TAIPING: The “Finnish Experience” – a two-day programme for teachers held here – is hoped to be a catalyst for the participants to apply Finnish education methods and ideas in their own classrooms.
Finland Ambassador to Malaysia, Petri Puhakka, said the event would also help the educators to envision the possibilities in adapting the methods to suit local contexts.
“I’m hoping that once they leave (from the programme), they will have a couple of ideas that they can try at home.
“You cannot just copy, but you have to adapt it to suit the local surroundings and habits”, he told Bernama International News Service on the sidelines of “Finnish Experience”, here on Wednesday.
The event was co-organised by the State Education Department of Larut Matang and Selama District and Finnish Education Solutions Sdn Bhd (FEDS). It was attended by 278 teachers from public and private education sectors, with a majority of them from Perak and Kuala Lumpur.
Through the workshops at the event, the participating teachers acquire valuable insights on how a classroom is conducted in a Finnish school.
Puhakka added that he is also looking forward to similar events like “Finnish Experience” to be held in the future.
“Of course, we look forward to seeing more similar events in the future. More interactions are good, especially in facilitating the distribution of knowledge about one culture and another, what more when there is a clear indication of the interest towards the Finnish education system.
“I would (also) be happy to see increased cooperation as well, for example, on a commercial basis. There are several actors like (Finnish) educational experts who would be more delighted to be here and share their area of expertise,” he said.
Earlier in his speech, Puhakka said that the programme demonstrates general principles in the Finnish education system that is universal and applicable in most situations.
“Finland’s educational administration is firmly grounded in the idea of providing schools with autonomy and support.- Bernama
“Schools and teachers have a great deal of freedom to choose how they will go about their vital work. There are no school ranking lists or inspection systems, and the first national examination is held only at the end of general upper secondary education.
“Thus, I do not think that there would be any one-size-fits-all model for educating our young, as one needs always to take into consideration elements related to that specific community and culture,” he said. – Bernama
