American Visitors

The “Finnish miracle”—Finland’s amazing success in the PISA studies—has attracted international attention. A group of principals and teacher trainers came to Finland for a week recently on a visit organized by Professor Hans-Dieter Meyer and Ph.D. Eija Rougle. They visited the Trade Union of Education, the National Board of Education and Parliament, as well as teacher training centers in Turku and Helsinki, and many schools, including the University of Turku Normal School, the Ressu Comprehensive School, and the Saarnilaakso School in Espoo.

PISA analyst Professor Jarmo Hautamäki and many others attribute Finland’s success to the comprehensive school and the equality it has created. All Finns have equal educational opportunities, and everyone everywhere follows the same comprehensive school curriculum. Finland’s spread in the PISA studies is smaller, and very poor, below-average performances are fewer than in other countries. In Finland there are no private schools for the children of affluent parents; instead, everyone is offered an equal opportunity to get an education. It is free of charge and does not depend on the parents’ finances. Learning difficulties are addressed at the very outset and preventative measures are taken already in preschool. There are plenty of special education teachers. These days there are many other adults in the classroom. Thus teachers are no longer shut up within four walls alone with their pupils, which makes the ability to cooperate even more important.

Because learning to read in Finnish is significantly easier and faster than in other languages, especially English, where spelling is not phonetic, Finnish students are ahead in reading proficiency. Realizing early on that reading is easy, Finns become self-confident readers. The PISA studies are largely based on reading. Lutheranism in Finland has reinforced the traditional view that everyone must learn to read. Every home has at least some books, and newspapers are also read a lot, for the Finnish newspaper-reading tradition differs from that in many other countries.

One factor that explains the high level of success achieved by the young people who participated in the PISA studies is the comprehensive school education received by their parents, which homogenously enhanced the skills of their children.

Finland does not use testing as much as other countries do. Teachers are not ranked on the basis of student test scores, nor is their ability to get or keep a job threatened to the same degree by external testing. Teachers are trusted in Finland because they have had extensive training and are experts in their field. Their salaries do not depend on external test scores. Because all teachers have a master’s degree, teacher training in Finland ensures an equal and high level of professional competence. There are considerable differences, however, with respect to continuing education.