Finnish School System

  Finnish School System

17th February, 2016

With her experience and inspirations while in France, Adelle reflects on the Finnish school system and what education is in one of the leading countries of the world

While in France I have frequented the cinemas to watch various movies or documentaries. Some in English, some in French and one in particular, a mix of both. The film “demain”, translated means, tomorrow. It is a film that explains problems with the way the world works and offers alternatives and solutions to the rapidly increasing global climate and society issues. This documentary was quite inspiring and if you have the time and can find English subtitles, I would definitely recommend it. Part of the film, covers education and its importance in the world. The team focus’ on the schooling system in Finland and their turn around from a reputation not to be admired, to one that is used as a superior  example.

One quote in particular from the schools director, “we spend our time teaching not assessing” has stuck in my mind. Is it true that we assess our students all too often? We are expected to assess and have evidence of any questions that can be asked by colleagues, parents, auditors and the like.

Finnish schools have just one major exam when they are sixteen. They are not constantly tested to compare across classes, schools and other countries. The country as a whole takes the reality of parents being the first teachers of a child seriously. Children do not start school until they are seven, they are not given homework until well into their teens, they are not measured for the first 6 years of their schooling. This is an acceptance that children learn, grow and develop at different rates and allows them the time and comfort to progress at a pace that encourages their learning and not comparison with others. All children are taught in the same classrooms regardless of intelligence levels and the results of the students reflect the skills and professionalism of their teachers. They have the smallest difference between weaker and stronger students in the world and their teachers are selected from a superior range of educators who have obtained masters degrees of a high level. Their master degree is fully subsidized. As a community and a country they expect a lot from their educators, so as an incentive, the country subsidizes the degree to produce teachers that will advance future students.

Teachers in Finnish schools are well respected, they eat lunch in cafeterias among and while socialising with the students. They only spend four hours a day in the classroom, all of which is real teaching time and two hours a week, per week is dedicated to professional development.

Yet another different school system.

The below link will take you to the website for the film “demain”. The entire film is incredibly inspiring and has given me some really insightful thoughts about what should be taught in the classroom and areas where education should really be a focus outside of the curriculum.

http://www.demain-lefilm.com/en

- Adelle

French School Experience

ABOVE TRANSLATION: Adelle, Australian placement school teacher will be present in the class all week.

International school placement

4th February, 2016

Adelle explores the differences between children aged 4 and 5 in French and Australian schools

I have been lucky enough to have a week placement in a French school in the city of Grenoble, the capital of the Alps, in France. This experience was really interesting. You see, the class I was in had children from two levels, a composite class, and the children were 4 and 5 years old. In Australia these children would have been in grade prep, starting their first year of school. This is the first point of difference in France. It is not mandatory to put children into school until they turn six and they do not technically start their curriculum education until this age. They can however, and most do, start in a school setting called maternelle which is comparable to three years of kinder before. In these years before, children speak, are taught to recognise letters and numbers, they develop their fine motor skills and use a lot of play to learn.  Below is a table I have constructed of a day comparison from a grade prep placement in Australia to maternelle placement in France.

Notice the times that school starts and ends as well as how many play times there are as well as lunch breaks.

**Note. This may not a typical day in every French or Australian school, it is just from the experiences I have had in my French and Australian placements of the same aged children.

French school day AGE 4/5 maternelle	Australian school day AGE 4/5 Foundation
8.45am school starts	9.00 School starts
9.00 Gym. Exercising in the morning using games for muscle development	9.15 literacy, perhaps game and play based
10.00 Recreation, students play outside	10.00 Maths skills
10.45 Cross curricula activity, eg: maths and literacy, science and literacy * I experienced drawing observations and verbally explaining how a carrot top grew leaves resting in water	10.30 Recess
11.45 LUNCH BREAK	11.00 Music
·      Students have the choice to go for lunch with their parents or eat in the school cafeteria ·      Lunch break is 1 hour and 45 minutes	12.00 Language * specialist subjects
1.30 resume school with quiet time, (music or audio story) while some children finish their ‘after lunch nap’ in the sleeping room.	1.00 LUNCH BREAK
1.45 Spanish lesson in small groups, all teachers and some extra helpers teach Spanish.	1.45 Religion
2.30 Recreation, students play outside	2.45 Whole school assembly
3.00 cross curricula activity, eg: maths and literacy, science and literacy	3.20 FINISH SCHOOL
4.00 FINISH SCHOOL

