Teach Like Finland: 33 Simple Strategies for Joyful Classrooms
About this ebook
Finland shocked the world when its fifteen-year-olds scored highest on the first Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), a set of tests evaluating critical-thinking skills in math, science, and reading. That was in 2001; even today, this tiny Nordic nation continues to amaze. How does Finnish education—with short school days, light homework loads, and little standardized testing—produce students who match the PISA scores of other nations with more traditional “work ethic” standards?
When Timothy Walker started teaching fifth graders at a Helsinki public school, he began a search for the secrets behind the successes of Finland’s education system. Highlighting specific strategies that support joyful K–12 classrooms and can be integrated with U.S. educational standards, this book, available in paperback for the first time, gathers what he learned and shows how any teacher can implement many of Finland's best practices. A new foreword by the author addresses the urgent questions of teaching, and living, in these pandemic times.
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About the author
Timothy D. Walker is an American teacher who taught in Finland for six of the eight years he lived there. He lives in Milford, Connecticut, and is author (with Pasi Sahlberg) of In Teachers We Trust: The Finnish Way to World-Class Schools.
Pasi Sahlberg is a Finnish educator who has worked as a schoolteacher, teacher-educator and policymaker in Finland and advised national education reforms around the world. Pasi has published over 100 articles and books about education and school improvement. His bestseller, Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? has contributed to better understanding Finland’s education system. He is a recipient of several education awards, including the 2013 Grawemeyer Award and the 2016 Lego Prize. Pasi is professor of education policy at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia.
