Finland's education system has undergone significant reforms since the 1960s-1970s. It moved from a tracked system with mediocre outcomes to a comprehensive school model with equity and inclusion as guiding principles. This led to improved performance over time. The book outlines key aspects of Finland's education system including 9 years of compulsory schooling, student-centered learning, well-trained teachers with master's degrees, school autonomy, less emphasis on standardized testing, and equitable access to education for all students. One of the book's main messages is that, unlike many other systems, the Finnish system has not been influenced by market-based competition or high-stakes testing.

1. Some Impressionistic takes from the book of
“Pasi Sahlberg -“Finnish Lessons”
by Ramki – ramaddster@gmail.com

2. About the Author
 Pasi Sahlberg is visiting professor at Harvard University's Graduate
School of Education in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
 He is former Director General of CIMO (of the Ministry of Education
and Culture) in Helsinki, Finland.
 He has experience in classroom teaching, training teachers and
leaders, coaching schools to change and advising education policy-
makers around the world.
 He is an international speaker and writer who has given more than 250
keynote speeches and published over 100 articles, chapters and
books on educational change.
 Pasi has lived and worked in England (King's College), the United
States (World Bank in Washington DC) and Italy (European Training
Foundation in Torino) and worked in 50 countries all around the world.
He earned his PhD from the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) in 1996.
 Pasi is a member of the Board of Directors of ASCD (Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development) & IASCE (International
Association for the Study of Cooperation in education) in the U.S. &
Adjunct Professor at the University of Helsinki and the University of
Oulu.
 Pasi's book "Finnish Lessons: What can the world learn from
educational change in Finland?" (2011) won the 2013 Grawemeyer
Award and he received the Upton Sinclair Award in 2011 and Annual
Education Award 2012 in Finland.

3. Prelude
 This Book, by Pasi Sahlberg (2011) starts with the thesis of the
success of the Finnish education system.
 The introduction explains some of the reasons for the success story
that is being presented in the five chapters of the book.
 Among those reasons are:
 Young people learn well in schools with low performance
differences;
 Teaching is a prestigious profession which attracts many young
people;
 Finnish teachers education is most competitive in the world;
teachers have professional autonomy;
 Those who join the profession stay in it for a life;
 Before leaving comprehensive schools more than half of the
pupils get some kind of educational support.
 Standard testing, competition, privatization, etc. which are
common in other countries are not considered in the Finnish
school system. .

4. Prelude
 The author provides a historical background of the education
system with specific emphasis on the introduction of the
comprehensive school reform.
 Because of its inclusiveness and the principles that all can
learn if they get the necessary support, the comprehensive
school or Peruskoulu reform of the 1960s and 1970s was the
foundation for the later success of the Finnish education
system.
 The book gives a brief background of the Finnish education
system and the reforms of the 1960s and 1970s. It further
provides the multidimensional reforms of the last three
decades which led to the success story of the education
system.

5. One of the key messages of this book is that unlike
many other contemporary systems of education, the
Finnish system is not been infected by market-like
competition & high stakes testing policies.

6. Finland

7. 1790
2010
About Finland
Between the West & the East

8. About Finland
 Population 5.5 Million
 From the 13th century a part of Sweden
 In 1809 ceded to Russia an as autonomous
Grand Duchy
 Independent parliamentary democracy
since 1917
 Member of EU since 1995
 Two official languages – Finnish & Swedish
 Monetary unit Euro
 Public Service – 32%,Manufacturing-18%
 Finance & business- 14%, Trade- 16%
 Construction- 7%
 Agriculture & Forestry- 5%
 Competitive Market Economy
 Low income Equality

9. 3 Things you need to know
Finland has not been always been a high performer

10. 3 Things you need to know
The Most Trusted Public Institutions
Police -90%
Education System -89% Army -83% Health Care-72%
Legal -72%

11. 3 Things you need to know
Finland is performing well in many other areas well

12. Finland- Education Sector Progress

13. During the next 10 years about
1.2 billion young 1-to-30 year
olds will be entering the job
market & with the means now
at our disposal about 300
million will get a job. What will
we offer these young, about a
billion of them? I think this is
one of the greatest challenges
if we want to achieve peaceful
development & hope for these
young
Martti Ahitisaari-Former President of Finland- 1994-2000

