"Finnish Education Has No Dead Ends"

Today is my first day not being horrifically jet-lagged and exhausted, so that is a welcome change. Yesterday I went to Kitee to visit both Junnu's vocational school and a general education upper-secondary school. In Finland, all students must attend school grades 1-9 (with first grade starting at age 7), and then almost all students choose to go to vocational programs, general upper-secondary, or a combination of the two. This generally takes 2-4 years, and from there, if students choose to do so, they may attend a university or polytechnic school. I've included a chart below for further clarification.

At Junnu's school I sat in on his Finnish language class with students who were in the home construction program and then an English language class with animal attendant students. Both classes were small (6-10 students) and it seems Finnish instructors encounter some of the same problems that plague American classrooms: students unprepared for class, on their cell phones, reluctant to participate in class activies. Some of that could have been excaerbated by my presence, but overall, it was sort assuring to know that college students are similar everywhere.

The school itself was quite nice. The classrooms had good acoustics were an appropriate size for the number of students. All classrooms had computers for the instructor and document projectors. It's hard for me to comment much on the content of the classes given such a limited window, but overall, I would say that the classes seem much more directly focused on the student's future careers. For example, in the English class, the students were translating sentences that related directly to the care of horses and cattle. I spoke to the instructor after the class, and she said she wished she was teaching them more grammar and general English knowledge, but she only has limited time with the students. I told her that sometimes I fear we have the opposite problem: our classes may be too general and academic for some of our students in vocational programs. If a student is seeking an associates degree in say, automotive technology, should they be held back from that because they cannot write an argumentative essay using sources? I honestly don't know the answer to that question, but I do think it is worthy of further discussion.

After we left the vocational school, we went to the general upper-secondary school for a discussion with the school principal and a couple of students. Immediately I was struck by the atmosphere of the school. Students all had their coats hanging on racks (not in lockers) and most weren't wearing shoes. In high school I often felt like we were cattle being herded, but this school did not have that feel at all.

Our discussion with the principal was enlightening but discouraging at the same time. He explained to us that "there are no dead ends in Finnish education." Students have a lot of freedom to choose their own paths, and if that particular path does not work out, they can choose a new one. Same for adults; if their choosen career is not working for any reason, they can return to school with no expenses except for their books (which we were told are generally around 500 Euro a year---no pittance, but still within reach). And all paths can lead to more advanced degrees.  This is drastically different from American  education, which seems full of dead ends, particularly for the low-income, academically un-prepared students that disproportionately make up community college student bodies.

I was aware of some of the differences between American and Finnish education, but hearing it all described was still shocking. It seems Americans love to laud the Finnish system but have no interest in actually following any of it. All Finnish students are provided with free meals, medical and dental care, which the principal proudly explained is all part of their holistic "welfare state". Because of course, how can a student possibly learn if they are hungry, or sick, or their teeth hurt?

The other MAJOR difference is school autonomy: schools have almost no standard curriculum and yet they still all provide the same high standard of education throughout the country. This is accomplished through highly-competetive, thorough, and ongoing teacher training. These highly-educated teachers are then given the freedom to do their jobs. I cannot help but wonder how US schools would function if we accorded teachers this same kind of respect.

Of course, a lot of Finland´s success is possible due to the fact that it is a tiny country (about 5.5 million people)  that has a strong investment in the public good. As the principal put it, Finland can't afford to lose any of its human resources. All the same, I think there is a lot to be learned from the amount of dignity and freedom the education system grants to both faculty and students.

Note: Brian said he read my blog, and it is good, but um, was I tired when I wrote it? Yes, yes I was. Forgive me any errors and/word salad. I am tired and writing on a Nordic keyboard. I plan on going back to proofread, but right now I am prioritzing putting up posts.

Hyvää iltaa!