How we teach our children: The methods and myths behind Finland’s education success

Finland’s emergence as a world-leading education system surprised even the Finns. But there are also many myths about how they did it, writes Pasi Sahlberg.

IMAGINE reading this story in the year 2000. News about shining educational innovation included how literacy and numeracy strategies had caused steady rises of student test scores in England, how free schools had vitalised education markets in Sweden, and how higher external expectations for all children promised closing the achievement gap between those who have and those who have less in New Zealand.

National assessments, digital technologies, and standardised teaching were the key ingredients in education reforms around the world.