TOP OF THE CLASS

by Fergus Bordewich THE AMBIENCE OF the Poikkilaakso Primary School in suburban Helsinki is enough to make teachers around the world sigh with envy. Anna-Leena Olkinuora's mixed preschool and Year One class is sitting at round tables painting winter landscapes. Olkinuora glides among the children, bending down to praise a child's rendering of a squirrel scampering between trees. "We're always looking to see if they have a different style of learning," she says. "Kids have their own goals and speed of learning," she says. Upstairs, winter sunlight splashes through the windows of Mervi Valta's classroom as she offers advice to her 28 Year Four and Year Five students, aged ten or 11. Some are doing history, others maths and others writing. "They know what they are supposed to do," explains Valta, pointing to a colour coded chart on the wall that lists each student's daily tasks. "We don't always do the same thing at the same time or at the same speed," she says. In a bright corridor outside Valta's classroom, four boys who have finished their day's work are squatting around a board game. In another part of the spacious school, three girls are choreographing a modern dance for an upcoming school play, with no teacher in sight. Despite the casual supervision, the school is startlingly calm. "All children make their own study plan for the year," explains Kimmo Sundstrm, principal of the 280 student school. "Each student, helped by their parents and teachers, sets the goal that fits him or her, so the motivation stays high. If you need special help in maths, you can get it. If you can go faster than others in language, you can do that." These children are pioneers in the world's most successful educational experiment. Recently released results from a comprehensive international survey undertaken in 2003 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development placed Finnish students ahead of those in the 40 other countries tested in science and reading literacy, and far ahead of the OECD average. The test, known as PISA, showed a similar Finnish OECD lead in maths. The test was taken by more than a quarter of a million students worldwide. Finnish schools were not only at the top academically among OECD countries but also succeeded better in educating less gifted pupils and significantly reducing academic differences between boys and girls. To put it simply, Finnish schools left no child behind. So just what did the Finns do right? The answer is certainly not lavish spending. Finland's expenditure on primary and secondary education is slightly higher than the European average but lower than some of its Nordic neighbours.

Nor has Finland relied on nostrums touted by educators in other countries, such as aggressive testing, heavier workloads, an emphasis on back-to-basics, or tougher discipline. Finns, virtually all of whom attend public schools, actually begin their schooling later than students elsewhere - at seven - and spend an average of just 30 hours per week on schoolwork, including homework. This compares to 50 hours per week spent by Korean students, whose achievement level was just behind Finland's on the PISA assessment. Problems that beleaguer schools in many countries are relatively rare in Finland. Although bullying, drug use and disrespect for teachers exist, they are dealt with as early as possible and absenteeism is also rare. Of some 62,000 secondary-school graduates each year, only about 1000 drop out and half of them eventually return to complete their course. Indeed Finland does have some modest advantages. It has few immigrants with problems of language and cultural adjustment. Finland also enjoys a long tradition of national literacy. During centuries of Swedish and Russian rule, reading and writing Finnish became a symbol of nationalism and a matter of pride. Until the mid-1970s, however, Finland was hardly a model of scholastic innovation. As in many European countries, Finnish students were separated by examination at the age of ten onto parallel academic or vocational tracks. This shaped the rest of their lives, since it was almost impossible to switch from one track to the other once the assignment had been made. Critics argued that if Finland were to compete successfully in a changing world economy the education system would have to be overhauled. "In the new knowledge-based society it is much easier for a highly educated population to be retrained for new professions," says Leo Pahkin, a senior advisor for the National Board of Education. Around the same time, educators began shifting to a new, more "student centered" approach, which gave more power to teachers and more attention to students' individual needs. First, the national examination at ten was abolished and children were kept together in comprehensive schools until 16. Then in the 1980s, students of all levels of ability were combined in the same classes. Finally, in 1994, school administration was radically decentralised and freedom given to schools and teachers to set their own educational priorities. Finns attribute their success to several factors: Finnish teachers are among the best trained in the world. Although teachers' salaries are not impressive - a secondary-school teacher earns about $58,000 a year depending on experience - the profession commands high prestige. Universities accept only about one in seven of the applicants for teaching programmes, which are even more selective than those for aspiring lawyers and doctors. Teachers enjoy a high degree of autonomy. They are free to use whatever classroom methods

