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Continuing Professional Development
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Yongjian Li
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Continuing
Professional
Development
of Teachers
in Finland
Yongjian Li and Fred Dervin

of Teachers in Finland
Yongjian Li · Fred Dervin
Continuing
Professional
Development of
Teachers in Finland
Yongjian Li Fred Dervin
School of Education Department of Teacher Education
University of Helsinki University of Helsinki
Helsinki, Finland Helsinki, Finland
ISBN 978-3-319-95794-4 ISBN 978-3-319-95795-1 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95795-1
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018947630
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To our family in China and Finland
Contents
1 Introduction: Contextualizing Teacher Continuing

Professional Development in the ‘Miracle’ of Finnish
Education 1
2 Framing CPD to Understand and Explore

the Finnish Context 29
3 Finnish Initial Teacher Education and CPD 43
4 Data and Methodologies 83
5 Providers: Offerings and Critiques 89
6 Teachers’ Views on CPD 115
7 Paratexts to CPD: Decision Making, Leadership,

Teacher Education and Project Work 129
8 Conclusions 157
vii
viii Contents
Afterword: Learning with Each Other in Comparative

and International Education 171
Bibliography 195
Index 211
List of Figures
Fig. 1.1 Finland’s system of education, from the National Agency

for Education 5
Fig. 1.2 Continua of Finnish education 8
Fig. 8.1 CPD organisation and funding 161
ix
List of Tables
Table 4.1 Types and sources of data 84

Table 5.1 List of funders for CPD 90
Table 5.2 Profiles of interviewees: providers 98
Table 6.1 Profiles of interviewees (teachers) 117
xi
1
Introduction: Contextualizing Teacher
in the ‘Miracle’ of Finnish Education
Finland is known for its equal basic education. We are proud of it. The
centenary of the Finnish story is a narrative of a nation that, throughout
its history, has expanded access to education and built equal opportunities.
(Finnish Minister of Education Sanni Grahn-Laasonen 28 February 2018)
– Now I want to live in Finland…

– I should have gone to school in Finland.
– The education system there is also brilliant, we have so much to learn
from a society that places importance on equality and happiness.
– I am tired of hearing about the Finns.
(Comments on Finnish education found randomly online in 2017)
When the Greek hero Achilles, who was the bravest, handsomest and
greatest warrior, was born, it was foretold that he would die young. His
mother dipped him in a magic river that would offer him invulnera-
bility to counter the spell. However, she held Achilles by the heel, pre-
venting it from being protected by the river. One day, he was killed by
a poisonous arrow lodged in his heel. Today the expression “Achilles’
heel” refers to “an area of weakness, a vulnerable spot” (Oxford English
Dictionary, 2016).
© The Author(s) 2018 1

Y. Li and F. Dervin, Continuing Professional Development of Teachers in Finland,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95795-1_1
2 Y. Li and F. Dervin
This book examines the Achilles’ heel of one of the top perform-
ing countries in education, according to such world rankings as the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) studies, the
OECD Better Life Index Education, the Global Competitiveness
Report 2016–2017 of the World Economic Reform, and the cur-
rent doxa (commonsense ) on international and comparative education:
Teacher Continuing Professional Development (CPD) in the small Nordic
country of Finland (population: 5.4 million, 2017).
According to Olli Luukkainen, Director of the only Teachers’ Trade
Union in Finland (Opetusalan Ammattijärjestö, OAJ), which represents
over 120,000 teachers from early childhood teachers to university lecturers:
Our system of continuing education and professional development for

teachers is not good enough. It differs too much from one part of the
country to another and one group of teachers to another. Teachers in
vocational schools, for example, have much better support for continuing
education than do primary teachers. (OECD 2011: 126)
The country has been revered worldwide for its ‘miraculous education’
(Niemi et al. 2012) and has become ‘mythical’ (Dervin 2013), being
presented in somewhat simplistic ways. For example, this is how one
company, attached to several Finnish universities and selling Finnish
education to the world, talks about it:
All over the world, people are talking about “the Finnish phenomenon”.
People wonder how Finland can consistently top international student
performance rankings, while placing an unwavering focus on every child’s
well-being.
The Finnish education system is a diamond that has been carefully
ground and polished for decades. It began with the zeal and determina-
tion of Finnish people to push themselves to succeed – a dream that gen-
eration after generation worked at until it came true.
One thing Finns realised is that success in education can only be achieved
by working together and making the most of everyone’s resources. This is
how an equal education system was created.
1 Introduction: Contextualizing Teacher …
3
The resounding success of Finnish education is evidenced by superb inter-

national results such as high PISA rankings.
The wonders of this ‘diamond’ are often attributed to Finnish teachers,

who are said to be the ‘best teachers in the world’—even if one cannot
agree universally on what this actually means. In her answers to parlia-
mentary questions to the Finnish government about education in early
2018, the Minister of Education put it this way:
We have the best, highly educated teachers in the world who are appreci-
ated by society and who, compared to other countries, have an exceptionally
broad pedagogic freedom. (…) Our teachers do an excellent job in schools.
As we shall see in this book, teachers’ CPD in the Nordic country is

somewhat a victim of contradictory discourses amongst decision makers
and practitioners. In many cases it appears to be a mystery and a problem-
atic aspect of education, although it should be central to teacher prepara-
tion. While working on this study, we have had to do ‘detective work’ as
information about CPD is scattered and often inconsistent in Finland.
Motivated by the mantra of ‘the best education system in the world’,
hundreds of ‘pedagogical tourists’ have visited Finland in search of
the ‘miracle of education’ (Niemi et al. 2012), especially in relation to
Initial Teacher Education (ITT) at university, which lasts for 5 years,
leading to a Master’s Degree. Overly positive discourses on ITT have
led to the establishment of ‘Finnish education export’ to the world
(Dervin 2013; Schatz 2016a).
Finland’s Miracle?
In international comparison, according to surveys by the World Health
Organization, WHO, Finnish schoolchildren are not very enthusias-
tic about going to school (…). Salmela-Aro and her research team have
found that many young people experience a lack of meaning concern-
ing school and their own studies (Salmela-Aro 2017). According to their
research, almost one half of schoolchildren do not see school as meaning-
ful at the end of elementary school. (Huhtala and Vesalainen 2017: 60)
According to Egginger (2013) the current interest in Finnish educa-

tion is not new if one looks back in history. As such, during the World
Fairs of 1889/1900 Finland, which was then a Grand Duchy of Russia
before its independence in 1917, was already presented as some sort of
a ‘miracle’. A Finnish school had been set up in Paris with a teacher and
Finnish pupils enacting reading activities for the audience (Egginger,
ibid.). Finnish education was already said to be efficient, modern, and
equalitarian at the time.
These ideas are still reflected in Finland’s top position in many world
rankings: The Sustainable Society Index (2016), first in human wellbe-
ing; The Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report (2015, World
Economic Forum), safest country in the world; The Global Gender Gap
Index (2016, World Economic Forum), one of the most equal countries.
The Fourth of December 2001 marked an important date
for Finland. This is when the results of the first Programme for
International Student Assessment (PISA) of the OECD were released.
Finland came first, which put the country on the world map for
many years and earned the country the status of ‘educational utopia’.
According to the ‘global ambassador’ and ‘guru’ of Finnish education,
Pasi Sahlberg, who started working in Australia in 2018:
This [was] a very new situation for Finns. Ten years ago, before 2002,
we were very rarely asked to go anywhere so now if somebody wants to
hear stories from Finland we… you know I wanna go… because I also
understand that this is not gonna last forever that at some point we will
be taken over by somebody else then all these things will be nice memory.
(Pasi Sahlberg, Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education, March
2012, our transcription)
The triennial international survey, PISA, aims to evaluate education sys-

tems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old stu-
dents in reading, mathematics and science at the end of basic education.
Around 510,000 students from 65 countries participate in the assess-
ment. PISA has managed to establish an increasingly strong and media-
tised ‘comparative turn’ amongst educational systems around the world,
where top systems attract attention and become models for others (Grek
2009).
5
According to the OECD (2013: 6) Finland is among the most equi-

table countries as far as PISA performance of 15-year-olds is concerned.
System-level policies are said to assure equity for students. And the
Nordic country has both a large percentage of top performers and a
smaller-than-average proportion of low performers.
Finnish Basic education (see Fig. 1.1) includes nine years of compul-
sory schooling with a voluntary tenth year. Education is free, and text-
books and a daily meal are provided. Early intervention and individual
Fig. 1.1 Finland’s system of education, from the National Agency for Education
guidance and support are seen as keys to ensuring that no one is left
behind. At upper secondary level, instruction and school lunches, as
well as health care are provided free of charge, but students are required
to obtain their own textbooks and they may also be charged for other
learning materials. It is important to note that all families receive child
benefit from public funds for each child aged under 16, which aims to
cover specific costs relating to raising children. This is provided regard-
less of parents’ income, which, in a sense, can lead to inequity (some
families get even more capitals). In addition to such benefits, those
receiving special needs education are also entitled to assistant services,
other pupil welfare services and special aids (Sahlberg 2011).
Finland’s investment in education is similar to the OECD average,
with 5.7% of Gross Domestic Product (OECD 2017). Basic and gen-
eral upper secondary education institutions are funded by the state and
local authorities. Municipalities receive funding according to the propor-
tion of population (number of municipal residents aged between 6 and
15) and its socio-economic status. Municipalities decide how to distrib-
ute funding for education (OECD 2013: 16). In 2017 there were 311
municipalities in Finland. Sahlberg (2018: n.p.) insists on the diversity
of municipalities and thus the multifacetedness of Finnish education:
Since each municipality has very different regulations, the autonomy of

the corresponding schools varies greatly. For example, in some munici-
palities schools have the right to hire teachers, while in some teachers
are recruited by the government. In some municipalities, principals can
decide some minor bonuses they pay to teachers, and in some municipali-
ties, the power to pay all wages comes from the government.
Therefore, there is a common misunderstanding when discussing Finnish
education internationally. People think Finnish education system is uni-
fied. However, in fact, education in Finland is very diverse, not the same
everywhere. That is also why I often tell international colleagues that we
should go out and see how different communities in different situations
and with different needs in Finland.
Although Sahlberg offers an interesting critique of discourses about

