#004 - Why Finland’s Education System OUTPERFORMS the Rest 🇫🇮📚
In this episode of Neuroeducation with Angie Dee, we explore the global climate of education and discover what Finland is doing differently to create successful learning environments. Angie discusses how Finland prioritizes student happiness and starts formal schooling at the age of seven. She emphasizes the importance of incorporating children's interests and choices into their learning experiences. Angie also highlights schools in Australia and Bali that focus on developing skills such as resilience, creativity, and environmental stewardship. By putting happiness at the forefront of education, we can transform the learning process and create a positive impact on future generations.
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Timestamps:
0:00 - Intro
0:30 - Finland's Unique Approach to Education
1:45 - Comparison with Australian Education System
2:30 - The Importance of Happiness in Finnish Education
3:15 - Starting Formal Schooling at Age Seven in Finland
4:00 - The Role of Subconscious Brain Development in Early Education
5:00 - Neuroscience Behind Happy and Engaged Students
5:45 - Teacher Priorities in Finland vs. Australia
6:30 - Emphasizing Happiness and Outdoor Learning in Finland
7:15 - Personal Reflections on Educational Experiences
8:00 - Children's Interests and Choices in Finnish Education
8:45 - Innovative Teaching Techniques at All Saints and the Green School in Bali
9:30 - Preparing Students for Real-World Success
10:15 - Fostering Resilience, Creativity, and Social Responsibility
11:00 - The Importance of Enjoyable Learning Experiences
11:45 - Educational Outcomes and Adult Happiness in Finland
Transcript
What is it that Finland is doing that's so different to
Speaker:everybody else's style of education? Sure
Speaker:enough, if we're really enjoying our learning process,
Speaker:we are going to be learning much more and
Speaker:we're going to remember it for a much longer time than
Speaker:if we're disinterested and we're disengaged, which
Speaker:unfortunately is a current pattern for many
Speaker:children in many schools, and I would say in most
Speaker:high schools throughout Australia. Welcome to Neuroeducation, where
Speaker:we're exploring the neuroscience of how to switch on the brain to
Speaker:supercharge learning. I'll be sharing with you innovative teaching techniques,
Speaker:effective parenting strategies, and educational advocacy. I'm
Speaker:your host, Angie Dee. Together, let's revolutionise children's
Speaker:learning. Hello and
Speaker:welcome back to Neuroeducation with Angie Dee.
Speaker:I'm so glad to have you here, thanks for tuning in. Today
Speaker:we're going to be looking at what is the global climate
Speaker:of education? We all know all the things that
Speaker:we don't like to see in current education and we know all
Speaker:of the things that We feel like are
Speaker:outdated in our factory style method of education over
Speaker:standardization of teaching and too much teaching to
Speaker:the test and worksheets. However, What
Speaker:other methods of education are out there that are
Speaker:doing fabulous work in education? What
Speaker:other countries are doing incredible things and what
Speaker:is possible? If we look on an international scale
Speaker:and some incredible studies done internationally to
Speaker:look at who is succeeding in education, not
Speaker:just in maths, in reading and in science, but
Speaker:also in life skills that prepare children to
Speaker:succeed in the real world, Finland, again
Speaker:and again, tops the scale. What is
Speaker:it that Finland is doing that's so different to everybody
Speaker:else's style of education? Well,
Speaker:I was interested, so I explored a little bit and watched
Speaker:some interesting documentaries on education in Finland. And
Speaker:one thing that I discovered was the importance they
Speaker:placed on something that just might surprise
Speaker:you. When teachers were asked, what is
Speaker:the most important thing for your students in Finland? The
Speaker:teachers responded by saying the student's happiness.
