Features of the Finnish education system and principles of upbringing

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

From the moment of its birth, the inhabitants of Finland treat the child as a full-fledged citizen of the country. Immediately after birth, he receives a passport.

Parents do not have the right to raise their voice to a child in public places - this humiliates him. You can only "educate" at home. And for an attempt to spank a child with all honest people, you can get a solid fine or even a term.

There are no homeless children in Finland - vagrant children left without dads and mothers.

The spouses take care of raising children more or less equally, although raising babies is still considered a woman's responsibility.

Family

Complete families with both parents make up more than 80% of the total number of families with children, another 17% of families are incomplete, as a rule, these are families without fathers (15%).

When creating a family, Finns are guided by two or three children.

Finnish boys prefer to marry a little later: at the age of 24-30, the most preferable age is 25 and a little older. Finnish girls prefer 26-28 years old.

Almost all Finnish youth perceive incomplete families, where a child is raised by one mother or one father, as full-fledged families and treats them positively.

All Finnish girls who are going to start a family are tuned in to partnerships, which implies the responsibility of both spouses for the material support of the family, raising children, and joint participation in solving everyday issues.

Finnish young people are not inclined to take their opinions as indisputable in the family.

The main problem of the family in Finland, according to students, is that young people are very keen on their careers, and there is simply no time for a family.

There is no place for jealousy and suspicion in a Finnish family. French and Italian comedies, in which the plot is built around real or perceived infidelity, do not even make Finns smile.

Society

In Finland, everyone lives frugally. Modesty and economy in everything - in design, clothing, furniture. They especially take care of and save heat.

Finns tend to clearly distinguish between work and family, personal and general. According to some reports, many Finns are prone to isolation, are wary of attempts at emotional rapprochement, and do not like scandals.

Finns are law-abiding to the point of absurdity. Schoolchildren here do not cheat and do not prompt. And if they see that someone else is doing it, they will immediately tell the teacher.

Preschool education

Children in early childhood are practically not brought up, they are allowed to "stand on their ears." (According to some reports, there are still bans, but I have not found what they are).

All babies in the country have the right to kindergarten when they reach 10 months of age. Baby food in the kindergarten is free.

In ordinary kindergartens, children with disabilities are also accepted. Children with impaired health reach out for their peers, and as a result, many of them manage to restore vital functions at an early age.

Starting from the age of 6, the child is taught in a playful way all the necessary knowledge and skills that he will need to master the school curriculum at the first stage.

It is assumed that children, talented creatures, in preschool age should naturally learn both languages.

Features of the education system

Principles

All children are equal. Commerce is not allowed in school.

School books and supplies are free.

School lunches are free.

Students' travel expenses are covered by the municipality.

There are no school inspectors in the country. It is customary to trust teachers. Paperwork is kept to a minimum.

Children with a deficit of natural opportunities are engaged with their peers, in a common team.

Teachers, according to accepted standards, have no right to expel or send a ward to another school.

Finns do not use selection of children in nine-year school. Here, since the early 1990s, they have decisively abandoned the tradition of sorting students into groups (classes, streams, educational institutions) according to their abilities and even career preferences.

Studying proccess

The academic year consists of 190 working days. Teaching is conducted only during the day shift, and schools are closed on Saturdays and Sundays.

All Finnish schools work on the same shift. The teacher's working day lasts from 8 to 15 hours.

School leaving exams are optional. Control and midterm exams - at the discretion of the teacher.

Remarkable architecture of buildings, exterior and interior. The furniture is silent: the legs of chairs, nightstands, cabinets are padded with soft fabric patches, or equipped with sports rollers for "driving around the classroom".

Dress code is free.

The desks are single. In the school cafeteria, it is also customary for everyone to eat at a separate table.

Parents take an active part in the life of the school. Parents' Day is held on Wednesdays every week. Parents receive invitations in advance, in which they must indicate on what environment and at what time they will come to school. Along with the invitation, parents receive a questionnaire in which they are asked to answer the questions: "How does the student feel at school?", "What topics bring him joy?"