Finnish education globally, it is important to note that, in a way, he
might have contributed himself to presenting an image of Finnish
7
education, which is homogeneous—like many other experts of Finnish

education. The title of his most popular book, Finnish Lessons, and its
contents add to the confusion (Itkonen et al. 2017).
The most recent PISA results are from 2015. Finland’s performance
was less impressive in the last study as the country ranked 13 for math-
ematical literacy amongst all the countries participating in PISA, 4th in
reading literacy, 5th in scientific literacy and 7th in collaborative prob-
lem-solving (total number of participating countries and economies: 73;
OECD 2015). One of the reasons is that inequalities have increased.
For example, boys and students with an immigrant background now
have a higher risk of lower performance. Although the impact of
socio-economic status on the risk of low performance is still lower than
the OECD average, it has also increased (OECD 2015: 6).
What Finnish education fans and supranational organisations seem
to miss is the fact that, like all other education systems, Finland wit-
nesses contradictions and should be examined, according to Simola
et al. (2017), through dynamics. In agreement with the scholars, one
could say that the Finnish system of education is located on different
continua, in terms of ideology, policy and pedagogy, that characterise it
as politically shifting from one end to another:
– Brunila et al. (2017) note that Finnish education, like many other sys-
tems of education, has clearly shifted from a knowledge-based educa-
tion to skills training, prefiguring students’ role in the labour market.
– Simola et al. (2017) argue that Finnish education is witnessing a
strong contradiction between “the social-democratic agrarian tradition
of equality and the market-liberalist version of equity that emerged in
Finland in the late 1980s”. While the former is based on the ideol-
ogy of the similarity of students, regardless of their sociocultural back-
ground, the latter is clearly stating that students should be catered for
according to their own capacities, needs and individuality (ibid.).
– Pedagogically, Simola et al. (2015) note that Finnish education repre-
sents a mix of traditional and progressive pedagogy (Fig. 1.2).
Regardless of these counter-narratives that have been presented in e.g.

sociology of education and social justice and multicultural education,
Fig. 1.2 Continua of Finnish education
the flow of ‘pedagogical tourists’ to Finland (especially from China and

the USA) has not decreased, neither has the amount of requests from
international media. The promotion and export of Finnish education to
certain parts of the world have been part of the current nation branding
and commercial strategies (Schatz 2016b; Simpson and Dervin 2017).
These derive directly from the PISA fame and have led to what we could
refer to as ‘PISA hysteria’. The reputation of Finland abroad has thus
been very important over the last decade and conscious efforts have
been made by decision-makers and some scholars to protect this reputa-
tion. However, as we shall see, very little, see nothing, is ever said about
teachers’ CPD in Finland. We thus believe that it can represent an inter-
esting and critical entry point into Finnish education.
The Broader Picture: Marketization, Branding

and ‘PISA Hysteria’
For Cantwell and Kauppinen (2014: 3), it is important to under-
stand the complex ways in which today’s education is integrated into
local, national and global political economies, especially in higher
9
education—a very important level of education when discussing

Finnish (teacher) education and training. They write: “nearly all aspects
of higher education (e.g., student recruitment and learning, governance,
organizational administration and strategy, public policy, and the aca-
demic profession) are embedded in the political economy with links to
the market, non-profit and non-governmental organisations, and the
state” (ibid.). The marketization of education is a reality in Finland and
is imbricated, especially, in higher education despite claims that it is not
(e.g. Sahlberg 2011). Over the last 10 years, since the semi-privatization
of Finnish universities, there has been “a move from the public good
knowledge/learning regime to the academic capitalist knowledge/learn-
ing regime” (Slaughter 2014: vii).
Teacher education being part of universities in Finland, has especially
triggered many business-like ventures. The economisation of Finnish
higher education is evident today through e.g. an increase in activities
related to education export (sale of made-to-order trainings, knowledge,
services and consultancy to other countries, see Cai and Kivistö 2010);
which represented about 100 million euros in 2013 (Team Finland, 2014),
and 260 million euros in 2014 (cimo.fi, 2017). A new Government
Programme from 2017 has set a target to increase the turnover to 350 mil-
lion euros by the end of 2018 (ibid.). According to the Finnish Ministry of
Education and Culture (2010: 13), “Higher education institutions will be
encouraged to be active and assume a major role as education export oper-
ators.” In 2018 Education Finland, a national education export program,
was set up by the Finnish National Agency for Education (NAE) (educa-
tionfinland.fi). It is described as follows (cimo.fi, 2017):
The Education Finland growth programme offers companies, education

and training providers and others involved in education export information
about new business opportunities, develops know-how in education export,
and promotes Finnish education and training abroad. The programme
also develops new support solutions together with other operators in edu-
cation export. The Finnish National Agency for Education is responsible
for the implementation of the Education Finland growth programme. The
programme receives funding from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and
Employment and the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Its main goal is to “offer Finnish educational know-how and learning

solutions globally” (from the website; motto: “Ready to learn? ”). An
exhaustive list of Finnish companies and start-ups is included on the
website. From a business perspective, and when we look at the compa-
nies represented on the website, one can wonder if a needs analysis has
been made: what does the world need from Finland? As such one of the
company is based on the famous Finnish cartoon characters Moomins
(language education) and another one offers 3D printing services. Can
export of education rely on what appears to be scattered and somewhat
random, basing its selling points on anecdotal white lies? Furthermore
can one sell CPD abroad when the state of CPD in the country is said
to be fragmented and ineffective?
At an event in China in January 2018 where Finnish teachers were
asked to ‘perform’ with Chinese children and present to Chinese spe-
cialists (event organised by an education export company), the follow-
ing ‘selling’ ideas were shared about Finland:
All subject teachers have interdisciplinary teaching abilities (examples

given: The same teacher uses triangle irons, sand balls and sticks in music
teaching; jigsaw puzzle and dice in math classes; and games with students
in physical education).
The key to Finnish education is according to one teacher: “Our education
system is not built for the sake of winning in PISA. It is for Finland to
win international competition in the future so that every child can have a
high-quality education”.
The following aspects are also mentioned about Finnish education:
(1) Education for all

(2) Development of a high level of teachers’ competence: Finland’s high
social status of teachers, young people want to be teachers, there are
strict pre-service training and teaching practice.
(3) Focus on students, students at the center
(4) Effective guidance and advice
(5) Encouraging Assessment and Evaluation: There is no standardized
test and teachers have autonomy
11
(6) Flexibility and Trust: Trusted Principals, Trusted Teachers,1 Trusted

Students and Parents.2
Finland is also the happiest country in the world.
The rhetoric around trust will come back again and again in this book.
For Sahlberg (2018: n.p.), one of the ‘gurus’ and promoters of Finnish
education,
When it comes to trust, first and foremost we need to understand that

in a system, if parents or society themselves have high demands on their
children’s well-being and behavior, this often means that you are not giv-
ing some freedom to the consequences that may arise. In Finland, trust is
for us the full trust and freedom for our schools and teachers, believing
that they can develop goals, teaching standards and content appropriate
for their children. The trust is instilled deeply in our culture; it is not a
single behavior in a particular situation.
We shall see how this ‘rosy’ picture often hides many unspoken issues in
relation to CPD, amongst others.
Institutions producing international league tables of school perfor-
mance like the OECD—responsible for PISA studies—or the World
Trade Organization, have played an important role in stimulating mar-
ketization and branding in Finland. They constitute what Spring (2015:
1) calls a ‘global education superstructure’ that “directly and indirectly
influences national school systems along with multinational educa-
tion corporations and schools.” These also increase the influence of
1One of our research participants, a teacher from primary school, shared the following anecdote.
One of her colleagues asked her for exercises to be used to train the students for the past tense
in French. When she asked her why she needed exercises about that when it was not even in the
curriculum, the colleague explained that she wanted to teach it because teachers in the lower sec-
ondary school would blame her for being a bad teacher if the students did not know this tense.
2In her book School’s Fault, Korhonen (2018: 35) shows that parents’ trust is not always true (she
is on schoolyard supervision duty): “I walk around the schoolyard, I remember the headmaster’s
advice: remember to look like you’re doing something. Every year there are parents who have
time to come and spy on you. If some students have a fight and you’re not there immediately, the
headmaster will get a call from one of the parents complaining that the teachers are not doing
their job.”
educational research conducted by economists and judging educational

