chilean Government. Unfortunately, this meant teacher training was out of date. In Chilean primary
schools, teachers teach across the board from grade 1-8. As a result, teachers do not have the depth of
knowledge in current content to teach what they are expected to teach (Government of Chile, 2003).
In Finland, the basic objective of education at this age is to support pupil's growth towards humanity
and them becoming ethically responsible adults within society. This will therefore mean they will grow
up and further develop both knowledge and the life skills to get them through life successfully. Evidence
has shown an excel in performance, in particular physical education, and this is because of Finland’s
aspiration to promote students physical, psychological, social and ethical growth and well-being, which
are all aspects that can guide them towards lifelong PA (personal achievement) (Yili-Piipari 2014, pg.
468-484).

Policy

Recently, Chile has introduced new school accountability mechanisms. The ‘Sistema Nacional de
Aseguramiento de la Calidad de la Educación’ (National System of Education Quality Assurance)
incorporates the creation of two new bodies: The Superintendent of Education and the Quality Agency
of Education (QAE) (Munoz-Chereau and Thomas 2017). They came across multiple policy implications;
the school accountability system should be made fairer and strengths and limitations should be
highlighted when teaching different students. They have also argued over the fact that vouchers can
improve educational opportunities for disadvantaged students. However, Elacqua (2012) states that
‘segregation between schools within a sector and variation within private for-profit and non-profit
school sectors’ is being over looked. The Chilean Reform Act has divided into two separate divergent
principles. 1. Took place during the military dictatorship. 2. Began due to the return of democracy
(Raczynski and Munoz-Stuardo 2007). Their education policies main focus has gone from numerical
expansion enrollment to now prioritizing quality of school outcomes (Valverde, 2014). Valverde (2014,
p.174) discussed initiatives that have been focused on includes ‘strengthen the most poorly performing
schools nationwide/rurally, establishing experimental secondary schools and teacher training’. The
initiative has also led to extending the school day.

‘The key words in Finnish education policy are quality, efficiency, equity and internationalization’ (Finish
National Agency for Education, 2019. Finland’s high education performance is supported by system-level
policies that encourage quality and equity. A major focus of the education system has been to reduce
the attainment gap between girls, boys, native students and immigrants that have occurred due to
demographic changes. Sahlberg (2015, xii) states that Finnish lessons reminds us that ‘a nation can build
an admirable school system’, linking this to a main focus on children’s needs.

Reader Reflection:
Reflect on this section about the curriculum and policy in Chile and Finland.
Which curriculum and policies would better suit your needs to learn, and why?
Think about:
 What tests and exams you took;
 The subjects you did;
 The teachers you had, and;
 If you were encouraged and motived to learn.

Standardized Testing
In Finland, teachers play the key role in assessing their student’s progress in school. Unlike many other
schools around the world, schools in Finland do not use any form of standardized testing until the age of
16 to assess student success. Sahlberg (2011), suggests there are three reasons as to why standardize
testing is not used until the age of 16. One reason highlights the fact that Finnish school focus on
personalized development and learning instead of testing. This way teachers judge their students
personal progress and ability instead of judging them against statistical factors. A second reason
suggests that academic progress performance should be seen as the teachers and school's responsibility
and not external assessors. They suggest that the student's teacher is the best judger of their academic
progress. The final reason states that if teachers judge their students' performance instead of testing, it
will drive them improve their teaching standards and see what areas they need to improve on. Although
there may be some limitations with this method, Finnish schools believe that standardize testing makes
a school more competitive environment and focuses on teach to test, which is seen as unhealthy for
their students and teachers (Sahlberg, 2011). However, the only case where standardize testing is used
in Finland is in secondary school at the age of 16. The pupil will only take the test if they want to attend
higher education (Hendrickson, 2012).

In comparison, Chilean students are measured by standardized testing biannually, in year 2, 4, 8 and 10
(Pardo and Woodrow, 2014). Chile has developed their own national standardized testing method called
SIMCE which stands for, Sistema de Medicion de la Calidad de la Educacion. This roughly translates as
the System of Measurement of the Quality of Education. This test evaluates the learning and
achievement of pupils in primary school and measures the knowledge and student ability that reflects
their national curriculum (International Study of City Youth, 2013). The SIMCE tests measures the
learning progression of students in Language and Communication, including reading writing and
comprehension, Mathematics, Science and other subjects such as, History and Geography (Agency for
the quality of education, 2019).
Studies have shown that since introducing their own national testing system, there have been
substantial improvements in reading, mathematics and science since 2000. The graph below is one
example and shows the average reading test scores in Chile compared to other Latin American countries
who do not use the SIMCE testing system (Wales et al., 2014).

From this chart we can see there has been a slow, yet drastic improvement in reading since the
introduction to SIMCE testing in Chile. We can also see that Chile is the only country who has only
improved on scores compared to other Latin American countries who have all had decreasing test
results in the last 15 years.

