The salient point of this discussion is that the Finnish education system demonstrates a significantly higher teacher retention rate—over 90 percent—compared to the United States, where nearly 90 percent of new educators face challenges in completing their first year. This disparity raises critical inquiries into the underlying factors contributing to such outcomes. We delve into the concepts of trust, autonomy, and professional respect, which are foundational to the Finnish model. In contrast, the U.S. system often relies on micromanagement and stringent mandates, which can lead to teacher burnout and attrition. By examining these contrasting approaches, we uncover valuable insights into fostering sustainable teaching cultures that not only support educators but also enhance student learning and development.

In the analysis of the educational systems represented, the podcast confronts the pressing issue of teacher retention—a matter that has reached critical proportions in the United States. Through the lens of Dr. Brad Johnson's findings, we glean a profound understanding of the reasons behind the stark retention rates observed between Finnish educators and their American counterparts. The Finnish model, with its emphasis on reducing teaching hours to facilitate planning, collaboration, and reflection, starkly contrasts with the U.S. approach, which often burdens teachers with excessive workloads and minimal support. The podcast meticulously dissects how the Finnish model, by prioritizing teachers' professional autonomy and reducing the emphasis on high-stakes testing, fosters a culture of respect and trust, allowing educators to innovate and engage meaningfully with their students. The dialogue further examines the detrimental impact of micromanagement and the abundance of mandates that plague the American educational framework, urging listeners to reconsider the structural changes necessary to cultivate a sustainable teaching environment. Ultimately, the episode serves as a clarion call for educational reform that prioritizes trust and professional respect over bureaucratic control.

Takeaways:

• The Finnish education system retains over 90 percent of teachers, contrasting sharply with the U.S. where nearly 90 percent of new teachers leave after their first year.
• Trust and autonomy in the classroom foster a sustainable teaching culture, enhancing both educator satisfaction and student achievement.
• In Finland, teachers enjoy significantly fewer teaching hours, allowing ample time for collaboration and professional reflection, which are essential for effective teaching.
• Unlike in the U.S., Finnish school leaders promote mentorship over micromanagement, which empowers teachers and cultivates professional respect.
• The implementation of multiple recesses in Finnish schools not only benefits student focus and behavior but also enhances the teaching environment for educators.
• Ultimately, fostering trust among teachers leads to greater innovation and ownership in the classroom, which is vital for the long-term success of educational systems.

Links referenced in this episode:

• beafunkteacher.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Be a Funky Teacher

Yeah, he's Mr. Funky.

He's Mr. Funky Teacher.

Mr. Funky Teacher inspires greatness.

Makes you feel good.

Like your favorite playlist.

Keeping that fresh and funky.

Yes, he does.

He got some funky cool ideas to share for all you teachers.

He can empower others, students and teachers.

It's all about hard work and creativity.

He brings out the kindness in everyone.

He's got the passion to teach.

You hear it when he speaks.

He knows how to build strong relationships.

If you're seeking the best bunkiest, he is it.

He will empower you to improve.

You'll be helping others and loving it too.

He's Mr. Funky Teacher.

Yeah, he's Mr. Funky Teacher.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

This is Mr. Funky Teacher with Be a Funky Teacher dot com.

I'm coming to you with another Be a Funky Teacher podcast.

Welcome back, everyone.

Today's episode is called Trust Over Testing.

We're what Finland can teach us about keeping teachers.

Now, I came across Another post from Dr. Brad Johnson.

I've talked about him before.

He's a leading educator, author and advocate for teacher well being.

And it stopped me in my tracks, y'.

All.

He compared Finland's education system to ours and the numbers tell a story we can't ignore.

But before we get into it, let's talk about three things that I'm thankful for.

First thing that I'm thankful for my fifth grade teaching team.

I'm so thankful for my colleagues who collaborate, care and support.

We support one another, y'.

All.

When the team works, everything else flows.

I'm so thankful for my 5th grade team.

I'm also thankful for classroom mascots and silly fun.

That's right.

I'm, I'm.

I, I from.

I have Ligament Larry in my classroom.

He's a plastic skeleton to Cocoa Puffs.

Coco is the mom.

Puffs is the baby.

Together, they're Cocoa Puffs.

Our classroom is filled with light hearted, playful energy with these classroom mascots and silly fun.

These little touches, y' all build community and make learning more joyful, y'.

All.

Third thing that I'm thankful for, Christmas lights.

They bring warmth and comfort into long, dark days.

I love the sparkle.

I love the glow and the sense of hope.

And I'm ready.

I'm all.

I'm already seeing some around town, which I'm so excited about.

It just makes me smile, y'.

All.

Well, let's get into the main topic, y'.

All.

Main topic, Trust over testing.

What Finland can teach us about keeping teachers.

So let's dig in.

Who is Brad Johnson and why he matters?

Well, Brad.

Dr. Brad Johnson.

He is an educator, leadership coach, and speaker, and he focuses on teacher morale, professional respect, and educational reform.

He is consistently challenging systems that drain teachers instead of empowering them.

His latest post that I saw highlighted Finland, where 90% of teachers stay for their entire careers.

Now compare that to the US where nearly half of the teachers leave within five years.

And retention after the first year is even shaky.

See, when.

When a teacher feels trusted, they stay.

When they feel tested, they leave, y'.

All.

They do.

I'm so glad Dr. Brad Johnson highlighted this post.

And it just got me thinking.

And I just spoke last week to the Nebraska State Legislature about.

About teacher retention, about teacher burnout, where we have, what, 10% of our teachers in Nebraska leave every year?

We have 700 jobs.

