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school improvement since it has rapidly climbed to the top of relevant international
tables, after it started its long-term transformation process a few decades ago. Once
lowly ranked educationally, struggling around a centrally guided system that pro-
duced poor quality services, today it stands on top among the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (2012) nations, qualified against the
“PISA” test assessment.
What were the key elements to this effective change? What advantages helped
Finland with this remarkable achievement? Can other countries share this para-
digm? The basic pillars of Finland's reform policy were teacher quality, widespread
equity-autonomy, and public financing. This led to elegant school buildings
embracing happy children and highly qualified and devoted teachers. As one ana-
lyst notes: “…Most visitors to Finland…recognize the large autonomy that schools
enjoy, little interference by the central education administration in schools' every-
day lives, systematic methods to address problems in the lives of students, and
targeted professional help for those in need” (Sahlberg, 2009, p. 324).
The analysis summarizes the core principles as follows: (a) highly qualified staff,
(b) resourcefulness, especially for those in need, (c) special needs high standards,
(d) system evaluation and assessment, and (e) balanced centralization versus decen-
tralization policies (Laukkanen, 2008).
Starting four decades ago, Finland's first priority on educational investment
was in personnel. They considered that improving teacher qualifications would help
in the implementation of wider policies concerning school autonomy, free content
curriculum formation, and instruction design. This was actually proven correct.
All teachers are required to have a master's degree on research-based (field) educa-
tion before their assignment to school units. This knowledge helped them develop
diverse high-order skills, like problem-solving and critical thinking. Therefore, they
can easily convey this cultivation of independence and active learning to their stu-
dents (Buchberger & Buchberger, 2004).
The notion of personalized caring for students is a central principle at Finnish
schools. Schools are generally small (containing about 250 students) and the same
applies to classroom size (about 20). All students receive free daily meals, healthcare,
transportation, and learning resources, so that an environment of equal opportuni-
ties is actually molded.
The focus on teachers' professional development has led to an increased preva-
lence of effective teaching methods, resulting in innovations and lateral capacity
building. Much attention has been given to voluntary in-service training programs
(obligatory programs have been canceled), thus increasing the quality of profession-
alism, efficiency, and healthy competition among teachers. According to Sahlberg
(2007) “…This shift in teachers' learning conditions and styles often reflects ways
that classroom learning is arranged for pupils. As a consequence of strengthened
professionalism in schools, it has become understood that teachers and schools are
responsible for their own work and also solve most problems rather than shift them
elsewhere.”
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