The Idea of Finnish Comprehensive School

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The Idea of Finnish Comprehensive School
Grounding Principles and Future Challenges

• Auli Toom, PhD, Adjunct Professor
• In Terms of Equity Quality in Teaching and
  Learning Conference
• 30.9.-2.10.2009 Helsinki, Finland

Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, University of
Helsinki
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Introduction

• Orientation
• The idea of Finnish comprehensive school
• Current and future challenges in comprehensive
  school
• Finnish research-based teacher education in the
  background
• Conclusions and considerations of the future
  challenges between Finnish comprehensive school,
  teacher education and society

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Orientation

• The wide international interest towards Finnish
  schooling system
• among researchers and in public
• PISA results
• The secrets of Finnish comprehensive school
• The specific characteristics of Finnish teacher
  education
• Current viewpoints and teachers responsibilities
• High goals and demanding contents of national
  core curriculum
• Pupils welfare and educational equity
• Pupils with needs of special education
• Multicultural issues
• Size of classes
• The future of Finnish comprehensive school and
  teachers work?

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Finnish comprehensive schoolHistorical
perspectives and early stages

• The societal situation and educational influences
  under which the development and decisions of
  present Finnish comprehensive school started to
  take form
• The controversial issues
• the structure of comprehensive school
• teachers competence
• demands of civilization
• school administration

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Finnish comprehensive schoolBasic ideas and
practical solutions

• The practical decisions and solutions framing the
  everyday practice at schools
• Administrative organisation
• Curricular issues
• Subject matter issues
• Teacher qualification issues

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Finnish comprehensive schoolCurrent state and
future challenges

• The recent reforms and their influences to the
  present and future state of comprehensive school
• Administrative changes between grades 1-6 and 7-9
  of Finnish comprehensive school
• Curriculum development and its responsibilities
• High goals and demanding contents of national
  core curriculum
• Development of new pedagogies
• Diversity at schools needs for special education
  and multicultural issues
• Pupils welfare and educational equity

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Finnish comprehensive schoolCurrent state and
future challenges
CIVILIZED CITIZEN humanity ethical
responsibility zest for life
TEACHER EDUCATION
SCHOOL TEACHING curricular demands needs for
special education multiculturalism
pedagogical challenges
FINNISH SOCIETY diversity economic issues
support for education
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Finnish research-based teacher educationin the
background

• The characteristics of Finnish teacher education
  have come into discussion as a part of the
  qualities of Finnish educational system
• How does the teacher education influence into the
  Finnish comprehensive school?
• What is the relationship between Finnish
  comprehensive school and teacher education?
• What does it mean that Finnish teachers are
  academically educated?
• What kind of strengths, possibilities, threats or
  challenges include in this relationship?

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Different teacher education programmes (Kansanen,
2005)
D E D U C T I V E
Pedagogical thinking
The way of organizing activities
Research-based
School based
I N T U I T I V E
R A T I O N A L
Experiential, personal
Problem based, case approach
I N D U C T I V E
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Two levels of research-based teacher education-
the characteristics of twofold practice
PRACTISING TEACHING
PRACTISING RESEARCHING
GENERAL LEVEL
metacognition reflection pedagogical thinking
producing research expertise
everyday thinking skills-based teaching teaching
recipes, routines, tips
adaptation consuming research knowledge-based
BASIC LEVEL
Making pedagogical decisions
Inquiring ones own work RESEARCH-BASED TEACHER
EDUCATION
Krokfors et al., 2007
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Challenge 1The complex working conditions at
schools

• Maintaining the research-based approach in TE
• MA degree
• Pedagogical thinking and decision making skills
• The inquiry-oriented teachers produced by
  research-based teacher education are needed in
  the near future
• Teaching in todays world requires pedagogical
  thinking skills and dynamic professional
  competencies
• Inquiring approach towards teachers work
• Skills for interaction and extensive knowledge of
  teaching methods
• High level practice calls for this kind of
  approach

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Research-based approach in teacher education

• Every study unit connected with research
• The conceptualization of practice
• Continuous courses of research methods
• Quantitative methods qualitative methods
• Overall competence of research methods
• All are known generally, one is known
  specifically.
• Masters thesis
• Teachers as practitioner researchers
• Producer of the research ability to conduct the
  research
• Consumer of the research ability to understand
  and use research results and information in own
  work
• Direct access to doctoral studies

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The core of research-based teacher education
DEVELOPING THINKING SKILLS

• General cognitive structures and processes grow
  while methodological and argumentative thinking
  skills are developing.
• Theoretical and methodological thinking skills
  are best developed by promoting student teachers
  knowledge of methodology as well as their
  know-how about research methods.
• Argumentative thinking skills are developed
  through working methods which allow active and
  interactive approaches to teaching and studying.