Around 700 jobs either unfilled or unfilled by unqualified people.

That's not good.

Dr. Brad Johnson's post that I saw, boy, just feeds right into that.

And so what?

So let's look at what Finland does differently.

Well, there's fewer teacher hours in Finland and there's more thinking hours.

So think about that.

So Finnish teachers teach about 50% fewer hours, y'.

All.

That time is dedicated to planning, collaborating, and reflection.

The work that keeps teaching fresh and.

And effective, y'.

All.

That's that.

I'm.

I'm telling you what that very appealing, but.

And it's been.

And it's proven, y', all, it's working there.

Multiple recesses daily is something else Finland does differently.

Students recharge several times a day, which reduces behavior issues and boosts focus.

When students are regulated, teachers can actually teach.

So the power of multiple recesses daily autonomy and professional trust is huge too, that they have there.

Where teachers have freedom to design curriculum within broad guidelines, there's trust at every level.

School leaders don't micromanage, they mentor.

But it's not about the micromanaging, y'.

All.

And in limited evaluations and unlimited respect, See, the evaluation system exists, but they're not weaponized against teachers.

And the core belief is that teachers are professionals who want to improve, not employees who need.

Who need to constantly prove their worth.

Isn't that interesting that, you know, we as educators in the U.S. so many educators in the U.S. feel like we constantly have to prove our worth, but not there.

Not in Finland.

So what can the US Learn, y'?

All, that micromanagement kills motivation, y'.

All.

It does.

Mandates multiply without measuring what really matters.

We can.

We can have mandate after mandate after mandate, and they could get out of control.

And they don't really measure what really matters in the classroom.

Y' all.

See, we say we trust teachers, but we rarely show it.

In the US if we treated teachers as professionals, not as replaceable workers, we would stop spending billions on turnover.

See, respect doesn't cost money, but disrespect sure does.

Now let's talk about reimagining the school day, y'.

All.

Just imagine, y', all, if teachers had collaboration blocks built in instead of piling them in on time after school.

I gotta tell you something.

My school district does.

My school district does.

On Wednesday mornings.

We start an hour late.

We.

I mean, we.

We teachers still come at the same time, but we.

One of the great things is students come an hour late so we can have that collaborative block that's powerful, y'.

All.

It's so great to not have to have an add on where we stay an extra hour at some staff meeting where then we have to kind of go through it.

Just imagine if planning time wasn't the first thing sacrificed for coverage, too.

Think about teacher plan time is the first thing sacrifice if we have to cover other classrooms.

Just imagine if recess was seen as essential to learning for students and for teachers, y'.

All.

See, none of this requires a $600 million study.

It requires trust and courage, y'.

All.

It does.

So those are a few things that you could reimagine a school day and you can.

You can actually be impactful.

I know different.

My last school district also had a collaborative block during built in Mondays where students got out early, too.

I think that's good.

That's good.

We're seeing that we have to do more, though.

It's not enough.

Just doing a collaborative block.

We gotta do more, y'.

All.

Once again, with.

With not just sacrificing plan time for coverage and seeing recess as essential for teachers and students even.

So much more.

Barely even scratching the surface here.

See the real cost of losing teachers.

Let's talk about the real cost of losing teachers.

See, Dr. Johnson reminds us that America spends over 8 billion a year replacing teachers who leave.

But the true cost is deeper because it's.

It is it?

The cost is disrupted learning, shaken relationships, lost mentorship.

See, every teacher loss is a story cut short and a student connection that never forms.

You can't recruit your way out of a retention problem until you fix the conditions that drive people away.

In other words, what I like to say is you got to stop the bleed.

You got to stop the bleeding.

As long as the bleeding is still happening, you can't fix what?

You don't stop with the bleeding, y'.

All.

And so when we're bleeding teachers where they are leaving the profession, it doesn't matter how great your recruiting is unless you fix why teachers are leaving.

So let's talk about why.

Trust is transformational.

See, trust builds ownership, and ownership builds innovation.

When teachers feel trusted, they take creative risk and design learning that sticks.

Trust isn't soft, it's strategic, y'.

All.

It frees educators to focus on students rather than survival.

So let's talk about that funky connection, y'.

All.

Being.

Being a funky teacher means challenging the status quo with heart.

It means modeling what a trust based environment looks like right inside your own classroom.

You can't control the system.

You cannot control the system, but you can cultivate trust and joy within the walls of your own classroom.

And that's how we can change the culture one funky classroom at a time.

So while we can't change the system as a whole, we can advocate, we definitely can control and change and cultivate the culture in our classrooms, y'.

All.

So as a reflective closing here, Dr. Brad Johnson reminds us that the difference between Finnish schools and ours isn't talent.

Oh, we have, we have such amazing educators right here in Nebraska and across the United States.

It's not the talent, it's trust.

See, when teachers are trusted, they stay.

When they're valued, they grow.

And when they have the freedom to teach creatively, students thrive.

Maybe it's time we build a system that treats teachers like the professionals they already are, not the factory workers that they are sometimes seen as working on assembly lines.

Because the future, the future of education.

Think about this.

The future of education isn't in control.

It's in connection.

It's not about the control.

And trust is where that connection starts.

It's got to start with trust, y'.

All.

Well, I hope I gave you something to think about here today.

I hope you found value in it.

If you did, jump on over to Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts and let me know what you think.

Hit me up with a five star review and give me a review.

And I want you to remember to inspire greatness in young people.

And don't forget to be a funky teacher.

Bye now.

He's Mr. Funky Teacher yeah, he's Mr. Funky Teacher yeah, yeah, yeah.