Finland will become the first country in the world to remove school subjects from the curriculum. Instead of individual subjects, students will study events and phenomena in an interdisciplinary format. For example, the Second World War will be approached from the historical, geographic, and mathematical perspectives. When a student takes “Working in a Café” course, he/she will learn the English language, economics, and improve his/her communication skills at the same time. In bringing these changes by 2020, Finland hopes to bring out the full potential of their students as well as their teachers.
The idea of this is to eliminate disengagement of students who have to sit through individual classes that they believe they will not need based on their future hopes and ambitions of a working future, but instead will apply those prior individual subjects to a specific topic of their choice, thereby still learning the same skills, but using them in a more productive way that is most beneficial to their individual learning.
The Finnish education system also encourages collective work, meaning that students will be working together in small discussion groups, instead of sat behind individual desks and being taught by one teacher.
This new system will require all teachers to be on board and adaptable to the new teaching system, and around 70% of teachers in Helsinki have already begun work to prepare for the new teaching style, and as a result will get a pay rise.
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