In Finland, all children, from toddler to adulthood, are registered with a social service. Its representative (and not a teacher or class teacher) visits the wards at home on a monthly basis and conducts a kind of monitoring of families - enters into a computer the age, education of the parents, the family's way of life and the problems it is experiencing.

Teacher

The teacher is here as a service worker. Finnish children are indifferent to school, they have no concept of "favorite teacher".

The average salary of a school teacher in Finland is (calm, reader) 2,500 euros per month (full-time teacher). Mobile teachers - about 2 times less.

Among the 120,000 school teachers in the country, there is not one who does not have a master of science degree or an academic title of professor in their subject.

At the end of the school year, all teachers are fired, and they do not work in the summer. In the new academic year, teachers are recruited by competition and work under contract. Several teachers apply for one place (sometimes up to 12 people per place), preference is given to young ones. At the retirement age, which for women and men starts at 60, no one works anymore.

In addition to conducting lessons, teachers spend two hours a day consulting students, meeting with parents, preparing for tomorrow's classes, creative projects with children, teachers' councils.

The teacher improves his qualifications independently, doing self-education.

School Principles

You can bring any reference books, books, use the Internet to the exam. It is not the number of memorized texts that matters, but whether you know how to use a reference book or the Network - that is, to involve all the resources you need to solve current problems.

"More useful knowledge!" … Finnish children from school have a real idea of, for example, what taxes, banks, certificates are. In schools, for example, they teach that if a person receives an inheritance from a grandmother, mother or aunt, then he will have to pay different degrees of taxes.

It is considered not shameful to stay in the second year, especially after the 9th grade. You need to prepare seriously for adulthood.

In every Finnish school there is a teacher at a special rate who helps students decide on the future. He reveals the child's inclinations, helps to choose a further educational institution according to his taste and possibilities, and analyzes various options for the future of each student. Children come to such a teacher, as well as to a psychologist, not compulsorily, but themselves - voluntarily.

In Finnish schools, in the classroom, you can not listen to the teacher and go about your business. For example, if an educational film is shown at a literature lesson, but the student does not want to watch it, he can take any book and read. It is important not to disturb others.

The main thing, according to the teachers, is "to motivate, not force to learn."

Once a month, the curator sends a purple sheet of paper to the parents, which reflects the student's progress. The pupils do not have diaries.

Every fourth student in Finland needs personal support from teachers. And they get it on average two to three times a week. Each child is individually.

Principles of education at school

If it is a "project", then it means together. They plan, implement and discuss the result.

The schoolchildren, the principal and the teachers, including the nurse, eat with us. And just like any ordinary student, both we and the director clean up after ourselves from the table, laying out the dishes in specially designated places.

Everyone is praised and encouraged. There are no "bad" students.

The children’s complete trust in teachers, a sense of protection from encroachments on personal freedom are the basis of the local pedagogy.

Children's health

Finns (adults and children) love jogging. And also to be tempered.

Children's mental and physical health, as well as the social problems of students are the most important issues.

Culture, festivals and ceremonies

It was not possible to dig up much on this topic. Finnish holidays are about the same as in other European countries. According to some reports, at the end of the school year, the Finns have a big holiday. On May 1, a carnival festival takes place in Finland.

Celebrations at work are held periodically. It is not customary to invite a family to such holidays.

Other

Each diaspora has the right to rent premises and organize their own kindergarten, where children are taught their native language.

Finnish schoolchildren, on average, have the highest level of knowledge in the world.

Links

• How people study in Finnish schools
• The Japanese cheat on the Finns
• Family relations as seen by Finns and Russians
• Everything about everything in Finland - Education system
• Social intelligence in Finnish

Another article:

“Either we prepare for life, or for exams. We choose the first."

According to international studies, which are carried out every 3 years by the authoritative organization PISA, Finnish schoolchildren have shown the highest level of knowledge in the world. They are also the most reading children on the planet, ranked 2nd in science and 5th in mathematics. But even this is not so admirable for the teaching community. It is incredible that with such high results, students spend the least amount of time studying.