14.  In the 1970s, Finland’s educational system was very similar
to that of the U.S.
 Mediocre and inequitable
 Top-down testing
 Extensive tracking
 Highly variable teachers
 Government Reboot/Economic Recovery Plan
 All teachers must have a government paid-for Master’s
Degree
 96% of all teachers are unionized
 Highly desirable and respected field, along with doctors
and lawyers
History of Reform
Source Anderson, “From Finland, an Intriguing School-Reform Model” New York Times

15.  In 2000, the first results of the Program for International
Students Assessment (PISA) were published.
 The assessment is a standardized test given to 15 year-
olds in more than 40 “global venues”.
 Finnish youth were revealed to be the best young readers
in the world.
 In 2003, the Finnish youth led the pack in math.
 In 2006, Finland was in first science, out of 57 countries.
 The world began to take notice of their educational reform
methods, especially the US, whose scores barely changed
in more than ten years.
History of Reform
Source Anderson, “From Finland, an Intriguing School-Reform Model” New York Times

16.  1945- 1970 –Enhancing equal opportunities for
education by way of transition from a Northern
agricultural nation to an industrialized society.
 1965- 1990 – Creating a public comprehensive
school system by way of a Nordic welfare society
with a growing service sector and increasing levels
of technology & technological innovation.
 2010- Improving the quality of basic education &
expanding higher education in keeping with
Finland’s new identity as a high-tech knowledge
based economy
History of Reform

17. Structure of Education System in Finland before 1970

18. Structure of Education System in Finland since1970

19. 3 Phases of Educational Change
 Rethinking the Theoretical & Methodological
foundations- 1980s.
 Improvement through Networking & self-regulation-
1990s.
 Enhancing efficiency of Structures & Administration
– 2000- the present.

20. 3 Phases of Educational change in Finland since the 1980s

21. Education System 2015

22. % of variance of student reading performance due to socio--
‐economic status
The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a
worldwide study by the Organization for Economic Co-operation &
Development (OECD) in member & non-member nations of 15-year-
old school pupils' scholastic performance on mathematics, science,
& reading.

23. Compulsory Education ( Peruskoulu)
 This includes grades 1-9 and is designed for all
students 7-16 years old.
 Grades 1-6 of peruskoulu are referred to as
Primary Education;
 Grades 7-9 are referred to as Lower Secondary
Education. [A year of preschool (for students 6
years old ) is offered prior to the peruskoulu;
however, the text does not indicate that preschool
is part of compulsory education.]

24. PARENTS CHOOSE
Private
daycare
SUPERVISED PLAY
ACTIVITIES
Morning & afternoon
activities for schoolchildren
Basic education starts at age 7
Pre-school for
6-year-olds
Parents care for Children/
arrange daycare
Municipal
supplements
Private child
care allowance
Municipal
supplements
Child home
care allowance
Municipal
Purchased
services
Daycare arranged
by municipality
Early Childhood Education & Care System (ECEC-system)

25. Child-Centered
Early Education
“We have learned so
much about child
development and the
science of teaching and
learning from American
education researchers.”
~ Pasi Sahlberg

26. Basic education is provided free of charge comprising all learning
materials and a warm lunch daily.
The school year stretches to 190 working days, starting in mid
August and ending in early June.
The maximum duration of a school day is five lessons during the
first two years and up to seven lessons from 3rd to 9th year (19 –
30 lessons per week).
Basic Education

27. The Joy of Learning

28. Non-Compulsory Education-Secondary Education
3 Options to the Students
 10th grade
 Option for the students choosing not to immediately enter upper-
secondary education or employment.
 Curriculum includes Arts, crafts and manual trades.
 35% after completing grade 10 go on to general-upper
secondary school
 48% go on to Vocational upper secondary schools.
 General Upper-Secondary school
 Secondary school option is about 3- 3.5 years duration
 Requires completion of 75 courses of 38 lessons each
 50 courses focus on the study of 18 required subjects
 25 courses are student selected.
 Students who successfully completes all course work gets a
Upper-secondary education diploma

