Finnish Education in Practice What, Why and How

Is it possible to combine a stress-free, child-centered approach with top learning results? What do equality and equity, trust, learner-centeredness, teachers’ autonomy, and the happiest country in the world have in common?

The success of the Finnish education system has raised interest around the world. Many teachers, principals and education experts would like to know how this world-famous education system is implemented in practice. What does Finland actually do to achieve such notable success within the field of education?

This book is a practice-oriented insight into Finnish education. It combines the overall description of key topics of education in Finland (what), the rationale behind the typical features of Finnish education (why) as well as practical examples of how these undertakings are implemented in everyday schoolwork (how).

Hop in and get inspired by what you can learn from this educational powerhouse!

Table of Contents

1. The cornerstones of Finnish education

2. The new Finnish national core curriculum: from why to how

2.1. Designing lessons in Finland

2.2. Activating methods in classroom

2.3. Phenomenon-based learning in Finnish education

2.4. Steam enables cross-curriculum work and co-operation between teachers

2.5. Reinforcing students’ involvement and participation

3. Educational support in the Finnish way

3.1. General support: the first response to a pupil’s need for individual support

3.2. Flexible basic education – the Finnish way of regaining the lost school motivation

3.3. Special support and education arranged by activity areas

4. Finnish pedagogical leadership

4.1. What are good principals made of?

4.2. Developing positive, constructive operational culture at school

4.3. Shared leadership and team organization in Finnish schools

5. Finnish early childhood education as a foundation for the life-long learning path

5.1. Educating the whole child: getting the balance right

5.2. Partnership with families in early childhood education

5.3. Child’s individual early childhood education and care (ecec) plan: navigating the road ahead

5.4. Child’s space: let’s have a learning environment makeover!

6. What should parents know about their child’s learning – a Finnish perspective

7. Epilogue: the future of education