Pedagogical thinking skills
Methodology
Working culture
THINKING AS LOGIC
THINKING AS ARGUMENT
Methodological thinking skills
Argumentative skills
(Krokfors, 2005)
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Challenge 2High goals of national core
curriculum

• Relevant contents of research-based teacher
  education
• High learning goals of national core curriculum
• PISA success
• Increased diversity and heterogeneity at schools
• Eclectic basic values, ideals and ambitions
• Increased needs of special education
• Interaction skills, pedagogical skills
• ? Civilized citizens to Finnish society

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Three levels of research-based teacher
educationOrganising theme theories action
SCIENCE
THEORETICAL BASE
EXPERTISE
THEORY PRACTICE INTERACTION
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS IN ACTION
(Kansanen, 1994 Krokfors, 2005)
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The contents of class teacher education
COMMUNICATION AND ORIENTING STUDIES 25 ECTS
MASTERS DEGREE 300 ECTS
OPTIONAL STUDIES 15 ECTS
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Challenge 3Suitable and professional teachers
at schools

• How are we able to choose the best and most
  suitable applicants to teacher education, who
  will enjoy teachers work and stay at schools?
• Student selection in teacher education
• Needs of everyday practice at schools
• New requirements for teachers
• New criteria of student selection

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The attractiveness of teacher profession

• Teachers work attracts young people in Finland
• High number of applicants to teacher education
• Possibility to choose the best applicants to
  teacher education
• Two-phase selection procedure
• Book test (multiple choice questions) for all
• Interview for a selected group of applicants
• After some years of teaching at schools, (too)
  many young teachers consider to change to some
  other profession

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The qualities of a future teacher
COMMITMENT
Motivation
Personality
Educability
SUITABILITY
(vrt. Kansanen, 2004)
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The core competencies of a future teacher

• Social and interaction skills, empathy
• Ability to tolerate uncertainty, incompleteness,
  and imperfectness
• Metacognitive skills
• Self-confidence
• Pedagogical skills for creating relevant
  teaching-studying-learning environments

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Challenge 4Continuous in-service teacher
education

• The importance of continuous in-service teacher
  education to make sure that our academically
  educated teachers would not escape to other
  professions
• The continuum between pre-service and in-service
  teacher education
• General pedagogical content knowledge
• Contentual knowledge of school subjects
• Competence of various teaching methods
• Knowledge of recent research
• Support for life-long learning and professional
  development

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How to become and stay as a reflective
teacher?
(Krokfors 2005)
STUDIES IN EDUCATION STUDIES IN SUBJECT
DIDACTICS
RESEARCH STUDIES
THEORY PRACTICE
Reflective teacher
Pedagogical core contents
PRACTICUM

Pre-service education
In-service education
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Challenge 5Continuous societal support for
basic education

• General social and political ethos supporting
  basic education and schooling as well as teacher
  education
• Social and political consensus of educational
  issues
• Sufficient and stable financial resources for
  schooling
• What would happen if the support was diminished
  or lost?
• How would pupils and teachers manage and
  survive?
• What would happen for the aims of educational
  equity in comprehensive school?

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Social dimension of education and schooling
I N T E R A C T I O N
S O C I E
T Y
Teacher as researcher pedagogical
thinking mastery of methodological
skills personal practical theory ethical issues
of education active agent of change in school and
society
Pupil(s) as active learner(s) pedagogical
thinking mastery of learning skills personal
knowledge structures ethical and responsible ways
of action active agent of change in school
community
S C H O O
L
(cf. Krokfors, 2005)
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The core of teacher profession
THE ETHICS
THE ETHICAL DIMENSION Values and choices
THE COGNITIVE DIMENSION Knowledge base
The profession
THE PRACTICAL DIMENSION Interaction
THE EXPERTISE
(Krokfors, 2005)
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ConclusionsFuture challenges of comprehensive
school

• Challenge 1 The complex working conditions at
  schools
• Challenge 2 High goals of national curriculum
• Challenge 3 Suitable and professional teachers
  at schools
• Challenge 4 Continuous in-service teacher
  education
• Challenge 5 Continuous societal support for
  basic education

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Final considerations

• Close interaction and reciprocal relationship
  between
• Finnish society,
• comprehensive school, and
• teacher education
• Congruent general conceptions of the directions
  in Finnish education and schooling
• The aim of educating the civilized citizens to
  current and future society
• The aims, current challenges and future visions
  of all these three parties are taken into account

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THANK YOU!For further information, please
contactPhD, Adjunct Professor Auli Toom
(auli.toom_at_helsinki.fi)