Abstract
The last chapter reports the findings of two structured research projects in different rounds of interviews. One of those was looking at the definition of the quality of teachers and teaching in Finland. Based on closed and open-ended interviews, a taxonomy of the quality of teachers was developed into nine categories with specific traits or characteristics. A second research project conducted in 2012 was looking at the overall social and cultural learning environment around school education from the viewpoint of teachers and principals. This is a very interesting topic very difficult to frame from the epistemological point of view but often cited as relevant in studies about Finnish success. Teachers and principals have strong views about the cultural values at homes and at schools that may promote the very high and consistent levels of performance of schools.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsNotes
- 1.
The schools visited were chosen judgmentally with the help of Finnish academic or government experts, or by networking that evolved from previous visits to principals in other schools. Most Finnish schools at the elementary and lower secondary levels (grades 6–9) are public, non-selective schools.
- 2.
Programme for International Student Assessment: http://www.pisa.oecd.org
- 3.
Seven schools were counted more than once because questionnaires were answered by teachers from different school levels within the same school institution, i.e., preschool, elementary, lower secondary, or upper secondary.
References
Andere, M., E. (2008a). The Lending Power of PISA: League tables and best practice in international education. CERC Monograph Series in Comparative and International Education and Development, 6. Hong Kong: Comparative Education Research Centre.
Andere, M., E. (2008b). El poder de aprender: escuelas que piensan. Mexico: Author. (ISBN: 978-607-00-0551)
De Corte, E., Verschaffel, L., Entwistle, N., & van Marriënboer, J. (2003). Powerful learning environment: Unravelling basic components and dimensions. Kidlington. Oxford, UK: Elsevier Science Ltd.
Finnish National Board of Education. (2011). Amendments and additions to the National Core Curriculum for Basic Education. Helsinki: Author. Retrieved June 12, 2012, from http://www.oph.fi/download/132551_amendments_and_additions_to_national_core_curriculum_basic_education.pdf.
Goh, S. C., & Khine, M. S. (Eds.). (2002). Studies in educational learning environments: An international perspective. Singapore: World Scientific.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Andere M., E. (2014). Finland’s Teaching and Learning Environment. In: Teachers' Perspectives on Finnish School Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02824-8_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02824-8_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-02823-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-02824-8
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawEducation (R0)