Key Terms and Definitions:

Chile: Narrow country on the west coast of South America
Finland: Country in Northern Europe bordering Sweden
PA: Personal Achievement
OECD: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Curriculum: Set of subjects and standards used in primary and secondary schools
Standardized Testing: A test that measures academic progress and success.
Teach to Test: A term meaning we only teach children to prepare them to pass tests
Biannually: Twice a year, every six months
Policy: Set of rules and guidelines found in a school
SIMCE: Sistema de Medicion de la Calidad de la Educacion. (Translates as the System of Measurement
of the Quality of Education)
PISA – Program for International Student Assessment
Disadvantaged Students - Known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM), pupil referral unit (PRU) or
alternative provision (AP) census or are children looked after by the local authority for more than 6
months. (The Department of Education)
Academic Performance: Success in school
Educational Attainment: Educational success/ results

Student Performance

This section shows a comparison between Chile and Finland's performance in comparison to the average
and medium term trends.

Even though academic performance in Finland has declined since the last PISA in 2012, Finland remains
above average compared to other OECD countries in the PISA 2015 results. According to these results,
Finnish students are exceeding average in mathematics, reading, collaborative problem solving and
science (PISA, 2015, p5). This study also shows that Finland is the only country out of the 72 other
countries and economies that participated in PISA 2015 where girls outperformed boys. This was
particularly high in the Collaborative Problem Solving area as girls on average across OECD countries
score 29 points higher than boys, however in Finland, girls scored over 40 points higher than boys (PISA,
2015, pp4-24).

In comparison, Wales et al (2014) explored the impact of socioeconomic status on achievement. The
table below shows the impact upon Finland and Chile. In Chile less individuals are able to pay for their
education, meaning they miss out on the opportunities to go to private schools and the top performing
universities creating an attainment gap. People in Chile are more likely to serve disadvantaged students
than private voucher schools. Catholic schools enroll fewer disadvantaged students then both private
and public, showing the idea of voucher segregation, which may be a major factor on Chile’s educational
attainment (Elaqua, 2012). Wales et al has also stated there is also an urban bias, which has resulted in
81% of schools in rural areas being run by municipalities and in comparison, to Finland there are less
areas his troublesome situation. This bar chart is a clear example of how Finland’s education system is
out performing Chile’s, especially in the area of reading on the curriculum.

Above shows the average performance 15-year olds. This represents the results in Science, Mathematics
and Reading for both Finland and Chile. As earlier discussed, Finland outperforms Chile is every aspect of
the curriculum.

Conclusion

The table below shows the comparison of mean score results in PISA 2015 of performance from
students in Finland and Chile in mathematics, science, collaborative problem solving and reading. From
this table we can clearly see Finland outperforms Chile in every area (PISA, 2015).

Mathematics Science Collaborative Reading

Problem Solving
Finland 511 531 534 526
Chile 423 447 457 459

If the quality of education systems are measured in test results and league tables, these findings suggest
that Finland has a better quality of education than Chile due to their above average performance of
student academic ability.

However, even though Finland are still exceeding average compared to other OECD countries and
economies, we can see from the PISA 2015 results and charts below, that that Finland's school
performance has been significantly dropping since the year 2000 in mathematics, reading and science
(OECD, 2015). This would contradict the argument that Finland has the best quality of education and the
most educational attainment gains as their average score in PISA is lowering each year.
In comparison, we have established from the chapter that Chile has a lower performance average
compared to Finland. However, unlike Finland, Chile has a slow and stable improvement in academic
performance according the PISA 2015 results. The charts below show the slow improvement in
performance since the year 2000. Even though the results are still very low compared to Finland, we can
see small improvements in science and mathematics and a vast and rapid improvement in reading since
the earlier PISA results (OECD,2015). These results suggest that Chile’s educational performance and
attainment is improving, but at a slow pace.

We will have to wait for the PISA 2018 results to be released in the December of 2019 to see if there any
improvements or declines in these two countries educational performance and attainment scores in
reading, mathematics and science.

From what you have learnt from this chapter, which education system would you say works best and
explain how would you improve the other one? Why do you think one works better than the other?
Reflect on the following key points:
 Chile’s lower PISA score in Mathematics.
 Chile’s voucher scheme.
 Chile’s own national curriculum
 Finland’s policy of not assessing their students until age 16
 Finland’s focus on student's health and well-being rather than league table results

Recommended Reading

Muñoz-Chereau, B. (2013) Adding or not Adding Contextual Value in Language: An Instrumental Case
Study in Two Chilean Secondary Schools. ICSEI Special Issue. Pensamiento Educativo. Revista de
Investigación Educacional Latinoamericana, 50(2), pp. 28-50.
Muñoz-Chereau, B., & Thomas, S. M. (2015) Educational effectiveness in Chilean secondary education:
comparing different ‘value added’ approaches to evaluate schools. Assessment in Education: Principles,
Policy & Practice, Special Issue on Latin America, pp.1-27.

Muñoz-Chereau, B. (submitted) Gender Gap and School Differential Effects in Mathematics in Chilean
Primary Schools. School Effectiveness and School Improvement.

BBC News (2019) ‘Global Education’ Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12686570

Lechner, F and Boli, J. (2015) ‘The globalization Reader’. West Sussex: Wiley

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