Finnish Innovations And Technologies In Schools

This book combines several perspectives on the steps the Finnish educational system has taken to provide students with the skills and competences needed for living in today’s society and in the future. The ecosystem is used as a metaphor for the educational system. The Finnish system aims to achieve sustainable education by ensuring that the system is simultaneously interconnected and open to transformations. The book describes how a flexible curriculum system is succeeding without the pressures of high-stake testing. It also illustrates how the ongoing curriculum reform of the basic education is working. The book brings together knowledge gained in schools through the cooperation of researchers, teachers, school principals, the public sector, and private companies. The book presents case studies of technology integration aimed at crossing boundaries in formal and informal learning settings, locally and globally. The contributors address 21st-century needs and requirements through learner-driven knowledge creation, collaboration, networking, and digital literacies. It opens new scenarios of how to apply digital storytelling and games connecting fun, motivation, and learning. The strong message is that, through collaboration and networking, we can create an educational ecosystem that supports different learners.

This collection, edited and written by the leading scholars and experts of innovation and maker education in Finland, introduces invention pedagogy, a research-based Finnish approach for teaching and learning through multidisciplinary, creative design and making processes in formal school settings. The book outlines the background of, and need for, invention pedagogy, providing various perspectives for designing and orchestrating the invention process while discussing what can be learned and how learning happens through inventing. In addition, the book introduces the transformative, school-level innovator agency needed for developing whole schools as innovative communities. Featuring informative case study examples, the volume explores the theoretical, pedagogical, and methodological implications for the research and practice of invention pedagogy in order to further the field and bring new perspectives, providing a new vision for schools for decades to come. Intermixing the results of cutting-edge research and best practice within STEAM-education and invention pedagogy, this book will be essential reading for researchers, students, and scholars of design and technology education, STEM education, teacher education, and learning sciences more broadly. The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

“It is now time to break down the ideology of exceptionalism in the United States and other Anglo-American nations if we are to develop reforms that will truly inspire our teachers to improve learning for all our students—especially those who struggle the most. In that essential quest, Pasi Sahlberg is undoubtedly one of the very best teachers of all.” —From the Foreword by Andy Hargreaves, Lynch School of Education, Boston College Finnish Lessons is a first-hand, comprehensive account of how Finland built a world-class education system during the past three decades. The author traces the evolution of education policies in Finland and highlights how they differ from the United States and other industrialized countries. He shows how rather than relying on competition, choice, and external testing of students, education reforms in Finland focus on professionalizing teachers’ work, developing instructional leadership in schools, and enhancing trust in teachers and schools. This book details the complexity of educational change and encourages educators and policymakers to develop effective solutions for their own districts and schools.

Finland has transformed itself from an agriculture-based economy into one of the leading knowledge-based economies. Aiming to provide valuable lessons for other countries, the book presents key policies, elements, initiatives and decisions behind Finland s transformation into the Knowledge Economy of today.

In a relatively short time, Finland has transformed a society of approximately 5.3 million people into one of the most educated and technologically sophisticated in the world, while maintaining relative political stability and an enviable quality of life among its people. In all comparative measures of international achievement, Finland ranks at the top among the world’s most literate and wealthiest countries. How did Finland do it, and what can other countries learn from the Finnish example? This book presents an energized and informative look at Finland’s cultural and developmental history, its political evolution as a state, the foundation and origins of its technology and innovation policy, and present developments in health care, education, and the pathway to sustainable economic development. Utilizing both qualitative and quantitative approaches, author Kalu Kalu incorporates rarely-seen archival data alongside analysis of original research surveys disseminated to members of the Finnish national legislature, personnel of the ministries of education and health, administrators in local government jurisdictions, and members of the general public. The result is a book that offers an incisive and analytical account of virtually all aspects of Finnish life – ranging from culture, parliamentarianism, arts, architecture, design, literature, education and health policies, information technology, to the development of multipolis technology clusters and networks. Demonstrating how civic attitudes have evolved over time mediated by the pressures of technology and modernity, Technology, Culture, and Public Policy ultimately transcends an examination of Finland’s own successes and challenges, considering what lessons other countries might apply to their own intricate national contexts.

Measuring innovation in education and understanding how it works is essential to improve the quality of the education sector. Monitoring systematically how pedagogical practices evolve would considerably increase the international education knowledge base. We need to examine whether, and how ...

The first two editions of Finnish Lessons described how a small Nordic nation built a school system that provided access to a world-class education for all of its young people. Now available in 30 languages, this Grawemeyer Award–winning book continues to influence education policies and school practices around the globe. In this Third Edition, Pasi Sahlberg updates the story of how Finland sustains its exemplary educational performance, including how it responds to turbulent changes at home and throughout the world. Finnish Lessons 3.0 includes important new material about: teachers and teacher educationteaching children with special needsthe role of play in high-quality educationFinland’s responses to growing inequality, slipping international test scores, and the global pandemic In the midst of national education reforms and global changes driven by public health crises and economic turbulence, Finnish Lessons 3.0 encourages teachers, students, and policymakers to think big and bold when they look for new solutions to improving their schools and entire education systems. This edition provides an even deeper dive into the present world of education in Finland in light of the most recent education statistics and international data, including PISA 2018, TIMSS 2016, and TALIS 2018. “Finland’s approach to education reform shows we must address student inequality before we can expect student excellence.” —The 2013 Grawemeyer Award Committee “The story of Finnish educational success as told in Finnish Lessons is remarkable . . . this is an important book and educators need to read it.” —Educational Researcher “Provides solid background on the historical context that allowed Finland’s education system to transform into a powerhouse.” —Education Review