As you can see Australian children are guided during the day with the necessary curriculum and as I have seen in the French school it is possible to only do two activities over the whole day. Grade prep children in Australia, I feel, are taught to read and write a lot earlier and are perhaps less free inside the classroom than the French.

Inside the classroom is much the same. Colour and work is displayed, the room is filled with books and art supplies, educational games and desks. However in the classroom I observed in, children did not sit on the ground in front of the teacher. Instead they all shared large bench seats in the class. Children would either call the teacher Maîtresse or by their first name. Calling teachers by their first name is something I have started to see more of in Australia and I think it creates a more open trusting and familiar relationship between teachers and students.

France is general is more ‘touchy’ country. They do not have ‘hands off rule’ as Australian schools do. Touching is a part of social normalities here and it is important for school aged children to learn to respect each other. The act of touching or not touching when appropriate is a part of their education early on. Instead of saying hands off completely they are taught respect and boundaries without the banning of touching at all. It is a part of everyday life to greet friends and family with two kisses on the cheeks, or three depending on the region of France. Normal for male-male, female-male and female-female connections.

After just a week I have observed a lot of differences as well as similarities within the French school and I think its important to remember that there are multiple ways for students to go through their schooling lives. The goal in a school is to educate regardless of the culture, country, age or system.

I am researching into more international school systems and it is clear that there are successful stories and processes from all of them. As educators, our field of work is constantly updating or changing and although there is not one perfect system there are countless ways to teach and it’s important to find the one that works for your classroom. We are aware of different teaching styles and maybe you have one that is natural for you or one you prefer. However, does that style suit the needs of your students?

- Adelle

Schooling Differences Worldwide

Appreciating the cultural differences of various schooling systems globally

19th January, 2016

Adelle reflects on her experiences with different schooling systems and provides some insight into their variety

I can’t believe it’s been two years since I spent a semester of college in America. It’s definitely an experience I’ll never forget. The way the school system works in The States is different to that in Australia. Although the content may have been the same as, or similar to what we would be taught in Australia with just a change of name, the dynamics of the classes is what interested me. Across the world there are so many different education systems and each has their strong and weak points. It’s definitely a possibility that you’ll have children who have grown up in other cultures in your classroom, and it is up to you to find out about and respect these cultures.

For example in some Asian countries there is high-level expectations of the students by the teachers and parents. They are under a lot of pressure and feel they must succeed. The level of pressure, fear of failure and competitions is said to be much higher than what Australian or American kids are under. Their own intrinsic and extrinsic sources of motivation will affect their behaviours in your classroom and you must get to know these students and what they need in their path of learning.

European schools are different yet again and change per country. Finland has recently been in the spot-light for their education system which has improved dramatically over the past 40 years. Their system involves strengthening the relationship with children and most teachers are called by their first names. The subjects they teach are hands on and the teachers really spend their time with the children while they are at school. They eat lunch with the students in the school canteen, they do not do school-wide assessments each semester or year to see where their children stand against neighbouring schools or countries. There is in fact only one standardized test when children are 16. Their children don’t start school until they are seven and aren’t given exams or homework until they are well into their teens in high school. The high-pressure environment of an Asian school compared with the anti-test freer learning environment of a Fin school contrasts how different education systems can be and still both achieve high success rates.

These cultural differences will affect a child moving countries and or schools. It will change the way you teach and again create a different learning style that needs to be addressed as well as changing the dynamic of your own classroom.

My upcoming blogs will focus on the different school systems globally and the various expectations in each. As I am currently in France, I will be observing in a French classroom as well as interacting with French teachers and students to gain a further understanding of their system which I can already tell dynamically is quite different from Australia again.

- Adelle