outcomes in economic terms (e.g. rankings).
Scott et al. (2015: 65) claim, for instance, that the OECD “simulta-
neously acts as a diagnostician, judge, and policy advisor” for member
states and others. These superstructures tend to continue working from
a methodological nationalistic approach which is nation-based and thus,
(in-)directly contribute to some sort of neo-nationalism, especially when
the best performers advertise or sell their education to others. However,
Dale and Newman (2005) argues that we can no longer be apprehended
as local entities separated from each other in our accelerated global
world, especially in education where discourses and practices circulate.
Since the ‘PISA hysteria’ started in the 2000s, nicely marketable
imaginaries about Finnish education have blossomed: Finland is one
of the most equal countries in the world; Finnish people are hard-working
and honest; Finnish children do not need to work hard at school even if
they perform excellently in PISA studies; Finnish teachers are the best in the
world, etc. (Dervin 2013; Sahlberg 2011). Decision makers’, country
branders’, practitioners’ and even researchers’ voices from Finland have
contributed to spreading this commonsense, supported by international
media, politically engaged scholars and foreign politicians in need of
inspiration. The Finnish National Agency for Education (NAE) itself
uses marketing language to describe what they are trying to achieve to
foreign guests (e.g.: “Everyone can grow to his/her own potential. We
have passion for learning!”). There is an interesting saying in Chinese
that could explain well what consequences this has on how Finnish
education is discussed around the world. It derives from a discussion
between a minister and his ruler during the Warring States Period (475–
221 BCE) about the presence of tigers on the streets. The saying is 三
人成虎 (San Ren Cheng Hu ). Literally it means “three people become a
tiger ”, in other words if three people say they have seen a tiger then it
must be true (even if it may not be true). Figuratively the meaning is: If
you repeat a lie often enough, it will be believed…
Critics of PISA have noted many methodological concerns about the
conduct, analysis and interpretation of its results (Goldstein 2004). For
instance, we have been personally very critical of interpretations such as
the following, concerning Finnish pupils’ excellent results at reading:
13
This is due to both educational and socio-cultural reasons: teaching chil-

dren to read in school is based on individual development and pace rather
than standardised instruction and frequent testing; Finnish parents read a
lot themselves and also to their children; books and newspapers are easily
available through a dense library network; and children watch subtitled
TV programmes from early on. (Sahlberg 2011: 25)
Although Sahlberg’s arguments include larger societal aspects such as

TV and reading outside schools, it seems to us that too much empha-
sis is laid on the positive influence of parents and teachers. We believe
that looking into the specificities of the Finnish language, which has
regular spelling, compared to e.g. speakers of English, should retain our
attention. While in Finnish every single letter is pronounced, English
pronunciation is quite challenging as the way words are written rarely
correspond to how they are read aloud. Take for example the words
Leicestershire [‘lestəʃə(r) ] and Marimekko in Finnish. Ignoring this aspect
can rhetorically serve the purpose of showing the ‘superiority’ of Finnish
education and society (teachers are excellent, parents caring, etc.).
Another example for testing mathematical literacy is the use of cal-
culators during PISA tests. While in e.g. Singapore the children are not
allowed to use them, in Finland, they are very common—even for PISA
tests.
So, do we compare ‘apples and pears’ through PISA? Should we use
perspectives that look into broader ideological socio-economic-political
contexts (hidden ‘truths’, ‘white lies’)? Should we also pay more atten-
tion to biased generalisations and consider alternative perspectives, espe-
cially from the ‘periphery’ (i.e. outside Europe and the US), to compare
educational systems (see Li and Dervin 2018)? Isn’t there a need to be
critical of ethnocentric, essentialist and exotic discourses about different
systems of education? (Li and Dervin, ibid.).
For Biesta (2015: 350):
The most visible way in which systems such as PISA are seductive is in
that they seem to provide clear, unambiguous and easy to digest and to
communicate information about the apparent quality of educational sys-
tems, particularly with regard to their ‘performance’.
Imaginaries about Finnish education, derived from ‘bad’ analyses based

on PISA results, reports and books for general audiences (rather than
‘proper research’) published mostly in English or translated into local
languages (e.g. Sahlberg’s book Finnish Lessons ), often construct Finland
as a different place that has very little in common with other coun-
tries—especially in terms of education (Sahlberg 2011). The insistence
on dissimilarities makes the Nordic country both an ‘exotic’ and ‘better’
place. Through our critical work, we have noticed an ‘allergy’ towards
similarities between education systems of top performers and those
who face many problems. It could be that, when the problems faced by
Finland in education, which are similar to those experienced by other
countries, are more transparently discussed, Finland ‘fans’ will try to
find another place that can give them the illusion that ‘their’ problems
can be solved.
In many descriptions of Finland, we are reminded of Psalmanazar’s
(1704) imagined Taiwan in An Historical and Geographical Description
of Formosa. The mysterious author, who was actually French, had never
been to Taiwan (Formosa as it used to be called), although he claimed
to be the first native of Taiwan to visit Europe. His descriptions of the
place were made-up and surrealistic: people lived underground; aristocrats
breakfasted on viper’s blood; students were fluent in ancient Greek; priests
sacrificed thousands of infants to a horned god. Interestingly his stories
impressed English audiences and he was even invited to give lectures at
Oxford. Although the comparison will appear far-fetched, we often hear
salaciously imagined ideas about Finland (especially from people who
have never visited Finland—although those who went to the Nordic
countries, are not immune to spreading these imaginaries): there are no
social classes; pupils don’t get any homework; becoming a teacher is as pres-
tigious as becoming a lawyer or a doctor. In a recent email to one of us,
a teacher educator from another country asked us “how assessment is
occurring in Finland now that you don’t have individual disciplines or
subjects”. This puzzling message was most likely based on made-up sto-
ries from international media but also from some education exporters
about the fact that the 2014–2016 Curriculum in Finland had banished
school subjects and generalised interdisciplinarity in all schools. This is
our reply:
15
Good question! However, we still have different disciplines and school

subjects. There is this misconception around the world that we don’t…
we do… we do…
Teachers should, in principle, do at least one interdisciplinary model per
year (phenomenon-based learning) but it does not work… Teachers were
not trained at all for this.
My advice about Finnish education is: Come see for yourself, go outside
Helsinki and you will witness counter narratives… I can send you some
of the articles we have written about Finnish education as “the emperor is
naked”.
The colleague replied briefly: “Thanks for taking the time to get back to
me and also for the info.” Without any request for clarification or pub-
lications. We have faced many similar situations abroad: From a Dean
of a Faculty of Education in Canada who did not want to hear about
the ‘issues faced by Finnish educators’ because he wanted to ‘continue
dreaming’, to a French educator, who did not speak a word of Finnish
or Swedish, and got really upset when he heard counter-stories about the
‘wonders’ of Finnish education. Our assumptions are that myths about
Finland are very handy to manipulate decision-makers (“the Finns do that,
so it must be great”) or to remind e.g. teachers that they need to work
harder or get further training (“because they are not as good as Finnish
teachers”). We name this phenomenon “Finnish education as an alibi”.
But the Nordic country has also somewhat understood the value
of advertising and selling its educational system. Adopting an ambig-
uous form of self-aggrandizement (see the recent use of the hashtag
#BragForFinland used by many Finnish businessmen and public fig-
ures), through which Finland is constructing itself as better than it is,
those who sell implicitly or explicitly its education often lessen the value
of other educational systems by othering them and representing them
as ‘bad examples’ to follow (the case of China) or as being ruthless and
even ‘primitive’ forms of education (Schatz et al. 2015). Falling into the
traps of “apparent neutrality of description” (Holliday 2010) represents
a danger for those who get compared to Finland. Chung’s (2015: 476)
warning about comparing Finland’s education system with other sys-
tems argues for a different approach to comparison:
While I have argued thus far that Finland provides a good example of
education policy, especially in terms of teacher education and political
consensus, there is the underlying and tempting risk of viewing Finnish
education uncritically, as a ‘silver bullet’ for all educational pitfalls and
problems.
This leads us to the idea of nation branding, which, in the case of

Finland, has clearly had an influence on the phenomena described
above, and has accompanied the ‘PISA hysteria’. Over the last 10 years
this phenomenon has spread in certain fields of research in Finland—
such as teacher education—and contributed to uncritical claims about
Finnish education. The concept of country branding was introduced
by e.g. Aronczyk (2013) and Anholt (2009). Aronczyk defines country
branding as:
Using the tools, techniques and expertise of commercial branding is

believed to help nations articulate a more coherent and cohesive identity,
attract foreign capital, and maintain citizen loyalty. In short, the goal of
nation branding is to make the nation matter in a world where borders
and boundaries appear increasingly obsolete. (ibid.: 12)
In the document entitled Mission for Finland published in 2010, the

