Finns Revolutionise Curriculum

Finland is no slouch in the education stakes, with an school system regularly ranked among the best in the PISA rankings and envied by much of the world.

Therefore, it's a little surprising to find that Finland is embarking on a major educational overhaul. The reform is set to be the biggest in the nation's history and involves scrapping traditional 'subject' teaching in favour of “teaching by topic”.

“This is going to be a big change in education in Finland that we’re just beginning,” said Liisa Pohjolainen, in charge of youth and adult education in Helsinki.

"Phenomenon” teaching – or teaching by topic is being eased into the Finnish curriculum. Gone are single subjects like maths and history, instead, students will be learning topics like 'The European Union', which will fuse elements of modern studies, history, geography and politics.

Pasi Silander, the city’s development manager, explained: “what we need now is a different kind of education to prepare people for working life. Young people use quite advanced computers. In the past the banks had lots of  bank clerks totting up figures but now that has totally changed."

“We therefore have to make the changes in education that are necessary for industry and modern society.”

And, it's not just the curriculum that the Finns plan to overhaul either, gone are the rows of students and teacher led lessons too. In their place will be more collaborative techniques which will see smaller groups working together to complete their work and improve communication skills.

Marjo Kyllonen, Helsinki’s education manager says, “we really need a rethinking of education and a redesigning of our system, so it prepares our children for the future with the skills that are needed for today and tomorrow."

“There are schools that are teaching in the old fashioned way which was of benefit in the beginnings of the 1900s – but the needs are not the same and we need something fit for the 21st century.”

However, not everyone is happy about the changes. Many teachers feel this approach goes against their 'subject' specific experience and education. Encouraging a new 'collaborative' approach, Kyllonen now wants teachers to work together to create lesson plans, and those that do, will see a small top-up salary increase.

Pasi Silander says, “we have really changed the mindset, it is quite difficult to get teachers to start and take the first step… but teachers who have taken to the new approach say they can’t go back."