School Subjects May Soon Be a Thing of the Past in Finland
Despite having one of the best education systems in the world, Finland is introducing some extraordinary changes to classrooms around the country.
Under the new National Curriculum Framework, which came into effect in August 2016, schools must provide one phenomenon based learning (PBL) project per year.
Rather than focusing on a subject, phenomenon based learning focuses on a topic which students explore from multiple perspectives. A topic like climate change, for instance, could be studied form of the perspective of science, economics, environmental studies, and politics.
The aim of PBL is to highlight the connections between subjects, and to show how subjects relate to real world issues.
Kirsti Lonka, a professor of educational psychology at Helsinki University believes that PBL encourages critical thinking. Where traditional education teaches students what to think, PBL teaches students how to think – a skill which Lonka says is essential in the 21st century.
The idea of phenomenon based learning, however, is not without its critics.
Physics teacher Jussi Tanhuanpaa worries that students will not learn enough about individual subjects to be able to study them at a higher level. He also fears that while PBL may benefit brighter students, those who need guidance will struggle.
Some academics are concerned that there is little evidence showing the effectiveness of PBL.
Anneli Rautiainen of Finland's national agency for education recognizes these concerns and says that PBL is being introduced slowly. Education is highly decentralized in Finland, which gives educators in each municipality the freedom to arrange curriculums as they see fit.
Finland’s education system is already unique in many ways. Children start formal schooling at age 7, the school day is only around 5 hours long, class sizes are small, students are rarely assigned homework, and all teachers must have a master’s degree.
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