Finnish authorities place education at the centre of the nation branding
strategy. The document also justifies the need for nation branding in the
following terms:
1) Increasing the appreciation of the fruits of Finnish labor, that is, pro-
moting the export of Finnish products and services, 2) Promoting inter-
national investments in Finland, 3) Promoting inbound tourism to
Finland, 4) Promoting the international status of the Finnish State, 5)
Promoting the appeal of Finland among international professionals, 6)
Raising the national self-esteem of Finns. (2010: 23)
Interestingly nation branding represents, in a sense, a ‘renationali-

zation’ of Finland, a new phase in defining Finnish people’s identity
and appeal to the world through the forces of the market. Of course,
Finland was not the first nation to explicitly brand itself in 2010. As
17
a ‘smaller power’ in the world it needs to legitimize its very existence

and nation branding represents a powerful way to do so (Lehti 2011),
especially as Finland has had a good reputation in most international
rankings.
Anholt’s Good Country Index placed Finland number 2 after Ireland
(http://www.goodcountry.org/overall) in 2014. The controversial idea of
the Index is to measure what countries contribute to the common good
of humanity and what it takes away. All these somewhat faulty inter-
national rankings are often used as a way to sell and promote Finnish
(teacher) education to the rest of the world.
As asserted earlier, the Finnish government is actively committed to
the marketing and export of its education brand and to reveal, use and
maybe (?) misuse the ‘secrets of the world’s number one education in
Finland’. As such, the marketization of education and nation building
are not wrong (everybody is doing it!), but because the created images
and discourses are somewhat unstable, they can be abused for political
or economic purposes elsewhere, ignoring the changes of Finnish educa-
tion itself and the problems met by Finnish educators as its position in
PISA rankings declines.
For sure people will experience ‘aesthetic fatigue’ with Finnish edu-
cation, which, in turn, will create resistance to the so-called ‘Finnish
road’ and ‘Finnish secrets.’ As Finland will lose its PISA appeal, others
will consider it worthless and turn to other countries (Estonia?), and fall
into the same trap. Another saying from Chinese can help us summarize
this issue: 色衰爱弛 (se shuai ai chi): affection loses with beauty wither-
ing away…
As researchers who want to learn about—or maybe from or with—
the experiences of top-performing countries, we also need to recog-
nize a somewhat hidden, controversial and cruel fact: these ‘mysteries’
and ‘miracles’ generally come from regions that are said to be the ‘best’
(mostly Europe and the United States). News emerges everyday about
how e.g. Egypt is reforming its educational system, inspired by the
Finnish system of education; the same goes for Saudi Arabia. For these
countries, Finland has quality education and they are looking for reci-
pes and secrets—and their own secret is to open the ‘bag’ instantly to copy
and apply Finland’s ‘good practices’. However, ‘the secret of someone else’s
home’ has its own context of development. The process of replicating

education success ‘at home’ is usually a process of collecting and remov-
ing practices and methods from their context.
In this book, and throughout our work we have argued that we must
learn to think critically about our education and the other’s and, probably
most importantly, we must learn with each other. By showing that the
‘Nirvana’ constructed around Finland is mythical in many cases, we hope
that this book will stimulate more critical and reflective discussions.
A Silenced Achilles’ Heel? CPD in Finland

Finnish teachers selected from top 10% of sec.(ondary) sch.(ool)
Graduates / undertake 5 or 6 yrs of training (Masters level) / provided
with continuous in-service training (…)
In a recent post online, an American educator listed the above as

the most ‘amazing’ features of Finnish education, in comparison to
American education. Only the second aspect is correct: All teachers are
required to have a Master’s Degree—although there is a minority of
teachers who are unqualified and untenured, who often serve as sub-
stitute teachers. The first statement is based on a misunderstanding:
only 10% of student candidates are selected from those who apply for
teacher education at university, not of all the secondary school students
from a given year. And as we shall see in this book, the third statement
about continuous in-service training could be easily refuted.
For a period of six months in 2015 the Finnish Ministry of Education
(MoE), and an organization, SITRA, that “promotes Finland’s compet-
itiveness and the well-being of the Finnish people” (http://www.sitra.fi/
en/well-being), set up a New Education Forum involving many specialists
who came together to discuss the future of Finnish education. One of the
participants, who was the Head of the Teacher Education Department at
the University of Jyväskylä, said during one of the meetings:
We have long ridden the wave of Pisa hysteria, telling ourselves that our
schools are good. And they are excellent – by yesterday’s standards. Our
schools do not meet current or future needs. (Sitra 2015)
19
The wave of PISA hysteria towards Finland, as asserted earlier, often

relies on positive discourses about Finnish teachers, especially in rela-
tion to the 5-year initial teacher education they receive at Finnish
universities.
In a decentralised approach, the Finnish Government defines and sets
educational priorities, while schools and day-care centres are principally
maintained and supported by municipalities (local authorities), which
have significant responsibility for organisation of education, fund-
ing, curriculum and hiring personnel (OECD 2013: 4). According to
the Teachers’ Trade Union (2017), in average, Finnish basic education
takes place with one teacher for 18 students in years 1–2, one for 20
in years 3 to 9—with a similar number for upper secondary education.
Finnish teachers are known for having pedagogical autonomy to teach
and assess students’ learning (OECD 2013: 4). This is often referred to
as ‘teachers’ empowerment’ (Sahlberg 2017). One must bear in mind,
however, that the vast majority of teachers use textbooks which can, in
most cases, dictate the way and the things they teach. From a manage-
rial point of view, we must remember that, if a given organization or a
superior ‘empowers’ subordinates, it does not mean that the managers
are completely separated from the management system. The empowered
people can take the initiative to carry out various activities, but some-
one needs to supervise the overall situation and the general direction
things are taking in order to ensure that the overall goals of the organ-
ization are met. To our knowledge, there is no research on the percep-
tion of empowerment by teachers and decision-makers in Finland. In
their 2015 article about the business context, Andrade et al. show that
there are often differences between employers’ and employees’ percep-
tions of such practices. There might be a need to look into similar issues
in Finnish education.
In 2017, the Teachers’ Trade Union launched an Oath for Finnish
teachers. This oath was inspired by the Hippocratic Oath taken by
medical doctors, establishing principal medical ethics such as non-ma-
leficence and confidentiality. The Oath for Finnish teachers was named
after John Amos Comenius, a Czech educational reformer, remembered
for his innovations in methods of teaching. The Comenius Oath reads
as follows:
As a teacher I am engaged in educating the next generation, which

is one of the most important human tasks. My aim in this will be to
renew and pass on the existing reserve of human knowledge, culture and
skills.
I undertake to act with justice and fairness in all that I do and to promote
the development of my pupils and students, so that each individual may
grow up as a complete human being in accordance with his or her apti-
tudes and talents.
I will also strive to assist parents, guardians and others responsible for
working with children and young people in their educational functions.
I will not reveal information that is communicated to me confidentially,
and I will respect the privacy of children and young people. I will also
protect their physical and psychological inviolability.
I will endeavour to shield the children and young people in my care
from political and economic exploitation and defend the rights
of every individual to develop his or her own religious and political
convictions.
I will make continuous efforts to maintain and develop my profes-
sional skills, committing myself to the common goals of my profes-
sion and to the support of my colleagues in their work.
I will act in the best interests of the community at large and strive to
strengthen the esteem in which the teaching profession is held.
We should note at this stage that the oath is not contractual but serves
as guidelines for teachers.
The highlighted paragraph of the Oath is of central interest in this
book as it concerns the “continuous efforts to maintain and develop
my professional skills.” This has been contentious in the Finnish
context and very few publications, documentaries or studies (inter-
national as well as local) enter into details about what we consider
to be Achilles’ heel in the Finnish context. As such, while collecting
the data for this volume, we have heard again and again that many
Finnish teachers never receive CPD—except maybe half a day per
year depending on the municipality they work in. We have also heard
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wherever I wished to go, as I greatly needed rest and change. But,
with a heart full of gratitude to them, I yet resolved to remain, feeling
that I was at the post of duty where God had placed me; and besides,
fearing that if I left once the natives would not let me land again on
returning to their island, I determined to hold on as long as possible,
though feeling very weak and suffering badly from ague.
Sorrow and love make me linger a little to quote these extracts,
printed in the Reformed Presbyterian Magazine for January, 1860,
from Mrs. Paton’s last letter to her friends at home. It is dated from
Port Resolution, Tanna, 28th December, 1858.
“My dear Father, Mother, and Sisters,—
“When I wrote last, we were just about to leave Aneityum for

