Interview: Finnish schools will not give up subject-based studies as reported

A British newspaper falsely reported that Finland would replace subject-based learning with topic-based learning in schools. The country's educational authority said subject studies would not be scrapped as reported.

A news story published by The Independent last weekend said Finland was about to embark on one of the most radical education reform programs ever undertaken by a nation state: doing away with the traditional "teaching by subject" in favour of "teaching by topic."

The article aroused great interest among Chinese readers, who were stunned by the bold idea. Contrary to the excited Chinese netizens, some Finnish professionals said they were amused after having read the article.

"Unfortunately, the article gives an incorrect impression of what we are doing on the national level," said chief spokesperson of the Finnish National Board of Education, Hannu Ylilehto, in an email interview with Xinhua. But Ylilehto would not talk about the ambitious blueprint quoted by the British journalist in the news article regarding reforms in the Finnish education system.

However, Ylilehto confirmed that all schools do have to create at least one study period focused on studying certain phenomena or topics that are of special interest to students.

The emphasis is on generic competences and collaborative classroom practices where pupils may work with several subject teachers simultaneously during periods of phenomenon-based project studies, said Ylilehto.

According to the national basic education reform scheme approved at the end of 2014, the new approach will be introduced in all Finnish schools starting August 2016.

"It is a new way of combining competence-based and subject-based teaching and learning," stressed Ylilehto. Nevertheless, maths and history, as well as other traditional school subjects will live on, though with less distinct borders and more collaboration in practice between science subjects, arts and languages.

The Independent article used the Siltamaki primary school in Helsinki as its example, and some professionals told Xinhua that Siltamaki has probably gone much farther and embraced the new approach years before the others.

Ylilehto mentioned that all the municipalities in Finland, due to their autonomy in providing education, may develop innovative teaching methods which are different than other municipalities.

Western educators and journalists have been following the Finnish education system, which has been seen as a glorious success story in Europe. Finnish students were distinguished by their performance in the so-called PISA student assessment tests organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Although some Chinese cities took better positions in the latest PISA rankings, Finland has remained in the top list as a whole country, a feat owing to the nation-wide education system and a balanced allocation of resources. Enditem

( Reporters Zhang Xuan and Juhani Niinisto also contributed to this article