For the benefit of skills and education For the benefit of skills and education
CURRICULUM REFORM 2016
Building the Future Together
Enirdelm Conference 19.9.2014
Irmeli Halinen
Head of Curriculum Development
Finnish National Board of Education
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For the benefit of skills and education
Education system and
administration in Finland
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For the benefit of skills and education Osaamisen ja sivistyksen parhaaksi
EDUCATION
IN FINLAND
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For the benefit of skills and education
The administration of education in Finland
Parliament
Government
Ministry of
Education and
Culture
National Board
of Education (FNBE)
Education
providers
(local authorities) Municipalities,
Federations of
municipalities, Private
organizations
Schools
and other
educational
institutes
State regional
organizations IRMELI HALINEN 4
For the benefit of skills and education
How does the assessment system
support learning?
No school inspections
No national achievement tests covering the entire age
groups
No national control of text books or other learning
materials
So, how do we know then, how our schools are
working and how our students are doing?
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For the benefit of skills and education
Assessment to support learning 1
Sample-based national achievement tests in two or
three subjects of basic education every year
• National results are published as mean values – no
possibility for ranking lists of schools
• Results are used for development purposes – for
improving curriculum, learning materials, teacher
education etc.
National quality evaluations
• Produce information for national and local authorities
and for schools for their improvement work
Participation in international evaluations like PISA,
PIRLS and TIMSS
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Assessment to support learning 2
Self-evaluation of local authorities and schools
• Obligation based on the Education Act
• Helps local authorities and schools to take
responsibility over their own work - to plan, asses and
develop systematically
Pupil assessment system
• According to Basic Education Act, the main task of
pupil assessment is to encourage and promote
learning
• Focus is on the process of learning – assessment for
learning and assessment as learning
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For the benefit of skills and education
How does the curriculum system
support learning?
The national core curricula and the local curricula,
and their drawing-up processes, have a key role in
the educational administration system
National core curricula and local curricula are drawn-
up in open, interactive and cooperative processes
Cooperation is based on mutual trust and respect
This ongoing dialogue works out like a learning
cycle; it helps us • to identify the issues to be improved
• to find solutions that best serve teaching and learning
• to promote the commitment of all stakeholders in the
curriculum process and the goals set for education
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For the benefit of skills and education
National Core Curriculum 2014
Government Decree 28.6.2012 defining the general national
objectives and distribution of lesson hours in basic education
Basic Education Act and Decree
Local
needs
and
policies
LOCAL CURRICULUM 2016
POSSIBLE SCHOOL-SPECIFIC
CURRICULUM and
annual plan based on it
Quality criteria
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Key questions of the reform
• What will education mean in the future? What kind of
competencies will be needed? What kind of practices
would best produce the desired teaching and learning? VISION
• How will change be realised in municipal and school
cultures and in every lesson? Significance of personal
vision and will. ACTION
• What kind of skills will teachers and other school staff
require to be able to work so as to promote education
and learning for the future? TEACHER EDUCATION
• How do the national core curricula and local curricula
guide and support the work of teachers and the school
community? COMMON GUIDELINES
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Why to reform a well-functioning system?
Why?
The world in which schools operate has undergone major
changes since the beginning of the 2000s; increasing the
impact of globalisation and the challenges for a sustainable
future
What?
Competences needed in society and working life are
changing; requiring skills for building a sustainable future
How?