29. Upper Secondary Education
 Half of the age group chooses the Upper
Secondary School; the other half continues to
vocational studies.
 The National Matriculation Examination consists of
exams in the mother tongue, the second national
language (FIN/SWE), foreign languages,
mathematics, humanities and sciences.
 Four of the exams have to be passed for the
matriculation certificate, which provides eligibility
for universities and higher vocational education

30. General & Vocational
 General Upper-Secondary school
 Student access to individual courses offered by a Vocational Upper
secondary school is possible.
 Student can transfer from General Upper secondary school to
Vocational upper secondary school.
 Students completing all 50 required courses take the National
Matriculation Exam – required for entrance into higher education.
 Graduates of general upper secondary may apply to either
polytechnics or universities.
 Vocational Upper-secondary school
 This option is also for 3-3.5 years
 Completion of 120 credits selected from 130 programs of study is
required for each of 52 “ Vocational Qualifications”.
 Of the 120 units of study, 30 are devoted to general or elective courses
and 20 are on-the job training.

31. Vocational
 Vocational Upper-secondary school- Contd ….
 Student access to individual courses offered by a General
Upper-Secondary school is possible .
 Student can transfer from vocational Upper-secondary
school to general upper-school.
 Vocational upper-secondary school graduates have the
option of taking the National Matriculation Examination.
 Graduates of Vocational Upper Secondary school may
apply to either polytechnics or universities.

32. Higher Education
 Finland provides two alternatives
 Vocational College ( Polytechnic) -This option
requires about 3- 3.5 years of study. The length
of a polytechnic program appears to depend
upon the specific field being pursued.
 University- The University option requires about
3-6 years of study. Again, the length of a
university program appears to depend upon the
specific field being pursued and , perhaps the
level of the degree sought.

33.  3500 schools, 60,000 teachers
 5.9% of National wealth ( GDP) goes to Education
 A primary school student costs USD7100 per
annum
 99% of all education publicly funded
 All teachers must hold a master’s degree
 95% teachers and principals unionized
Finland-Education Indicators

34.  Long-term & consistent
 A vision of a knowledge-based society
 Responsibility and decision-making at local level
 Culture of trust
 No national exams
 No inspectors
 No public ranking of schools
 Equality and equity in education
Cornerstones of Finnish Education Policy

35.  Compulsory from the age of 7 to 16
 Supportive measures
 Free, no tuition fees
 Free lunches
 Free books and other materials
 Free school health care
 Free transportation to school
Equality & Equity in Finnish Education

36. Comparison of Finnish & Global ‘Ed’ Reform Policy

39. As a nation of modest people, Finland never
actually intended to be the best in the world of
education

40. To Summarize this section
 Finnish students start formal schooling at age 7.
 There is compulsory schooling of 9 years for every child.
 All education is publically funded, & there are no fee
paying schools
 Equity in education for all is the ideal.
 Finnish students study much less hours in the
classroom.
 They also have less homework. Usually not more than ½
hour a day. They usually finish this before going home.
 The general finding is that countries with more formal
teaching time have less academic achievement!

41. To Summarize this section
 No management approach to education. Educationists
decide all aspects of education and education
management.
 Autonomy to schools and teachers.
 However schools have after-school activities and
educational or recreational clubs after school hours.
 There is high membership of Youth and Sports Clubs.
 This contributes significantly to holistic development of
students.
 Finnish students are among the least stressed

42. Adult-Child ratio in day care centers
1 to 7 for 3-6 year-olds
1 to 4 for children under 3 years
Minimum Secondary level degree
1 in 3 post secondary level degree
Adult-Child ratio in family day care
1 to 4
Appropriate training
Staffing

43. Less Pressure,
More Respect

44. Principals : 1 Head & 1 Deputy Head
Directorate Group – ( Principals+4 Teachers)
4 Team: Every teacher is member of one team – Meetings
every Thursday 8 to 9
Student welfare team
50 Teachers
15 Other personnel
Staff for 500 Grade 1-6 Students

45. Curriculum
Sports and natural sciences are emphasized in the
lower stage curriculum
Elective subjects for the 8th and 9th grade (6
elective lessons weekly in sports, art, home
economics, crafts, German/French language, music,
etc. )
Elective lessons 1st, 2nd, 5th and 7th grades in art,
sports, music, etc.
Three periods/ year in upper grade

