0. The Finnish Advantage:
Good teachers
Pasi Sahlberg, PhD
Director General
CIMO
Helsinki FINLAND
June 28, 2011
OECD Japan Government Seminar, Tokyo, JAPAN, June 2011

1. 1. Seven things you need to know
The most popular profession Strong social mission Masters level education
Number of teaching hours per year
Less classroom time
Professional autonomy
Principals are teachers
Parents trust schools

2. 2. Becoming a teacher (1)

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

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

5. 4. Teacher effectiveness
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

6. 5. Accountability in education system
National averages of 15-year-old students learning outcomes in mathematics (OECD 2006)
OECD
average
High degree of trust
Shared responsibility
Intelligent accountability

7. 6. Equity in education system
Inclusive education and early support
Equal educational opportunities
System-wide equity
Variation in student performance in science (OECD 2006)
Variation of performance within schools
Variation of performance between schools

8. 7. Conclusions and future challenges
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

9. どうもありがとう