[Teacher Zhang talks about education]Why is Finnish education excellent? “Teachers” are the top priority of New Zealand’s education reform!

Chinese pioneer columnist Mr. Zhang (Zhang Yunteng)

In terms of academic achievements, the University of Auckland and several top universities in Australia could be on par with each other more than 20 years ago. Now that the glory is no longer there, should we blame the implementation of NCEA? This needs to be further discussed, and the issue of teaching staff in primary and secondary schools is definitely one of the important reasons.

“Taiwan Normal University” is not as famous as “Taiwan University”. I am an alumnus of Normal University. When I was admitted to the school to participate in freshman training, the principal encouraged us normal university students: “If the Normal University is not done well, the National Taiwan University cannot do well!” Because most normal university graduates serve as middle school teachers throughout their lives, and middle school teachers do not teach students well. Even if such students go to NTU, they still cannot achieve their potential to the extreme.

The wise great destruction and establishment have made the tenacious “Little Hero of the North Sea”!

Benefiting from education reform, Finland currently performs well in all aspects of global economic competitiveness, national living standards, corporate information transparency, and livability. She experienced six centuries of rule in the Swedish Kingdom, and then surrendered for a century under the five tsars of the Russian Empire. She broke away from Russia and established an independent country in the late 1917, but was still swinging between various forces and global powers. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Finland finally embarked on its own path of deciding its destiny and joined the EU in 1995.

This small Nordic country near the Arctic Circle has a population of 5.64 million and a land area of nearly 340,000 square kilometers. The two are 1.1 and 1.3 times enlarged versions of New Zealand, respectively. The population density of the two countries is also similar. The bumpy history has not made the Finns lose their direction. They start with educational reform with wise new thinking. After more than 20 years of hard work and persistence, Finland has safely survived the global financial crisis, large and small, due to the strong national strength of education. Due to the fierce competition in the international electronics industry, Nokia, known as the “pride of Finland”, had to carry out major layoffs and transformations, but it still could not shake this tenacious “North Sea little hero”.

Since 2000, the OECD has held a “PISA” test every three years. Finnish students have always been the winner in the evaluation of reading, mathematics and science, which has attracted widespread global attention. Educators from many countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, South Africa, and Australia have gone to Finland to learn from the scriptures. The British magazine “The Economist” once proposed that leaders of European countries should temporarily put down their work and return to schools in Finland to attend classes.

A short story reminds us that “Finland’s children are not simple.” Reuters is one of the three major news agencies in the world. Several years ago, two photos of Russian submarines planting national flags under the Arctic sea. A teenager in a northern Finland town found suspicious after seeing the newspaper. He verified and confirmed that the photo of the submarine was remade from a clip in the film “Tidani”. Reuters immediately admitted his mistake and apologized. Outstanding education not only makes Finnish children stand out in the PISA evaluation, but also cultivates Finnish students’ ability and attitude to take the initiative to think, ask, and find answers. An excellent teacher is always the best driving force for students to achieve themselves.

“Develop long-term strategies, adhere to core values, and reform teachers”, these are the three pillars that make Finnish education outstanding. Finland has built a national teacher team in the world that is the most dedicated, professional, best in education and lifelong learning. “Good teacher, great school!” Professor Pasi Sahlberg, a Finnish global education master, is so sure of Finnish education.

The cultivation of a good teacher is a moving process!

Before I immigrated, I was a high school biology teacher. After resigning from Taipei Normal University Affiliated High School, I went to the jungle to go to the north and the north to explore the teaching jungle. I knew well what good teachers and popular teachers were. For more than 20 years, due to work, I have often discussed and discussed with local primary and secondary school teachers, and have a deep understanding of the overview of primary and secondary schools in New Zealand. The lack of faculty and deteriorating situation is the biggest crisis in New Zealand’s primary and secondary school education.

Professor Pasi Sahlberg of Finland said: “The professional status of teaching in Finnish society is a cultural phenomenon.” There was a survey report that randomly visited 1,300 Finns aged 15 to 74. The respondents had to choose “five professions that most hope for spouses or partners to engage in” among 30 occupations. The survey results were quite amazing: the spouse (female companion) most hoped for men is a teacher, followed by a nurse, doctor or architect; the spouse professions that women most hope for are doctors, veterinarians, and teachers. About 35% of all respondents listed teachers as one of the five ideal spouse (partner) occupations. Finland’s overall “spouse market” survey shows that teachers are second only to doctors in popularity and popularity.

In 1979, Finland passed the new “Teacher Training Act”, which stipulates that faculty candidates must have a master’s degree “passing academic assessment” (including master’s thesis review), which is a necessary basic qualification to become a “permanent teacher”. This bill planted a seed of faith that education should be based on academic research. Such a research-oriented faculty training process exudes the charm of attracting the most talented students to engage in education.

Currently in Finland, high school graduates have only one-tenth chance of being admitted and enrolled in the university faculty training course, and primary school teachers also need to have a formal master’s degree. Therefore, the world’s highest standards in teacher training allow Finnish teachers not only to be the role of teachers, but also researchers and leaders. Many outstanding officials in the Finnish government are transferred from teachers. Former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari is a student of the faculty training course. After graduation, he entered the international diplomatic workplace. He was also the Nobel Peace Prize winner in 2008.

In Finland, teachers and education are highly respected and respected professions. Teachers are the “dream professions” in the minds of many outstanding high school graduates. The formation of this atmosphere is by no means accidental. It is the result of a virtuous cycle after being deeply influenced by high-quality culture. The children in Finland are very happy. From elementary school to high school, they face good teachers with talented, profound learning and enthusiasm for teaching. During the process of growing up, they have experienced classes of good teachers and enjoyed one beautiful feast after another. Naturally, the children have the idea of learning and following, and we have seen the moving torch here.

