Is There a Degree of Repetitiveness in Schools and Teachers in Finland?

This chapter shows the main results from the interviews, question after question, in a summarized way. Some trends or patterns were found in answers to questions relating to issues: the main pedagogical principles in the schools, the main curricula changes, the level of understanding about these changes, the mindsets of principals and teachers, the key factors behind Finnish school success, what is missing in schools in Finland, why teachers became teachers in the first place, and how happy individuals are with their career as teachers. At the same time, using the same data, a hypothesis was tested about the degree of “repetitiveness” in schools and teaching in Finland regarding whether schools and teachers think and implement teaching and learning in the same way or not.

The Schools

In this chapter, principals and teachers talk about the new changes in school education, pedagogy, and curriculum; it discusses what they understand about them and how they are implementing the phenomenon-based and integrative learning ideas. Principals and teachers talk about the future of school education as well. They address how Finland is changing in education; how they are changing; how they are implementing the new curricula; and what they like and do not like about the new paths. The chapter also shows—through the lens of 14 case studies—the new learning environments in the twenty-first century from the architectural, pedagogical, and digital points of view. The 14 school stories might show a future of education in the world’s schools. The chapter divides the narrative of visits to schools into two main sections, background and interview. For most schools, there are more sections as the information provided by principals and teachers allowed describing in greater detail the learning environments in each school.

Preservice Teacher Education

This chapter explains in detail the new preservice teacher training curriculum at the University of Jyväskylä and tries to go as deep as possible in understanding a totally new and progressive way of training class and subject teachers. It is not a simple task, so the chapter draws heavily on interviews with the architects of the new preservice teaching education curriculum, as well as from lecturers and university students. In this chapter, preservice teachers are being trained in the new topics of interactions, emotions, and collaboration. To balance the view about preservice teacher education in Finland, the chapter presents a summary of current changes in preservice teacher education at three additional universities: the University of Helsinki, the University of Turku, and the University of Eastern Finland. The University of Jyväskylä has the most progressive view, and although all universities have a common core about teacher education, not all of them have moved as far and as quickly as the University of Jyväskylä. The “dialogue” that the chapter presents among the four universities enriches our understanding of teacher education toward the 2030s.

Finnish Educational Background

This chapter on Finnish educational background begins with some information about the prominent position of Finland in education around the world; then, it very briefly describes the late industrial development of Finland, to provide, in a rather anecdotal way, the reasons behind its success. Then the chapter describes the most important aspects for understanding the Finnish educational system. For those new to the topic of Finnish education, this chapter sets the arena for common ground knowledge about Finland. It facilitates reading the chapters that follow. For knowledgeable readers, the chapter provides an update concerning information about Finnish educational organization, numbers, and structure.

The New National School Curricula

This chapter details the main changes in all school curricula focusing on the peruskoulu (comprehensive school) curriculum for grades 1 to 9. The chapter begins with a list of 21 elements or characteristics of Finnish education, what I call “the Finnish way.” Then, it describes, in great detail, the structure of the new 1–9 peruskoulu curriculum, the transversal competencies or themes in all curricula at all levels of school education, and how those competencies or themes are actually made a part of the content curriculum. This chapter has a section about the process, that is, how the Finnish authorities built the new curriculum. It was built with a lot of collaboration among many stakeholders. Based on interviews with governmental experts, the building process is explained in the section on building institutional and organizational capacity.

Epilogue

I came to Finland in May 2019, not only to visit schools for a new project but also to finish the Finnish manuscript. I visited seven schools—some brand new, some new to me, some completely refurbished. I interviewed principals, teachers, and experts. It became clear that the Finnish education system and the schools are changing toward more competencies and what has been called the twenty-first-century skills. According to the list of skills, some of the transversal competencies listed in ...