A month has now passed since our return from Finland. I miss the sun setting at three in the afternoon, the wind whipping the boats moored in the harbor, making them whistle and clank. I miss the gray sky and that bit of snow on the ground that reminds me of winter.
But what I miss most, in reality, are the evenings spent with colleagues discussing the day’s classroom experiences. Petri was a great educator; with his Viking beard and his jovial demeanor, he made us love Finland, even if it was gray, and he revealed to us in a direct and pragmatic way the peculiarities of Finnish education‘s success.
It can be summed up in a single word: love. The secret to success is to educate with love, speak with love, and behave with love. There are no power struggles, no yelling, no threats, no negative reports, no blood-red grades, and no failures looming. In Finland, there is a school that doesn’t judge students, but rather helps them grow. The student evaluates himself and is usually clear in giving himself a grade. The teacher listens to him, treats him kindly, smiles at him, and shows love towards the class. The student is aware of the love within the school community and is grateful for it.
This isn’t to say that Finland is a perfect country, where bullying or violence are absent, or where difficult family situations don’t arise. But I can say with absolute certainty that school is a welcoming place where even the most problematic students find comfort and help from adults.
In all of this, parents don’t exist; they trust the school, the teachers, and their choices. Parents are grateful to the school and the teaching staff who care for their children; a true pact of trust and shared responsibility is intimately signed. And, as Petri told us in the last lesson:
“If a parent doesn’t like the school or the teacher, they can change and find another that meets their expectations. In our country, school is an institution, it’s almost like church!” he concluded, laughing amused by our expressions.
