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This study explores the characteristics of the teacher evaluation model in Finland. Highlighting the unique qualities of the Finnish case, we also compare these teacher evaluation practices with the increasingly applied value-added model (VAM) for teacher evaluation across the globe. Our analysis revealed that the Finnish Model prioritises teacher empowerment and professional development by carrying out bottom-up evaluation practices. With a clear focus on teacher empowerment and professional development, this framework substantially differs from accountability measures such as VAM, which emphasize rigid data collection procedures and the use of standardized test scores to hold teachers accountable based on their students' academic performance. This study also revealed that professional development endeavours of teachers are highlighted as the key elements in Finnish teacher evaluation. Ongoing needs analyses for professional development also form the basis for assessing teachers in Finland.

Good reading skills are an essential part of everyday life. This article presents two Finnish projects JEKKU (2010-2011) and LUKUINTO (2012-2015) that aim to enhance children’s engagement and success in reading. The research results of these studies are described in this article from three perspectives: reading skills, reading materials, and reading interventions. The main aim of this article is to highlight how helping children to read and enjoy reading is not complicated. Our studies show that children who are interested in what they read, and experience pleasure and success while reading, are provided with comfortable reading places and enough time to concentrate on reading, read more and become confident readers. The basics of reading skills and the attitudes towards reading are created in the early years, so it is important to concentrate on making these reading experiences more interesting and enjoyable for all young children. This article is not a traditional research article, but collects the results of the two projects together and strives to give concrete tools for reading enhancement to all educators.

This research explores the learning outcomes of preschool children produced through visits to an historic house museum environment. The new Finnish preschool curriculum identifies the importance of arts-based approaches for children and that these approaches should be closely aligned to experiential and holistic education. The aim of the research was to explore the significance of the museum environment to preschoolers and their creative activities as a result of experiences at the museum. The research data were collected across 4 days with 16 preschool children. The empirical data stemmed from tasks which included follow-up stories, drawings based on the stories, craft designs, craft products, and video recordings of the activities in the historic house museum environment and at school. The research data were supported by semi-structured interviews that illuminated children’s perspectives on the project. The qualitative data were analyzed using a framework that took account of the compulsory, optional, and free properties of the follow-up stories and craft products. The historic house museum environment was connected to children’s creative actions to give them ideas for their stories and craft products. The holistic learning process described in this study appeared to benefit the construction of learning in a child-centered way that grounded children’s understanding. The research contributes to greater understanding about how arts-based and creative learning activities can be implemented with preschool children in different environments.

Art-related learning should be the central way of doing and playing in preschool, because the high quality of art-related education has a positive effect on children’s well-being, identity development, and creative thinking. In our study we tested an integrated learning process where reading literature and telling stories is combined with the making of a craft product. In addition we created a framework of compulsory, optional and free elements to plan and evaluate the creative learning process. Our research material consists of anticipatory stories collected by storycrafting, characters made by children with craft materials/techniques, and character descriptions. The storycrafting method is implemented in this study as an anticipatory story based on a fragment of a fictional text. The character is made using the concept of a holistic craft, where the pupil designs, produces, and evaluates the whole process. The data were collected in a preschool group that consisted of 10 children, 7 boys and 3 girls. Based on the study results, it is possible to conclude that most children benefitted from the process. It seems that literature and storycrafting support designing craft products. Our study showed that integrated learning process could be an effective and a creative way of working in a preschool group.

This paper traces the presentation of these traditional minority groups in Finland and the emergence of literature incorporating the more recently arrived groups of immigrants in the history of Fin ...

Literature supports children's literacy growth in many ways. It helps children extend their understanding and clarify different situations in their lives, recognize and deal with feelings, and be more empathetic. Hands-on activities based on stories support children in giving shape to their thoughts. These creative activities not only empower the children but also help teachers understand children's interpretations of literature better and build further on themes for discussions of literature. This article describes an instructional approach with a series of activities (stories, drawing, crafts and discussions) integrated with picturebooks. The activating methods can be used in classrooms to revitalize literature discussions while engaging different senses of all learners. This article gives teachers ready-made materials for use in early childhood education.