Set a good foundation

Finland has a new export: their education process. A Finnish company, HEI Schools (you can visit their website here) has recently announced a system for implementing the basic Finnish education model anywhere in the world, regardless of existing infrastructure. And so far, they’ve been successful in Finland, China and Australia. This is great news for those of us who dream of reaping the benefits of a Nordic education. 

In order for this model to be applied in the US, it would need to be implemented within a charter school. Charter schools are fast becoming the new model of education due to their adaptability. Free from paralyzing bureaucracy, these schools are able to quickly adjust their curriculum based on outcomes, promoting what works well and eliminating elements that do not produce results. And due to their improved performance, many charter schools have rocketed to the top of the best school lists.

Many of these top charter schools favor a classical education, including what used to be private-school only concepts such as Socratic discussion and Harkness math. However, there are a few other models setting enrollment and growth records. One such outlier has based their curriculum on the popular Finnish public education model. This particular school is growing so fast, in fact, that less than three years after opening they have broken ground on two new additions to the school and are topping out at 500 children each year.

While Franklin Discovery Academy (you can visit their website here), in Vineyard, Utah does not make use of the new HEI schools program, this Americanized version of the Finnish model feels remarkably close to the real thing.

Incorporating a unique system of rotations within rotations and a clever way to utilize part-time teachers in order to keep the budget in check, this school offers curriculum teachers with Masters degrees, multiple enrichment programs, a high level of student autonomy, and an outlet for excess energy between most rotations. The children are remarkably happy and engaged. And when initial reading scores were low, the curriculum was adjusted to provide additional reading instruction.

They’ve implemented a staggered schedule that offers different start times based on a family’s habits, rather than a set start time for everyone, and flexible vacation days that are much more in line with how working parents use their vacation. This approach allows families to take meaningful vacations at any time during the school year. They also only require 5 hours of attendance per day. If a student chooses to stay longer, the extra time is put to use addressing areas in which they struggle or providing enrichment in areas of interest.

Sir Ken Robinson, an expert on education, said, “Every education system in the world is being reformed at the moment. And it’s not enough. Reform is no use anymore because that’s simply improving a broken model. What we need… is not evolution, but a revolution in education. This has to be transformed into something else.” You can view the full TED talk here.

Increasing the amount of interactive instruction and decreasing the amount of homework required for young children, the very essence of the Finnish model, makes it possible for students to develop a positive relationship with learning. This seems pretty revolutionary in a country where the education model resembles an assembly line, and students resemble the workers; exhausted and unengaged, hanging in there only for the promised reward at the end of the process.

Changing these conditions to an environment where learning itself is the reward will encompass a revolution, but the Finns have given us the direction and we are well on our way to achieving this goal.

The indoor slide is just for fun.

What did I learn? 

Instilling a love of learning helps children perform well in school for years to come.