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© 2019 EduCluster Finland Ltd, University of Jyväskylä Group, Finland
Realizing PISA global competence-based learning in subject teaching
Leading schools have talked about developing competences for many years. But ‘walking the talk’ means taking action.
Involving students of all ages, Global Competences develop the capacity to examine life from essential perspectives.
Finland has been instrumental in successfully enabling students to gain these competences through what we call curricular transversals. These transversals are learning modules which link to topics in the existing curriculum. They systematically develop the knowledge, values, skills, and attitudes of students from Grades 1-12. This is one way in which schools in Finland truly internationalize, locally and globally.
The secret of success is where a school
Gaining skills for success in the ever-changing World
About 20 years ago it was evident that students around the world were not performing well in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).In addition there was a noticeable gap between boys and girls taking an interest in studying, and pursuing a career in science and technical fields. As a result, specialized programmes were developed enabling students to learn about social problems from scientific, mathematical and technical perspectives. STEM then became STEAM, as in Finland, because of recognition that some arts subjects (e.g. history, geography, multimedia, entrepreneurship) should be included in these ground-breaking inter-disciplinary programmes.
STEAM combined creative thinking, understanding of the real world, and scientific study into a single learning experience.
In an ever-developing world, it is essential that schools prepare students for many roles and eventualities, and not just for a single career. Students need to understand concepts from multiple angles. Then they can solve problems by creating meaningful inter-disciplinary solutions. This is the core of STEAM, bringing together multiple disciplines and providing students with a holistic understanding of knowledge, skills and problem-solving challenges.
Finland has been practising STEAM Education successfully for many years, as can be seen by the success in PISA and TIMSS. One reason for this is that all teachers receive essential pedagogical training in methods suitable for STEAM as part of their education. Another is that it has been realized in schools, and also as extra-curricular activities.
The secret of success is where a school:
Fostering creativity in classrooms
Creativity is the way, and innovation is the outcome. When talking about important future skills and competences, creative thinking always comes at the top of the list. Sophisticated artificial intelligence may soon perform many tasks previously done by people, but creative thinking is an area where human curiosity will continue to outshine Big Data into the foreseeable future.
Many countries have directed their education systems to focus on mathematics and reading literacy skills that are measured with regular standardized testing. Therefore, attention in other areas is generally given only to academic performance as measured by standardized tests. Finland has bypassed this trend by maintaining focus on both achievement of strong academic skills and enhancing creative thinking across all subjects.
Globally there is an increasing realization that some learning may be highly valuable even though it cannot easily be measured. Creativity is one of these elusive but essential curricular goals. So much so that PISA 2021 will now examine how schools within educational systems achieve high levels of creativity, an increasingly recognised global competence, in learning outcomes.
Creative thinking can be successfully realized in a school that
Achieving inclusion through individualized teaching practices
Like DNA each student is unique. Being unique makes that individual special.
Certain students have special needs, at certain times, in our schools. The need may not be a problem. It could be an opportunity because a child appears particularly gifted or skilled in achieving something valued in society. It could be a challenge caused by the student facing significant learning difficulties in a subject, having suffered loss of a loved one in the family or being hospitalized due to illness.
In Finnish schools the logic is that every child is likely to have some form of special need at some point in their school career. This need, whatever the cause, can result in barriers to learning. Overcoming these barriers in a timely and constructive way is one of the drivers of success in Finnish education. This results in high rates of inclusion (students not separated due to long or short term physical or psychological challenges) and equally high levels of student retention.
When a student has a special need the Finnish school increases opportunities for individualized learning. This does not necessarily mean that the student studies alone in isolation from others. It means that learning pathways are provided by the teacher for the student to successfully manage a period of prolonged absence from school (such as hospitalization), a problem learning a subject such as maths (dyscalculia), reading (dyslexia), problems with concentrating on learning (attention deficit disorders), or disruptive behaviour.
Overcoming barriers to education means developing innovative ways to maintain the student’s membership of the school community (to avoid exclusion and maximize inclusion) and enhance the achievement of successful learning outcomes (through emotional support mechanisms and academic learning support).
The secret of success is where a school
Finland’s new curricular innovation: developing systems thinking and global competences
Finland is a global leader at integrating learning through different subjects using high-impact teaching methods. It also believes that education is a process not an event. Maintaining its position at the top of international rankings such as PISA means continuously innovating and responding to rapid changes in the local and global environments. This is where Phenomenon-based Learning (PhBL), which is a sophisticated form of problem-solving, is a force to achieve excellence in teaching and learning practices, and overall high educational performance.
