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Teacher Status in Finland

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Teacher Status in Finland Teacher status in Finland Foreword It is generally accepted that high quality teachers are a prerequisite for raising education standards and outcomes for children and young people. No society would discount the importance of education and investing in their future, but, in many countries, the teaching workforce is under pressure like never before: comparatively low pay; resource cuts; increased class sizes; more responsibilities; challenging student behaviour; greater student diversity. The teaching profession in many industrialised countries now faces a high degree of competition in attracting quality graduates. This is not the case in Finland, where teachers work in one of the most sought-after and respected professions in the country. Kantar Public, an independent social research agency, was commissioned by Google to explore the factors that underpin high teacher status in Finland, and to specifically identify what learning could be applied across other countries. A qualitative specialist from the Kantar Public Education Policy Group conducted a visit to Finland in March 2016, during which interviews were conducted with stakeholders from: Ministry of Education Finnish National Board of Education Kuntaliitto – The Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities OAJ – Trade Union of Education Oulu University Teacher Training School University of Helsinki Jokirannan koulu (comprehensive school in Kiiminki) Ressun peruskoulu (comprehensive school in Helsinki) Rantakylän yhtenäiskoulu (comprehensive school in Mikkeli) Hauhon yhtenäiskoulu (comprehensive school in Hauho) To provide additional context to this qualitative research, a brief review of relevant literature (available in English and published between 2010 and 2016) was undertaken. This review was conducted to inform the development of discussion guides used in interviews and to aid analysis of the qualitative data collected. Our thanks to all stakeholders participating in this research for their contributions and a warm welcome. Special thanks to Aija Rinkinen and Anneli Rautiainen from the Finnish National Board of Education for their support in helping organise this study. 2 I’ve wanted to be a teacher all my life. I can remember like in third grade [when I was 10 years old] just looking up to my teacher and I’d be like, ‘Oh damn, I want to do that someday’. MA student at Oulu University Teacher Training School You have the liberty. In Finland teachers are free to choose how to teach things – the didactical side. I can choose to do a project on something or I can just teach it the traditional way, or we can do something else. It’s all up to me. Teacher, Hauhon yhtenäiskoulu 3 Finland – a country overview in brief Finland is a northern European country bordering Sweden and Russia with a population of 5.4 million people. The majority of the population are Finnish by birth. With only around 4% of the population born outside of Finland the country is relatively homogenous. However, there are a number of distinct ethnic and cultural minorities (including Sami and Romani groups) within Finland and immigration has been a key source of population growth historically (and particularly within the last 30 years). Up until 1809 the majority of Finland was part of the Kingdom of Sweden, until it was surrendered to Russia. In 1917 Finland declared independence. Finland comprises 19 regions (or maakunta) and Åland (an autonomous region), further subdivided into 70 subregional units and then again into 317 municipalities (as of 2015) which provide basic services to citizens (social welfare, health, education etc.) and whose autonomy is safeguarded in the Constitution of Finland. A little over half of all municipalities have less than 6,000 inhabitants and within these live 10% of the Finnish population. There are 9 cities with a population over 100,000; one-third of the whole Finnish population is living in these cities. 4 Finland has an industrialised and mixed economy which is highly integrated in the global economy. Technology and the knowledge economy have played a strong role in supporting economic growth and Finland was ranked first globally both for innovation and for their education and training system in a recent report on competitiveness from the World Economic Forum.1 In Finland, the average household net adjusted disposable income per person is USD 28,238 a year, which is less than the OECD2 average. There is a considerable gap between the richest and poorest with the top 20% of the population earning almost four times as much as the bottom 20%. Finland is a bilingual country and municipalities must provide educational and cultural services in both Finnish and Swedish. 1 http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GlobalCompetitivenessReport_2014-15.pdf 2 The OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) ‘provides a forum in which Governments can work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems’. Their role includes the analysis and comparison of data across 35 Member countries 5 The Finnish education system Governance of education in Finland There are two-tiers of national education administration in Finland: 1. The Ministry of Education and Culture is responsible for education policy, the preparation of legislation and making decisions around the state funding of education.3 2. The Finnish National Board of Education is the national development agency working under the Ministry and holding responsibility for the national core curriculum, qualifications and teacher development. The Finnish National Board of Education establishes the priorities for the education system and sets out the national core curriculum. However, governance of education has been based on the principle of decentralisation and increasing public governance since the early 1990s. Municipalities hold responsibility for determining local education priorities, for interpreting the national core curriculum to develop a local curriculum, for allocating education subsidies, for staff recruitment4 and for quality assuring education provision. Within each municipality a Director or Head of Education holds responsibility for the education provided within that municipality. Municipalities and the local Government sector are supported by the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities who advocate for their interests, offering services to develop and strengthen local self-government. The other key strategic education stakeholder within Finland is the OAJ (the Trade Union of Education) which counts over 95% of Finnish teachers and head teachers as its members. The OAJ inputs into education policy through participating in working groups, lobbying and advocating on behalf of teachers’ working conditions. Structure of education in Finland In Finland there are broadly three stages of tertiary education: pre-primary education for children under 7 years old; basic education for children aged between 7 and 16 years old; and upper secondary education with either general (academic) or vocational pathways for those who have successfully completed compulsory education. These stages are illustrated in the diagram below. 3 Approximately 25% of pre-primary and basic education is funded by the state with the remaining 75% funded by municipalities through local taxes and accessing of grants 4 Staff recruitment is typically delegated in turn by municipalities to school principals 6 7 Early childhood and pre-primary education Early childhood education and care (for children aged below 5) is provided through day care centres and family day care, following a localised version of the Early Childhood Education and Care national curriculum guidelines. While this ‘educare’ provision is not free, it is heavily subsidised and the charge varies depending on the size and income of the family. At age 6 all children have the right to attend pre-primary education, which is provided free of charge in day care centres or schools. As in many other countries, the focus here is on developing basic skills and knowledge through play. A total of 62,500 children attended pre-primary provision in 2015. Basic education Between the ages of 7 and 16 years old, children participate in basic education in comprehensive schools which is provided free of charge. For the first six years of basic education students tend to be taught by the same class teacher across subject areas and by subject specialists for the remaining three years. Schools work toward a localised curriculum that is drawn up in consultation with the municipality and maps on to the framework of the national core curriculum. The school curriculum will detail the values and principles of teaching and learning within the school, as well as the educational and teaching objectives. There are no national tests for students in basic education; instead teachers are responsible for assessing students on a continuous basis and on final assessment in Year 9. The grades received by students on completion of basic education are given by teachers – these grades determine the post-compulsory education routes open to students. There is also no schools inspectorate; instead schools are encouraged to self- evaluate and the Finnish Education Evaluation Centre coordinates national evaluations in core subjects once a year with a random sample of schools. There are no school league tables or comparisons made between schools on the basis of student outcomes. Municipalities will assign school places to students based on proximity, so much so that
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