Tanna, the sphere of our future labours. One can have no idea of the dark and
degraded state of these poor Heathen, unless really living amongst them. Still we
trust that the cloud which has so long enveloped Tanna will soon be rolled away,
and the light of the Sun of Righteousness irradiate this dark land. We have been
here about two months, and so far the people among whom we live appear to be
friendly. A numerous priesthood reside in the neighbourhood of the Volcano, from
whom we anticipate much opposition, as they know that wherever the Missionary
gains a footing among the people, their influence is lost. The Tannese are very
avaricious. If one renders the least assistance, he demands a most exorbitant pay;
indeed, we can hardly satisfy them. We have a number of male, but very few female
visitors, the latter being just slaves to do all the work. The men disfigure their faces
with red and black paint, and always carry spears and clubs. At first I was quite
shocked with their appearance, but one soon becomes accustomed to such sights.
They likewise possess powder and muskets,—guns and tobacco being the chief
objects of their ambition. Indeed, such is their degraded condition that, were not
the power and grace of God all-sufficient, one might almost despair of ever making
any impression on them. All the Natives are in a state of entire nudity, with this
exception, that females wear short petticoats made of grass. Young girls are very
fond of beads, and sometimes have their necks quite covered with them. They
likewise bore holes in the ear, from which they suspend large rolls (circles) of
tortoise shell. Two or three little girls come about me, whom I am teaching to sew
and sing; but no great good can be accomplished till we master their language. We
have picked up a good many words, and I trust, with the blessing of God, will soon
be able to speak to them of things pertaining to their everlasting peace.
“Port Resolution is a most beautiful Bay. I have never seen such a lovely spot.
Indeed, everything around delights the eye, and ‘only man is vile.’ Our house is at
the head of the Bay, on the foundation of Dr. Turner’s, from which he had to fly
fifteen years ago. The sea, at full tide, comes within a few yards of the door. Mr.
Copeland is staying with us now. During the Rainy Season, he is to be sometimes
with us, and at other times with Mr. Mathieson, who is in delicate health. The
thermometer averages from 80° to 85°. The Rainy Season having now set in, it is
not likely we will have any opportunity of sending or receiving letters for three or
four months. I am wearying very much to hear from you. I can hardly realize that
nine months have rolled away since I left bonnie Scotia! How many changes will
take place before I again revisit it! Both my husband and I are in excellent health,
and, though the heat feels oppressive, we like the climate very well. A Happy New
Year to you all, and many happy returns! I am writing hurriedly, as a vessel has
called, and leaves to-morrow morning. I expect to get all the news when you write,
for my interest in and affection for home and home-folks have not in the least
abated.
“Now I must conclude; with love to you all, and to all my old companions,
believe me ever your loving daughter and sister,
“Mary Ann Paton.”
Her last words were,—

“Oh, that my dear mother were here! She is a good woman, my
mother, a jewel of a woman.”
Then, observing Mr. Copeland near by, she said,—
“Oh, Mr. Copeland, I did not know you were there! You must not
think that I regret coming here, and leaving my mother. If I had the
same thing to do over again, I would do it with far more pleasure,
yes, with all my heart. Oh, no! I do not regret leaving home and
friends, though at the time I felt it keenly.”
Soon after this, looking up and putting her hand in mine, she said,
—
“J. C. wrote to our Janet saying, that young Christians under their
first impressions thought they could do anything or make any
sacrifice for Jesus, and he asked if she believed it, for he did not
think they could, when tested; but Janet wrote back that she believed
they could, and (added she with great emphasis) I believe it is true!”
In a moment, altogether unexpectedly, she fell asleep in Jesus,
with these words on her lips. “Not lost, only gone before to be for
ever with the Lord,”—my heart keeps saying or singing to itself from
that hour till now.
Ever since the day of our happy marriage, a strange presentiment
possessed my heart that I should lose her soon and suddenly.
Perhaps I am not the first who has wrestled through such unworthy
forebodings—that that which was so precious and blessed was about
to be withdrawn! Our short united life had been cloudless and happy;
I felt her loss beyond all conception or description, in that dark land.
It was verily difficult to be resigned, left alone, and in sorrowful
circumstances; but feeling immovably assured that my God and
Father was too wise and loving to err in anything that He does or
permits, I looked up to the Lord for help, and struggled on in His
work. I do not pretend to see through the mystery of such visitations,
—wherein God calls away the young, the promising, and those sorely
needed for His service here; but this I do know and feel, that, in the
light of such dispensations, it becomes us all to love and serve our
blessed Lord Jesus so that we may be ready at His call for death and
Eternity.
CHAPTER VII.
MISSION LEAVES FROM TANNA.
Native Tannese.—“Tabooed.”—Jehovah’s Rain.—“Big Hays.”—War

