A statement by a math teacher in a Scandinavian country about an international program for assessing school students caught my attention: “We prepare our students to learn how to obtain information, and we do not teach them how to pass tests. So we are not very interested in the International Program for Student Assessment. It does not take into account what we do to prepare the students".
They teach their students how to get information, not how to pass tests.
This is the philosophy of education clearly in the Republic of Finland, which has a population of 5 million and is located in the far north of Europe, which has placed education on the list of its most important investments.
This, in short, is the philosophy of education of this country, and therefore it is not surprising that you see students in its schools excelling in international assessments, not because they are prepared in advance for these assessments, but rather because the way they attract and excite them to science and learning in their schools makes them excel automatically without the need for affectation and artificiality and creating an atmosphere of tension Anxiety and other feelings accompany question tests and assessments.
You do not find schools with high walls, but some without walls, which makes students receive their education comfortably and in an atmosphere that is not much different from the atmosphere of their homes, and there is no feeling of alienation while they are in their schools that makes them eagerly await the completion
The results of the International Program for Student Assessment (PISA) in the two issues of student proficiency in reading and mathematics and science skills showed that Finnish students are always among the top 10 book readers in the world, in addition to achieving outstanding results in science and mathematics and the top ten positions within 57 countries that participate in these periodic assessments .
This is something that invites us to get acquainted with the Finnish mixture in education, and the secret of its success and superiority over many.
Equality is the secret of success
With a quick look at what Finnish education is like, which has attracted the attention of the world during the past twenty years, we find that, in addition to the concept of learning and its philosophy, there is official confirmation and keenness that education be qualitative, not quantitative, and provided to all on an equal footing.
It does not matter the student's social or living situation.
The poor student gets the same good quality education as the rich student, and even the matter has come to treat the foreign student, regardless of his religion, race and color, the same treatment as the citizen Finnish student.
Because of this equality, you do not find, for example, private schools in Finland with the huge number that we see here and there in our Arab world.
And because of this equality in providing quality education, capabilities, and means, all schools have become similar in their levels, so that families, for example, do not need to hire private teachers for their children, nor are they confused about the issue of choosing a school.
As there is no need to enroll a student in a school far from his home, which makes the majority of students travel to their schools on foot, which means reducing car congestion in the streets, in addition to establishing an important value in the hearts of students represented in considering the school as part of the residential neighborhood.
You also do not find schools with high walls, but some without walls, which makes students receive their education comfortably and in an atmosphere that is not much different from the atmosphere of their homes, and there is no feeling of alienation while they are in their schools that makes them wait impatiently for the last class and the hour of separation and return to homes, as is the case in many Our schools.
This is how I felt the atmosphere myself during a private visit, years ago, to a number of schools in Helsinki.
The student is the basis of the educational process
When we say that the student is the basis of the educational process, it is because he is so in word and deed.
It starts with basic education from the age of seven, because the Finns are certain that the student has the right to live his childhood during his first six years, but rather he should not be thrown into education early, because they believe that those first years are for playing, getting to know others and the surrounding environment, answering his questions and other things. Things he needs.
They see, accordingly, that they are not in a hurry, as children learn better when they become ready for this, so why do we raise their anxiety and stress from an early age?
Such are their convictions, and at the same time, a very valid question.
Thus they understood the issue without affectation.
Even if the student started basic education for 9 consecutive years through the system of comprehensive schools, which number about 3 thousand schools and accommodate half a million students, he began to live the real learning atmosphere and enjoy it, by learning how to obtain information for the sake of learning, not for the sake of testing.
The student lives for at least 6 years with one teacher who usually teaches most of the subjects to his students, so that this teacher turns into a second father for the student, who knows him perhaps more than his real father.
This is something that makes the student himself live psychologically stable, understand the personality of the teacher, and the teacher in return understands his personality, so he does not need to deal with 6 teachers every day for a full academic year, who may change next year, then he finds himself on an annual journey in which he moves from hand to hand.
The Finnish student learns in groups in the classroom, led by a teacher who deals with his students who do not exceed twenty, without any discrimination between them, neither in religion nor race nor social or academic level.
