For years, Finland has been the by-word for a successful education system, perched at the top of international league tables for literacy and numeracy.
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Pasi Silander, the city’s development manager, explained: “What we need now is a different kind of education to prepare people for working life.
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“Young people use quite advanced computers. In the past the banks had lots of bank clerks totting up figures but now that has totally changed.
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“We therefore have to make the changes in education that are necessary for industry and modern society.”
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Subject-specific lessons – an hour of history in the morning, an hour of geography in the afternoon – are already being phased out for 16-year-olds in the city’s upper schools. They are being replaced by what the Finns call “phenomenon” teaching – or teaching by topic. For instance, a teenager studying a vocational course might take “cafeteria services” lessons, which would include elements of maths, languages (to help serve foreign customers), writing skills and communication skills.
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More academic pupils would be taught cross-subject topics such as the European Union - which would merge elements of economics, history (of the countries involved), languages and geography.
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