Beyond the global hype about Finnish education: New essay urges a rethinking of Finnish and Chinese teacher education systems, and their overlooked similarities

For more than two decades, Finland’s education system has been a global benchmark. It is often contrasted sharply with systems from other parts of the world, including China’s, a phenomenon that Suhao Peng from the University of Eastern Finland terms “Finland exceptionalism”. However, a new thought-provoking discussion essay published online in ECNU Review of Education on June 2, 2025, challenges this exceptionalism.

Authored by Peng, the paper, titled “Rethinking Finnish Education From the Chinese Perspective: The Underlying Similarities and Commonalities Between Finnish and Chinese Teacher Education Systems” calls for a more nuanced comparison, emphasizing the often-overlooked shared foundations and challenges between Finnish and Chinese education systems.

“For a long time, people have been talking a lot about how Finnish educational system is different from education in other countries, like China, and exceptionalized from the global educational trends, such as neoliberalism. It’s like we are always focusing on the differences when we talk about foreign countries, but it’s neither critical nor reflective,” says Peng. “My discussion essay gently invites us to see things a bit differently. It’s also important to recognize shared foundations between two different societies because they can pave the way for more fruitful Sino-Finnish dialogue and collaborative solutions to the global challenges teacher education faces.”

The essay thought-provokingly deconstructs the common practice of uncritically “learning from Finland” without a deeper understanding of comparability or the local context. Instead, Peng argues for looking beyond national differences to identify common ground that can support mutual growth.

Unveiling common ground in teacher education between two seemingly contrasting systems

Peng’s discussion highlights several key areas where Finnish and Chinese teacher education systems exhibit surprising parallels:

• Similar teacher qualifications: While Finnish teachers are known for often holding Master’s degrees, the essay points to China’s recent legal amendments and competitive recruitment in major economic zones that increasingly demand Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees for primary and secondary school teachers.

For example, in Shenzhen, in 2023, 80% of new teachers (including kindergarten teachers) had Master’s degrees, which urges us to consider the dynamicity and interconnections between Finnish and Chinese teacher education systems and recent developments, rather than simplistically concluding that one system is superior to the other.

• Shared challenge of teacher shortages: Both Finland and China are grappling with shortages of qualified early childhood educators due to aging populations. This shared challenge requires innovative, perhaps collaborative, actions to boost retention and recruitment strategies. These strategies could be offered globally to address similar challenges instead of a unidirectional transfer from one system to the rest of the world.
• Pedagogical approaches: The essay notes that while Finnish phenomenon-based learning is often lauded, most teaching in Finland actually remains subject-based. Similarly, China’s implementation of “key competencies” (核心素养) in its national curriculum encourages teachers to instruct beyond their specific subjects, fostering a comparable whole-person development approach for pupils. This challenges the common misconception that Finnish teachers can teach multiple subjects, but Chinese teachers cannot.
• Societal respect for teaching professionals: Teaching is a highly valued profession in both Finnish and Chinese societies. In Finland, this respect is rooted in the historical emphasis of the Lutheran Church on literacy and the role of education in nation-building. Similarly, Confucianism has instilled a deep respect for educators as mentors and role models in China for millennia. Despite moderate salaries, this high regard contributes to the popularity of the teaching profession in both nations. This, for example, can be a solid foundation for cooperation between educators from both countries.

“By understanding that both Finnish and Chinese teacher education systems value highly qualified and respected teachers and face similar contemporary challenges like teacher shortages and evolving pedagogical demands, we can transcend national divides and further Sino-Finnish cooperation in teacher education,” Peng elaborates. “This common ground is crucial for developing joint innovative approaches that enhance educational excellence and equity, not just within any national silos, but as a model for global cooperation.”

A call for critical dialogue and collaboration

In this essay, Peng concludes that recognizing these underlying similarities and commonalities in teacher education allows both Finland and China to better capitalize on the unique advantages of each system and leverage their respective strengths to address contemporary educational challenges.

The paper serves as a call for continued research and engagement to better understand the complexities of Finnish and Chinese teacher education and to identify more common ground in order to cope with global challenges in education.

Peng’s insightful analysis aims to reshape the global conversation about learning from Finland and discover the secret behind its educational success, promoting a more balanced, collaborative, and critically aware perspective that can benefit teacher education worldwide.

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Reference

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/20965311251319051