In an earlier article, Music Australia presented an overview of the Finnish school system and how music teaching is delivered by a highly successful network of government subsidised specialist music schools. In this article we explore further how this parallel system works: how music is taught as a classroom subject in Finnish schools from primary level upwards, and how these specialist, co-curricular music schools operate under the umbrella of the Finnish Association of Music Schools.
When people talk about what makes Finland’s educational system famously different and world leading (see for example here and here), it is usually the regular schools that they are describing. Often referred to as comprehensive schools, they are the equivalent of Australia’s state-run schools. In these, all children are given a free education from the age of 7 to 16, there is hardly any homework, no nationwide exams, children are not required to wear uniforms, and the school day is kept remarkably short (finishing between 1pm and 2pm). Full story.
Graham Strahle (Music Australia) / June 6, 2017
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