Where are the educational masters like the Finnish Pasi Sahlberg in New Zealand?

PBLHow to learn? New Zealand facultyCan you bear it？？

In the NCEA reform draft proposed by the New Zealand Ministry of Education in 2018, Project-Based Assessment accounts for half of the total 1 credits of NCEA Level. This is a evaluation design for the “Project-Based Learning”. The following are all used PBL to abbreviate this teaching method. This reform proposal was not implemented because of too much opposition.

What exactly is PBL? Compared with traditional subjects and subject-divided teaching, PBL is not a subject or a course. It is a learning method and a teaching strategy. The earliest PBL refers to the “problem-oriented learning method”. Since the development of this teaching method in the 1960s, teachers have focused on real or fictional problems in the teaching process, encouraging students to cultivate the ability to actively learn and solve problems through group discussions, while achieving learning goals. Note that PBL at this stage is still limited to “problem”.

PBL, which began to be valued in the late 1980s, is called the “theme-oriented learning method”. “Problems” have been expanded into “special topics”, and more emphasis is placed on “task-oriented” or “project-oriented” learning, allowing students to study and design together under selected topics, learn interactions with others and teamwork, learn from their own creative ideas, and complete tasks smoothly.

In the winter of 2016, the PBL that Finland began to pilot under the new curriculum was the abbreviation of Phenomenon-Based Learning, which can be translated into “Phenomenon-Based Learning Method”, which highlights the characteristics of Finnish PBL, which is a “Interdisciplinary learning architecture based on phenomena”. It is worth noting that PBL is still only part of the current teaching strategies of Finnish primary and secondary schools. In the new curriculum implemented, the teaching of traditional subjects is still the mainstream of Finnish education. “Mathematics Class is gone! Finland’s teaching reform evolves again! 》, “Physics class, mathematics class, history class and other terms will completely disappear from the Finnish students’ class schedules! 》,…, these articles circulating in self-media have become fake news.

No matter which type of PBL it is, the most important common feature is “student-centered learning”. In traditional classrooms, the syllabus and textbooks determine the learning content; in PBL classrooms, the problem itself (or topics, projects, tasks), students’ life and learning experience, students’ intentions, teaching resources, teacher literacy, etc. are the determiners of the learning content. PBL can implement the educational ideal of “education is life” by John Dewey, a famous educator in the 1900s. He believes that teaching should not be based on lectures as the main method.

A well-operated PBL classroom can eliminate the rigidity of knowledge after learning, and can further cultivate students’ diverse abilities such as teamwork, communication, exploration, organization, critical thinking, innovation and creation, and improve their skills to use knowledge and problem-solving. These are the abilities that children must have in the future, which will help them face all the challenges in life.

Which topics can be PBL topics? In the PBL classroom of primary and secondary schools in Finland, students should choose at least one topic or phenomenon every year for cross-field special study. For example, the theme of the “EU” will involve multiple disciplines such as economy, history, language, geography, and mathematical statistics. “Climate Change” and “Finland’s One Hundred Years of Independence” are also interdisciplinary topics. What is amazing is that in a primary school PBL classroom, the topic of “Origin of the Earth” actually incorporates the study of the Big Bang, religion and Finnish poetry.

Microsoft proposed the idea of Innovative Schools in 2009, PBL was the main teaching method, and 12 schools in 12 countries were selected for experiments. Finland started a two-year PBL teacher training in 2014. In 2016, with the new curriculum trial at the same time, Professor Kirsti Lonka of the Finnish Teacher Training Expert Committee said that the biggest difficulty PBL encountered was in the last three years of middle school. In order to prepare for the university entrance examination, students’ interest in project research was greatly reduced, so Finland began to reform the university entrance examination system. In addition, when facing PBL classrooms, teachers must change their long-term teaching methods and mentality. The longer the teacher, the more difficult it is to change. In fact, PBL still has many limitations in specific operational levels.

It turns out that half of the teaching in the NCEA Level 1 transformation in 2018 required PBL classrooms, and I only enjoyed and appreciated for one minute. What a joke? IB classroom teaching tends to be PBL, and IB middle schools in New Zealand cannot meet students, let alone NCEA middle schools. With severe gaps in the quality and quantity of primary and secondary school teachers in New Zealand, it will be an educational disaster if the reckless implementation of PBL classrooms is a disaster!

The biggest hidden worry in New Zealand’s primary and secondary education is the “teacher problem”! Finland is definitely the best example of rescuing New Zealand education.

[This article is an updated version, originally published in the Japanese column on April 20, 2023]

WeChat public platform:Id besteduusa

Consultation email:edutobest@icloud.com

Author introduction:

Teacher Zhang (Zhang Yunteng)

Graduated from the Department of Biology, Taiwan Normal University. I have been moving to New Zealand for 27 years, written the education column of this newspaper for 14 years, and hosted the AM936 radio program “Excellence is Teached” for 16 years. Teacher Zhang continues to pay attention to the general trend of global education and has conducted in-depth research on students’ learning and growth, study abroad and other issues. In 2001, the “Auckland Education Center” was founded, covering after-school tutoring, educational consultation, study abroad application, etc. Many students have successfully entered prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Oxford, and Cambridge. Many students stood out in the fiercest medical school admission competition in New Zealand and Australia. Teacher Zhang has published books such as “The Lively Education in New Zealand” and “The Lotus Bo Guang”, and is also the original contributor of the neuro and endocrine physiology entries in the “Zhang’s Psychological Dictionary”.

Related readings: