An exceptional number of reforms have been made to upper secondary education in recent years. The burden on teachers rose again in the public debate.
“Koen, that we are torn in two directions, ”says the mother tongue and literature teacher Heidi Räihä From Jyväskylä High School.
According to Räihä, the activities of upper secondary schools are guided from two different directions and with separate goals. It confuses the work of teachers.
In the other direction is the matriculation examination, the weight of which has been increased in recent years and the number of compulsory subjects will increase to five next year.
In the other direction are the basics of the curriculum prepared by the National Board of Education, which emphasize coping, well-being and interaction skills in life.
“They are big goals in themselves. It would be great if we could focus on them, ”says Räihä.
According to Heidi Räihä, a teacher of mother tongue and literature, the activities of upper secondary schools are directed from two directions.
High school teachers the burden rose again in the public debate over the weekend when a mother tongue and literature teacher, author Tommi Kinnunen told Twitter she was on sick leave due to exhaustion.
Kinnunen listed hybrid teaching in Korona, large group sizes, the new curriculum introduced in high schools this autumn, the expansion of compulsory education and the consequent increased Enrollment Requirements.
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“Some jobs need to be done worse.”
Minister of Education Li Andersson (left) told HS on Monday that efforts are being made to reduce the administrative burden on schools and teachers.
According to Räihä, the things listed by Kinnunen sound familiar. The weekly teaching obligation has remained the same, but there has been a steady increase in work assignments.
“It means some work needs to be done worse,” Räihä says.
For high school education there have been an exceptional number of reforms in recent years.
Already in 2019, a new high school law came into force, which, however, did not really appear until this year. For example, the new law strengthened study guidance and required high schools to provide special education from 2021 onwards.
The content of the High School Act is also implemented by the new high school curriculum that came into force this year. In addition, compulsory education was extended to the age of 18: for the first time, those who had completed their primary school in the spring had a statutory obligation to apply to study after primary school.
The change was pushed through quickly, as Parliament only passed a new compulsory education law last December. The rush is also reflected in the learning materials, which are full of mistakes, Räihä says.
“Because education providers pay for learning materials for high school students of compulsory school age, publishers have been under pressure to get their materials to market quickly. There have been many shortcomings in e-learning materials that we have had to deal with publishers. ”
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“The previous curriculum was not properly run in before the new one came in.”
“I’m not myself has never been so tired as this autumn, ”says Kuopio Kallavesi High School’s deputy principal, English subject teacher Tiina Karjalainen.
Fatigue is underpinned by a pile of reforms and a protracted pandemic. Based on the new curriculum criteria, local curricula were developed in the midst of the interest rate crisis.
“The previous curriculum was not properly run in before the new one came. If the curriculum is to make a real difference, there must be time and energy to do the work. ”
Typically, the curriculum reform cycle is about ten years. Now it was only five years between the reforms, as the last time the high school curriculum was renewed was in 2016.
The Karelian understands that it was sensible to reform the curricula at the same time as expanding compulsory education. The fact that the reforms had to be put into effect in the middle of a pandemic does not make him understand.
“Both could very well have been delayed by a year. It would not have been out of anyone. ”
The fact that the reforms had to be put into effect in the middle of a pandemic is not understood by Tiina Karjalainen.
High school teachers university reforms are also visible in everyday life.
A larger proportion of university students than before will be selected on the basis of the grades of their student certificates. As a result of the reform, more and more people are renewing their student exams in hopes of better grades.
“Teachers both monitor and correct more student exams,” says Karjalainen.
Supervision work has also been increased by a reform in which, for example, a candidate who has been diagnosed with a reading disorder is given extra time in the exam or a quiet space to take the exam. In the past, it was common to receive point compensation instead of special arrangements.
The workload of many high school teachers is at its heaviest during the fall student grades. The final week of the first period of the three-year course typically overlaps with the writings. In addition to supervising and inspecting the student exams, the examinations and final theses of other students for the past period must be inspected.
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“There has been more reporting work. The idea is good, but no working time has been allocated for this. ”
With reforms have good goals, state both Räihä and Karjalainen. For example, student absenteeism needs to be monitored and addressed more closely.
As a group tutor for first-year high school students, Räihä records what kind of support needs students have, what kind of special arrangements have been granted to them and how the special arrangements are implemented.
“There has been more reporting work. The idea is good, but no working time has been allocated for this. ”
Hybrid teaching in the Korona period, ie simultaneous contact and distance teaching, is mainly behind us in Kuopio and Jyväskylä. Fortunately, because it has been heavy for both teachers and students, Räihä says.
According to Räihä, the work related to student care increased during the hybrid teaching period. It was difficult to monitor how well those students with learning difficulties or a difficult life situation were doing. Communication to homes increased.
“Korona is no longer directly visible in teaching, but its effects on students’ mental health and coping are still visible. Some students have learning disabilities. ”
High school students load and performance pressures have been discussed for a long time. What should be done to make both students and teachers better in high school?
Karjalainen hopes that the high school will be rushed. The same wish was repeated in a survey conducted in the autumn by Karjalainen, a shop steward and chairman of the Kuopio local association of the trade union.
“The biggest wish of the respondents was that they should be able to focus on the basic work of the teacher. That should focus on planning lessons and teaching. ”
Heidi Räihä is on the same lines.
“Less projects, less recording, less reporting and administrative work. Opportunity to focus on teaching. Moderate to the pressures of change and not having to change everything all the time. ”
HS assembles information for the purpose of what is it like to work and study in high schools and vocational schools in the capital city today?.
We expect answers from students and teachers, but also from other staff and parents. You can answer the online survey below or send an e-mail to [email protected]. The response time is Monday 15.11. until.
Please note that HS does not publish quotes from respondents whose real name and contact details are not known in the delivery.
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