PhBL is a curricular technique which has become the hallmark of the latest Finnish National Curriculum Framework. It involves integration of different subjects to create a single learning experience in which students look at a phenomenon from different academic real-world perspectives.
The intended learning outcomes include knowledge about the topic but most importantly systems thinking (seeing patterns in information). The result is development of advanced problem-solving skills and the potential for creative thinking. PhBL takes project-based learning to a new level of higher order thinking through deep focus on looking at a topic from different academic perspectives (such as water, carbon footprint, migration, pandemic, physical wellbeing).
The secret of success is where a school
Developing Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL)
Originally developed in Finland CLIL has become a global change agent in radically improving how languages are taught and learnt. As with Linux, which was also developed in Finland at the same time, CLIL is a type of open-source pedagogy that provides an integrative methodology for different school contexts. Referred to as the ‘ultimate communicative methodology’ CLIL has become a signature pedagogy for leading edge schools in countries around the world. These schools may be fully international, bilingual, or those in which high levels of additional language competence are desired.
CLIL is a dual-focused approach in which an additional language (most commonly English) is used for the simultaneous teaching of both content and language. It is used in schools where more than one language is used for the learning of both content and language. It is not a new form of language education, and it is not a new form of subject education. It is an innovative fusion of both. Put simply it is a bilingual and not a monolingual methodology such as English as the Medium of Instruction (EMI).
Development of CLIL is usually through the 5c Framework where teaching focuses simultaneously on content (curricular topics); communication (essential language needed to learn about the topics); cognition (thinking skills and processes required to learn about the topic); competences (skills to carry out actions relating to the topic); and community (linking of topics to the local and global worlds).
The secret of success is where a school
Enhancing student mental and physical wellbeing to strengthen school communities
Healthy child development from early years through to late adolescence benefits from an informed and supportive relationship between home and school. In Finland, each school community is seen as being as strong as its weakest link. This has resulted in Finnish schools giving a high level of attention to identifying strengths and weaknesses of relations (teacher-student; home-school; school-society; student-student) and developing processes for maintaining high levels of diligence and proactivity. It has also resulted in Finnish public schools across the country not having a high level of variance in relation to care, quality, and performance.
The fact that students represent the largest number of people in any school community means that Finnish schools pay considerable attention to student wellbeing. This may be reactive (recognising a localized problem such as bullying) or pro-active (reacting to incoming data on future trends such as increases in student weight gain).
Wellbeing is a prerequisite for successful learning. Evidence shows that the experience of a positive, supportive, and collaborative atmosphere enhances the well-being and performance of everyone, students, teachers, and parents alike. A key Finnish strategy involves maximizing communication within the school on detecting potential problems (which may range from individual student loneliness through to problems with cyberbullying). Then, rapidly activating consensual localized solutions based on multi-professional research and insights.
The secret of success is where a school
Developing high-impact teaching and learning activities for Generation Z
Finland has an impressive track record in challenging conventional wisdom and showing evidence of teaching practices that are particularly successful. Educational practices in Finland are also highly adaptable. This adaptability has been vital in responding to the learning needs of Generations Z and A (born 1995-2025). These young people are neo-digital natives who devote considerable time and energy to on-screen activities. This affects how they behave at school, and in classrooms.
In long-standing Finnish tradition our teachers have turned challenges into opportunities, and problems into solutions. This is through designing and testing high impact practices. These practices are then compared to the outcomes of global educational meta-analysis research.
Perhaps surprisingly they include a wide range of activities such as in-class methods, augmented and virtual reality, school interpersonal atmosphere, homework, play, length of school breaks…) all of which have been found to have a high effect size – literally high-magnitude features of school life which work well with students of today and tomorrow.
This enables Finland to sustain high performance global ranking in education year-on-year by designing, testing, and scaling up quality teaching and learning practices. Finland’s ability to score high levels of success in global comparisons of education since 2000 is based partly on the 3 L’s – Look, Listen and Learn (look at what is happening in society, listen to what students, parents and teachers say, learn to make change happen).
The secret of success is where a school
Realizing teacher teamwork in everyday school life
Finnish education is based on socio-constructivist theories of learning. Active student learning and collaboration from grade 1 onwards leads to successful learning of knowledge and skills. This approach can be increasingly seen in leading schools. However, this is only half the picture.
If a school is to become a powerful learning community, teachers also must cooperate, collaborate, and set an example of genuine teamwork – now a key 21st Century competence.
