ADMINISTRATION OF EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTES

Administration of educational institutes

Joensuu offers excellent opportunities to learn about the administration of educational institutions

• The successful management of personnel is a vital part of functional and healthy school atmospheres.
• Education and training services for the City of Joensuu are arranged by the Welfare Board.
• Education and training services in Joensuu include:
  • Pre-primary education in schools and day-care centres
  • Basic education in three regional areas
  • Upper secondary education
  • Vocational music education at the Joensuu Conservatory
  • Basic education in art at the Joensuu Conservatory and at the Community College of the Joensuu Area
  • School psychologist and curator services
  • Afternoon activity services at the basic education level

You are invited to learn with us about our administration

On various orientation tours, visitors are introduced to a wide range of principles on how the operations of comprehensive schools, upper secondary schools and teacher training schools are managed in Finland. Let’s begin the developing process together. Read more about our services or visitor programs.

The National Core Curricula

By implementing the curriculum in the ordinary school work on a daily basis we have ended up with the best PISA results in the world.

The Finnish National Agency for Education draws up the national core curricula for:

• • pre-primary education
  • basic education
  • general upper secondary education
  • basic education in the arts
  • the curricula for preparatory education for immigrants
  • morning and afternoon activities for school children.

The new basic education curricula in a nutshell:

• The curriculum reform aims at ensuring that the knowledge and skills of Finnish children and youths will remain strong in the future, both in national contexts as well as international.
• The key goals of the reform include enhancing pupil participation, increasing the meaningfulness of study and making it possible for each and every pupil to experience success.
• Children and youths are guided in assuming more responsibility for their schoolwork, but, in accordance with this, also given more support in their studies. The pupils set goals, solve problems and assess their learning based on set targets.
• The pupils’ experiences, feelings, areas of interest and interaction with others lay the foundation for learning. The teacher’s task is to instruct and guide the pupils into becoming lifelong learners, by taking the individual learning approaches of each pupil into consideration.

The National Core Curriculum

• The national-level core curricula and qualification requirements in Finland are norms enacted by the Finnish National Agency for Education. These define the objectives and core contents as well as the basic principles of cooperation with homes as well as the objectives of pupil and student welfare services.
• In addition, education providers draw up local curricula and qualification requirements, which are based on the national core curricula and requirements. In these the providers outline how the objectives set nationally will be reached.
• The curricula set out the key objectives, content and policies of education. The aim is to develop the national core curricula and to coordinate them so that they create a progressive continuum in a coherent way and a strong basis for lifelong learning.
• The National Core Curriculum for Basic Education was renewed in December 2014. The common curriculum was drafted for the Joensuu region and the new curriculum has been implemented in schools from August 2016.
• The new curriculum brought a change in attitude to the school: Pupils strengthened their role as an active communicator and participator in their individual learning process.

More information about curricula in Finland

The new evaluation methods

The focus in education is on learning rather than testing.

• There are no national tests for pupils at the basic education level in Finland.
• Instead, teachers are responsible for assessment in their respective subjects on the basis of the objectives included in the curriculum.
• The Finnish education system has only one national examination: the Matriculation examination.
• The matriculation examination is taken at the end of upper secondary studies.
• The examination grades and entrance tests serve as admission criteria for a majority of further education.

Diversity in learning assessment

Finnish teachers have expressed that assessment methods have been the biggest change in the curriculum reform.

• The new curriculum (2014) emphasises diversity in assessment methods as well as assessment that guides and promotes learning.
• Information on each pupil’s study progress must be given to the pupil and guardians on a sufficiently frequent basis. Feedback is given in ways other than report cards.
• The majority of the evaluation takes place as interaction between teachers and pupils.
• Students are guided to actively observe their learning process.
• Teachers collect information on pupils’ progress using various methods and learning situations. This ensures that pupils’ different ways of learning are taken into account.
• For example, portfolios, learning diaries or group work can be used as opportunities for evaluation.

A school year report

• At the end of each school year, pupils still receive a school year report on how well the pupil has achieved the targets set for the school year.
• The municipality decides as to whether the school year reports for grades 1-7 are verbal assessments or numerical grades.
• Numerical grades must be given for every subject in the school year report by no later than the 8th grade.

References: Finnish National Agency for Education

“It is fun to grow up and learn in Joensuu – together we are more!”