and Cannibalism.—The Lot of Woman.—Sacred Days.—
Preaching in Villages.—Native Teachers.—The War Shell.—
Deadly Superstitions.—A League of Blood.—Chiefs in Council.
—Defence of Women.—A League of Peace.—Secret Disciples.—
A Christo-Heathen Funeral.—Clever Thieves.—Ships of Fire.—
H.M.S. Cordelia.—Captain Vernon and Miaki.—The Captain
and Our Chiefs.—The John Williams.—Impressions
Evanescent.—A House on the Hill.—In Fever Grips.—“Noble
Old Abraham.”—Critics in Easy Chairs.
In the first letter, sent jointly by Mr. Copeland and me from Tanna to
the Church at home, the following statements are found:—
“We found the Tannese to be painted Savages, enveloped in all the
superstition and wickedness of Heathenism. All the men and
children go in a state of nudity. The older women wear grass skirts,
and the young women and girls, grass or leaf aprons like Eve in
Eden. They are exceedingly ignorant, vicious, and bigoted, and
almost void of natural affection. Instead of the inhabitants of Port
Resolution being improved by coming in contact with white men,
they are rendered much worse; for they have learned all their vices,
but none of their virtues,—if such are possessed by the pioneer
traders among such races! The sandal-wood Traders are as a class
the most godless of men, whose cruelty and wickedness make us
ashamed to own them as our countrymen. By them the poor,
defenceless Natives are oppressed and robbed on every hand; and if
they offer the slightest resistance, they are ruthlessly silenced by the
musket or revolver. Few months here pass without some of them
being so shot, and, instead of their murderers feeling ashamed, they
boast of how they despatch them. Such treatment keeps the Natives
always burning under a desire for revenge, so that it is a wonder any
white man is allowed to come among them. Indeed, all Traders here
are able to maintain their position only by revolvers and rifles; but
we hope a better state of affairs is at hand for Tanna.”
The novelty of our being among them soon passed away, and they
began to show their avarice and deceitfulness in every possible way.
The Chiefs united and refused to give us the half of the small piece of
land which had been purchased, on which to build our Mission
House, and when we attempted to fence in the part they had left to
us, they “tabooed” it, i.e., threatened our Teachers and us with death
if we proceeded further with the work. This they did by placing
certain reeds stuck into the ground here and there around our house,
which our Aneityumese servants at once knew the meaning of, and
warned us of our danger; so we left off making the fence, that we
might if possible evade all offence. They then divided the few bread-
fruit and cocoa-nut trees on the ground amongst themselves, or
demanded such payment for these trees as we did not possess, and
threatened revenge on us if the trees were injured by any person.
They now became so unreasonable and offensive, and our dangers so
increased, as to make our residence amongst them extremely trying.
At this time a vessel called; I bought from the Captain the payment
they demanded; on receiving it, they lifted the Taboo, and for a little
season appeared to be friendly again. This was the third payment
they had got for that site, and to yield was teaching them a cruel
lesson; all this we felt and clearly saw, but they had by some means
to be conciliated, if possible, and our lives had to be saved, if that
could be done without dishonour to the Christian name.
After these events, a few weeks of dry weather began to tell against
the growth of their yams and bananas. The drought was instantly
ascribed to us and our God. The Natives far and near were
summoned to consider the matter in public assembly. Next day,
Nouka, the high chief, and Miaki, the war-chief, his nephew, came to
inform us, that two powerful Chiefs had openly declared in that
assembly that if the Harbour people did not at once kill us or compel
us to leave the island, they would, unless the rain came plentifully in
the meantime, summon all the Inland people and murder both our
Chiefs and us. The friendly Chiefs said,—
“Pray to your Jehovah God for rain, and do not go far beyond your
door for a time; we are all in greatest danger, and if war breaks out,
we fear we cannot protect you.”
But this friendliness was all pretence; they themselves, being
sacred men, professed to have the power of sending or withholding
rain, and tried to fix the blame of their discomfiture on us. The rage
of the poor ignorant Heathen was thereby fed against us. The Ever-
Merciful, however, again interposed on our behalf. On the following
Sabbath, just when we were assembling for worship, rain began to
fall, and in great abundance. The whole inhabitants believed,
apparently, that it was sent to save us in answer to our prayers; so
they met again, and resolved to allow us to remain on Tanna. Alas!
the continuous and heavy rains brought much sickness and fever in
their train, and again their sacred men pointed to us as the cause.
Hurricane winds also blew and injured their fruits and fruit trees,—
another opportunity for our enemies to lay the blame of everything
upon the Missionaries and their Jehovah God! The trial and the
danger daily grew of living among a people so dreadfully benighted
by superstition, and so easily swayed by prejudice and passion.
On Sabbath afternoon, the 6th of January, 1860, in a severe gale,
we were surprised to see a large Sydney vessel come to anchor in the
Harbour at Port Resolution, right opposite our house. Though wind
and sea were both dangerously high, the Captain and all hands, as we
were afterwards informed, coolly went to sleep. Gradually, but quite
perceptibly, the vessel was allowed to drift as if by deliberate
intention, till she struck on the beach at the head of the Bay, and
there was soon broken up and became a total wreck. For this also the
ignorant Natives gave us credit, as for everything uncommon or
disagreeable on Tanna; but we were ever conscious that our Lord
Jesus was near us, and all trials that lead us to cling closer in
fellowship with our Saviour are really blessings in disguise. The
Captain of that vessel, known to us only as “Big Hays,” and his wife,
said to be the wife of a man in Sydney who had run away with him,
and his like-minded crew became by their shocking conduct a
horrible curse to our poor Islanders, and greatly embittered the
feeling against us. They were armed with deadly weapons, and did
their wicked will amongst our Natives, who durst not attack so large
a party of desperate and well-armed men. But they were white
people, and so were the Missionaries; to the savage mind that was
enough, and revenge would be taken upon the first white faces,
however innocent, who came within their power.
The Natives of Tanna were well-nigh constantly at war amongst
themselves, every man doing that which was right in his own eyes,
and almost every quarrel ending in an appeal to arms. Besides many
battles far inland, one was fought closely around our house, and
several were fought around the Harbour. In these conflicts, many
men were bruised with clubs and wounded with arrows, but few lives
were lost, considering the savage uproar and frenzy of the scene. In
one case, of which we obtained certain information, seven men were
killed in an engagement, and, according to Tannese custom, the
warriors and their friends feasted on them at the close of the fray, the
widows of the slain being also strangled to death, and similarly
disposed of. Besides those who fell in war, the Natives living in our
quarter had killed and feasted on eight persons, usually in sacrificial
rites.
It is said, that the habitual Cannibal’s desire for human flesh
becomes so horrible that he has been known to disinter and feast
upon those recently buried. Two cases of this revolting barbarism
were reported as having occurred amongst the villagers living near
us. On another occasion the great chief Nouka took seriously unwell,
and his people sacrificed three women for his recovery! All such cruel
and horrifying practices, however, they tried to conceal from us; and
many must have perished in this way of whom we, though living at
their doors, were never permitted to hear.
Amongst the Heathen, in the New Hebrides, and especially on
Tanna, woman is the down-trodden slave of man. She is kept
working hard, and bears all the heavier burdens, while he walks by
her side with musket, club, or spear. If she offends him, he beats or
abuses her at pleasure. A savage gave his poor wife a severe beating
in front of our house and just before our eyes, while in vain we strove
to prevent it. Such scenes were so common that no one thought of
interfering. Even if the woman died in his hands, or immediately
thereafter, neighbours took little notice, if any at all. And their
children were so little cared for, that my constant wonder was how
any of them survived at all! As soon as they are able to knock about,
they are left practically to care for themselves; hence the very small
affection they show towards their parents, which results in the aged
who are unable to work being neglected, starved to death, and
sometimes even more directly and violently destroyed.
A Heathen boy’s education consists in being taught to aim skilfully
with the bow, to throw the spear faultlessly at a mark, to wield
powerfully the club and tomahawk, and to shoot well with musket
and revolver when these can be obtained. He accompanies his father
and brothers in all the wars and preparations for war, and is
diligently initiated into all their cruelties and lusts, as the very
prerequisite of his being regarded and acknowledged to be a man
and a warrior. The girls have, with their mother and sisters, to toil
and slave in the village plantations, to prepare all the materials for
fencing these around, to bear every burden, and to be knocked about
at will by the men and boys.
Oh, how sad and degraded is the position of Woman, where the
teaching of Christ is unknown, or disregarded though known! It is
the Christ of the Bible, it is His Spirit entering into Humanity, that
has lifted Woman, and made her the helpmate and the friend of Man,
not his toy or his slave.
To the best of our observation, the Heathen, though vaguely
following some division of the week into seven days, spent the
Sabbath on Tanna much the same as their other days were spent.
Even when some were led to give up manual labours on that day,
they spent it, like too many Christians elsewhere, in visiting friends
and in selfish pleasures, on feasting and drinking. After we had been
about one year on the island, we had a morning Church Service,
attended by about ten Chiefs and as many women and children
belonging to them; though, once the Service was over, they paid no
more attention to the Lord’s Day. On some of the more Northern
Islands of the group, the Heathen had a sacred day. Twice, sailing
with the Dayspring, we cast anchor at an Island, but could not see a
single Native till next day, when one who could speak broken English
informed us that none of the people had been seen moving about
because they were “keeping their Sunday.” A number of the Tannese
spoke a little English, but they were the worst and most treacherous
characters of all. They had imbibed the profane Trader’s language
and his hatred of Missionaries and their work; and these, added to
their own Heathen prejudices, made them the most troublesome and
dangerous of men.
After the Sabbath Morning Service we used to walk many miles,
visiting all the villages within reach, even before we had got so much
of their language as to be able to speak freely to the people.
Sometimes we made a circuit amongst them, ten or twelve miles
away and as many back again. We tried to talk a little to all who were
willing to listen; and we conducted the Worship of Jehovah,
wherever we could find two or three disposed to gather together and
to sit or kneel beside us. It was to flesh and blood weary work, and in
many ways disheartening—no responsive faces and hearts there to
cheer us on and lift us up into fellowship with the Lord! But it helped
us to see the people, and to get acquainted with the districts around;
it also secured for us very considerable audiences, except when they
were engaged in war.
No real progress could be made in imparting to them spiritual
knowledge, till we had attained some familiarity with their language.
By finding out, as before recorded, the Tannese for “What is this?”
and “What is his or her name?” we got the names of things and
people, and made amazing progress towards mutual intelligence. We
soon found out that there were two distinct languages spoken in and
around Port Resolution; but we confined ourselves to that which was
understood as far as the other Mission Station; and, by God’s help
and great diligence, we were able ere long to speak to them of sin and
of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Twelve Aneityumese Teachers were at this time living on Tanna,
but they had no Schools, and no Books in Tannese, for that language
had never yet been reduced to forms that could be printed. The work
of the Teachers, besides telling to the people around all that they
could regarding Christ and the Christian religion, found its highest
value in presenting through their own spirit and character a nobler
type of life than any that Heathenism could show.
When a Missionary arrives, the Teacher’s first duty is to help him
in house-building, fencing, and the many manual and other toils
required in organizing the new Station, besides accompanying him
on the inland journeys, assisting him in regard to the language as far
as possible, and in general furthering the cause. But in altogether
virgin soil like that of Tanna, the Aneityumese Teacher, or one from
any other island, had the language to acquire first of all, not less than
the European Missionary, and was therefore of little use except for
manual labour, and that too had to be carried on by signs much more
than by words. Not only has every island its own tongue, differing
widely from and unintelligible to all the others, but even the people
on one side of an island could not sometimes understand or converse
with the people on the opposite side of the same. This rendered our
work in the New Hebrides not only exceptionally difficult, but its
progressive movement distressingly slow.
Word had reached Tanna, that, in a quarrel with Sandal-wooders,
the Erromangans had murdered three white men and a number of
Natives in their employment, in revenge for the white men’s
shamefully entreating and murdering the Erromangans. On Tanna
all such news were reported and talked over, when the Chiefs and
their men of war met for their evening repast—an event that
generally wound up with drinking Kava, which first produced
intoxication like whisky and then stupefaction like a dose of
laudanum. Excited by the rumours from Erromanga, they had drunk
more than usual, and lay about their Village Drinking-Hall in a
helpless host. Enemies from an inland tribe stealthily drew near, and
discharged their muskets amongst them in the dark, killing one man,
and so, according to their custom, war was known to be declared.
Early next morning, Miaki, the war-chief, despatched his herald to
sound the Conch and summon the people to battle. He made the
Harbour and all the country resound with it for six miles around, and
the savage hordes gathered to the call. Putting our trust in God, we
quietly resolved to attend as usual to our work and await the result.
Excitement and terror drove the Natives hither and thither. One man
close to us being nearly killed, his friends assembled in great force,
and with clubs and spears, tomahawks and muskets, drove the
offending tribe more than a mile into the bush. They, in turn, being
reinforced, drove their enemies back again to the beach. There,
seated within hearing distance, they carried on a grand sort of
barbarous-Homeric scolding match, and exhausted their rage in
javelins of reproach. A great relief seemed thereby to ensue, for the
rival Chiefs thereon approached our house and entreated me to dress
their wounds! I did so, and appealed to them for peace, and got their
promise to let that conflict come to an end. Alas, for the passing
influence of such appeals,—for I learned shortly after this, on my
return from Aneityum, where I had gone for a fortnight to recruit
from the effects of an almost three months’ continuance of recurring
ague and fever, that eight of the Harbour people had been murdered
near our house at Port Resolution. The Natives got into a dreadfully
unsettled state, each one wondering in terror who would be the next
to fall.
About the time of my dear wife’s death, our brother Missionary,
Mr. Mathieson, also became exceedingly unwell. His delicate frame
fast gave way, and brought with it weakness of the mind as well; and
he was removed to Aneityum apparently in a dying condition. These
sad visitations had a bad effect on the Natives, owing to their wild
superstitions about the cause of death and sickness. We had reason
to fear that they would even interfere with the precious grave, over
which we kept careful watch for a season; but God mercifully
restrained them. Unfortunately, however, one of my Aneityumese
Teachers who had gone round to Mr. Mathieson’s Station took ill and
died there, and this rekindled all their prejudices. He, poor fellow,
before death said,—
“I will not again return to Port Resolution, or see my dear Missi;
but tell him that I die happy, for I love Jesus much, and am going to
Jesus!”
Hearing these things, the Natives insolently demanded me to tell
them the cause of this death, and of Mr. Mathieson’s trouble, and of
the other deaths. Other reasoning or explanation being to them
useless, I turned the tables, and demanded them to tell me why all
this trouble and death had overtaken us in their land, and whether
they themselves were not the cause of it all? Strange to say, this
simple question turned the whole current of their speculations. They
held meeting after meeting to discuss it for several days, and
returned the message,—
“We do not blame you, and you must not blame us for causing
these troubles and deaths; but we believe that a Bushman must have
got hold of portion of something we had eaten, and must have
thrown it to the great Evil Spirit in the volcano, thereby bringing all
these troubles and curses.”
Another Chief vindicated himself and others thus:
—“Karapanamun, the Auruman or great Evil Spirit of Tanna, whom
we all fear and worship, is causing these troubles; for he knows that
if we become worshippers of your Jehovah God, we cannot continue
to fear him, or present him with the best of everything, as our
forefathers have always done; he is angry at you and at us all.”
The fear of the deaths and troubles being ascribed to them silenced
their talk against us for a season; but very little made them either
friends or foes, as the next event will too painfully show.
Nowhat, an old Chief of the highest rank from Aneityum, who
spoke Tannese and was much respected by the Natives all round the
south side of Tanna, came on a visit to our island. After returning
home, he became very ill and died in a few days. The deluded
Tannese, hearing of his death, ascribed it to me and the Worship,
and resolved to burn our house and property, and either murder the
whole Mission party, or compel us to leave the island. Nowhat’s
brother was sent from Aneityum to talk to the Tannese and conciliate
them, but unfortunately he could not speak the language well; and
the Aneityumese Teachers felt their lives to be at this time in such
danger that they durst not accompany him as interpreters, while I on
the other hand did not understand his language, nor he, mine.
Within two days after landing, he had a severe attack of ague and
fever; and, though the vessel he came in remained eight days, he was
prostrated all the time, so that his well-intentioned visit did us much
harm. The Tannese became furious. This was proof positive, that we
were the cause of all their sickness and death. Inland and all along
the weather side of the island, when far enough away from us, they
said that the Natives were enjoying excellent health. Meeting after
meeting was held; exciting speeches were delivered; and feasts were
given, for which it was said that several women were sacrificed,
cooked, and eaten,—such being the bonds by which they entered into
covenant with each other for life or death.
On the morning of the following Sabbath, we heard what were said
to be the dying shrieks of two woman-sacrifices; but we went not
near,—we had no power to save them, and the savages only waited
such a chance of sacrificing us too. Soon after, three women came
running to the Mission House, and in tears implored us to try and
protect them from being killed by their husbands. Alas, we could
only plead for them, the Tannese and Aneityumese Teachers warning
us that if we even pled we would be instantly murdered, as the men
were raging mad with the thirst of blood. At another time, eight
inland girls came running to us and sat in front of our house all day,
saying they were afraid to go home, as the men were fighting with
their women and killing them. At nightfall, however, the poor
creatures withdrew, we knew not to what fate.
The inhabitants for miles around united in seeking our
destruction, but God put it into even savage hearts to save us. Old
Nowar, the Chief under whom we lived, and the Chief next under
him, Arkurat, set themselves to rescue us. Along with Manuman and
Sirawia they opposed every plan in the public assembly for taking
our lives. Some of their people also remained friendly to us, and by
the help of our Aneityumese Teachers, warned us of danger and
protected our lives. Determined not to be baffled, a meeting of all our
enemies on the island was summoned, and it was publicly resolved
that a band of men be selected and enjoined to kill the whole of those
friendly to the Mission, old Nowar among the rest, and not only to
murder the Mission party, but also a Trader who had lately landed to
live there, that no one might be left to give information to the white
men or bring punishment on the islanders. Frenzy of excitement
prevailed, and the blood-fiend seemed to over-ride the whole
assembly; when, under an impulse that surely came from the Lord of
Pity, one great warrior Chief who had hitherto kept silent, rose,
swung aloft a mighty club and smashing it earthwards, cried aloud,—
“The man that kills Missi must first kill me,—the men that kill the
Mission Teachers must first kill me and my people,—for we shall
stand by them and defend them till death.”
Instantaneously, another Chief thundered in with the same
declaration; and the great assembly broke up in dismay. All the more
remarkable was this deliverance, as these two Chiefs lived nearly four
miles inland, and, as reputed disease makers and sacred men, were
regarded as amongst our bitterest enemies. It had happened that, a
brother of the former Chief having been wounded in battle, I had
dressed his wounds and he recovered, for which perhaps he now
favoured us. But I do not put very much value on that consideration;
for too clearly did our dear Lord Jesus interpose directly on our
behalf that day. I and my defenceless company had spent it in
anxious prayers and tears; and our hearts overflowed with gratitude
to the Saviour who rescued us from the lions’ jaws.
“THE MAN THAT KILLS MISSI MUST FIRST KILL ME.”
The excitement did not at once subside, men continuing to club