Compulsory secondary education in Finland includes two levels of school:

- lower (alakoulu), from 1 to 6 grade;

- upper (yläkoulu), from 7th to 9th grade.

In the 10th grade, students can improve their grades. Then the children go to a professional college or continue their studies at the lyceum (lukio), grades 11-12 in our usual sense.

7 principles of Finnish secondary education:

1. Equality

There are no elite or "weak" ones. The largest school in the country has 960 students. In the smallest - 11. All have exactly the same equipment, capabilities and proportional funding. Almost all schools are state-owned; there are a dozen private-state schools. The difference, besides the fact that the parents pay part of the payment, is in the increased requirements for the students. As a rule, these are kind of "pedagogical" laboratories, following the chosen pedagogy: Montessori, Frene, Steiner, Mortana and Waldorf School. Private institutions also include institutions with teaching in English, German, and French.

Following the principle of equality, Finland has a parallel education system “from kindergartens to universities” in Swedish. The interests of the Sami people are not forgotten, in the north of the country you can study in your native language.

Until recently, the Finns were forbidden to choose a school, they had to send their children to the "nearest" one. The ban was lifted, but most of the parents still send their children "closer", because all schools are equally good.

All items.

In-depth study of some subjects to the detriment of others is not encouraged. Here, mathematics is not considered more important than, for example, art. Conversely, the only exception to creating classes with gifted children may be aptitude for drawing, music, and sports.

Who are the parents of the child by profession (social status), the teacher will find out last, if necessary. Questions of teachers, questionnaires regarding the place of work of parents are prohibited.

Finns do not sort their students into classes by ability or career preference.

Also, there are no “bad” and “good” students. Comparison of students with each other is prohibited. Children, both genius and with a large mental deficit, are considered "special" and learn with everyone. Children in wheelchairs are also trained in the general team. In a regular school, a class may be created for students with visual or hearing impairments. Finns try to integrate as much as possible into society those who need special treatment. The difference between weak and strong students is the smallest in the world.

“I was outraged by the Finnish education system when my daughter studied at school, who by local standards can be classified as gifted. But when my son went to school, who had an abundance of problems, I immediately liked everything very much,”the Russian mother shared her impressions.

There are no “loved ones” or “hated grims”. Teachers, too, do not stick their souls to "their class", do not single out "favorites" and vice versa. Any deviations from harmony lead to the termination of the contract with such a teacher. Finnish teachers only have to do their job as a mentor. All of them are equally important in the work collective: physicists, lyricists, and labor teachers.

Equality of rights of an adult (teacher, parent) and a child.

Finns call this principle “respectful attitude towards the student”. Children from the 1st grade are explained their rights, including the right to “complain” about adults to a social worker. This stimulates Finnish parents to understand that their child is an independent person, and it is forbidden to offend him either with words or with a belt. It is impossible for teachers to humiliate students due to the peculiarities of the teaching profession, adopted in Finnish labor legislation. The main feature is that all teachers conclude a contract for only 1 academic year, with a possible (or not) extension, and also receive a high salary (from 2,500 euros - an assistant, up to 5,000 - a subject teacher).

2. Free

In addition to the training itself, the following are free:

lunches;

excursions, museums and all extracurricular activities;

transport that picks up and returns the child if the nearest school is more than two kilometers;

textbooks, all stationery, calculators and even tablet laptops.

Any collection of parental funds for any purpose is prohibited.

3. Individuality

An individual learning and development plan is drawn up for each child. Individualization concerns the content of the textbooks used, exercises, the number of class and homework assignments and the time allotted for them, as well as the material taught: to whom "roots" - a more detailed presentation, and from whom "tops" are required - briefly about the main thing.

In a lesson in the same class, children perform exercises of different difficulty levels. And they will be evaluated according to the personal level. If you have performed "your" exercise of initial difficulty perfectly, get "excellent". Tomorrow they will give a higher level - if you can't do it - it's okay, again you will get a simple task.

