Digital Commons @ SPU

Democracy in Education?: Notes on Finnish school system, Phenomenon-based Learning and Critical Reading Skills

My presentation discusses the democratic attitude towards education in the level of overall school system, learning and teaching methods, and approach to literacy skills. I use my own native country’s (Finland) acclaimed school system as an example of how the comprehensive education system can bring equality and emphasis of good citizenship skills to everyone regardless of, for example, their socio-economic background. The democratic attitude can be seen in the conceptions of knowledge and objectives of learning, of which I use the the socio-constructivistic attitude and student-centered learning models as an example. In order to prepare all pupils to gain transformative skills in today’s changing societies, the new Finnish National Core Curriculum (since 2014-) emphasizes phenomenon-based learning models, instead of merely traditional, school-centered school subjects. Last, I discuss how this approach can be applied in teaching of critical and constructive literacy skills in order to raise awareness, responsibility, and understanding of power relations in our everyday textual landscapes.