Finnish education recognised this some 30 years ago and has developed systemic ways in which the curriculum can be operationalized, and teaching schedules synchronized, to make teacher teamwork a normal practice in day-to-day school life. From an administrative point of view this must be done without extra expense, and with maximum efficiency.
The Finnish co-teaching movement originally started with special education teachers entering classrooms to support students who struggle with learning. Today, co-teaching can be seen in many ways from primary to high school. The outcomes are impressive in relation to time-on-task and student learning. Research shows that co-teaching improves teachers’ job satisfaction and supports professional learning.
The secret of successful is where a school
Encourage knowledge, skills, and motivation for entrepreneurial success
Entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial mindset are something that can be learned. The components are creativity, ability to innovate, capabilities for risk management, ability to take responsibility, planning and setting goals, and managing activities to achieve these goals. As labour markets continue to experience rapid and often unpredictable change, entrepreneurial education has become a major area of interest in school development.
In Finland entrepreneurial education serves to target, develop and nurture enterprising discovery processes for students. Even if some students are not interested or otherwise engaged with developing economic ventures or enterprises, the personal qualities developed in these programmes are of value to all. Being entrepreneurial is not only about skills in planning, finance, and organization. It is a way of thinking.
The secret of success is where a school
PLACE HOLDER
Blurb
We enter 2020 celebrating and reflecting on the 2019 OECD PISA results. This is the first time that Growth Mindset is examined. Students are asked if ‘your intelligence is something about you that you can’t change very much’. Believing that we can improve ourselves through effort and reflecting on how to do it is firmly established in Finnish education. Reflection on ‘lessons learnt’ is a key operational pillar of Finnish learning organizations, including EduCluster Finland.
As we embrace 2020, we reflect on the past decade, recognize the achievements, mistakes and triumphs, and continue our pursuit of developing educational excellence globally with friends, past, present and future.
We specialise in two holistic learning approaches increasingly adopted in leading-edge schools globally, both of which were launched in Finland. 1. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), is a highly acclaimed methodology used for teaching through English in bilingual, international, and national schools. 2. Phenomenon-based Learning (PhBL) is a transversal across-the-curriculum technique recently introduced into Finland’s latest National Core Curriculum. On-site workshops provided by CLIL and PhBL experts empower educators with know-how and skills to use these high-impact practices in their classrooms.
In collaboration with our partners and school networks, we provide opportunities to experience Finnish daily school life. These hands-on visits enable educators to see Finnish education in action and make decisions on which ideas could be adopted in their own schools and countries. 1:1 mentoring and a full support service makes these opportunities highly individualised and insightful.
As re-shaped working life requires new competences and skills, our educational systems respond by pro-actively providing state-of-the-art vocational education and training programmes. Finnish VET programmes for students in other countries are accredited by the Finnish National Agency for Education, delivered through an authorised provider, and recognised at the European Qualification Framework levels 4 and 5 in the EU and most OECD countries.
Having graduated from the University of Oulu as an international class teacher, Saana Khalil taught at the Vesala primary school for two years before the idea of going abroad became irresistible. She joined us to work as a class teacher in a state school for girls in the city of Al Ain in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The school had a Finnish principal and some other Finnish teachers, and the students were local children. Saana taught in Al Ain for a total of four years.
The Al Ain school followed a British-style curriculum. Compared to Finland, schooldays were long, and being taught by turns in English and Arabic was challenging for the students. Saana, on the other hand, was challenged by implementing child-oriented teaching. She had to learn to apply Finnish pedagogy to a totally unfamiliar context.
“My four years there included every emotional state imaginable. At times I found it tough, and school inspections put a lot of pressure on us. But I did a lot of teamwork with the other teachers which was really inspiring. The teachers chosen for projects like these are ones who crave challenges and give it their best. They became close friends to me, and the most important memory I have of that time is my gratitude for everything I learned and experienced.”
When Saana returned to Finland, she was equipped with skills to better understand and respond to diversity and interculturality. As she had studied Arabic throughout her four years in Al Ain, Saana was able to talk about basic things with many of the refugee children and their parents at her local school.
Last summer, we sent Saana to Beijing for two weeks to provide further training to local class teachers.
“China is completely different to Europe and the Middle East, and I found the experience fascinating. Whether it’s two weeks or four years, you learn so much from working abroad and take home a lot of practical new insights to apply in your own class.”
For groups of educators seeking a compact and interactive training package, we have developed a portfolio of FINNspire Days which offer a gateway to Finland’s education concept. Use our FINNspire Programme Builder to create your bespoke learning experience.
