Schools | There is no shortage of expert teachers in Finland, OAJ still demands the establishment of a teacher register

in Finland there is no shortage of qualified teachers, but the situation is good compared internationally, says the professor Jari Lavonen. He has been the chairman of the national teacher training forum for eight years.

HS told after working as an unqualified special education teacher for a long time Maria Mäkinen from a working career, during which there has been enough work, but the opportunity to qualify has not been organized alongside the work.

Lavonen emphasizes that compared to other countries, at least in Europe, Finland’s situation in terms of formally qualified teachers is excellent.

In the 2019 statistics, 95 percent of teachers in basic education and 97 percent in upper secondary education were formally qualified. The situation is better in South Korea and Singapore.

However, there is a shortage of special education teachers in Finland, and according to Lavonen, there are positions to treat ineligible persons with one-year contracts.

In 2019, according to statistics, 90 percent of special education teachers were eligible. The worst situation was in Uusimaa, where 83 percent were eligible.

Teachers the trade association OAJ has criticized the statistics being lagging behind and their being based on surveys, the response rate of which remains small.

“Based on the data from 2019, nothing can be reliably said about the situation of special education teachers in the fall of 2023. A teacher register would be needed,” says OAJ’s director of education policy Nina Lahtinen.

OAJ has been demanding the establishment of a teacher register for more than ten years. It is not even mentioned in the new government program, and the situation is very worrying in OAJ’s opinion.

According to Teacher Training Forum Lavonen, the teacher register has been under work at the Ministry of Education, but the work is in progress.

Lahtinen reminds that, according to the statistics of the Ministry of Labor and the Economy, special education teachers are one of the professions with the worst labor shortage in Finland.

The number of places to start training for special education teachers has increased recently.

“They still don’t meet the need we have,” says Lahtinen.

However, in Lahtinen’s opinion, the situation will not be improved if anyone can provide learning support without special pedagogical expertise.

“The teacher’s qualification requirements guarantee that, after completing the training, the teacher has the basic skills required by the job, which is developed on the job, but which is also further increased during the career with continuing education,” says Lahtinen.

Incompetent According to Lavonen, teachers have very different backgrounds. There are subject teachers who work as classroom teachers and teachers who work as special education teachers who lack the studies of a special education teacher.

“And there are certainly high school students who don’t have teacher studies or are in the middle of their studies as substitutes,” says Lavonen.

Maria Mäkinen, who HS interviewed earlier, is also a high school student in the eyes of the school system. By training, he is a Steiner pedagogue who has acquired the Steiner school teacher’s qualification at Snellman University. In the interview, Mäkinen said that he felt he had attended a college that wasn’t a college at all.

In Lavonen’s opinion, it is understandable that some young people apply for education courses other than those organized by universities. However, he thinks that Mäkinen, who was interviewed by HS, knew what kind of qualification the education would give him.

“There is a tough selection of students for teacher training. In Helsinki, only about ten percent of applicants are selected for classroom teacher training,” Lavonen reminds.

He emphasizes that the number of places reflects the need for teachers reasonably well.

“There are very thorough calculations in the background. It is not good that after five years of education you graduate unemployed. For example, in South Korea, about half of those who graduate as teachers do not get a job as a teacher.”

Lavonen the perception is that Finland is a kind of model country in the world regarding teacher education and its attractiveness.

According to Lavonen, there is no shortage of teachers in Finland, and this phenomenon is of great interest in other countries. Lavonen says that he has given dozens of interviews on the subject to the media of different countries.

“One reason for the attractiveness is the master’s level education. This education produces a profession that includes planning and evaluating one’s own work. We don’t have the same kind of control, testing and inspection activities as there are in many other countries.”

Teacher training there is great variation in the organization in different countries. For example, in Norway and Sweden, it has only recently started to require class teachers to have a master’s degree, which includes doing a degree-type thesis. In England, on the other hand, one possible route to graduate as a teacher is on the job by learning at school.

In Finland, too, the qualification requirements for teachers are currently being revised. According to Lavonen, the work is in progress and it examines multidisciplinary studies, pedagogical studies and separate special education teacher studies.

According to Lavonen, a larger review of the structure and duration of the studies produced by the teacher’s qualification has not been requested. They have been satisfied with that in Finland.

“I think multi-modal education is a good model among other models. Open universities in Finland are also important ways to study,” says Lavonen.

Lahtinen reminds that the path often used by teachers has been a year’s leave and training with adult education support.

“OAJ therefore considers the government’s decision to abolish adult education support to be very bad and we oppose it. Absolutely, there must be a form of support similar to the current adult education support for these areas of shortage, such as special teachers,” says Lahtinen.