Core Curriculum of Basic Education: - basic values and principles - transversal competences - changes in school culture - implementation: challenges and possibilities - October 2016

1. Finnish Core Curriculum
– New Approach to Learning
Tiina Sarisalmi
October 2016

3. What we learn? How we learn?
• to foster curiosity, encourage questioning and critical
thinking
• to develop problem-solving skills, link learning to real-life
problems and encourage pupils to work together
• to increase understanding, apply cross-curricular approach
• to raise active citizens, promote participation and
engagement
• to strengthen learners' self-confidence and learning
motivation, give constructive and honest feedback
IT IS ABOUT DEVELOPING PEDAGOGY AND SCHOOL CULTURE

4. Basis of the core curriculum
• Building on strengths
• Sustainable future as an objective
• Equality in all areas of education
• Meeting pupils' (special) needs and supporting
wellbeing
• International cooperation and global responsibility
• Awareness of languages and cultures, regarding
them as richness
• Rapid and accelerating development of information
and communication technology
• Challenges set for literacy in the context of
multimedia

5. TRENDS IN LEARNING AND PEDAGOGY
BEFORE CORE CURRICULUM 2016  THE FUTURE
Scandinavia and Europe
as cultural context
Global context and cultural diversity: growing up
to global citizenship and for sustainable future
Summative testing,
sticks and carrots
Learning to learn, self-assessment and self-
regulation: assessment aims to supporting and
guiding the learning process, based on students
strenghts
Performance Collaboration and interaction: team work and
peer learning, partnership classes, games
Teacher-centered Engaging students and learning-by-doing:
focusing on students’ interests

6. TRENDS IN LEARNING AND PEDAGOGY
BEFORE CORE CURRICULUM 2016  THE FUTURE
Literacy Multi-literacy: to read and produce multimedia
texts, pics and videos
Content-based learning Skills and competences
Receiving information
and cramming,
learning-by-heart,
Constructing knowledge, creativity and
problem solving: critical analysis of knowledge,
inquiry- and project-based learning 
understanding
Subject-based text
books and classrooms
Authentic learning: real-life texts, videos and
pics, real-world problems and phenomena, real-
life communication and learning environments,
cross-curricular context

7. ATTITUDES & VALUES
• Openness towards and respect for people from other cultures
• Global responsibility for sustainable development
• Equity, equality and democracy
• Valuing human dignity and cultural diversity

8. Transversal competences

9. School as learning community
 Strengthening pupils' positive and
realistic self-image as learners
 Emphasis on unhurried pace and peace
 Interaction and empowerment
 Wellbeing and safety in daily life
 Awareness and respect for diverse
cultures and languages
 Responsibility for sustainable future

10. What’s changing at school culture and practices?
 Diverse learning environments: studying takes
place more outside classroom and in virtual
environments.
 Students move more and sit less.
 Students use more computers, tablets and their
own device (BYOD).
 Students study coding, computing and
computational thinking throughout basic education
 Active learning methods like drama, role play,
debate and gaming are used more often.
Tiina Sarisalmi

11. What’s changing in school culture?
 Students take part in the design of their learning. More
projects, exploring and solving real-life problems in
groups.
 Students of different ages and grades work more
together.
 Teachers work more together (co-teaching).
 Students can be teachers and teachers can be students.
 Fewer summative tests (assessing what’s been learned)
and more supporive feed back, self and peer
assessment (assessing learning).
Tiina Sarisalmi

12. What’s changing in school practices?
 Students are encouraged to find and use their strenghts
and make use of their interests.
 Students study more often multi-disciplinary learning
modules and phenomena from cross-curricular point of
view.
 Students get friends and cooperate with students from
different countries and cultures in their own school,
neighborhood or via internet.
 Teachers build professional networks also internationally.
 Students participate in developing their own school,
promoting sustainability and making the world a better
place!
Tiina Sarisalmi

13. Implementation of FCC: Development plans and projects
Professional development and teacher
training
Pedagogical support
Investments in device and technology
Professional development and teacher
training
Professional (international) networks
Development networks
Sharing best practices

14. For the majority of teachers this means a
giant step outside their comfort zone and a
leap to unknown. It won’t happen without the
unconditional support of the head teacher
and the cooperation of the whole school
community. Fortunately, in the new
curriculum, we are all, both teachers and
students, given the right to make
mistakes and learn from them.

15.  Change management
 National, regional and local coordination
in the implementation process
 Shared goals and commitment
 Collaboration
 Trust in each other
Implementation of the FCC

16.  Curriculum can be considered a process
(not a product)
 Curriculum is showing the way and the
how (not what)
 Curriculum is flexible and developing (not
stagnant)
Implementation of the FCC

17. THANK YOU!
http://schoolsgoingglobal.blogspot.fi/
tiina.sarisalmi@orivesi.fi
Special thanks to
Irmeli Halinen, former Head of Curriculum Development
At the Finnish National Board of Education:
http://www.oph.fi/download/151294_ops2016_curriculum_reform_in_finland.pdf