Professional Teachers

Teachers in Finland are perceived as professionals. This stems from both the shift of teacher training to an academic subject in universities, and the educational reforms decentralizing decision-making to schools (Begrem, et al., 1997).

Professional teachers:

1) Perceive personal enrichment as a professional asset
2) Appreciate cooperation and interaction with students and colleagues
3) Realize their responsibility and value their autonomy
4) Dedicate themselves to their work (Begrem, et al., 1997).

The decentrlization and devolution of school control also add to the increased responsibility of teachers. The current Finnish school curricula allow teachers freedom and autonomy, in addition to a culture of trust for teachers within Finnish society. This trust even includes politicians and economists, something rare in other countries (Simola, 2005).