1. Pasi Sahlberg, PhD
    1. Director General, CIMO (Ministry of Education) Helsinki, Finland
    2. Book: "Finnish Lessons"
  2. Finland
    1. 5.5 million people
    2. Catching up with rest of developed world
      1. High poverty
      2. Inequity
    3. History
      1. Between the East & the West
      2. Use to be part of the Swedish Empire
        1. Speak both Swedish & Finnish
      3. War gave Finland to Russia
      4. Now part of the European Union
      5. It is a Lutheran State
      6. Required to be literate in order to get married -- law for centuries
      7. Not a strong identity
    4. Finland is not modern
      1. Equity
      2. Deplomacy
      3. Linux
      4. Newsweek
        1. Finland in the world is Finland
          1. Education was part of the index
          2. Perfect score is 100 and Finland earned 102 for education
      5. Angry Birds
      6. No corruption
      7. Technology
  3. Education system that is
    1. Equitable
    2. Excellent
    3. Not always distinguished compared to the rest of the world
      1. 1970 - much lower
      2. 1995 - surpased the world
      3. 2010 - much higher than the world
    4. Layout
      1. All payed for by government (Human Right)
      2. Preschool [1 yr]
        1. Basic School [10 yr]
          1. General Upper Secondar School (55%) [3]
          2. University
          3. Polytechnics
          4. Vocational school Apprenticeship Training (40%) [3]
          5. Work Experience
          6. Specialist vocational qualifications
          7. Further vocational qualifications
    5. What Works
      1. Excellence by Equity
        1. Make sure that everyone has equal opportunity
        2. Comparing scores Finland not at the top
        3. Comparing variance between schools, Finland is at the top
          1. Parents never worry about their schools
        4. U.S. is in the middle with Germany having the greatest variance
        5. Equity is more important than excellent
      2. Less is More
        1. Teacher Instructional Time
          1. US #1
          2. Finland #29 is third from the bottom
          3. Many more responsibilities
          4. Curriculum
          5. Assessment
          6. Reporting to parents
        2. Study Time
          1. Total compulsory instruction hours
          2. Finland at the bottom
          3. Data not available for US
          4. Homework
          5. Finland Junior High
          6. 28 minutes a day
          7. Finland Elementary
          8. No homework
        3. Money
          1. Finland spends less money per pupil and U.S.
      3. Test Less, Learn More
        1. Little external testing
        2. No standardized testing
          1. Finnish educators say they know when student needs more work
        3. Looks at data on math scores in industrial countries
          1. All declining 2000 to 2008
          2. Policies were - more testing
          3. Score rise in Finland
          4. Actively resisting Testing craze
        4. Illegal to give a grade before the 5th grade
      4. Teachers
        1. The best of high school graduates apply for primary education schools
          1. 10% acceptance rate
          2. Must be able to dance, make music, paint, etc (creative arts)
          3. Must be good at Math & Science
          4. Last year had the highest number of applicants (5% accepted)
  4. Global Educational Reform Movement (GERM)
    1. Is causing great sickness
    2. Countries have been following each other - infected
    3. Outcome
      1. Academic Rigor
        1. Finland - Holistic (balance of academics & creativity)
      2. Standardization
        1. Finland - Personalization
          1. High school is almost completely a personalized learning plan
          2. Nothing to do with computerized learning
      3. Competition
        1. Community
      4. Choice
        1. Equity
      5. Accountability
        1. (word doesn't exist in Finnish)
          1. What's left when responsibility is subtracted
        2. Responsibility