In Finnish schools, along with regular education, there are two unique types of educational process:

Supportive teaching for "weak" students is what private tutors do in Russia. In Finland, tutoring is not popular, school teachers voluntarily cope with additional help during the lesson or after it.

Corrective learning - associated with persistent general problems in the assimilation of the material, for example, due to a misunderstanding of the non-native Finnish language in which the instruction is conducted, or due to difficulties with memorization, with mathematical skills, as well as with antisocial behavior of some children. Corrective education is carried out in small groups or individually.

4. Practicality

Finns say: “Either we prepare for life, or for exams. We choose the first. Therefore, there are no exams in Finnish schools. Control and intermediate tests - at the discretion of the teacher. There is only one compulsory standard test at the end of secondary school, and teachers do not care about its results, they do not report to anyone for it, and they do not specially prepare children: what is, is good.

The school teaches only what may be needed in life. A blast furnace device, for example, is not useful, and is not studied. But the local kids know from childhood what a portfolio, a contract, a bank card is. They know how to calculate the percentage of tax on inherited inheritance or income earned in the future, create a business card website on the Internet, calculate the price of a product after several discounts, or depict a "wind rose" in a given area.

5. Trust

Firstly, to school workers and teachers: there are no inspections, ronos, methodologists teaching how to teach, etc. The educational program in the country is unified, but it represents only general recommendations, and each teacher uses the teaching method that he considers appropriate.

Secondly, trust in children: in the classroom, you can do something of your own. For example, if an educational film is included in a literature lesson, but the student is not interested, he can read the book. It is believed that the student himself chooses what is most useful for him.

6. Voluntariness

The one who wants to learn learns. Teachers will try to attract the attention of the student, but if he has no interest or ability to learn, the child will be guided to a practically useful in the future, “uncomplicated” profession and will not be bombed with “deuces”. Not everyone builds airplanes, someone has to drive buses well.

In this, the Finns also see the task of secondary school - to find out whether it is worth for a given teenager to continue his studies at a lyceum or a minimum level of knowledge is enough for whom it is more useful to go to a vocational school. It should be noted that both paths are equally valued in the country.

A full-time school specialist - "teacher of the future" is engaged in identifying the tendencies of each child for a certain type of activity through tests and conversations.

In general, the learning process in a Finnish school is soft and delicate, but this does not mean that you can “forget” about the school. Control of the school regime is mandatory. All missed lessons will be spent literally. For example, for a 6th grade student, the teacher can find a "window" in the schedule and put him in a lesson in grade 2: sit, be bored and think about life. If you interfere with the younger ones, the hour will not be counted. If you do not follow the instructions given by the teacher, do not work in the classroom - no one will call parents, threaten, insult, referring to mental disability or laziness. If the parents are also not concerned with their child's studies, he will not calmly move on to the next grade.

Staying in Finland for the second year is disgraceful, especially after the 9th grade. You need to prepare seriously for adulthood, so there is an additional (optional) grade 10 in Finnish schools.

7. Self-reliance

Finns believe that the school should teach the child the main thing - an independent future successful life. Therefore, here they teach to think and gain knowledge ourselves. The teacher does not tell new topics - everything is in the books. It is not learned formulas that are important, but the ability to use a reference book, text, the Internet, a calculator - to attract the necessary resources to solve current problems.

Also, school teachers do not intervene in student conflicts, giving them the opportunity to prepare for life situations comprehensively and develop the ability to stand up for themselves.

The educational process in "identical" Finnish schools, however, is organized very differently.

When and how much do we study?

The school year in Finland begins in August, from the 8th to the 16th, there is no single day. And ends at the end of May. In the autumn half of the year there are 3-4 days of autumn holidays and 2 weeks of Christmas. The spring half of the year includes a week of February - the "ski" vacation (Finnish families, as a rule, go skiing together) - and Easter.

Training - five days, only on the day shift. Friday is a short day.

What are we learning?