46. Special Assistance for Learning Difficulties
Clinic-type Teachers
Extra funds to prevent the marginalization, about Euro
80,000 per year
Two-assistant teachers for grade 1-6
Two Teachers for special needs of the student
3 Special education Teachers
1 School psychologist, 1 Curator ( 3 days/week)
1 health nurse ( 5 days per week)

47. Finnish Teacher Education
Five teaching categories in Finland
Pre-school teachers, majoring in educational
sciences
Class teachers, majoring in educational sciences
Subject teachers, majoring in various school
inputs
Special education teachers, separate degree
requirements
Vocational education teachers separate degree
requirements
Entry to teaching is competitive, only 10-15% of the
applicants are accepted on national level

48. The Finnish Advantage –The Teachers

49. 1. Seven things you need to know
 The most popular profession
 Strong social mission
 Masters level education
 Less classroom time
 Professional autonomy
 Principals are teachers
 Parents trust schools
Number of teaching hours per year
0 200 400 600 800 1000
Primary
Lower secondary
Upper secondary
Japan OECD average Finland
Total annual teaching time in 60-minute hours

50. 2. Becoming a teacher (1)
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Female Male
Applicants to primary teacher education programs in Finnish universities 2001-2010
Accepted

51. 2. Becoming a teacher (2)
Subject teacher education
Municipal
Field
Schools
Faculty of
Science
Faculty of
Humanities
Faculty of
Medicine
Faculty of
Technology
Faculty of
Economics
Faculty of
Education
Research
Coordination
Units
Independent
Units
Regional
Units
Administration Board Teacher
Training
School
Teacher
Training
School
Faculties with
teacher education

52. 3. Professional development
School is a Professional Learning Community
 Curriculum development
 Student assessment
 School improvement
Individual and collective effectiveness
 Finnish schools
 No teacher evaluation
 No merit-pay
 No census-based standardized tests
 No ranking of schools

53. Quality at entry to teacher education
 Only the most able will be accepted (school-leaving examination)
 Test of basic knowledge in education (unified entrance test)
 Demonstration of skills and commitment (interview)
High academic requirements at exit
 Evaluated teaching practice
 Rigid academic study and course work
 Masters degree with research thesis
4. Teacher effectiveness

54. 5. Accountability in Education system
 High degree of trust
 Shared responsibility
 Intelligent accountability

55. 6. Equity in Education system
 Inclusive education and early support
 Equal educational opportunities
 System-wide equity

56. 7. Conclusions and Future Challenges
Conclusions
 Finland assures high quality teaching by attracting the most
able and committed to teaching profession
 Finland retains teachers in their jobs by maintaining respectful
and inspiring professional conditions in schools for them.
Challenges
 Preparing teachers for changing Finnish society
 Continuous professional development for all teachers
 Weakening economic situation or/and strengthening
accountability policies may jeopardize current good situation

57. Teachers in Finland possess a strong sense of
being esteemed professional similar to a
medical doctor, engineer or economists

58. To Summarize this section
 Teachers in Finland teach for less hours than most other countries
 This provides them time to focus on school improvement, curriculum
planning and professional development, during school hours.
 Besides teaching, they have many responsibilities, including:
 Development of their school curriculum & Student assessment
 Providing remedial support & Participation in school health activities
 Most schools are truly professional learning communities where teaching
is a holistic profession, which involves work with students and
collaboration with colleagues.
 The variation in learning across schools is only about 5%
 Highly educated teachers , Good infrastructure
 Large autonomy enjoyed by schools
 Little interference from central education administration in day to day
running
 Systematic methods for addressing student problems & Targeted
professional help for students in need

59. Paradox # 1
Teach Less ,Learn More

60.  Year 2008 study of intended instructional hours for students aged 7-14
in 19 selected OECD countries (not including the U.S.) identified
Finland as having the least total number of hours of instruction (about
5400); the Netherlands had the most (about 7900).
 Finnish students are free to go home after their shorter days of
instruction, but they also may participate in voluntary after-school
activities and "clubs" that are judged to contribute to their social and
personal development and, hence, to their educational performance.
 Finnish teachers use their non-teaching time to attend to such duties
as assessing students' achievement and overall progress, developing
their school's curriculum, and providing remedial help to individual
students.
 Finnish educators do not believe in homework that focuses on routine
and intellectually unchallenging drill. Finnish students rarely get more
than 30 minutes of homework per day; most are able to complete that
before leaving school.
Teach Less , Learn More

