Riverton Abroad: Finnish Lessons

As the former Coordinator of Middle School Initiatives for the City of New York, much of my work revolved around addressing the low 4 year graduation rates of our H.S. students by strategically targeting the quality of “middle level schooling”. Today in NYC “achievement/access gap data” continues to reflect low level as well as disproportionate outcomes relative to student achievement.

 The PISA report of 2006 concluded that the success of Finish education occurs largely due to “effective teacher education” and a systemic model of design that employs the following:

     Flexibility and Diversity relative to school-based curriculum development informed and supported by relevant data (quantitative and qualitative).

     Emphasis on Broad Knowledge placing an equal degree of emphasis across developmental pathways considerate of the acquisition of knowledge, skills, creativity, personality, morality, etc.

     Trust through Professionalism creating and maintaining a practice of belief that teachers and administrators are professional practitioners with requisite skills and a clear sense of mission to effectively teach/lead.

If invited to participate in this year’s study, my objective would be to explore and record the emphasis Finland places on the facilitation of “Broad Knowledge Learning” and how the country’s policies, practices and protocols facilitate a holistic approach to student development to support higher levels of literacy and numeracy across the k-12 continuum.  Although time will be limited, I also intend to forge a focus within my focus by looking at multiculturalism and the manner in which Finland’s educational practices explicitly/ implicitly addresses diversity (considering teaching and learning implications). The question to which I would want to find answers would be; what strategies/approaches can we as educators educating in system of significant diversity employ to more effectively facilitate learning across racial, socio-economic, gender and special learner lines?

Officially, my contribution to this study will offer insight into broad based and school level curricular and instructional practices within the context of the country’s rapidly increasing multicultural population of learners.  On a more personal note, I am interested in chronicling curricular and pedagogical practice throughout middle level grades. It has always been my contention that much of our focus on learning in the middle grades should be informed by deeper understandings of and curricular designs focused on early adolescent developmental needs. Finland’s emphasis on “Broad Knowledge” offers a promising ideology to forge (in some cases revisit) “a learner centered conversation”.