[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-591396-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-591396-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","the-professional-educator-lessons-from-finland","The ProFessionAl eduCATor - Lessons from Finland","","The document presents a feature on professional educators and the central aim of helping every student succeed at school and in life. It highlights why teachers’ and leaders’ work is often underrecognized and then examines Finland’s education “miracle,” emphasizing that excellent teachers and leaders are the key differentiator. It outlines how Finland develops teacher workforce excellence, including competitive recruitment, rigorous training selection steps, and the role of professional trust and accountability rather than standardized testing.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-professional-educator-lessons-from-finland/591396/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-professional-educator-lessons-from-finland/591396.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"eBook King","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",6,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What overarching goal do professional educators share?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"They aim to ensure every student succeeds in school and life, not only through instruction but also through ongoing support before and after school.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What does the document identify as the key element of Finland’s system?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"The document states that excellent teachers and leaders are the element that outperforms all others in the Finnish education system.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How are teachers recruited and selected in Finland?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Becoming a primary schoolteacher is highly competitive: candidates apply through Finnish universities, and selection includes matriculation and records review, followed by a written exam, an observed clinical activity, and interviews.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},591396,1792251623,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,105,110,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":111,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":97,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},962088006270,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_085a072bc5b1113ac321206ff7593b45","The ProFessionAl eduCATor  \nLessons from Finland  \nProfessional educators—whether in the classroom, library, counseling center, or anywhere inbetween—share one overarching goal: seeing all students succeed in school and life.  \nWhile they take great pride in their students’ accomplishments, they also lose sleep over their students’unmet needs. Professional educators routinely meet with students before and after school, examine student work to improve lesson plans, reach out to students’families in the evenings and on the weekends, and strive to increase their knowledge and skills. And yet, their efforts are rarely recog  \nnized by the society they serve.  \nThe AFTis committed to supporting these unsung heroes. In this regular feature, we explore the work of professional educators—not just their  \naccomplishments, but also their challenges—so  \nthat the lessons they have learned can benefit students across the country. After all, listening to the professionals who do this work every day is a blueprintfor success.  \nILLUSTRATIONS by N ENAD JAKESEVIC  \nBy Pasi Sahlberg  \nS  \nince Finland emerged in 2000 as the top-scoring organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (oECD) nation on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), researchers have been pouring  \ninto the country to study the so-called “Finnish miracle.” How dida country with an undistinguished education system in the 1980s surge to the head of the global class in just a couple of decades?  \nPasi Sahlberg is the director general of the Centre for International Mobility and Cooperation (CIMO) in Helsinki, Finland, and an adjunct professor at the Universities of Helsinki and Oulu. He has been a teacher and teacher educator, as well as an education specialist for the World Bank and the European Commission. His forthcoming book is titled Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland. This article is adapted with permission from Sahlberg’s “Developing Effective Teachers and School Leaders: The Case of Finland,” in Teacher and Leader Effectiveness in High-Performing Education Systems, edited by Linda Darling-Hammond and Robert Rothman and [available online at www.all4ed.org/files/TeacherLeaderEffectiveness](available online at www.all4ed.org/files/TeacherLeaderEffectiveness)[ ](available online at www.all4ed.org/files/TeacherLeaderEffectiveness)[Report.pdf.](Report.pdf.)  \nResearch and experience suggest that one element of the Finnish system trumps all others: excellent teachers and leaders. This article looks at how Finland develops such excellence in its teacher workforce. (This discussion is also relevant to excellence among leaders; in Finland, those who aspire to leadership positions must be effective teachers before they can begin leadership training.1)  \nUntil the 1960s, the level of educational attainment in Finland remained fairly low: only one in ten adult Finns had completed more than nine years of basic education, and achieving a university degree was uncommon.2 Back then, Finland’s education level was comparable to that of Malaysia or Peru, and lagged behind its Scandinavian neighbors of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. Today, more than 98 percent ofFinns attend preschool atthe age of six, 99 percent complete compulsory basic education atthe age of 16, and three out of five young Finns enroll in and 50 percent complete state-funded higher education after upper secondary school.3 Finland publicly recognizes the value of its teachers and trusts their professional judgment in schools. The Finnish education system does not employ external standardized student testing  \n34 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SUMMER 2011  \nto drive the performance of schools. Neither does it employ a rigorous inspection system of schools and teachers. Instead of test-based accountability, the Finnish system relies on the expertise and professional accountability of teachers who are knowledgeable and committed to their students and communities.  \nRe","cbCaif1TJrNXBxfq","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaif1TJrNXBxfq","pdf",147172,"English","# Overview of professional educators\n# Finland’s education “miracle”\n# Finland’s teacher and leader excellence\n## Recruitment of the best teachers\n## Selection and training process\n# Professional accountability without standardized testing","[{\"question\":\"What overarching goal do professional educators share?\",\"answer\":\"They aim to ensure every student succeeds in school and life, not only through instruction but also through ongoing support before and after school.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the document identify as the key element of Finland’s system?\",\"answer\":\"The document states that excellent teachers and leaders are the element that outperforms all others in the Finnish education system.\"},{\"question\":\"How are teachers recruited and selected in Finland?\",\"answer\":\"Becoming a primary schoolteacher is highly competitive: candidates apply through Finnish universities, and selection includes matriculation and records review, followed by a written exam, an observed clinical activity, and interviews.\"}]","The ProFessionAl eduCATor - Lessons from Finland | PDF",1792071775,13]