How can knowing about Finnish education support UK ITE students? Cara Broadhurst, Natasha Elwood and Emma Penn

The Presupposition  We start with the premise that good teachers are intellectually curious about pedagogy. Such curiosity requires an examination of values and beliefs as well as the strengths and techniques the teacher deploys. - Leach & Moon, 2008, p4

What do we offer?  Students entering their final year can apply for a trip to Finland to observe in Finnish primary schools.  Two week trip  Students pay for own flights  Our partners are the Junior Chamber International in Seinajoki  Recently increased to six students

Why?  Because Finland scores so highly in Pisa rankings?  Because the Finns seem to have ‘cracked it’?  Because we wanted to borrow their practice?  It started off that way…

Now  Are using the trip to reinforce criticality  Piagetian model of challenging existing notions of knowledge  Leach & Moon (2008) explain this as learners being enabled to ‘construct their own knowledge by testing ideas and approaches based on their prior knowledge and experience, by applying these to a new situation, and then by integrating new knowledge gained with pre-existing intellectual constructs’ (p. 58).  Integration might not necessarily mean full adoption.

Now  A field trip also supports the notion of evidence- informed approaches  Based on idea that knowledge is local and situated  ‘There are no objective observations, only observations socially situated in the worlds of – and between – the observer and observed’ - Denzin & Lincoln, 2003, p. 31  Talk is powerful in constructing knowledge

Key themes for discussion  Structure of the school day  Planning within the primary classroom  Apparent lack of differentiation

Structure of School Day  Similarities to English Secondary School system  Timings of the day  Structure of lessons  Flexibility

Planning  Textbook based teaching and learning  Differences compared to England  Benefits and barriers to this learning method

Differentiation  Apparent lack of differentiated learning  Comparisons to England  SEN differentiation

How is the Finnish education system so successful? Conflicts Raised with existing knowledge

Impact on us following the visit  Techniques used to teach languages  Adapting our teaching appropriately  Regular breaks to increase concentration

Impact  The impact is clear on the students’ confidence, professional identity, and knowledge.  Strong indicators of this influencing their leadership potential and the schools they will work in.

The Future  Also impacting on future cohorts in two ways:  Feedback to next cohort  Feedforward to influence the next trip  Cycle of knowledge enhancement  Got to ask the right questions!

Development Plan  Producing a ‘pack’ that future cohorts of students can take with them  Purpose is to prompt thinking and prepare lines of enquiry  Example being passed around now – it is a work in progress!  Ethics considerations

References  Denzin, N. K. & Lincoln, Y. S. (Eds.) (2003). The Landscape of Qualitative Research: Theories and issues. (2 nd Ed.) California: Sage  Leach, J. & Moon, B. (2008). The Power of Pedagogy. London: Sage  Oates. T. (2015). Finnish Fairy Stories. Cambridge Assessment at  Sahlberg, P. (2011). Finnish Lessons. New York: Teachers College Press

Any Questions?