1–2 class:

They study the native (Finnish) language and reading, mathematics, natural history, religion (according to religion) or understanding of life (for those who do not care about religion), music, fine arts, work and physical education. Several disciplines can be studied in one lesson.

Grades 3-6:

Learning English begins. In grade 4 - one more foreign language to choose from: French, Swedish, German or Russian. Additional disciplines are introduced - optional subjects, in each school they are different: the speed of typing on the keyboard, computer literacy, the ability to work with wood, choral singing. In almost all schools - playing musical instruments; during 9 years of study, children will try everything, from a pipe to a double bass.

In the 5th grade, biology, geography, physics, chemistry, history are added. From 1 to 6 grades, one teacher is teaching in almost all subjects. A physical education lesson is any sport you play 1-3 times a week, depending on the school. After the lesson, a shower is required. Literature, in our usual sense, is not studied, it is rather reading. Subject teachers only appear in grade 7.

Grades 7-9:

Finnish language and literature (reading, culture of the region), Swedish, English, mathematics, biology, geography, physics, chemistry, health fundamentals, religion (understanding of life), music, fine arts, physical education, optional subjects and work that is not separated separately " for boys "and" for girls ". Together they learn to cook soups and cut with a jigsaw. In the 9th grade - 2 weeks of acquaintance with the "working life". The guys find any "job" for themselves and go "to work" with great pleasure.

Who needs grades?

The country has adopted a 10-point system, but up to grade 7, a verbal assessment is used: mediocre, satisfactory, good, excellent. There are no marks from 1 to 3 class in any variants.

All schools are connected to the state electronic system "Wilma", something like an electronic school diary, to which parents receive a personal access code. Teachers give grades, record absences, inform about the child's life at school; a psychologist, a social worker, a “teacher of the future”, a medical assistant also leave the information parents need there.

Grades in a Finnish school are not ominous and are required only for the student himself, are used to motivate the child to achieve a set goal and self-test, so that he can improve his knowledge if he wishes. They do not affect the teacher's reputation in any way, schools and district indicators do not spoil.

Little things in school life

The territory of schools is not fenced, there is no security at the entrance. Most schools have an automatic locking system on the front door, you can enter the building only according to the schedule.

Children do not necessarily sit at desks-tables, they can also sit on the floor (carpet). In some schools, classrooms are equipped with sofas and armchairs. The premises of the elementary school are covered with carpets and rugs.

There is no uniform, as well as any requirements for clothing, you can even come in pajamas. Changing shoes are required, but most young and middle-aged kids prefer to run in socks.

In warm weather, lessons are often held outdoors near the school, right on the grass, or on benches specially equipped in the form of an amphitheater. During breaks, junior school students must be taken outside, even for 10 minutes.

Homework is rarely asked. Children should rest. And parents should not engage in lessons with their children, teachers recommend instead a family trip to a museum, forest or pool.

Learning "at the blackboard" is not used, children are not called upon to retell the material. The teacher briefly sets the general tone for the lesson, then walks between the students, helping them and supervising the completion of the assignments. The assistant teacher is also engaged in this (there is such a position in a Finnish school).

In notebooks, you can write with a pencil and erase as much as you like. Moreover, the teacher can check the assignment with a pencil!

This is what Finnish secondary education looks like in a very short summary. Maybe to someone it will seem wrong. Finns do not pretend to be ideal and do not rest on their laurels, even in the best one can find disadvantages. They are constantly researching how their school system matches the ongoing changes in society. For example, reforms are currently being prepared to divide mathematics into algebra and geometry and to increase teaching hours in them, as well as to highlight literature and social science as separate subjects.

However, the most important thing the Finnish school definitely does. Their children do not cry out at night from nervous strain, do not dream of growing up as soon as possible, do not hate school, do not torment themselves and the whole family, preparing for the next exams. Calm, reasonable and happy, they read books, easily watch films without translation into Finnish, play computer games, ride rollerblades, bikes, bikes, compose music, theatrical plays, and sing. They enjoy life. And between all this, they still have time to learn.