Reading Seminar Entry

Education in Finland

The Finland educational system is based on leadership, equity, equitable distribution of resources and encourage the learning process of their students. Furthermore, we can see how Finland is consider as one of the most important exponent of education around the world. Besides, the whole system has policies which are a result of the historical process of the country and his educational system is based in encourage teachers and students to give always their best.
In addition to, they have three main points in the creation of their educational policies:

1. Flexibility and loose standards: the base of their teaching practices in their own previous methods and they innovate the curriculum constantly adapting it to the reality. The system does not follow the typical educational model as, for example, the chilean educational model. 
2. Broad learning combined with creativity: this is mainly refering to the personal development of each student (personality, behavior, creativity, skills, etc) and how teachers combined this with the broad learning to create an effective and meaningful learning process in their students. 
3. Intelligent accountability with trust-based professionalism: teachers are seen as a real ‘base of the educational system’, also they have a kind of power in the learning process and the whole system belief in they teaching practices.

To take into account:

• Governments respect the educational system as a public service. 
• The system encourage teachers and students to try new methods, ideas and development  of their learning proccess inside the schools.
• Children start their compulsery scholarship when they become seven years old
• Classes are smaller than what we see in Chile, they have no more than 30 students per class.
• One important issue is that teachers must have a master degree to be employed permanently, but, the degree is also useful to work in any other area that they wish to work in.
• Pedagogy students are the ones who got the better results from the university entrance examinations (which is the only test in the finland educational system)
• Parents trust teachers as professionals and the ones who knows what is better for their children. The belief is that they are really able to provide the best possible education for their kids.
• Teachers have freedom in the curriculum planning proccess, they ae not focus on annual test or exam, they are focus in the learning, rather than on preparing students for tests.
• The educational development in finland is always changing and adapting to the reality and needs of the students (individual and social)