and beat the women for the smallest offence. At every opportunity I
denounced their conduct and rebuked them severely,—especially one
wretch, who beat his wife just in front of our house as well as one of
the women who tried to protect her. On the following day, he
returned with an armed band, and threatened our lives; but I stood
up in front of their weapons, and firmly condemned their conduct,
telling that man particularly that his conduct was bad and cowardly.
At length his wrath gave way; he grounded his club in a penitent
mood, and promised to refrain from such evil ways.
Leaving all consequences to the disposal of my Lord, I determined
to make an unflinching stand against wife-beating and widow-
strangling, feeling confident that even their natural conscience would
be on my side. I accordingly pled with all who were in power to unite
and put down these shocking and disgraceful customs. At length, ten
Chiefs entered into an agreement not to allow any more beating of
wives or strangling of widows, and to forbid all common labour on
the Lord’s Day; but alas, except for purposes of war or other
wickedness, the influence of the Chiefs on Tanna was comparatively
small. One Chief boldly declared,—
“If we did not beat our women, they would never work; they would
not fear and obey us; but when we have beaten, and killed, and
feasted on two or three, the rest are all very quiet and good for a long
time to come!”
I tried to show him how cruel it was, besides that it made them
unable for work, and that kindness would have a much better effect;
but he promptly assured me that Tannese women “could not
understand kindness.” For the sake of teaching by example, my
Aneityumese Teachers and I used to go a mile or two inland on the
principal pathway, along with the Teachers’ wives, and there, cutting
and carrying home a heavy load of firewood for myself and each of
the men, while we gave only a small burden to each of the women.
Meeting many Tanna men by the way, I used to explain to them that
this was how Christians helped and treated their wives and sisters,
and then they loved their husbands and were strong to work at
home; and that as men were made stronger, they were intended to
bear the heavier burdens, and especially in all labours out of doors.
Our habits and practices had thus as much to do as, perhaps more
than, all our appeals, in leading them to glimpses of the life to which
the Lord Jesus was calling them.
Another war-burst, that caused immense consternation, passed
over with only two or three deaths; and I succeeded in obtaining the
consent of twenty Chiefs to fight no more except on the defensive,—a
covenant to which, for a considerable time, they strictly adhered, in
the midst of fierce provocations. But to gain any such end, the
masses of the people must be educated to the point of desiring it. The
few cannot, in such circumstances, act up to it, without laying
themselves open to be down-trodden and swept away by the savages
around.
About this time, several men, afraid or ashamed by day, came to
me regularly by night for conversation and instruction. Having seen
the doors of the Mission House made fast and the windows blinded
so that they could not be observed, they continued with me for many
hours, asking all strange questions about the new Religion and its
laws. I remember one Chief particularly, who came often, saying to
me,—
“I would be an Awfuaki man (i.e., a Christian) were it not that all
the rest would laugh at me; that I could not stand!”
“Almost persuaded”:—before you blame him, remember how many
in Christian lands and amid greater privileges live and die without
ever passing beyond that stage.
The wife of one of those Chiefs died, and he resolved to imitate a
Christian burial. Having purchased white calico from a Trader, he
came to me for some tape which the Trader could not supply, and
told me that he was going to dress the body as he had seen my dear
wife’s dressed and lay her also in a similar grave. He declined my
offer to attend the funeral and to pray with them, as in that case
many of the villagers would not attend. He wanted all the people to
be present, to see and to hear, as it was the first funeral of the kind
ever celebrated among the Tannese; and my friend Nowar the Chief
had promised to conduct a Service and offer prayer to Jehovah
before all the Heathen. It moved me to many strange emotions, this
Christian burial, conducted by a Heathen and in the presence of
Heathens, with an appeal to the true and living God by a man as yet
darkly groping among idols and superstitions! Many were the
wondering questions from time to time addressed to me. The idea of
a resurrection from the dead was that which most keenly interested
these Natives, and called forth all their powers of inquiry and
argument. Thus the waves of hope and fear swept alternately across
our lives; but we embraced every possible opportunity of telling them
the story of the life and death of Jesus, in the strong hope that God
would spare us yet to bring the benighted Heathen to the knowledge
of the true salvation, and to love and serve the only Saviour.
NATIVES STEALING PROPERTY.
Confessedly, however, it was uphill, weary, and trying work. For

