Tesomajärven koulu Primary School: Classes 1-6 (7-13-year-olds)

540 pupils in 3 buildings Also special needs classes and preparatory classes for immigrants About 40 teachers, teacher’s assistants, a secretary, a nurse, a psychologist, a social worker, a janitor, cleaning personnel and kitchen staff A principal, a vice principal and a vice leader, a leader

The educational system in Finland (Kindergarten) Pre-school in the year when child turns 6 School starts at the age of 7 9 years of comprehensive school: 6 years of primary and 3 years of junior high High school or vocational school (2-4 years) Universities and colleges are tax-paid

The school year in Finland The school starts around August 10th Autumn holiday in the middle of October (1 week) Christmas holiday 1,5 - 2 weeks Winter holiday at the end of February (1 week) Easter School year ends at the end of May / beginning of June

Subjects in our school Finnish maths science (physics, chemistry, biology, geography) history religion / ethics physical education music arts crafts English / German (from class 3) Swedish (from class 6) Voluntary foreign language: German or Swedish (from class 4), mother tongues of immigrants In classes 1-6 class teachers teach most of the subjects, in classes 7-9 there are subject teachers

BASIC VALUES EQUITY: equal opportunities & fairness SUPPORT RATHER THAN CONTROL (both pupils and teachers) Close relationship between teachers and pupils TRUST: culture of trust (no inspectors visiting our schools, no school book control) These have been the values of Finnish education for 3 decades, and they are still present in the new curriculum.

WHY FINLAND? The ideal of equality in society Differences between schools and areas are small (we don’t like ranking lists) Support for weak students Teacher education at the master’s level: quite highly valued professionals – a wanted job (not for the salary, though… perhaps for the autonomy) Concentration on motivation and upbringing vs. superb learning outcomes (we’re not fans of standardized tests)

The new curriculum 2016 Why fix something that’s not broken? The world has changed and it’s changing at high speed PISA results, motivation and well-being of boys, growing areal and socio-economical diversity in learning outcomes Finnish school system is open towards development according to outcomes of scientific research

Highlights of the new curriculum (state level: guidelines and values - local definition of goals and implementation) Student-orientation, personalisation (e.g. flipped classroom) New learning environments Digitalisation (tutor teachers), coding Holistic learning, multidisciplinary approach, significance in real world Broad-based competences

Broad-based competences Thinking skills and learning to learn Knowledge of cultures, interaction and impression Taking care of oneself and everyday skills Multiple reading competency ICT skills Working life competencies and entrepreneurship Sustainable future: participating, effecting and striving to reach it

Is this reform going to bring us back to the top of PISA rankings? Not necessarily… … but do we even care?

Some information about the programme against bullying, KiVa A video about special needs instruction in Finland