Why Finland Is “Hot”: Educational Success in a Cold Climate

Finland is a small country with a population of 5.5 million—about 2/3 the size of New York City. Its area is 130,672 square miles, smaller than the state of Montana. It shares an eastern border with Russia and looks west to the Baltic Sea. In this cold Nordic land, winters are long and dark, and summers are short and bright. The land is covered by forests and lakes.


Helsinki is the capital city for their parliamentary representative democracy in which women and men are well-distributed throughout key government positions. The current (2021) prime minister is a 34-year-old woman.


Finnish people love nature, take hot saunas, swim in cold lakes, drink great amounts of coffee, and cherish black licorice. They tend to obey traffic lights and recipients of traffic tickets accept that they pay a penalty based on a percentage of their salary. And, every October 13, they celebrate “The International Day for Failure”, a holiday initiated by Finns to acknowledge that people don’t always win, and all can acknowledge shortcomings and learn from their mistakes.

Within Finnish society, citizens have held a longstanding respect for education. Quality literature is sold in markets and drugstores. Musical performance and enjoyment extend to many styles—folk songs, opera, heavy metal. Personal determination and fortitude are respected through an all-encompassing vocabulary word, sisu. Sisu! Everyone needs Sisu in their life, find out why! 


Until reforms were instituted in the late 1960s and 70s, education in Finland was quite traditional. However, new ideas brought about many changes. With the arrival of the 21st century, Finland earned a spotlight on the world’s education stage when the new Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), compared fifteen-year-olds’ progress on separate tests of reading, mathematics, and science literacy. Finnish students proceeded to score at the top, or near the top, jostling for position against China, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and (recently) Estonia and Canada. Dozens of nations trailed with lower scores, including the United States with scores that place in the middle out of 79 countries.


For years, educators from around the world have wondered how Finland accomplished such stellar performances when its education philosophies and practices were VERY different from the array of Asian competitors.

Below is a summary of just a few observations confirmed by authors noted in links below, and from this writer after three journeys through Finland (and life as a Finnish-American).
 
Teachers

• Respected – ranked high on the professional ladder.
• Educated - from the top 10% of their classes and are required to earn master’s degrees.
• Trusted – to make thoughtful choices about curriculum, activities, and relating to students.
• Collegial - have time to engage in exchanges, collaboration, problem solving.

Children

• Preschool – attend well-designed programs.
• Cooperation – engage in activities for developing social skills and for play.
• Start at age SEVEN – begin regular instruction at an age-appropriate time.
• Choices – are given the latitude to make authentic decisions about their daily activities.
• Early intervention –  benefit from well thought-out interventions initiated by teams, when needs are identified

Parents

• Share - both parents engage in parenting duties.
• Social support services – are available for ALL parents to consult, problem solve.
• Corporal punishment – is strictly forbidden by law.
• Respect - for schools and teachers is reflected back for the roles parents play.

Schools

• Equal – regardless of neighborhood; are equivalent in programs and quality.
• Public – comprise 95% of all schools; private schools rare at about 3% of the total.
• Recess – frequent (15 minutes per hour) and almost always outdoors regardless of season.
• Homework – not emphasized; is mostly not assigned or is quite minimal.
• Standardized tests – not until the end of high school.
• Career preparation – academics and skilled jobs given equal respect.

Links below provide details that this brief article has been unable to explore.


When American educators learn about education in Finland and other exemplary places across the world, they tend to say things like “We could never do that here.” True, their education system is not as complicated, nor is it invested in punishments, rewards, conflicts, and ties to combustible politics. Finland is small, and its population is noted as extremely happy, peaceful, and relatively homogeneous.

Nevertheless, as author Timothy D. Walker reveals in his book Teach Like Finland (2017), small, joyful practices are quite possible in classrooms and schools of all sorts in other nations. Engaging students in authentic responsibilities can include procedures such as the following: arrange and decorate the classroom, choose activities or places to do work, or come up with solutions to problems. Older students can help tutor younger children. Opportunities to practice self-reliance at school—and at home—are many.


Indeed, students can function well when they experience greater autonomy, performing tasks and living daily life away from the constant eye of an adult. In examinations of Finnish education, trust emerges as a persistent theme. In this case, children are the ones who are trusted, knowing that they are relied upon. Responsibility is not something taught through direct instruction. Rather, it is a delightful outcome of opportunities to “learn by doing.”


Submitted by Greta Nagel
MOTAL President and CEO


LINKS
13 Things to Learn From Finland’s Education System - Educationtopia
Education in Finland. What can we learn? » New Jersey Education Association
Finnish trust in teachers
10 things you did not know about Finland
12 "myths" about education in Finland debunked