On March 24th in question period, St Albert MLA Ken Allred asked Education Minister Dave Hancock about the differences between education in Alberta and Finland after hearing Finnish education expert Pasi Sahlberg speak at a Real Learning First event. The following is a transcript of the exchange copied from the March 24, 2010 printed transcripts of the Legislative debate and discussion.
Question Period
Mr. Allred (St. Albert PC): Mr. Speaker, one of the best ways to enhance Alberta’s competitiveness is to maintain our world-leading standing in education. Other countries recognize the extraordinary importance that education will play in their economic future, and their students are leaping ahead of Alberta students. I was pleased the other evening to go to hear an educational consultant from Finland speak in St. Albert. To the Minister of Education. Finland has what is, very simply, the best education system in the world. Notably, unlike Alberta, they have no state testing or school ranking lists. When will Alberta follow their lead?
The Speaker: We have to get a response from the minister.
Mr. Hancock (Edmonton-Whitemud PC): Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In fact, Pasi Sahlberg has been on a tour around Alberta a number of times and is quite an expert on education and well worth listening to, and I’ve heard him a number of times. Finland is actually recognized as one of the best systems in the world, but it’s more than just a question of not having tests. In fact, in the opportunity I had to meet with six jurisdictions from around the world who are rated among the top 25 in the world, the common thing that we found about all jurisdictions that are excellent is excellence in teaching. All the rest of the things that they have are quite different, and we can be strong in different areas, but it’s excellence in teaching which draws them together. [interjections]
The Speaker: The hon. member.
Mr. Allred: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. To the same minister: given that Finnish students are in school for far fewer hours than Alberta students yet their achievement is much higher, are you considering reducing the number of hours Alberta students spend in school?
Mr. Hancock: Well, Mr. Speaker, it’s not actually a question of hours. Yes, Finland does have a lot shorter number of hours for their students. Also, their students start later. They start at age 7, which develops a maturity that has worked very well for them. Of course, as the Member for Edmonton-Strathcona has been shouting at me, they have child care and other things at the earlier ages, which is supported. Suffice it to say that Finland does very well. They have many different things in their system which are different from ours and different from other successful places in the world, and they have some things that other places do which do not give them the results.
The Speaker: The hon. member.
Mr. Allred: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Again to the same minister: why does Alberta’s education system not follow the Finnish model, where teachers spend more time collaborating with each other than anywhere else?
Mr. Hancock: Well, in fact, Mr. Speaker, that’s a very good question. Again, when I had the opportunity to be in Singapore to look at the Singapore system and meet with ministers of education from around the world, one of the things that became very apparent: professional development, selecting the best teachers, educating them appropriately, making sure that they’re well inducted into the profession, and making sure that they have good, solid opportunities for professional development throughout their professional life is what helps to create excellence in teaching. That amount of time that they have in Singapore and in Finland for teachers to get together to learn from each other and to build their professional practice enhances their education system, and we should be looking very closely at that. (668 – 669)
Thanks to the Public School Boards' Association of Alberta Legislature Watch Blog for this.
