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Finland is widely known for having a stellar education system, a reputation that drew me to spend the past school year studying abroad at the University of Jyväskylä in Central Finland. Trying to uncover what education policies and cultural factors led to the country’s glowing reputation, I conducted field visits to Finnish schools, volunteered at them, shadowed Finnish teachers, and conducted informational interviews with them.
On the first day of my field visits, as a local PE teacher pulled up to my apartment to give me a lift to a school, I was shocked. A school teacher came to pick me up in a BMW car. I wondered, how a school teacher could afford a luxury car. As I got in and made small talk with the teacher, she began to tell me about her most recent vacation to Greece during a Fall break in addition to her past travels across the U.K. I was shocked again. How could a school teacher afford to engage in such extensive travels?
It was surprising not to hear her — or any other teacher I met at a Finnish school during my year abroad — discuss having to work a second job as is the unfortunate norm in the United States. This entire encounter began to make sense when I read that Finland was ranked as the #1 happiest country in the world.
Not only does the general Finnish population experience a high level of happiness and satisfaction living in the country, but even teachers experience a sense of contentment as a result of the country’s culture and education policies. Finnish teachers’ salaries are the highest among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) nations when compared with similarly educated professions. While U.S. teachers make 58% of their counterparts’ salaries, Finnish teachers make 92% of the salaries of similarly educated professions. This trend follows with other countries ranked highly in the World Happiness Report. Teachers in Denmark (ranked #2 in World Happiness) make 81% of their counterparts’ salaries and teachers in Sweden (ranked #4) make 74% of their counterparts’ salaries.
According to a Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) administered by the OECD in 2018, 58% of Finnish teachers “agree” or “strongly agree” with the statement that asks if they believe the teaching profession is valued in society, while an average of only 26% of teachers from the 48 surveyed countries and economies, “agree” or “strongly agree” with this statement.
Finnish society also considers the teaching profession to be valuable. In over 1,000 survey responses administered by Taloustutkimus (an economic research company in Finland), 97% of Finns agree that the teaching profession is valuable to society as a whole, and 91% of Finns perceive it to be a demanding profession. In contrast, according to a 2023 PDK poll of the U.S. public, 73% believe teachers are undervalued.
Freedom — specifically teacher autonomy — also is a hallmark of the Finnish education system. The government does not administer any standardized tests during basic education (grades 1-9), nor do school inspections occur. The government only administers a national matriculation exam at the end of upper secondary school (grades 10-12), which is also used for students’ entrance to university.
The Finnish government trusts teachers, who have undergone a rigorous five- or six-year teacher training program, to promote learning by continuously assessing students throughout their course of study. Final grades given at the end of basic education are determined by students’ teachers.
In addition to autonomy concerning student assessment, Finnish teachers also enjoy pedagogical autonomy. Teachers make decisions on methods of teaching, textbooks, and other materials used in their classrooms.
This autonomy and value of teachers lead to increased mental well-being and happiness among teachers. According to the same 2018 TALIS survey, only 14% of Finnish teachers experience “a lot” of stress at work, which is lower than the OECD average of 18% and much lower when compared to the United States (26%). Finnish teachers also work 33.3 hours on average, while the EU average in 2022 was 37.5 hours, and the U.S. average was a whopping 53 hours.
Of course, even Finland is not perfect. The country is struggling with a shortage of early childhood teachers, special education teachers, and language teachers in higher-need regions. Teacher salaries progress the slowest in Finland compared to other E.U. countries as it takes a teacher 20 years to reach the maximum salary. Top teacher salaries are only 30% higher than statutory entry salaries.
Nevertheless, the experiences of Finland’s teachers make it clear that the United States still has much to learn on supporting teachers’ happiness and the country’s education system.
