"An Educational Miracle" at Bahçeşehir University

Prof. Dr. Pasi Sahlberg, architect of the Finnish education reform, gave a seminar at Bahçeşehir University for the event "An Educational Miracle: Finland" organized by the BAU Faculty of Educational Sciences. Describing the Finnish miracle, Sahlberg said, "Standardized education leads to failure; an individualized education system is important."

To watch the seminar, pleaseclick here

The event "An Educational Miracle: Finland", organized by the BAU Faculty of Educational Sciences, was held at the Bahçeşehir University Beşiktaş Campus on 2 February 2015.

The event was attended by scientist, educator and author Prof. Dr. Pasi Sahlberg, former Minister of National Education Nimet Baş, Prof. Gary Grossman of the University of Arizona, Bahçeşehir University Chairman of the Board of Trustees Enver Yücel, Bahçeşehir University President Şenay Yalçın and many guests.

The opening speech of the event was delivered by former Minister of National Education Nimet Baş. In her speech, Baş said that all segments of society would be made equal through education, and that the education system therefore needs to be revised with new projects.

Emphasizing that Türkiye is his second home, Prof. Gary Grossman stressed in his speech that education should be universal and results-oriented.

"STUDENTS ARE NOT GIVEN GRADES"

Taking the floor after Grossman, Pasi Sahlberg, Director General of the Centre for International Mobility in Finland and author of the book "Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland?", began his speech by providing information about the Finnish education system. Sahlberg said: "The school life of Finnish children is the result of the youth and education policies that Finland itself implements. In Finland, the curriculum is designed around students' own interests and needs. Teachers and students have the right to shape their own education and training programs. Finnish students are not given any grades in the first six years of their education. There is no obligation to give grades until the end of eighth grade, and students are not subject to an examination system. They take a nationwide exam only when they are around 16 years old."

"ALL SCHOOLS HAVE THE SAME LEVEL OF SUCCESS"

Noting that becoming a teacher in Finland is quite a difficult task, Sahlberg said: "All teachers have at least a master's degree and are selected from the top 10% in terms of university achievement. Teaching is one of the professions with the highest status in the eyes of society."

Prof. Sahlberg offered Turkish educators three important pieces of advice, saying, "Develop the system, invest in collaboration and personalize learning," and continued: "Standardized education leads to failure; an individualized education system is important. There are no private schools in Finland, and all education expenditure is supported by the state. In Finland, schools do not compete with each other; on the contrary, they cooperate. Almost all schools have the same level of success. Therefore, no school has a privilege over another."

"WITHOUT FAILURE, THERE IS NO SUCCESS"

Believing that success will not come without failure, Prof. Sahlberg added that they have declared 13 October the World Day of Failure.

Sahlberg also gave examples from his own life in his speech. Saying that he always remembers his grandmother's words, "Remember, only dead fish swim with the current," Sahlberg said, "We Finns are successful because we swim against the current," and added, "When we set out, we only aimed to surpass Sweden, but now we are among the best in the world."

3 THINGS FINLAND DOES NOT HAVE

Sahlberg described the 3 Things Finland Does Not Have as follows: "There is no unhealthy competition; there is no competition between schools, between students or between staff. There is no standardized teaching system; they do not believe that all children will learn the same things in the same way, and there is personalized learning; there is no test-based education system; exams are held only at the end of high school.

LESS TALK, MORE ACTION

Stating that education means "providing equal opportunities for everyone", Sahlberg concluded his speech by saying, "We Finns do not talk much; we do not set up meetings, commissions or working groups; we decide and we do."