Considering Finland's Success as Ontario's Future

Colleen Ireland’s article “5 Days in Finland” highlights the differences she noticed between Ontario’s and Finland’s education systems during a trip with the York Region School Board in 2011. Her goal was to find differences that explain and inform Finland’s success on the PISA, the Programme for International Student Assessment. Some significant comparisons are outlined below:

·         Finland’s teachers and principals are in the same voluntary union, while principals also have their own separate union. Many principals continue their role as educators and teach one period a day.

·         The union is part of the interview process.

·         Administrators have trust in teacher competence: Teachers train for 5-7 years, must pass an entrance exam and group interview. Teachers have three compulsory professional development days, the rest are up to the discretion of the teacher.

·         Standardized testing only occurs once every five years, and may not involve the entire student body. The purpose is to “inform curriculum practice” rather than accountability.

·         Schools are locally run and offer common schedules allowing students to easily transfer if necessary.

·         Parents have access to their child’s attendance records in real-time, online.

·         Cross-curricular planning is the standard.

Of these differences, the point that stood out the most to me is that there is “a strong belief in teachers and their competence, and the understanding that the bond between student, teacher and family is essential to educational success”. It is this philosophy, this trust in teachers that seems to be the foundation for all other policies and practices in Finland. Money and time are not wasted on accountability measures like TPAs or EQAO. I believe we should use Finland’s success to justify the removal of these bureaucratic policies and also to reduce the importance of student’s marks. Instead, the emphasis should be on the development of skills and knowledge. I believe that cross-curricular planning is also an effective strategy that can achieve this, as it involves a more holistic approach to teaching the whole child. The focus in Finland, which we should adopt here, is on fostering a positive relationship between all stakeholders which I believe is allows everyone to focus on the common goal – student achievement and learning.