He deals with them equally, understands his students gradually over time, and recognizes their abilities in reading, writing, arithmetic, thinking, interaction, and other skills and traits.
It enhances the good ones, and corrects the negative ones or those that need adjustment and correction.
Then half of the comprehensive school students go to technical education, and the other half complete secondary school for two years, then prepare in the third year for the general secondary certificate exams and admission to universities.
Basic education students start their day at 8:30 in the morning, and receive 20 lessons per week, at a rate of 45 minutes per session.
That is, 5 hours in school, including the lunch hour, as each school is obligated to provide a hot lunch for its students, while high school students spend 6 hours in school.
teacher and integration system
The information and technology revolution made the Finns' view of learning different, after the whole world realized the importance of employing technology in teaching and learning during the two years of Corona - so to speak - so the main goal and purpose of students spending hours, days and years in schools in Finland is how to access information, analyze it and learn how Benefit from it in life in general, among other integrated sciences.
The teacher in the Finnish educational system in general is free to choose the method or method he sees in teaching his students according to their needs.
Most important of all, the teacher has his place and esteem in the system and society in general.
They hold a master's degree in education, with an emphasis on pedagogical skills
Because of the technology and information revolutions, the Finnish educational system is seeking to build an independent personality for the student that helps him in self-education instead of relying on the school in that matter, which made the educational curricula free of stuffing and density of content, but rather provides the butter of science that helps build students’ abilities to understand and devise information and analysis.
Perhaps what encourages students to acquire knowledge rather than stuffing information into their minds is the lack of tests.
This is an essential point in Finnish educational philosophy.
You now find in the Finnish school system what is known as the system of merging between subjects, and it includes, for example, the abolition of the teaching of physics, mathematics, literature, history and geography, separately.
In fact, it is a rare audacity to think about what is best in the field of education, and in proportion to the development of the world around us.
Finnish officials saw that there were schools that still taught their students in the old ways, which were considered good in the early nineties, but they no longer kept pace with modern requirements, and instead of teaching each subject separately, the integration system began, so that students are taught phenomena and events in a plural form. and integration of materials.
Where, for example, the Second World War will be studied from the perspective of history, geography, and mathematics, or students will obtain, while studying the work curriculum in a cafe, restaurant, or store, a comprehensive knowledge of the English language, the foundations of economics, communication skills, and so on.. and the student must in this system, To choose by himself any subject or phenomenon to study in joint work in small groups, based on the need for it in their future lives.
This system is clearly in effect at the secondary level, after training teachers on this type of complementary education.
The teacher in the Finnish educational system in general is free to choose the method or method he sees in teaching his students according to their needs.
Most important of all, the teacher has his place and esteem in the system and society in general.
As they hold a master's degree in education, with a focus on educational skills, especially basic education teachers, who must pass several exams to obtain a teaching license, in order to ensure that there is a real love for the profession, and a great passion for it, before they hand over the trust of teaching students.
Hence, we understand why the Faculty of Education in Finland only enters the geniuses from secondary school outputs, and those with the highest averages.
Heart of the matter
Talking about education in Finland goes on and on, but the point at the end of our conversation is that the philosophy on which the Finnish education system is based (teaching students how to obtain information, not how to pass tests) is an absent philosophy in most of our Arab world that relies on quantity rather than quality, and the continuation of the tautology system And memorization and memorization, even in sciences where there is no need to memorize and memorize.
This system, in its advanced form, can be said to be reproducible with some adaptation and modification, to adapt to the nature and culture of every Arab country wishing to develop its educational system.
The desire of any society to advance and meet the various and complex challenges of the age requires it to work hard and continuously in order to discover or manufacture solutions to these challenges, and perhaps the most prominent of these is the massive flow of rivers of information through rapidly advanced technologies, which have become a real challenge facing any traditional education.
No matter how strong and cohesive the education system in any society is, it needs continuous development and renewal, in order to maintain its cohesion and success.
The higher the society has its educational system that is harmonious and compatible with its religion, culture and history, and its flexibility in dealing with the challenges of the times, the greater will necessarily be its capabilities and capabilities to face these various and accelerating challenges.
The God of the intent behind a Guide to the way.