Transcript VPA and VASSP Leadership Study Tour

VPA and VASSP
Leadership Study Tour
Finland April – May, 2012
Participants – VPA and VASSP
• Gabrielle Leigh, President,
Victorian Principals Association
Wendy Caple, Inverloch PS
Marilyn Koolstra, Valkstone PS
Anne Marie Kliman, St Albans East PS
Anneliese Kosach, Belvedere Park PS
Ric Maguire, Campbelfield Heights PS
Lesley McCarthy, Flemington PS
Jennifer MacKay, Dandenong North PS
Brian Nolan, Oak Park PS
Sharon Sl, Mont Albert PS
Bente Stock, Whittlesea PS
• Frank Sal, President,
Victorian Association of Secondary
School Principals
Tim Blunt, Sunshine College
Judy Crowe, Melbourne Girls
Marie Ghirardello, Wheelers Hill SC
Elke Gunn, Phoenix P-12
Jenni Johnson, Narre Warren South P-12
Mark Kosach, Mount Waverley SC
Rob Newton, University HS
Shane Wainwright, Drouin SC
Vicki Watson, Caroline Springs College
Harvey Wood, Fairhills HS
Helsinki
While in Helsinki, we visited:
• The Finnish National Board of Education
• Makelanrinne upper secondary school
• Siltamaki primary school
• CIMO - the Finnish National Exchange Organisation
• Suomenlinna Sea Fortress
• OAJ - the Trade Union of Education in Finland
• Ressu upper secondary school
• Economic Information Office
• Suna primary school in Espoo
• Saarnilaakso school in Espoo
• Met with the Australian Ambassador to Finland, Mr Paul Stephens
• Ministry of Education - International Relations Department
• SURE-FIRE the Finnish Association of Principals
Our guide, Toni Lehtinen
“It was like herding cats”
Gabrielle Leigh, Ari Pokka,
Toni Lehtinen and Frank Sal
at the farewell dinner in
Helsinki
Trust and Responsibility
from an early age
High Performance
• Culture, milieu belief and underpinning values in the Finnish society
which values education
• Students understanding of the test genre and test stamina built up over
years
• Political support which flows across government despite political parties,
and the principles of equity and free education embedded in law
• The teaching profession which is valued, trusted and very difficult to gain
entry to, resulting in highly educated and academic teachers.
• A multilingual focus with support for languages education, music,
creative subjects and hands on learning
• Support for all children with provision of intervention and special
education teachers
Organisation and Leadership of Education
• The education system is complex and varied but provides free basic
education to all children until the end of year 9
• Fees in years 10-12 are for textbooks and equipment
• Schools have a high level of autonomy and are supported by and
accountable to their municipality
• To be appointed as a principal, teachers must complete additional
training in educational leadership and management
• There is a strong emphasis on trust and professionalism within the
school and community
• A strong belief in equity supported by funding
Teacher Training, Performance and Status
• Applicants for teaching are required to demonstrate a high level of
academic performance and commitment to be selected for training and
are then educated to Masters Degree level.
• Equity in access to higher education results in more high quality
applicants
• High levels of teacher motivation and efficacy - quality applicants and
high levels of respect for themselves and from society
• Teacher training has a strong focus on content knowledge but no
evidence of anything other than traditional pedagogies
• Salaries do not appear to be a significant factor in teacher quality or
workforce
• External accountability processes are not a factor, trust and
professionalism are paramount, there are just two discussions with the
Principal each year
Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment
• Results of National testing are not published or used to rank schools, but
used to support lower achieving schools
• There is a National Curriculum with opportunity for regional and school
variation.
• There is an emphasis on languages, music; textiles, craft and
woodwork; creativity and exercise
• Displays of children’s work on every wall
• The curriculum is stable and is reviewed only every 10 years
• Textbooks are used from primary school
• Finns promote their successes. Principals, teachers, students and
communities know about PISA results
• There is an excitement about what they do, always very positive
• There is a shared belief and expectation of success
Stages of Education and Transitions
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Kindergarten is available from 6 months to 6 years and is a basic right for all
Kindergarten is age 5
Pre school starts at age 6
Formal schooling starts at age 7
Basic education can be in 3 different types of schools:
Year 1 to 6
Year 1 to 9
Year 7 to 9
Upper secondary school can be completed over 2-4 years with a Matriculation
examination at the end
After Year 12 there's National Service for 6, 9 or 12 months
In primary school, students remain in their initial cohort/class groups for all their basic
schooling and may have the same teacher for 6 years.
It is common practice for teachers to remain with the class for 2, 3 or more years.
Students usually go to the local junior secondary school
Entry into upper secondary school is based on academic achievement and is split
into 2 pathways, academic and vocational
University entrance is based in 50% matriculation marks, interview and application.
Community Involvement and Partnerships
• Values and beliefs of the Finnish society, community and family are strong and
consistent.
• The child is at the centre of the Finnish education system: entitlements are
embedded in law, all children have access to free education and there are clear
indications that children receive the support they need
There is widespread confidence in the Finnish education system, teachers believe
they are valued by the community, there is mutual respect and trust is the default
position.
• No opinion surveys or inspections means negativity is minimised
• There are strong links between specialisation at upper secondary schools and
industries.
• Flexibility in timetabling allows for individualised schedules (sports training and
coaching, music practice or performance)
• There is limited parent involvement in schools although each school has a board of
management
Observations
• Calm and orderly schools and classrooms
• Well behaved, learning/task focussed students
• Risk taking, independence and responsibility are fostered from a young
age.
• Respect and courtesy between children, teachers and assistants
• Regular assessments by classroom teachers (at the end of each term
there is a week of asessment) which is trusted and used until year 9 for
monitoring progress.
• There are no written student reports
• The school system is stable with strong links between all sectors (child
care, kindergarten, pre school, primary school, junior and upper
secondary, vocational schools, universities
• The is a strong focus on student welfare, health and wellbeing
• Limited administration support in schools
• Trained special education teachers in every school (often more than one)
There are 5, 8 week
terms in a year with
the last week being
assessment.
All assessments are
teacher prepared and
assessed. There are
meetings between
teachers and parents
each year but no written
reports.
Apart from PISA, the
only formal
standardised
examination is the
Matriculation exam at
year 12.
Assessment and expectations
Jyvaskyla
During the week in Jyvaskyla we visited:
• Puistokoulu primary school and kindergarten
• Jyvaskylan Lyseo upper secondary school
• Ari Pokka & Pirkka Kilpikolski's summer cottage
• Finnish Institute for Educational Research
• University of Jyvaskyla Teacher Training school
• Central Finland Principals Association
• Jyvaskyla Education Consortium
• Cygnaeus upper secondary school
• Jyvaskyla Vocational school
• Tikka primary school
• Kuokkala lower secondary school
• Jyvaskyla University Institute of Educational Leadership
Gold Nuggets
• Students at Upper Secondary and Vocational schools are treated more
like junior university students with freedom to choose their own subjects
and schedule (depending on pathway and including compulsory units)
• All students are multilingual, independent, articulate, self reliant and
responsible, risk takers (less focus on OH&S or 'nanny state‘)
• There is no explicit articulation of how each child is achieving in a class,
(ability based reading groups) but great emphasis on positives and
encouragement
• The first entry hurdle is at year 10 based on the previous 9 years of basic
schooling reported by their teacher assessments.
• There are strong vocational pathways with a 'no child left behind belief'
Our hosts
• Ari Pokka
• Jukke Kuittenin
• SURE-FIRE
• Central Finland Principals Association