61.  The 2008 OECD study found that students aged 7-14 in Italy (about
7500 total hours of instruction) had about 2 more years of schooling
than did Finns.
 Estimates from some U.S. states placed the number of hours at about
7500 -- the same as Italy. Moreover, since many U.S. students begin
school at age 5, such students would, by age 15, have had 4 years
more years of schooling than their Finnish counterparts.
 In comparing instructional time in the lower secondary school (grades
7-9) of Finland with that in grades 7-9 in the United States, the text
found that the American teacher of grades 7-9 engages in about 1.75
times the number of annual hours of instruction as a Finnish teacher at
that level.
 The data of Figure 3.2 (page 91) present slightly different U.S./Finnish
ratios of annual instructional hours, ratios that increase across of three
levels of schooling: 1.60 in grades 1-6; 1.81 in grades 7-9; and 1.95 in
secondary school
Teach Less , Learn More

62. Total number of intended instructions hours in primary & lower
secondary schools in 2012 – OECD Countries
 Big differences in total number of
intended instruction hours in Public
institutions between the ages of 7-
14 years in OECD countries.
 Formal teaching as a driver of
student learning ( Finland, Korea,
Estonia).
 Lower level of academic
achievement –Spain, Israel, France.
 Finland children start school at the
age of 7, where as in Australia
children start school at the age 5.
 Finnish 15 year old students spend
less time on homework than any
other peers nations
 Finland-children learn in
unsupervised environment

63. Number of Teaching hours/ year in Primary, Lower-secondary &
Upper Secondary Schools in OECD countries- 2012
 Lower-Secondary teachers total
weekly working time in Finland-
31.6 hours
 Australia – 42.7 hours
 USA- 44.8 hours
 England- 45.9 hours
 Singapore- 47.6 hours
 34 countries Average – 38.3 hours
 On an average 80% of lower
secondary teacher’s working time is
spent teaching & learning with
students.

66. Paradox # 2
Test Less, Learn More

67.  Finland does not engage in standardized-test based accountability. PISA
data in three testing years (2000, 2003, 2006) showed that PISA mathematics
performance scores in accountability-policy nations were in decline.
 Mean scores on those assessments of U.S.15-year-olds declined from about
490 to about 475. Finnish scores increased from about 535 to about 545.
This suggests that frequent standardized testing is not a necessary or
sufficient condition for improving education.
 The Finnish education system does include a three-part assessment
component:
1. Teacher-designed classroom-based diagnostic, formative, and
summative assessment;
2. Semi-annual comprehensive evaluation of each student's progress as a
collective judgment of the student's teachers; and
3. A 3-to-4 year cycle of sample-based (about 10% per age cohort) national
assessment to measure students' learning in reading, mathematics,
science, and other subjects. Schools not included in the national sample
may purchase the tests. While classroom assessment occupies "a
significant amount of out-of-classroom working time" of teachers, the total
annual cost of national assessment is less than $5 million.
Test Less , Learn More

69. Paradox # 3
More Equity through growing diversity

70. More Equity through growing diversity
 Ethnic diversity in Finland is increasing.
 In 1980, about 12,850 residents were foreign-born.
 In 2010, that number had increased 19-fold to about 248,100
and accounted for 4.7% of Finland's inhabitants.
 In the peruskoulu of Helsinki, 10% of students are immigrants;
40 languages are spoken.
 The main policy goal behind the development of the peruskoulu
was equal education for all. Therefore, all students are placed in
regular schools unless there is a specific reason to do otherwise.
 Research on the effect of increased ethnic diversity found:
 PISA data prior to 2009 showed that immigrant students
perform significantly better in Finnish schools than in other
countries; and
 Overall classroom performance in Finland began to decline
when the proportion of foreign students reached 20%.

