Professor links Finland’s Pisa decline to weakening faith in education

Finnish 15-year-olds performed clearly worse than their Estonian peers in the Pisa assessment published on Tuesday, Yle reported. Professor Mari-Pauliina Vainikainen said one key reason is that confidence in the value of education has weakened in Finland, while it remains strong in Estonia.

The assessment measured 15-year-olds’ skills primarily in science, as well as in reading and mathematics. Estonia ranked among the leading countries, close behind Asian countries and regions.

Vainikainen, a professor of education and learning at Tampere University, said Estonia’s stronger performance was the result of several factors. She has followed the development of learning outcomes in different countries and was involved in conducting the Pisa study for the first time 20 years ago.

In Finland, an increasing number of young people do not see school as important for building their future, she said. The connection between higher education and obtaining a good job and high salary is no longer as straightforward as it was several decades ago.

“For some young people, this causes the reaction: why should I try when it will not be of any benefit anyway?” Vainikainen said.

In Estonia, belief in education remains strong. Vainikainen said education is viewed there much as it was in Finland several decades ago, with schools and education seen as a way to improve living standards and build a better life.

Social change is reflected in learning outcomes

Vainikainen said it was impossible to predict how Estonian students’ results would develop as the country changes. In many countries, learning outcomes have begun to decline once social and economic development reaches a certain point.

The link between higher education and success in working life becomes more complex, and not all students remain committed to educational goals in the same way. Social development is therefore also reflected in learning outcomes, she said.

Pisa results have declined in other Nordic countries as well as in Finland. Finland nevertheless continues to outperform the other Nordic countries overall, including Sweden. Denmark was ahead of Finland only in mathematics. Despite the decline, Finland’s results remain above the OECD average.

Estonian students show greater persistence

Strong confidence in education also contributes to high expectations in Estonia and may help students work harder and approach schoolwork more persistently.

Persistence was also measured in the latest Pisa results. Finland ranked near the bottom, while Estonian students performed better.

“In Finland, there are increasingly more young people who clearly do not try their best. This applies to the Pisa assessment tasks, but also to schoolwork more generally,” Vainikainen said.

Estonian students nevertheless reported experiencing more bullying than students in Finland and the OECD countries on average.

Vainikainen said the results did not mean that Estonian schools were good and schools elsewhere were poor. She said Finland should improve learning outcomes without reducing student wellbeing.

The Pisa results also showed that differences between schools are greater in Estonia than in Finland. Vainikainen said she did not want Finland to develop a school-choice system like the one that has gradually emerged, for example, in the city of Tallinn.

Although school selection also occurs in Finland, she said it is much more common in Estonian cities, where schools compete to build a reputation as good schools.

Professor calls for stronger basic skills

Vainikainen said Finland should strengthen students’ basic skills, including basic reading and arithmetic, as well as general thinking and reasoning skills that provide the foundation for further learning.