This blog will discuss, reflect and compare my acquired knowledge of general aspects between Finland and Northern Ireland’s Early Years provision, education and curriculum. My knowledge and understanding of each has developed over time and as my Erasmus experience is almost complete, it is important to consider these issues.
As previously stated, my placement training in Turku is in a Daycare and Pre-school setting. The organisation cares for young children aged 3 – 6 years old. However for the purposes of this blog the focus will be on the Pre-school facilities (caring for 6 year olds) as children in Finland begin basic school education at 7 years old. The general routine includes four hours pre-school teaching in the classroom (9am – 1pm and an hour of this includes ‘resting time’ and lunch-time), with the afternoon session as daycare. According to the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (2004), the level of education a pre-school teacher should hold in Finland is a bachelor or master’s degree in education; or a bachelor degree in social sciences with an additional pedagogical course. Pre-school entry is government funded, however private daycare costs are the responsibility of parents/guardians.
In Northern Ireland (N.I) daycares generally follow the same routine as my experiences in Finland. On the other hand, the organisations somewhat differ in that 4 year old children may attend Pre-school or Nursery School (non-compulsory); 5 and 6 year old children attend Primary school (compulsory). In Pre-school it is less structured with a focus on ‘learning through play’ with curriculum guidelines for government funded settings, {Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA, 2006)}. At age 5 in Primary One, play-based learning is still important with a more structured approach to the curriculum. In recent times the school curriculum for Primary 1 and 2 has changed to incorporate the ‘Foundation Stage’, linking more so with the Pre-school teaching methods. The day is from 9am until 2pm for the first three years in Primary school, without any ‘resting time’. Teaching staff must hold at least a Bachelor of Education degree, or a Bachelor degree and Post Graduate Certificate of Education. Support staff such as Classroom Assistants should have at least a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) Level three in Early Years Education.
According to the Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) (2010) pre-school/pre-primary education is voluntary, however all municipalities of Finland are required to offer and provide the free service. N.I is similar, attempting to provide this however I find it does not quite match the high-quality provision that Finland is providing. I reflect this to N.I and it seems that Finland provides many Social, Health and Education benefits. For example, education is free for all residents of Finland, including University students! I find that N.I and indeed the United Kingdom (U.K) are seriously lacking the high-quality services that this country offers.
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (2004), states that a beneficial strength to the Finnish system is well-educated and multi-disciplinary staff. It is therefore questionable if the educators and pedagogues in N.I are encouraged sufficiently to become well-educated. Certainly from previous experience in N.I daycares I have found that staff are not motivated to study and achieve a higher qualification. Furthermore – this has encouraged me to consider if educators back home are not well-educated themselves, it seems impossible to educate children (the future generations) to the highest of standards.
Moving on, although the countries differ on the school starting age, they both follow a curriculum with seven areas of learning/subject fields. On reading relevant literature {N.I Curriculum: Foundation Stage (2006), and the Core Curriculum for Pre-School Education in Finland (2000)} I found that Finland’s Pre-School curriculum divided learning into Language and Interaction, Mathematics, Ethics and Philosophy, Environmental and Natural Studies, Health, Physical and Motor Development, and Art and Culture. In addition to this, municipalities and individual Pre-School providers can further prepare and approve a curriculum for education in compliance with the Core Curriculum. It seems that pedagogues in Finland have more scope with their teaching therefore it this appears to be another strength for the country’s education system. It may be worth considering if these differences help result in the findings and reputation of the Finnish being recorded as one of the top achievers in education.
This blog may seem lengthy; however I consider it all to be of relevance and importance as part of my Erasmus experience. In truth I have read and learned from practical placement much more than I have written though unfortunately the word count does not allow for this.
References
CCEA (2006) Understanding the Foundation Stage, Belfast: CCEA.
Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE) (2010) Pre-Primary Education, Helsinki: FNBE. (Accessed from http://www.oph.fi/english/education/pre-primary_education on 29 April 2011).
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health (MSAH) (2004) Early Childhood Education and Care in Finland, Helsinki: MSAH.
National Board of Education (2000) Core Curriculum for Pre-School Education in Finland, Helsinki: Yliopistopaino/University Press.
Professional Note: This week in placement I worked with the children, encouraging creativity to make ‘Vappu’ hats in preparation for the May Day weekend.
Personal Note: This week the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton took place and I decided to watch the celebrations on the Internet. This was a nice way to experience the happenings of the UK and history in-the-making.
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