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Finland’s vocational school program impresses teacher
Students in Finland learn to groom and train dogs.
As the work experience coordinator for Jasper Place High School, in Edmonton, I am always interested in students’ transition from school to career. Therefore, I was keen on going to Finland and learning about its technical school programs.
When Finnish students complete their nine years of basic education, they apply to enter academic or technical high schools—or both. Sometimes the grades needed for admission to a technical program are higher than those required for academic programs. The Finnish government monitors occupational trends and tries to open up spots in the country’s technical schools for occupations identified as needing workers in the future. The government funds programs to a much higher degree than we do here. The technical equipment and facilities in Finnish schools are top-notch—comparable to those at Alberta postsecondary institutions, such as the Northern and Southern Alberta Institutes of Technology.
Industry is involved in Finland’s education programs. In one automotive department I visited students were working on the newest cars from the manufacturers. Local automotive shops send their technicians to vocational schools to update their skills on new vehicles. The horticulture program’s greenhouse resembled commercial greenhouses in Alberta. The culinary arts program’s restaurant was open to the public and managed like a regular restaurant. I visited a facility where students learned to groom dogs and to train police and guide dogs. The vocational music program is designed for students who want to be professional musicians or musical engineers.
Finland’s vocational programs are not just for young people. At least half the students are adults, and this results in a different kind of school atmosphere, as the older students are attending classes because they are highly motivated to be in that area of study. Mixing mature students with younger ones creates an environment that does not feel like a high school.
With these different approaches to education in mind, I returned to Alberta with ideas of how to implement what I had learned. Along with Dave Brown, my partner in our school’s Off-Campus Department, we made connections in the community, including one with Habitat for Humanity that saw students committing to 125 hours during the summer to work at the Anderson Gardens work site. Students learned an incredible amount, and the people with Habitat for Humanity said our students were great. Students’ involvement with Habitat connected them to the greater world around them.
When I asked the director of the technical school I was visiting why Finland, ranked first in the world by the Programme for International Student Assessment, bothers to send students and teachers to visit other countries, he replied: “So we can benchmark ourselves and keep pace.”
That’s clearly the message that Alberta should heed.
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Keith Haynes is a work experience coordinator and social studies teacher at Jasper Place High School, in Edmonton.
