Teacher Quality and Effectiveness in Finland: From Human Capital to Professional Capital

• In Event: Professional Capital: A New Agenda to Transform Teaching in Every School

Abstract

This paper identifies key differences in teacher policies between Finland and the United States. In particular, it draws attention to the different conceptions of teacher quality in these two countries, as well as their consequences for teacher policies.

Teacher effectiveness is a commonly used term that refers to how much student performance on standardized tests is determined by the teacher. Teacher effectiveness plays an important role in education policies of nations where alternative pathways exist to the teaching profession and the range in quality is wide. In the United States, for example, there are more than 1,500 different teacher-preparation programs. In contrast, Finland has only one academically rigorous teacher education program, offered by eight research universities; there are no fast-track options into teaching, such as Teach for America. As in other high-performing countries, teacher quality in Finland is a result of careful quality control at entry into teaching, which substantially reduces the relevance of measuring teacher effectiveness in service.

The foundation of this paper is my ongoing policy research in Finland in comparative perspective, which draws from with data from both national teacher surveys and international databases – especially the one maintained by the OECD. Data from the national teacher education admissions system hosted by the University of Helsinki enables some estimates of human capital at the entry of teaching careers in Finland.

This study concludes that there are four aspects of teacher education in Finland that distinguish it from the United States and enable Finland to develop and mobilize professional capital in schools. First, a rigorous graduate degree and at least five years of full-time study serve as the foundation of the teaching profession in Finland. Teachers are highly respected as professionals because of their academic credentials. Second, the academic graduate degree of Finnish teachers is based on research. Teacher education systematically integrates scientific education knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, and practice to enable teachers to enhance their pedagogical thinking, evidence-based decision making, and engagement in the professional community of educators. Finnish teachers’ knowledge of research is integral to the decisions they make in the classroom. Third, teacher education has its own department in Finnish universities, and it is treated just like any other department in reviews and evaluations of Finland’s universities. This guarantees that students have access to a rigorous academic environment. Fourth, all universities that prepare teachers in Finland have a clinical training school similar to the university teaching hospitals that are a part of medical education. Students do their practical training in these schools under the supervision of faculty who have advanced credentials in education. Team teaching and other forms of student-teacher collaboration form a basis to build social capital within the teaching profession. Students typically spend about 15 per cent of their study time observing and practicing teaching.

This study advances useful knowledge for policy-makers and researchers interested in shifting the focus of educational reform towards developing and circulating human, social and decisional capital to revitalize the teaching profession.

Author

• Pasi Sahlberg, Harvard University