“Nordic teachers are incredibly lonely”
Few studies elicit as much national political debate as PISA and TALIS, studies that measure and compare pupils’ knowledge and learning environments around the world. The debates usually surround which political reforms are needed to provide better results in our country.
But a new report published at a Nordic conference in Copenhagen on 3 May is shifting the focus from a national to a regional level. A number of Nordic researchers use PISA and TALIS to identify differences and similarities in the Nordic countries’ education systems. The aim is to learn from the best pedagogical methods that each country has to offer.
TALIS (the Teaching and Learning International Survey) is an international study that focuses on learning environments and the working conditions of teachers.
Few Swedish teachers feel that their work is valued
A much-discussed result of the 2013 TALIS survey was that 57 per cent of Finnish teachers felt that their work was held in high regard by society, while only 5 per cent of Swedish teachers felt the same. This result had a number of consequences in both countries. In Sweden, for instance, the government and school unions put forward proposals for raising teacher salaries, a reduction in administration, and higher standards in teacher training.
Lack of additional training
The Finnish researcher Matti Taajamo at the University of Jyväskylä is interested in the additional training opportunities available to teachers in the Nordic Region.
In his own chapter in “Northern Lights on PISA and TALIS”, Taajamo notes that the region’s teachers are offered many opportunities to participate in additional training in the form of courses, workshops, seminars, and mentoring programmes, but that the range of courses is fragmented. Teachers spend minimal time on courses – just a few days a year – because they often lack the time and incentives for additional training.
A common feature of the Nordic countries is a disconnection between initial teacher training and further training.
Taajamo is calling for an additional training plan that spans a teacher’s entire career.
“It’s common for additional training to be organised by several different stakeholders.
Co-operation between them could help to bridge the gap. This is where Nordic exchanges have their benefits,” says Taajamo.
New Nordic working group
This spring, the Nordic Council of Ministers for Education has launched a new working group that will put forward proposals for co-operation in teacher training relating to additional training.
The most important measure for improving both the quality of teaching and the teachers’ working day is the creation of a culture of co-operation,” Taajamo says.
Characteristics of high-performing pupils “I believe we must strengthen teachers’ collegial world. They’re often on their own. I want them to be able to plan lessons and discuss pupils together. This would have a direct impact on pupils’ performance,” says Taajamo.
In another chapter of the report, Peter Nyström, Director of the National Centre for Mathematics Education in Sweden, studies the characteristics of high-performing pupils in mathematics in the Nordic Region.
One characteristic is that the pupils not only have highly educated parents, but also have a positive attitude to difficult tasks. They are determined and have a desire to understand how new information can be paired with the knowledge they already have.
“Such shared characteristics are interesting. They are independent of social background and provide the school with guidance on what all pupils need.”
Girls underrepresented
Girls continue to be consistently underrepresented in the high-performing mathematics group in all five countries included in the study.
“We don’t know exactly why, but the general perception that mathematics is a male domain is a possible explanation,” Nyström says.
The report “Northern Lights on PISA and TALIS” has been produced by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers and can be downloaded here:
