In Finland, education reform has never stopped. The concepts of equal education, inclusive education, and personality education are deeply rooted in people’s mind; the methods of key competency, phenomenon and interdisciplinary education are becoming more and more normal. What is the magic power that makes this small country continue to innovate and lead the development of world education? What are the characteristics that make the Finnish education impressive?

On the afternoon of September 19th, Ms. Merja Jortikka, Director of Human Resources of the University of Applied Sciences in Tampere, Finland, and Ms. Chen Tanyu, Executive Director of the Global Education Program, attended the 134th China Curriculum Forum. They reported on “New Trends in Finnish Education Experience and Curriculum Reform”. Professor Chen Shuangye, deputy director of ICI, presided over the lectures. Nearly 100 teachers and students from all units of ECNU attended the forum.

Tanyu Chen

Merja Jortikka

Finland: Values Exchanges and Cooperation

In the report, the two reporters first introduced the basic situation of the economic development and education system in Finland through video screens and data. In this country of more than five million people, people seek developments together rather than compete with each other. Then, through their first-hand observation experience, they shared the teaching form in the school; no students are forced to learn, students collect information in group, they found problems proactively, they organize information, and report on it; students learn different knowledge during their communication. And this kind of communication is an indispensable part of their future career.

Finnish Free Teaching Mode

In Finland, there are no fixed textbooks, no official textbooks in the school, and the teaching resources are all selected by the teachers themselves. Compared with teaching knowledge, it is more about taking artistic expressions, making full use of imagination, stimulating students' learning ability, and cultivating their ability to find problems. Among the thematic projects, there is no distinction between disciplines, and students actively explore different knowledge. In Finland, learning is not for exams. Except college entrance examination, there’s basically no examination to test how students master knowledge.

Seven Key Competencies of Finnish Education -- Transversal Competency

After many times of educational reforms, Finnish education pays more attention to seven key competencies of students, also known as the transversal competency, which echoes the lifelong learning system advocated by Finnish education.

Further Cooperation and Exchange: To Improve the Development of Teachers, Curriculum and Other Issues

After the report, many teachers and students had in-depth discussions with Ms. Chen Tanyu and Ms. Merja Jortikka on issues such as teacher development and Finnish curriculum setting. The two speakers enthusiastically answered relevant questions. They also presented a full set of the latest Finnish pre-school and basic education curriculum materials to ICI, and hope to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the future.