Drs. Brenda Mendiola, Yvette Bynum, and Emily Sims, The University of Alabama
According to the 2024 World Happiness Report, Finland was ranked as the happiest country in the world for the seventh year (Helliwell et al., 2024). The ‘happiness’ rating is based on national average life evaluations in terms of six key variables: GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and freedom from corruption. When parsing out happiness for the age group below 30, Finland ranked 7 out of 96. The United States, with an overall happiness ranking of 23, ranked 62 in the age group below 30. What is it like to attend school in the happiest country in the world? Dr. Yvette Bynum, Dr. Emily Sims, and I, representing the College of Education at The University of Alabama, recently spent seven days visiting schools in Helsinki, Finland, including Etu-Töölön lukio upper secondary school, Eira High School for Adults, Engel Albert day-care center, Engel Viiskulma Preschool, Suomenlinna Camp School, Kevätkumpu Education Center, and Helsinki University where we were learned about the structure and core principles of the Finnish educational system.
Structure of the Finnish Educational System Finland’s national core curriculum is determined by the Finnish National Agency for Education and is revised approximately every ten years. Students are positioned for future success with an established foundation for growing and lifelong learning through graduated levels of education. Play and curiosity are intentionally developed in early childhood education and care (0-6 years old) and pre-primary education (6 years old). Primary and lower secondary education (7-16 years old), or basic education, addresses content/subject knowledge. After general upper secondary education and vocational upper secondary education, students may choose one of two paths to continue their learning: higher education is broad-based learning (leads to university studies), and vocational education is competence-based learning (leads to vocational institutes). Students who pursue higher education must take matriculation examinations, while those seeking vocational education must meet vocational qualifications.
Education in
Finland