IN FINLAND: Teacher Piia Juhola writes students’ suggestions on the chalkboard at Länsimäki School in Vantaa. Student achievement in the country is high. Petri Krook/Special to The Christian Science Monitor

PRINCIPAL: Tapio Lahtero leads the Länsimäki School in Vantaa. Discipline problems, as well as teacher turnover, are rare at the school, he says. The curriculum at this school of 700 students was last revised in 2006, and teachers fully participated in the process. Petri Krook/Special to The Christian Science Monitor

LEARNING: Hiba Hussein completes an exercise at the Länsimäki School in Vantaa. Students in the tiny nation of Finland tend to score well on international tests. Petri Krook/Special to The Christian Science Monitor

RIch Clabaugh/STAFF Click to Enlarge

THIRD GRADE: At Länsimäki School, Miikka Selander shows his work to his teacher, Liisa Norvanto. Petri Krook/Special to The Christian Science Monitor

EXERCISE: A boy at Länsimäki School in Vantaa, Finland, draws a picture of a girl who is having trouble adapting to a new school. Petri Krook/Special to The Christian Science Monitor

On German exercises at the Vaajakumpu Primary School in Jyväskylä, Finland. David Hamer

SOURCE: PISA 2006 results, OECD/Rich Clabaugh/STAFF Click to Enlarge

SOURCE: Finnish Ministry of Education/Rich Clabaugh/STAFF Click to Enlarge

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Lessons from most successful schools abroad

Education trends from other nations are gaining cachet as political and educational leaders strive to bring American schools in line with the demands of the 21st-century global economy.

from the March 24, 2009 edition

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Tapio Lahtero, principal of the Länsimäki School in Vantaa, Finland, describes what students in the background are discussing in a health class - their support networks.

Part 1 of three - 03/17/09Change pay, change teaching?

• • Obama pushes to reward great teachers
  
  
• • Pay that accounts for test scores: two views

Part 2 of three - 03/23/09Lessons from most successful schools abroad

• • Why Singapore is another model for teaching excellence
  
  
• • Roundup: Other countries' efforts to develop and support teachers

Part 3 of three - 03/26/09Teacher training: what's the best way?

• • The approach of Teach for America
  
  
• • The research: Both theory and practice are important

The preparation to be a teacher

If Riina Haverinen were in the US, she'd probably be about to start a teaching job. She's nearly finished with her fourth year at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, but she'll need two more to earn her master's degree in German, English, and teaching, she estimates. (Many Finnish students need just five years, depending on what they want to teach.)

In contrast to most beginning American teachers, she'll have a deep grasp of the subjects she'll be teaching, as well as the ability to conduct graduate-level research that can improve her work.

The university's lakeside campus, with sleek buildings designed by famous Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, is a major center for teacher education. University education is free in Finland, and students receive living stipends based on income.

The only subjects of study more popular than teaching are law and medicine, says Elisa Heimovaara, an international liaison in the Department of Teacher Education at the university. In fact, the profession has been popular for so long here that it's difficult to explain why. One reason, Ms. Heimovaara says, is that "it has been for many a person [a way] to climb the social ladder ... and improve one's economic situation."

It's difficult, however, for teaching programs to attract enough men: They make up just 1 out of 5 applicants. It's also hard to enlist people to teach math.

Ms. Haverinen chose teaching after observing her mother in the profession. "I like to be around kids and young people, and I really like German," she says.

This is the second year she's observing and teaching a range of subjects at several schools, including the Vaajakumpu school in the lake-district town of Jyväskylä. She was nervous initially, but that's faded as more-experienced teachers at the schools have shown her how to plan lessons.

The most challenging part so far, she says, is that "you cannot always teach in the same way; you have to see how the group is." That's why she's glad her training includes both theory and practice.

"We have to research our own teaching. It's really useful for us," she says, taking a break from supervising students who are working on German exercises at the Vaajakumpu school. She and a classmate, for instance, are researching oral communication and observing each other teach as part of the project.

Once students become teachers, they are expected "to update their skills and be curious about life and various subjects, so they are lifelong learners," says Heimovaara of the university.

In classrooms near Helsinki

The Länsimäki School in Vantaa, just outside Helsinki, is a good place to see the supportive environment in which Finnish teachers work, the skills they bring to the job, and the challenges they face.

Among the 700 students here in Grades 1 to 9 (generally ages 7 to 15), discipline problems are rare, says principal Tapio Lahtero. Teacher turnover is rare as well, with just three or four new hires necessary last summer. (Nationally, 5.7 percent of primary teachers leave the profession within three years – much lower than in the US.)

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