Content of education, pedagogy and school practices must
be reviewed and renewed in relation to these changes
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Importance of the reform and
prerequisites for success • Central role of schools
• Supporting the sense of coherence of their students
• Taking responsibility for choices and actions that shape our future
• Our strengths • Clear national guidelines, a well functioning curriculum system
• Culture of cooperation and trust
• Competent teachers, high ethical orientation and commitment
• Our challenges • School culture
• Role of students
• Pedagogics
• Use of digital learning environments
• Quality of learning process and results IRMELI HALINEN 15
For the benefit of skills and education
Focus of the curriculum reform
Rethinking the learning conception • Importance of students own experiences and activities,
feelings and joy
• Importance of working together, learning to learn in
dialogue with others
• Renewing the idea of learning environment
Rethinking the school culture and the relationship
between the school and the community • School as a learning community
• Diverse and open cooperation
Rethinking the roles, goals and content of school
subjects • Transversal competences to support the identity
development and the ability to live in a sustainable way
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For the benefit of skills and education
Student’s experiences
Competences
Working culture
Learning
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VALUE BASIS
TASK CHANCING WORLD CHANCING WORLD
For the benefit of skills and education
Rethinking the value basis of education
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Cultural
variety
as richness
Humanity,
culture and
civilization,
equity and
democracy
Necessity of
sustainable
way of living
Uniqueness
of every pupil,
high quality
education as
a basic right
Core Curriculum Draft 15.4.2014
For the benefit of skills and education
Rethinking the school culture
Learning community
Safety
in daily life,
wellbeing Dialogue and
varied working
approaches
Celebrating diverse cultures
Awareness of languages
Participation
and democracy
Responsibility for the
environment
Future orientation
Equity and equality
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For the benefit of skills and education
National Goals for
Basic Education
and Transversal
Competences - knowledge
- skills
- values
- attitudes
- will
Taking care of oneself and
others, managing
daily activities, safety
Cultural competence,
interaction and expression
Multiliteracy
ICT- competence
Competence for the world
of work, entrepreneur-
ship
Participation and influence,
building the sustainable
future
Thinking and learning to
learn
Development as a human
being and as a citizen
Core Curriculum Draft 14.9.2014
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Rethinking competences
For the benefit of skills and education
Essential in the reform
How our school could be a better learning environment and
supporting and encouraging community which
• enhances the meaningfulness of studying in school
• strengthens the identity of every student and their ability to
work with others
• enhances the capacity for learning to learn and the
development of other transversal competences, and similarly
ensures the high quality of learning results
• supports the development of sustainable way of living
What? How?
Why?
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For the benefit of skills and education
Important features of good curriculum process
Norm-based
Knowledge-based
Future-oriented
Cooperative, interactive
Respectful
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Shared vision
Commitment
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Planning process of the core curricula involves
• Estimating the changes in the operating environment
• Analysing the current state
• Looking for findings of research, evaluations and
development projects
• Learning form international experience and materials
• Building on the national education acts and policy
guidelines
• Communicating with various stakeholders
• Working intensively with the municipalities and
schools
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For the benefit of skills and education
Partnership-based and
transparent planning process • The core curriculum is outlined by multidisciplinary
working groups supported by online consultation groups
• Education providers are asked to provide feedback
during the whole process
• The National Board of Education website for totally
open consultations three times during the process
• November 2012 - general guidelines
• Early September 2013 - pre-primary education
• April 2014 - basic education and voluntary
additional basic education
• Key stakeholders to provide their official opinions on
the new national core curriculum in the autumn 2014
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For the benefit of skills and education
Website:
oph.fi/ops2016
News
Goals and objective
Time table
Working groups
Road map
Drafts
Slides and videos
Blogs
IRMELI HALINEN
For the benefit of skills and education
EDUCATION ACT
AND DECREES
LOCAL
CURRICULA
NATIONAL
CORE CURRICULA
GOVERNMENT’S
DECREES
TEACHING AND STUDYING
LEARNING
Curriculum has a
central role in the
development system
of education
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For the benefit of skills and education
Local curriculum work covers all important
areas of teaching and learning
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Teaching
and learning
Goals Values
Learning
conception
Learning
environment
Working
methods
School
culture
Content,
materials
Assessment Support
Guidance
Main tasks
Structure of
the school day
Cooperation
and participation
Allocation
of hours
For the benefit of skills and education
Curriculum for the Future
Content
Way of working
Shared ideas,
common direction
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For the benefit of skills and education
It could be about this…
“Help kids know
how to make
meaning and
sense of what
they are learning
so they can see
who they are.” Mary Helen Immordino-
Yang Ed. D.
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