Trust, Collaboration and Well-Being: Lessons Learned from Finland

This article describes three key principles learned while visiting schools in Finland in May 2017. Specifically, the article explores how trust, collaboration, and well-being contribute to the foundation of student-centered school cultures. The use of trust-based responsibility over test-based accountability allows for greater teacher autonomy and student-centered assessments and learning experiences. Administrators, teachers, students, and the community collaborate to foster phenomenon-based real-world experiences while developing literacy skills. Ensuring students' basic needs, providing well-resourced schools, and making sure that children feel safe, comfortable, and ready to learn are essential factors in Finland's highly educated society. Collectively, these key principles offer teaching tips for educators to consider ways to engage students in meaningful and equitable learning experiences that result in preparing children for life -- not to simply pass standardized tests.