The Alberta Teachers’ Association

Winston Churchill High School in Lethbridge is one of five Alberta schools selected to take part in Final 2.0, the second iteration of the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s Finland–Alberta International Partnership. The first travel leg of the three-year exchange partnership took place October 5 to 12, 2018.

Our high school was matched with Joensuun Yhteiskoulu Lukio (upper secondary school) in Joensuu, a beautiful city located in the southeastern part of Finland (approximately 50 kilometres from the Russian border). We were also fortunate to visit the wonderful staff and students of Mutalan Koulu, an elementary school within the city.

Our Finnish experience catalyzed conversation and reflection about the power of choice. Much of contemporary discourse about choice in education is dominated by voices calling for increased parental choice. This reality is perhaps distracting from dialogue around what could be a more important modality of choice: student choice. Although curriculum reform is well under way in Alberta, perhaps a window of time remains with which to reimagine the structure and function of our secondary schools as a means of crafting opportunities for more meaningful educational choice for our students.

The first leg of our Finnish partnership uncovered a system with a large degree of student choice, one resulting in a secondary education structure that appears to nurture student independence, ownership of learning and increased levels of engagement.

During our time in Finland, the concept of student choice resonated with us on many levels. Student independence in terms of selecting and planning courses in Finnish upper secondary schools was similar to university or college in Alberta. Although there are compulsory courses in Finland, students have many elective course choices. Students are expected to complete 75 courses in order to matriculate, but many of those can be chosen to align with students’ interests and passions. For example, students must take three mandatory history courses, but may choose additional courses based on their interest in the subject matter. In our partner school, there are nine additional elective history courses to choose from, but students may choose to take no extra history courses and instead fill their timetables with subjects they find more engaging. Furthermore, the open-ended nature of the Finnish curriculum structure affords teachers the freedom to design elective courses. One of our new colleagues—a history teacher—designed his own elective courses based on personal interests, passions and areas of expertise.

Intense inquiry

As opposed to the dual semester system that’s common in Alberta high schools, the upper secondary school year in Finland is divided into five “periods.” As a result, students in Finland engage with a course of study for a relatively short seven-week period, which includes time for final assessments. This organizational structure encourages more focused learning in shorter, more intensive periods of student inquiry. Finnish students may take more than 30 courses in a given year, whereas the average student in Alberta would complete eight or fewer. This increase in the amount of choice appears to offer Finnish students more opportunity to navigate their own learning journey and design a path that’s best suited for their skills and aptitudes.

Furthermore, the relatively short duration of classes allows Finnish students more opportunity to recover from failure. Although we often espouse the importance of failure as an opportunity to learn and grow, the rigid and standardized structure of the Alberta high school system does not efficiently support the sentiment.

In the final stages of upper secondary school, Finnish students write a set of relatively high-stakes matriculation exams. However, unlike our diploma examinations, Finnish exams provide choice within the framework of the final assessments. In addition to some compulsory exams, students can choose examinations in areas that best match their competencies. The tests are designed predominantly as open-ended written responses—quite different from the multiple-choice format that dominates most of Alberta’s standardized testing regime.

Teachers told us that students will often choose to take four years to complete matriculation, with the final year focused on preparation for exams. As a result of the short duration of courses, and the possibility of extending the time to complete upper secondary schooling, the system embeds more freedom for students to choose the best path for their success.

The ultimate level of choice comes at the age of fifteen when students can choose to go to vocational school or pursue studies in a more traditional academic upper secondary school. It is important to note that both choices are equally respected in Finnish society. It could be argued that students who are given this choice will naturally self-select a learning environment in which they will feel most comfortable and confident. Despite having “streams” of curricula, secondary school in Alberta attempts to funnel the vast majority of students though a largely academic system defined by traditional subject areas, one with which many students have a difficult time engaging. The net effect of the Finnish system is to place students in learning environments best suited to match personal interests and aptitudes. We were struck by the mature behaviour of the students we observed. The principal of our partner school made it clear that there were very few disciplinary problems at the school, and our experience led us believe this reality is linked to the personal responsibility of students empowered by choice.

The independence and choice given to adolescents in Finland is buoyed by layers of support. Students are responsible for building their upper secondary timetable, but the choices are monitored and checked by counsellors and teachers to ensure they are on track for matriculation. Furthermore, choice always comes with the ability to change course—between academic and vocational paths at the upper secondary and even post-secondary level.

Foundation of trust

While enjoying some Finnish hospitality one evening in a Helsinki pub, we met a 23-year-old man who shared his educational journey. He chose to go the vocational route but was now attending Eastern Finland University on a more academic track to become an engineer. Although we were told it is not common to change paths in such a manner, the choice to do so has been carefully woven into the system’s fabric.

There is a great deal of trust in the Finnish education system, beginning with trust in the choices students are empowered to make. We also see great trust in the teachers and the profession writ large, trust in the administrators and the school community, and trust in the overall system goal of protecting and promoting the collective interest and well-being of Finnish society.

In Alberta, many feel that trust in our education system is often overshadowed by a demand for accountability. Our Finnish partners told us there is no simple Finnish translation for the word “accountability;” the word they use instead is “responsibility.” Parents generally share an inherent trust in schools and educators to immerse their children in a learning experience that represents societal norms and shared values that enhance and support their collective future. Student choice in learning at the upper secondary level reflects the social construct of meeting shared expectations for all, while at the same time, providing individuals with the opportunity to pursue the passions and visions of their own future. The motivation for learning becomes highly personal and builds on an intrinsic satisfaction from positively contributing to a Finnish society that is valued and respected.

Carey Rowntree is the principal, Tracy Wong is a vice-principal, and Craig Findlay and Omar Kadir are teachers at Winston Churchill High School in Lethbridge.