Proposal
A Proposal for Preschool and Kindergarten Years:
Finland’s Approach to Early Education
Finland is consistently outperforming most other nations in academic performance by scoring at the top of worldwide rankings, yet they do not begin their formal education until they are seven years old. Finland is scoring higher on educational testing by starting their education later and the trend for their success is increasing. The United States seems to demand more and more from younger children by believing the requirements of educational performance begins in pre-school and at the tender age of three- and four-year olds, while Finland believes this age is a time for play and developing strong cooperative social skills and interactions.
What do children in Finland do before they begin formal education? Before the age of seven, and before Finnish students begin compulsory education, young children do not spend their time fixated on cartoon television programs. During preschool and kindergarten years students do not spend their time drilling and practicing facts with flashcards or completing worksheets. Instead, they spend their days learning how to learn through positive social interactions with adults and peers. The focus is on cooperation and team building activities. They play, sing and paint.
Dr. Marcy Guddemi (2010) visited Finland schools and researched the school system in Finland. In her article, Finland’s Finest: Why We Need to Take Note of Finland’s Approach to Early Education she explains, “The Fins value the development of curiosity and social competency in the early years. They know that the ‘academics’ will come more easily later if the foundation is there” (Guddemi, 2010). In a publication from Finland’s government entitled Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in Finland (2000), which is a background report prepared for the OECD Thematic Review of Early Childhood Education and Care Policy, the preschool years are a time to“support pupils hobbies, to generate positive learning experiences and to create well functioning social relationships both with adults and with other children” (www.oecd.org, 2000).
The people of Finland value education so highly, they demand high level degrees from their teachers, even in the preschool years. As Dr. Guddemi states, “In addition to Finland’s developmentally appropriate approach to early education, it is interesting to note that its teachers — including its primary teachers — are required to have master’s degrees and generally come from the tops of their classes” (Guddemi, 2010).
The United States seems to be fixated on test results and in response to the pressure schools feel from external sources (through the demands of state and local governments and the requirements of accountability), anxiety of failure has led to the implementation of more academics earlier. This reality of our system seems to show American school systems heading in the opposite direction of Finland’s and in order to improve testing scores of 15-year olds, we need to consider changing their preschool and kindergarten experiences.
The Office of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Finland has defined policies and outlined activities for pre-school age children. In the publication Early Childhood Education and Care Policy in Finland, it is stated under the category, “Premises for six-year-olds’ pre-school education” that:
“Pre-school education involves exploring various phenomena together with children in a thematic and project-type manner, and topics are studied holistically in different subject fields. Many of the pre-school subject fields form a flexible continuum with the topics dealt with in the initial education at school. Pre-school education builds a bridge between day care and school instruction” (Early Childhood Education, 2000).
From this policy it is clear the focus of education before children attend formal school is on providing activities that are developmentally appropriate and engaging. The trend in the United States seems to be moving from creative play (which is so important for small children) and cooperative learning activities that are creative, imaginative, and explorative and are being replaced with more desks and workbook activities. When they arrive at formal schools, they are less prepared to work together cooperatively and investigate new ideas and possibly arrive with testing/failure anxiety already built in to their mindsets. They may even enter first grade with a distinct dislike for school in general.
I submit the qualities that are formulated in preschool environments in Finland lead directly to their success in formal schools and beyond. The organization of the preschools and kindergartens develop a plan for educational success and deliberately lays the groundwork for successes later on in school.
Proposal
Based on this knowledge, there are several ways we can learn from Finland and there are ideas we can incorporate in our school systems at the preschool and kindergarten level:
1. Limit the use of workbooks.
2. Limit the use of rote memorization type activities.
3. Limit competitive ideas and reduce performance anxieties by eliminating formal assessments.
Replace these with activities which:
1. Include hands-on investigation activities where the objectives are well researched and developmentally appropriate. The six-year old mind is prepared and ready to receive vastly different information than a four-year old.
2. Encourage positive social interaction with adults and peers. Teach ideas about conflict resolution and socially acceptable behaviors.
3. Promote active play and strong communication skills.
4. Utilize learning through play activities allowing children to explore an environment that is well prepared.
5. Teach children using mini-lessons and planned activities appropriate to the child’s age.
