Finnish egalitarianism and the payoffs
I spent a week in Finland studying education and globalization. I’ve been wanting to visit the nordic haven, known for its progressive education practices and as the official home of the north pole, among other things.
But does it live up to the hype? And since gender equality is my chosen area of study/obsession, how are they doing with this topic in schools? I explored the city of Oulu for some answers and also enjoyed the paradisiacal snowy landscape.
The coastal city is spread out and revolves around the inlet, an old paper mill and the universities (and hockey of course). The frozen beach stretches out to the Baltic sea and temperatures rarely go above zero for half the year. Oulu University invited a group of us from the CRI to take part in a three-day workshop.
Attendees had pre-categorized issues to discuss during registration. On the first day, words like “glocal”, “education trends” and the “future of AI” were thrown around between our interdisciplinary groups. My group included a graphic artist, a mathematician and a physics teacher. Our topic was titled “decision-making will become problem-solving.”
The subject ignited research and discussion around how people should practice discussing sensitive topics together more in order to desensitize their reactions and avoid perceiving feedback as personal attacks — and how to really listen. Also, we looked how what it means to fact-check and critically read information. We built an action plan to empower people to use the information at their fingertips in a useful way and promote productive discourse. I learned that now, how to productively info-sift, discuss with empathy and make educated choices are seen as imperative skills needed by everyone, no matter their background. Bias-filled news and vitriolic conversation are now a collective global experience that we all need to work on.
After the conference, we visited some public schools and had the opportunity to interview teachers & admin. What struck me were how the classrooms connected and teacher-sharing was obligatory (walls between classrooms that could be folded away to make giant co-learning spaces for blending subjects). In addition, the work spaces were all functional, FUN and aesthetically pleasing (imagine beautiful plants, heaps of natural light, and areas full of great furniture). These aspects mixed with the ascribed necessity for complete trust in teachers’ decision-making create a pretty great formula for educational success.
Interestingly, parents, policy-makers and administration in this historically egalitarian country all agree on investing in equal education, trusting teachers’ decision-making skills and not politicizing the topic. It’s also important to note that Finland has a history of updating their national curriculum about every 10 years and implementing effective ICT into public schools.
This ideal about education sets Finland apart from most societies, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from them. The Finnish invest in teacher training, education design and autonomy in the education system — and it pays off. Finland’s education system has fallen a bit on PISA in recent years and some blame the economy and funding changes in the system. But there are ways to maneuver around economic obstacles in the freedom given by the system..
It seemed that not being afraid to take risks and work with businesses in the community is also factor in the success of the schools. One principal explained he makes extra income for the school by renting out parts of the massive sports arenas and that he’s always looking for ways to maximize income for the school. In the training school, they buy school products at a fraction of the price from developing companies and startups working in the educational sector. (One classroom we visited was using a new sample of overhead lighting that changed color and pattern to create different mood settings for students).
I asked administrators about how Finland has a reputation for being more progressive on gender equality than it actually is. I read about assumed equality versus reality before arriving in Finland from Elina Lahelma’s paper from 2006. Though it’s 12 years old, gender issues in education remain a problem in Finland, with the majority of primary and secondary teachers still being female while high level administrators are almost all male. As seen in other western countries, Finninsh boys are lagging behind in school, something that could be related to the lack of male role models as teachers. One principal admitted that his teachers have to employ more and more creative methods to capture the interest of boys in class.
The fact is, some information being propogated isn’t really promoting equality. For example, the exhibition about X & Y at the local science center hosted some frankly archaic information. In one laughably appalling exhibit called “View Angle”, it was noted that “It is difficult for men to understand how it is possible for a woman to notice a piece of trash on the floor simultaneously watching television and having a conversation with other people, but nevertheless hits a fence post while driving reverse on a parking glot. The spatial perception of an average man is four times better than that of an average woman, and this is based on the ability to perceive details more accurately.” Sexist generalizations like this were made all along the gender exhibition and, most disturbingly, in the name of “science”.
What I learned is that even a country as educationally progressive as Finland still has areas it needs to work on. But I saw that Finnish people are open to critique and admitting there are things they could improve upon. Finland continues to be a leader in education because the society views and commits to working towards progressive goals together. They see the strength in collective learning and public schools (the splintering of students into private schools is almost unheard of). Egalitarianism is not a dream but an ideal in Finland that lives on.
Kelly is a master’s student at the Center for Research & Interdisciplinarity in Paris. You can learn more about her current project in VR called Unnatural History here.