they like, with curriculums that have been devised by teachers themselves, and select their own textbooks - or use none at all. Once hired, teachers are not subject to regular inspection or evaluation. Says Richard Cousins, a immigrant from England who has taught maths for more than a decade in Finland, "In the UK, there is an immense amount of record-keeping. Here, you're trusted by the system." Standardised testing is shunned. Finnish critics assert that testing creates artificial time pressure an penalises students who want to figure things out in their own way. "Many countries believe that by emphasising testing their education will get better," says Sarras. "But we believe it's the other way around. Too much testing makes you start teaching for the exams. But many aspects of learning can't be measured that way." At age 18, students do take exams to qualify for university. About two-thirds go on t higher education, a high percentage by international standards. Students are taught to evaluate themselves. "We train kids to evaluate themselves right from preschool," says Sundstrm, the Poikkilaakso Primary School principal. "It helps students learn to take responsibility for their own work. And when they take responsibility, they work more freely. The teacher is not always looking over their shoulder." Many primary schools hand students weekly forms with statements for rating. These may include "Completing my work," "Remembering to ask permission to speak" and so on. Next to each statement, students assess themselves by placing a mark on a horizontal line, anchored by a happy face at one end and a sad face at the other. The teacher indicates if she agrees. In higher grades selfassessments are usually written out and a more detailed evaluation takes place at the end of every school year. "It makes you think about what didn't go well and what you need to accomplish next year," says Tuomas Siltala, 18, who finished secondary school in May 2005. Students are encouraged to work independently. "We try to make the pupils search for information on their own, rather than learn from textbooks," says Kirsti Santaholma, who has taught French at the Itkeskus Comprehensive School, in Helsinki's eastern suburbs, since 1982. "You really learn by seeking out information." Students agree. Says Tuomas Siltala, "Teachers hardly ever lecture. If you just write down what the teachers say, you don't learn anything." School atmosphere is flexible and easygoing. At the Kulosaari Secondary School in Helsinki, as in all Finnish schools, students are not required to arrive on campus until they have a class, and they are free to leave when their classes finish. Says Richard Cousins, a teacher there, "Too much authority creates resentment. Here kids have responsibility and respect because we give them the freedom to come here. They don't come just because they are ordered to." Slower learners receive intense support. This may be the Finns'greatest achievement. According to the PISA findings, Finnish schools show the smallest gap between the highest and lowest performers in the OECD. Rather than regard remedial help as a sign of failure, Finns treat it as an opportunity to

improve. Maria Koivisto, a remedial specialist at Olari Secondary School in Espoo, west of Helsinki, works with students who have learning and behavioural problems. For each student, she creates an individualized programme that emphasises achievable goals: first, simply to come to class; then to come on time; next, to bring books, and so on. "When I give homework, they don't even have to get the answers right," Koivisto says. "The important thing is just to try." Finlands overall success is so dramatic that it seems like quibbling to find fault. But a few Finnish educators wonder if schools do enough for the exceptionally bright. "We're very good at taking care of the middle students, but I wonder if we inspire the geniuses to top achievement," worries Kyllikki Vilkuna, the principal of Kulosaari secondary school. Finns believe, however - and the PISA results bear this out - that Students of all abilities benefit from the cooperative learning that is inextricably woven into every class. Kirsti Santaholma often breaks her French language classes up into groups of two or four, placing at least one superior student in each group. "If I put all the weaker or average ones together, I will have to stay with that group," says Santaholma. "This way, the strong ones will help the weak ones, and I can keep circulating among them." She has asked the students in her eighth-grade French class to prepare a monologue in French describing a real or imagined hobby, then deliver it to their groups. Santaholma moves between groups, listening for problems, assisting with grammar and offering words of encouragement. Santaholma says she never criticises. "We don't say,'you're wrong,'" Santaholma explains. "It makes students embarrassed. When they're embarrassed, they don't want to learn. Everyone is allowed to make mistakes. We tell students to compare themselves only with their former grades, not against each other." Santaholma pauses and grows thoughtful. What she says next encapsulates, in a way, all that the Finnish educational system offers to its students - the promise of patience, tolerance and a self-critical commitment to excellence. "If I fail with a student," she says, "I think there must be something wrong with my teaching.

Positive Reaction It is good to know that the Finnish found a new way of teaching to enhance students motivation to learn. In this manner, they encourage the students to learn new things not mostly through classroom instructions and lectures but through innovative ways to maintain their interest in their subject manner. Also, students that are capable to advance in their subjects are allowed to advance which makes it time-saving because they wouldnt have to wait for the whole class to finish the subject to move on to another level. Students are also asked to assess themselves which teaches them how to take responsibility on their own work. It is not just in the unique way of teaching that makes Finnish students ahead of others. Their teachers also contribute greatly to this. The teachers are carefully selected and welltrained giving the students only the best. Teachers do not pressure students to learn, they do not force students to learn what they have to learn and instead they let the students to take their time to understand the subject.

Negative Reaction In this manner of teaching students are given their freedom on how they want to learn or study and sometimes too much freedom is not good. They are free to do whatever they want. In this way, students are given the chance mostly to work independently, in this way they might be missing to learn how to work with other people. They might be used to too much selfindependence. Teachers are also not allowed to criticize students. In my opinion criticizing can be healthy as long it is constructive. Every person needs someone to assess him/her to be able to improve and develop. And also teachers do not mind if students accomplish incorrect homework or outputs. This may lead to the students misunderstanding of what is right. Of course, you should let the students try, after they tried let them know about their mistakes. In this way the students individually will be able to assess their works and learn about their mistakes.