one thing, these Tannese were terribly dishonest; and when there
was any special sickness, or excitement from any cause, their bad
feeling towards the Worship was displayed by the more insolent way
in which they carried off whatever they could seize. When I opposed
them, the club or tomahawk, the musket or kawas (i.e., killing
stone), being instantly raised, intimated that my life would be taken,
if I resisted them. Their skill in stealing on the sly was phenomenal!
If an article fell, or was seen on the floor, a Tannaman would neatly
cover it with his foot, while looking you frankly in the face, and,
having fixed it by his toes or by bending in his great toe like a thumb
to hold it, would walk off with it, assuming the most innocent look in
the world. In this way, a knife, a pair of scissors, or any smaller
article, would at once disappear. Another fellow would deftly stick
something out of sight amongst the whip-cord plaits of his hair,
another would conceal it underneath his naked arm, while yet
another would shamelessly lift what he coveted and openly carry it
away.
With most of them, however, the shame was not in the theft, but in
doing it so clumsily that they were discovered! Once, after
continuous rain and a hot damp atmosphere, when the sun shone
out I put my bed-clothes on a rope to dry. I stood at hand watching,
as also the wives of two Teachers, for things were mysteriously
disappearing almost under our very eyes. Suddenly, Miaki, who with
his war-companions had been watching us unobserved, came
rushing to me breathless and alone, crying,—
“Missi, come in, quick, quick! I want to tell you something and to
get your advice!”
He ran into my house, and I followed; but before he had got into
his story, we heard the two women crying out,—
“Missi, missi, come quick! Miaki’s men are stealing your sheets
and blankets!”
I ran at once, but all were gone into the bush, and with them my
sheets and blankets. Miaki for a moment looked abashed, as I
charged him with deceiving me just to give his men their
opportunity. But he soon rose to the occasion. He wrought himself
into a towering rage at them, flourished his huge club and smashed
the bushes all around, shouting to me,—
“Thus will I smash these fellows, and compel them to return your
clothes.”
Perhaps he hoped to move me to intercede for his men, and to
prevent bloodshed, as he knew that I always did, even to my own
loss; but I resisted all his tricks, and urged him to return these
articles at once if there were any honour or honesty in him or his
men. Of course, he left me but to share the plunder. He kept out of
my way for a considerable time, which showed some small
glimmering of conscience somewhere; and when I tackled him on the
subject, at our first meeting, he declared he was unable to get the
articles back, which of course showed the lying spirit, amongst them
everywhere applauded,—for a lie that succeeded, or seemed to
succeed, was in their esteem a crowning virtue.
One dark night, I heard them amongst my fowls. These I had
purchased from them for knives and calico; and they now stole them
all away, dead or alive. Had I interfered, they would have gloried in
the chance to club or shoot me in the dark, when no one could
exactly say who had done the deed. Several of the few goats, which I
had for milk, were also killed or driven away; indeed, all the injury
that was possible was done to me, short of taking away my life, and
that was now frequently attempted. Having no fires or fireplaces in
my Mission House, such being not required there,—though
sometimes a fire would have been invaluable for drying our bed-
clothes in the Rainy Season,—we had a house near by in which all
our food was cooked, and there, under lock and key we secured all
our cooking utensils, pots, dishes, etc. One night, that too was broken
into, and everything was stolen. In consternation, I appealed to the
Chief, telling him what had been done. He also flew into a great rage,
and vowed vengeance on the thieves, saying that he would compel
them to return everything. But, of course, nothing was returned; the
thief could not be found! I, unable to live without something in which
to boil water, at length offered a blanket to any one that would bring
back my kettle. Miaki himself, after much professed difficulty,
returned it minus the lid—that, he said, probably fishing for a higher
bribe, could not be got at any price, being at the other side of the
island in a tribe over which he had no control! In the circumstances,
I was glad to get kettle minus lid—realizing how life itself may
depend on so small a luxury!
Having no means of redress, and feeling ourselves entirely at their
mercy, we strove quietly to bear all and to make as little of our trials
as possible; indeed, we bore them all gladly for Jesus’ sake. All
through these sorrows, our assurance deepened rather than faded,
that if God only spared us to lead them to love and serve the same
Lord Jesus, they would soon learn to treat us as their friend and
helper. That, however, did not do away with the hard facts of my life
—being now entirely alone amongst them, and opposed by their
cruelty at every turn, and deceived by their unfailing lies.
One morning, the Tannese, rushing towards me in great
excitement, cried,—
“Missi, Missi, there is a God, or a ship on fire, or something of fear,
coming over the sea! We see no flames, but it smokes like a volcano.
Is it a Spirit, God, or a ship on fire? What is it? what is it?”
One party after another followed in quick succession, shouting the
same questions, in great alarm, to which I replied,—
“I cannot go at once; I must dress first in my best clothes; it will
likely be one of Queen Victoria’s Men-of-war, coming to ask of me if
your conduct is good or bad, if you are stealing my property, or
threatening my life, or how you are using me?”
They pled with me to go and see it; but I made much fuss about
dressing and getting ready to meet the great Chief on the vessel, and
would not go with them. The two principal Chiefs now came running
and asked,—
NATIVES RETURNING STOLEN PROPERTY—
“Missi, will it be a ship of war?”

I called to them, “I think it will; but I have no time to speak to you
now, I must get on my best clothes!”
They said, “Missi, only tell us, will he ask you if we have been
stealing your things?”
I answered, “I expect he will.”

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Continuing Professional Development of Teachers in Finland 1St Ed Edition Yongjian Li Full Chapter

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Continuing Professional Development

of Teachers in Finland 1st ed. Edition

Yongjian Li and Fred Dervin

ISBN 978-3-319-95794-4 ISBN 978-3-319-95795-1 (eBook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018947630

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018

Cover image: © WLADIMIR BULGAR/Getty

1 Introduction: Contextualizing Teacher Continuing

2 Framing CPD to Understand and Explore

3 Finnish Initial Teacher Education and CPD 43

4 Data and Methodologies 83

5 Providers: Offerings and Critiques 89

6 Teachers’ Views on CPD 115

7 Paratexts to CPD: Decision Making, Leadership,

Afterword: Learning with Each Other in Comparative

Fig. 1.1 Finland’s system of education, from the National Agency

Table 4.1 Types and sources of data 84

– Now I want to live in Finland…

© The Author(s) 2018 1

Our system of continuing education and professional development for

The resounding success of Finnish education is evidenced by superb inter-

The wonders of this ‘diamond’ are often attributed to Finnish teachers,

As we shall see in this book, teachers’ CPD in the Nordic country is

According to Egginger (2013) the current interest in Finnish educa-

The triennial international survey, PISA, aims to evaluate education sys-

According to the OECD (2013: 6) Finland is among the most equi-

Since each municipality has very different regulations, the autonomy of

Although Sahlberg offers an interesting critique of discourses about

education, which is homogeneous—like many other experts of Finnish

Regardless of these counter-narratives that have been presented in e.g.

Fig. 1.2 Continua of Finnish education

the flow of ‘pedagogical tourists’ to Finland (especially from China and

The Broader Picture: Marketization, Branding

education—a very important level of education when discussing

The Education Finland growth programme offers companies, education

Its main goal is to “offer Finnish educational know-how and learning

All subject teachers have interdisciplinary teaching abilities (examples

The following aspects are also mentioned about Finnish education:

(1) Education for all

(6) Flexibility and Trust: Trusted Principals, Trusted Teachers,1 Trusted

When it comes to trust, first and foremost we need to understand that

educational research conducted by economists and judging educational

This is due to both educational and socio-cultural reasons: teaching chil-

Although Sahlberg’s arguments include larger societal aspects such as

Imaginaries about Finnish education, derived from ‘bad’ analyses based

Good question! However, we still have different disciplines and school

This leads us to the idea of nation branding, which, in the case of

Using the tools, techniques and expertise of commercial branding is

In the document entitled Mission for Finland published in 2010, the

Interestingly nation branding represents, in a sense, a ‘renationali-

a ‘smaller power’ in the world it needs to legitimize its very existence

home’ has its own context of development. The process of replicating

A Silenced Achilles’ Heel? CPD in Finland

In a recent post online, an American educator listed the above as

The wave of PISA hysteria towards Finland, as asserted earlier, often

As a teacher I am engaged in educating the next generation, which

“When I wrote last, we were just about to leave Aneityum for

“Mary Ann Paton.”

Her last words were,—

Native Tannese.—“Tabooed.”—Jehovah’s Rain.—“Big Hays.”—War

“THE MAN THAT KILLS MISSI MUST FIRST KILL ME.”

The excitement did not at once subside, men continuing to club

Confessedly, however, it was uphill, weary, and trying work. For