Speaker:I was taken back because I don't know of
Speaker:any school here in Australia where they would
Speaker:put that as the top priority. They might say
Speaker:they try to make learning fun and enjoyable, but
Speaker:as the top priority, I was quite taken aback. In
Speaker:Montessori, ironically, she has
Speaker:a quote where she says, the happiness is
Speaker:the best test of the method of education. So
Speaker:the happiness of the child is important. And now we know
Speaker:this with neuroscience, where we can see that
Speaker:serotonin and dopamine, two happy hormones,
Speaker:are literally the best hormones that are
Speaker:neurotransmitters that switch on our brain and make
Speaker:it work. So what is it that Finland is
Speaker:doing to make their children so happy and to make the
Speaker:educational experience enjoyable? Well,
Speaker:what they do is actually start school at
Speaker:the age of seven. And so those primal years
Speaker:of zero to seven, which we know in psychology is
Speaker:forming the subconscious brain of the child, they
Speaker:are allowed to be outdoors, to be
Speaker:in kindergarten, to be learning and to be so
Speaker:much more free than what you would see in
Speaker:our education methods around Australia, where children are
Speaker:even in prep. where they're four and a half to
Speaker:five and a half years of age, where they are already
Speaker:having to tick off so many boxes in the curriculum, having
Speaker:to sit down for test after test. And in Queensland, where
Speaker:we have the C2C curriculum called
Speaker:the Curriculum to Classroom, they have to sit down
Speaker:for test after test after test. Not
Speaker:in Finland. In Finland, The official schooling
Speaker:doesn't start until the age of seven. And when school
Speaker:does start, happiness is at the forefront of
Speaker:the mind of educators. I want you to think for
Speaker:a moment now, as a parent or as a teacher, your
Speaker:own educational journey, what are the things that you remember the
Speaker:most about your schooling? What were some of those educational
Speaker:experiences that stood out to you the most? Sure
Speaker:enough, if we're really enjoying our learning process,
Speaker:we are going to be learning much more and
Speaker:we're going to remember it for a much longer time than
Speaker:if we're disinterested and we're disengaged, which
Speaker:unfortunately is a current pattern for many
Speaker:children in many schools and I would say in most
Speaker:high schools throughout Australia. So, how do
Speaker:we put happiness at the forefront of the education? In
Speaker:Finland, children's interests and
Speaker:their choice is taken into account for almost every
Speaker:area of their learning. What are they interested in learning? How
Speaker:can you take an interest into a subject? And
Speaker:how can they expand on that? And how can they research that and
Speaker:find out what they're really interested in? Fortunately
Speaker:I have a exciting story of
Speaker:a school on the Gold Coast where I found out
Speaker:recently All Saints has a
Speaker:Wonder Room and in this Wonder Room they
Speaker:are allowed, the students are allowed to ask questions about
Speaker:anything they want and it's a room to explore their
Speaker:interests and explore their creativity. And
Speaker:I thought, how fantastic. That's one huge step
Speaker:in the right direction, because we know when they're interested and engaged, the
Speaker:learning is exponentially better. When we think about education,
Speaker:we also have to think about what is the end purpose? What are
Speaker:we preparing children for in the greater scheme of
Speaker:things? Really, if we think about education, we
Speaker:want to be preparing children for the real world.
Speaker:We want to be preparing children for what they're going to
Speaker:do when they leave school. What kind of person are they
Speaker:going to be? Are they going to be kind? Are they
Speaker:going to be compassionate? Are they going to be a social citizen
Speaker:or a global citizen that thinks about how can they make the world a
Speaker:better place? And what kind of
Speaker:parent are they going to be to bring up the next generation? Are
Speaker:they going to be able to follow their passions and their interests to
Speaker:succeed in their own endeavours, which takes
Speaker:resilience and grit and all of these things. These are
Speaker:the kind of skills that are fundamental in
Speaker:Finland and they see as crucial to help children succeed in
Speaker:the future. And it's great to see some schools in Australia starting
Speaker:to prioritise these and starting to bring them into
Speaker:the forefront of education. When we
Speaker:think about what kind of social citizens
Speaker:we would like that graduate from grade 12 and
Speaker:then walk into our world as adults and start shaping the
Speaker:future generation of our planet, we
Speaker:also have to think, are they going out there to make
Speaker:our world a better place? The Green School in Bali
Speaker:is an incredible school that is thinking about just
Speaker:that. The Green School is about how to help guide children
Speaker:to become social citizens of this planet, to take care
Speaker:of our environment and to take care of our planet. And
Speaker:every single subject at that school has purpose. about
Speaker:how they can impact their local and their
Speaker:global communities for the
Speaker:better. And what's incredible is when I got to go and visit
Speaker:the Green School in Bali, talking to the children about
Speaker:how they were excited for their learning journey
Speaker:and what they were learning was impactful in
Speaker:their practical world. So when they were doing art
Speaker:one of the young girls said to me we're creating these artworks for
Speaker:an art show that's raising money for a local charity and
Speaker:another student told me that they were creating dioramas to
Speaker:show how they felt they could filtrate the
Speaker:water systems better within their local school and
Speaker:another student was explaining that they actually
Speaker:take reused cooking oils they
Speaker:filter the vegetable cooking oils, and
Speaker:they use that as fuel in some of the buggies in
Speaker:school. So they're learning so many creative skills, they're
Speaker:learning innovative skills, and they're learning how to implement
Speaker:it in their daily world. So, I
Speaker:feel like if we can take something from these schools, it's
Speaker:A, the happiness of the child. If we put that at the forefront of
Speaker:our educational messaging as parents and
Speaker:as teachers to make sure that they're enjoying their learning, we're
Speaker:going to transform that learning process and we're going to
Speaker:transform the entire educational process for the child. And
Speaker:what does that do? If we do this again and again on
Speaker:a daily basis and a weekly basis, a monthly basis, the
Speaker:years of the children's learning that is enjoyable, where
Speaker:they're doing work that they enjoy, that leads to
Speaker:adults that do things in life that they also
Speaker:enjoy, which is incredibly important, which we know in psychology, if
Speaker:we're doing something we're passionate about and also has a greater impact, we
Speaker:are, as adults, are much happier. And in Finland,
Speaker:sure enough, they score right at the top of
Speaker:countries that are the happiest in the world. So it just shows what
Speaker:we do in education creates a greater impact for
Speaker:all of the adults that we're growing to the next generation. Thank
Speaker:you for listening to our podcast on neuroeducation
Speaker:and I hope that you can do us
Speaker:a big favour by subscribing on
Speaker:our YouTube channel and also giving us a review on
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Speaker:a look at all the links down below for any more information you'd
