Wait a minute? Are Finnish schools in trouble? Well, the latest PISA-results were less good than before (I won’t mention that Flanders tops Finland, in Europe only Liechtenstein beats us), but it’s not really about the rankings. Tommi Laitio is Director of Youth Affairs for the city of Helsinki, Finland and former president of the Finnish national student union.
And he sees the following problems based on discussions with experts.
Problem 1. Transition from class 6 to class 7.
Problem 2. Young people do not like school/learning.
Problem 3. Last 10 percent is falling behind in learning results.
Problem 4. Young people do not have confidence in their skills.
Problem 5. Young people consider school to be an unpleasant place.
Problem 6. Digital environment is lacking behind.
Problem 7. The school is not developed as a community.
Problem 8. Rather fixed gender roles.
Problem 9. Most of teachers´ further education is pedagogically outdated.
Problem 10. Teachers work alone.