Schools in Finland and Montessori Schools

     Finland has a unique education system and is regularly the top performing nation in terms of education. I would like to point out how their system is similar to the Montessori system. I have added comments to an excellent article to illustrate this. Thank you.

John

Montessori House Phuket 

International School

       

    Sydney Morning Herald    
                                                                                  MARCH 26 2016

    This is why Finland has 
                                  the best schools

·                                 William Doyle

The Harvard education professor Howard Gardner once advised Americans, "Learn from Finland, which has the most effective schools and which does just about the opposite of what we are doing in the United States."

Following his recommendation, I enrolled my seven-year-old son in a primary school in Joensuu. Finland, which is about as far east as you can go in the European Union before you hit the guard towers of the Russian border.

OK, I wasn't just blindly following Gardner - I had a position as a lecturer at the University of Eastern Finland for a semester. But the point is that, for five months, my wife, my son and I experienced a stunningly stress-free, and stunningly good, school system. Finland has a history of producing the highest global test scores in the Western world, as well as a trophy case full of other recent No. 1 global rankings, including most literate nation.

In Finland, children don't receive formal academic training until the age of seven. Until then, many are in day care and learn through play, songs, games and conversation. Most children walk or bike to school, even the youngest. School hours are short and homework is generally light.

 The Montessori School system is similar but in fact goes one step further in that special materials have been developed that intrigue children and lead them along a path of academic understanding in a natural manner.  In kindergarten material are very concrete using the five basic.  In lower elementary  the materials become more abstract or shall we say more idea based: to upper elementary where book learning predominates, but still with respect to the individual’s natural learning pace and personality……..

Unlike in the United States, where many schools are slashing recess, schoolchildren in Finland have a mandatory 15-minute outdoor free-play break every hour of every day. Fresh air, nature and regular physical activity breaks are considered engines of learning. According to one Finnish maxim, "There is no bad weather. Only inadequate clothing."

If you take a look at our building infrastructure it is designed to be an integral part of our natural surroundings, where trees and bushes seem to be a part of the classroom. Our classrooms are naturally cool with naturally circulating fresh air which helps maintain a healthy environment for the students

One evening, I asked my son what he did for gym that day. "They sent us into the woods with a map and compass and we had to find our way out," he said.

Finland doesn't waste time or money on low-quality mass standardised testing. Instead, children are assessed every day, through direct observation, check-ins and quizzes by the highest-quality "personalised learning device" ever created - flesh-and-blood teachers.

Once  again this belief in direct observation rather than standardized testing  conforms with Montessori Philosophy which was established so long ago and is more and more relevant today.….

In class, children are allowed to have fun, giggle and daydream from time to time. Finns put into practice the cultural mantras I heard over and over: "Let children be children," "The work of a child is to play," and "Children learn best through play."

Two well-known Montessori quotes are  ”Respect the Child “  and  “Follow the Child”   Montessori philosophy maintains that a quiet, work inducing atmosphere be maintained at all times. However this is a natural outcome from children being involved in their work rather than being enforced by teacher control. The Montessori teacher learns to be aware of each child’s needs both from a learning point view and emotionally.

The emotional climate of the typical classroom is warm, safe, respectful and highly supportive. There are no scripted lessons and no quasi-martial requirements to walk in straight lines or sit up straight. As one Chinese student-teacher studying in Finland marvelled to me, "In Chinese schools, you feel like you're in the military. Here, you feel like you're part of a really nice family." She is trying to figure out how she can stay in Finland permanently.

In Finland teachers are the most trusted and admired professionals next to doctors, in part because they are required to have a master's degree in education with specialisation in research and classroom practice.

"Our mission as adults is to protect our children from politicians," one Finnish childhood education professor told me. "We also have an ethical and moral responsibility to tell businesspeople to stay out of our building." In fact, any Finnish citizen is free to visit any school whenever they like, but her message was clear: Educators are the ultimate authorities on education, not bureaucrats, and not technology vendors.

Finland delivers on a national public scale highly qualified, highly respected and highly professionalised teachers who conduct personalised one-on-one instruction; manageable class sizes; a rich, developmentally correct curriculum; regular physical activity; little or no low-quality standardised tests and the toxic stress and wasted time and energy that accompanies them; daily assessments by teachers; and a classroom atmosphere of safety, collaboration, warmth and respect for children as cherished individuals.

One day last November, when the first snow came to my part of Finland, I heard a commotion outside my university faculty office window, which is close to the teacher training school's outdoor play area. I walked over to investigate.

The field was filled with children savouring the first taste of winter amid the pine trees.

"Do you hear that?" asked the recess monitor, a special education teacher wearing a yellow safety smock.

"That," she said proudly, "is the voice of happiness."

 It is interesting that a system and the priciples of education it promotes  that has been succesfully established for so long, is finally being are being recognized and vindicated by present day practice

William Doyle is a 2015-2016 Fulbright scholar and a lecturer on media and education at the University of Eastern Finland.