Monday, 26th October

As I become more and more involved in my training course, becoming progressively familiar with the different activities and techniques that English teachers use in their classrooms, I am also beginning to reflect on the basic philosophical ideology underpinning this particular approach to teaching and learning. Of course, it is an extremely well organized, highly effective and efficient way to understand education. Teachers are supposed to design accurate lesson plans, to know a vast repertoire of teaching tools and resources, to regularly assess the students' progress and to carefully reflect on their own teaching practice. Moreover, they are systematically evaluated by inspectors who sit in their classes while they are teaching, and who have the scary power of determining whether the teacher's performance is satisfactory or inadequate. Unlike Spanish teachers, British teachers are not civil servants with a permanent post and a life-long safe and predictable career. They are recruited by the school principal, and if their work doesn't meet the expected quality standards, they might be eventually dismissed. In order to prove that they are following the national curriculum they must keep a precise and detailed record of all their activities. I can imagine the overwhelming amount of paperwork involved in such a task, and I can also guess how stressful this job must be, taking into account the considerable pressure that they must bear. And, last but not least, they are also in charge of making their pupils learn!

The overall impression that this educational system makes me feel is not very exciting. I admit that their pedagogical techniques, centred in the student rather than in the teacher, are much more interesting and appealing than the ones we generally use in Spain. However, I find that English teachers are forced to work within a general scheme that is focussed on productivity and accountability, that is obsessed with bureaucratic evaluation and that considers that teachers should be carefully monitored in order to prevent any deviation from the programmed schedule. This does not really match my personal conjectures about how a relaxing and happy working environment should look like. As a teacher, my ideal scenario is much closer to the Finnish way of understanding education. A few years ago I had the wonderful opportunity of witnessing how schools work in Finland. I witnessed how Finnish teachers do their jobs, and I was really amazed when I discovered the freedom and happiness they enjoyed in their classrooms. Of course, Finland cannot be compared with England – or, for the same reason, with Spain. But there are some aspects of Finnish education than make me wonder whether there could be a substantial flaw in the British way of addressing pedagogical problems. To start with, teachers are very respected people in Finland, as education is considered to have a very prestigious and important role in Finnish society. Becoming a teacher in Finland is a dream that can only be achieved by the most brilliant students. This means that most Finnish teachers have a very clear vocation, excellent qualifications and outstanding skills. They are so committed with their job that there seems to be no need of having an inspection system. There used to be one, but it was suppressed as it was considered superfluous, making a stark contrast in comparison with British educational system. I described all my impressions from this visit to Finland in a presentation (written in Spanish) that can be accessed at the following Internet address: http://www.elviajerosuizo.com/resources/secreto_finlandia.cesar_prestel.pdf Anyway, there are also some aspects in Finnish educational system that make it difficult to generalise its general approach to other countries, such as Spain or the United Kingdom. So learning how English teachers deal with their classes can also shed light on the difficult challenges that we are facing in our modern societies. I wonder if it would be possible to create a synthesis between Finnish spirit and British efficiency, in order to foster a human, engaging and productive way of teaching.