71.  Poverty (defined as family income that is 50% below the
national average) effects teaching and learning.
 The poverty rate in Finland is 3.4%; in the U.S., it is 21.7%.
Finland gives systemic attention to social justice and early
intervention for those in need.
 The level of student performance has continuously
increased and variation in student performance has
decreased during a period when Finnish society has
become more culturally diverse and socially complex.
More Equity through growing diversity

72. Finnish Lessons
Underlying Notions

73. 1
Finland has an education system in which young people learn
well and performance differences among schools are small --
and all with reasonable cost and human effort
2
The above has not always been so

74. 3
Teaching is widely viewed as a
prestigious profession

75. 4
Finland has one of the World’s most competitive teacher-
preparation systems

76. 5
Finnish Teachers have a great deal of professional autonomy
and lifelong access to purposeful professional development.
6
Those who are lucky enough to become teachers normally
are teachers for life.

77. 7
Almost half of the 16-year olds, when they leave
comprehensive school have been engaged in some sort of
special education, personalized help, or individual guidance.

78. 8
In Finland, teachers teach less and students spend less time
studying both in and out of school than their peers in other
countries.

79. 9
Finnish schools do not engage in standardized testing, test
preparation, or private tutorting.

80. 10
All of the factors that are behind the Finnish
success seem to be the opposite of what is
taking place in the United States and much of
the rest of the world, where competition, test-
based accountability, standardization, and
privatization seem to dominate

82. Global
Education
Reform
Movement
AcademicX
Finnish
Way
Holistic

83. Global
Education
Reform
Movement
StandardizationX
Finnish
Way
Personalization

84. Global
Education
Reform
Movement
CompetitionX
Finnish
Way
Teamwork

85. Global
Education
Reform
Movement
ChoiceX
Finnish
Way
Equal Opportunity

86. Global
Education
Reform
Movement
AccountabilityX
Finnish
Way
Trust

87. Meaning of Finnish Lessons
1. Teachers Policy- Professionalization
2. Accountability Policy-Trust based Responsibility
3. Testing Policy- Purposeful Assessment

88. The current, and highly effective Finnish system of
education is the result of decades of determined and
continuous refinement of policies and practices.
Finland did not attempt to simply transplant the ideas
of education into the Finnish system; rather it modified
promising ideas to fit the Finnish context.
Neither did the process for improving education
Finland jump from one "big idea" to another; rather, it
committed to informed, long-term refinement of
policies and practices based upon educators'
evaluation of the effects of those policies and
practices on student learning.

89. Reforming School is a complex & slow process.
To rush this process is to ruin it. The story of
Finland’s education transformation makes this
clear

90. How Finnish Lessons can help India’s
Education Reform ?

91. 1
Excellence through Equality of educational
opportunity

92. Equitable funding of Education

93. School Lunch for all

94. Health Care

95. Individualized Support

96. Compulsory Play for all Children

97. 2
Smart Time Management

98. Less Teaching Time

99. More Time for Collaboration

100. Less Class room hours

101. Less Home work

102. More time to Play

103. Less Standardized Testing

104. 3
Professionalism

105. Teaching is a desired way of life

106. What is the Change we require
Indian Education Sector’s vision for the future is to
"Create a community of learners that provides the
conditions that allow all young people to discover their
talent."
Such would require the following “Themes of change.“
 Development of Personal road maps for learning
 Less classroom-based teaching
 Development of interpersonal skills & problem
solving
 Engagement and Creativity as pointers of success
 Importance & promoting Teaching as a Profession
for Quality education

107.  About 50% students must go into vocational education after high school
 Vocational education must be as rigorous and respected as academic
streams
 There must be possibilities of transfer between the 2 streams
 There must be focus on holistic development of child and not just
academics.
 Shift away from rote learning and testing, to problem solving and
analytical skills is key
 For this, the examination/tests system has to change
 Different learning styles must be understood, appreciated & supported.
 Mapping of each child has to be done and each child supported as
needed
 The quality of education across schools has to be made similar, by raising
the quality in the public system.
 There must be discouragement of private, paid for tuitions and other
supports which are essentially unfair to children from different economic
strata.
Some thoughts on Change

108. Mail your comments to
ramaddster@gmail.com