Dialogic Journal: Lessons from Finland

1. I am reading this article to know why Finland is at the top in education.

2. I hope to learn about the teacher selection process for Finland teachers.

“Only about one in ten applicants will be accepted, about 5,000 prospective teachers are selected from 20,000 applicants.” pp. 1	This gives a fact about how challenging it is to be accepted into the education attainment.
“The Finnish system does not employ external standardized student testing to drive the performance of schools… Instead, the Finnish system relies on the expertise and professional accountability of teachers…” pp.1	This tells me that Finland does not focus on testing, rather they focus on the teachers teaching the students.
“Teaching is consistently the most admired profession – High School Graduates” pp. 2	This is the opposite in the USA which I find interesting.
“Teachers make about $41,000 in U.S. dollars which is similar to other OECD nations.” pp. 2	This is similar to American teacher salaries.
“All teachers in Finnish primary, middle, and high schools must hold a master’s degree; preschool and kindergarten teachers must have a bachelor’s degree.” pp.3	This is nothing like the standards America holds their teachers to.
“Each of the eight universities that offer teacher education has its own strategies and curricula that are nationally coordinated and make the best use of the university’s resources.” pp.3	The teachers are given the best education, not just the students. This is interesting too.
“Teacher education curricula are designed to create a systematic pathway from the foundations of educational thinking, to educational research methodologies, and on to more advanced educational sciences.” pp. 4	This shows a broad criteria of what the teachers are taught.
“Practicum experiences comprise about 15% to 25% of teachers’ overall preparation time.” pp. 4	I think this is similar to the US but I will have to do more research on the US system to find out.

1. This reading was very useful because it shows what teachers in Finland have to go through and I plan on comparing it to how the US is.

2. It shows how hard it is to be a teacher in Finland, and how committed you have to be throughout the education process, and once you get the job.