The University of Jyväskylä offers a wide range of degree programmes in English. One of these is the two-year Master’s Degree Programme in Educational Sciences. The aims of this programme include developing educator competences to enhance the quality of education in global contexts. ECF facilitates study of this programme, and elements of it, for client needs in countries outside of Finland. It also acts to provide tailored university level study programmes according to specific interests across the whole educational spectrum from KG to Higher Education and TVET.
We understand that to succeed in changing markets, you need to have a skilled workforce, no matter the field. This is why we offer flexible and work-based learning opportunities for young learners and adults. The qualifications are accredited by the Finnish National Agency for Education, delivered through the authorised provider Jyväskylä Educational Consortium Gradia, and recognised at the European Qualification Framework levels 4 and 5 in the EU and most OECD countries.
For groups of educators seeking a compact and interactive training package, we have developed a portfolio of FINNspire Days which offer a gateway to Finland’s education concept. Use our FINNspire Programme Builder to create your bespoke learning experience.
For those looking for more comprehensive, longer-term solutions, we also offer cutting-edge professional development programmes tailored to your education strategy.
Our shared journey with University Lecturer Piia Parviainen began with a partnership project in Saudi Arabia where Piia performed the duties of an expert of early childhood education. Several years of collaboration resulted in recommendations for a pedagogically high-quality learning environment and a curriculum that applied Finnish pedagogic principles, while lending itself well to the Saudi culture.
When we founded an international school with a Finnish-style curriculum in Doha, Qatar in 2014, Piia was its first vice-principal. Her workdays in her new home country were filled with creating the school’s operating principles, compiling its curriculum, making student assessments, developing student selection and student welfare services and supporting the teachers.
“In many ways, the work of a vice-principal consisted of doing lots of new things because we were creating an international school that utilised the principles of Finnish pedagogy from scratch. For example, when we needed assessment forms and forms for absent students, we created them ourselves.”
This international posting taught Piia the importance of constructive interaction and supportive managerial work in the everyday routines of a school. The experience also illustrated the significant role confidential collaboration plays in Finnish educational and training know-how.
After returning home from Qatar, Piia went back to her job as a university lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä’s Faculty of Education. Internationality is an obvious part of her work, as her students are future education professionals from all over the world, seeking to learn about Finnish pedagogy and teaching methods.
“When I returned from Qatar I was a different person professionally. I understand what teachers and leaders from different cultures are going through because I have seen and experienced something similar myself. The most exhilarating part about my current job is to see how my international colleagues are inspired by the Finnish way of teaching and encountering students. When professionals take what they have learned here and apply it to everyday life in their kindergartens and schools, I know the effects of my work are far-reaching.”
How long have you been working at Qatar–Finland International School?
“I’m now into my fifth academic year at Q.F.I. School.”
Could you tell us something about your background?
“I got my teaching qualification in Sweden, and then I worked for 5 years as a class teacher in the Helsinki region.”
What is the best thing about your job?
“The students, my colleagues, and my diverse role (which includes lots of project and event coordination). It’s an amazing opportunity to be part of this unique venture of realising an international Finnish school outside of Finland. It’s great being supported by this international working community and getting to always develop myself as a teacher.”
Has your work at the school changed over the years?
“A great deal. For the first three years, I worked as a class teacher but after that, I was given the opportunity to teach crafts (woodwork) full time. This is my second year teaching crafts to Grades 3–9. Back when I first started in 2014, there were only a handful of us teachers for Grades 0–2, which altogether had 120 students. Today, the staff is 100-strong (including teachers, learning assistants, and other personnel) with several classes in each Grade from 0 to 9, and 750 students all in all.”
What do you miss from back home?
“Family and friends first and foremost, of course. When you spend the majority of your year out here in the desert, you do also miss the greenery of Finland (even though it is covered in snow for half of the year…) I do get a craving for pick ‘n’ mix sweets every now and again, but thankfully visits from friends are never too far apart so my stocks don’t get too low!”
What would you say to someone considering Q.F.I. School as a career move? What kind of a teacher do you think would be in their element at the school?
“I would say: Welcome! We are a bunch of experts of our field, but there’s always room for more. The skills you should have when you come here are exactly the skills that can be found in each and every Finnish teacher: team working skills, creativity, flexibility, and the ability to adapt. You want to keep developing your competences as a teacher, and are also keen to share your niche area of expertise with your colleagues.”
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