Why Finland, the country with the "world's best education", is transforming the architecture of its schools?

Finland seems to have found the formula for outstanding educational results for many years.
Finnish children begin formal education at the age of 7, have shorter school days, longer holidays, very few homework assignments and do not take exams.

And although its model has proven to be a success, as the international PISA study proves, the country continues to innovate in its education system.

A year ago, all schools in the Nordic country introduced the method known as phenomenon learning, whereby traditional subjects are displaced by thematic projects in which students appropriate the learning process.

Some of the reforms are imposed by adapting to the digital age, where children are no longer dependent on books for learning. But neither do the classrooms, at least not as we know them now.

Farewell to the walls

Finnish schools are in the midst of a major reform following the principles of open-plan or open space.

What's this all about?

There is one word that could sum it up: flexibility.

Traditional closed salons are transformed into multimodal spaces, which are linked to each other by glass walls and movable partitions.

The furniture is adjustable and includes sofas and poufs. Nothing like the school desks that most of us know.

"There is no clear division or distinction between hallway spaces and classrooms," - Tapaninen Kingdom tells BBC World, chief architect of the Finnish National Education Agency.

In this way, he explains, teachers and students can choose the most appropriate space to carry out a work or a project depending on whether it is individual, in a team or in larger groups.

"It's not a question of totally open spaces,"he explains to BBC Mundo Raila Oksanen, a consultant with the Finnish firm FCG, but the open-plan is based on creating "flexible and modifiable"areas of study.

"Children have different ways of learning," she adds, so versatile spaces "make it possible to form different teams, based on the way children learn, prefer to work and spend their study time.

Physical and mental openness

The concept of open-plan must be understood in a broad way, not only architecturally but also pedagogically.
When we talk about open-plan, it's not so much about an open space in the strict sense, the consultant emphasized, but rather about something like a "mental state.

Traditionally, classrooms "were designed to meet the needs of teachers," Oksanen said.

"The opening aims to ensure that the school responds to the individual needs of students, allowing them to take responsibility for their learning and encouraging them to increase their self-regulation," adds the consultant.

That is precisely one of the aims of the new Finnish curriculum: to increase student participation.

Students themselves set goals, solve problems and complete their learning based on objectives.

Different learning environments

The idea of open design is not entirely new in Finland.

The first schools under the principle of open plan or design were developed in the 1960s and 1970s, and at that time they were like large classrooms separated by thin walls and curtains, says the head of the Education Agency's architects.

But, at that time the teaching culture and working methods were not designed for that kind of learning environment and there were also problems with noise and acoustics, so the closed classes returned in the 80s and 90s.

One of the particular objectives of curriculum reform was to develop new learning environments and working methods.

These spaces should inspire learning, but they should not be limited to school or even a physical place.

"Other spaces should be used, such as going out into nature, visiting museums or businesses. Video games and other virtual environments are also often recognized as learning environments. Technology plays a growing and significant role in the school's daily routines, allowing students to more easily engage in the development and selection of their own environment." says Tapaninen.

Shoes off

Resolved the issue of the working model, the open design still faced a number of limitations.

When renewing a school's model of operation, there are two main challenges to be met: noise and light, both of which must be taken into account to create a good learning environment.

How was this issue resolved?

"The use of carpets on the floor instead of hard vinyl eliminated noise caused by furniture and people walking,"says the architect.
And something less expensive, schools have become "shoeless"spaces: students take off their shoes when they walk in or wear soft indoor-only shoes.

But the worries did not end there. The issue of security was also discussed in the open schools model.
"In Finland we have had cases in which an intruder attacked a school and killed students and teachers," says Tapaninen.

In 2007, an 18-year-old student shot his classmates and left eight dead in a school in Tuusula.

So several measures were taken: each school is required to make a safety plan based on risk analysis, drills are conducted at the beginning of each course, and there are usually several escape routes in each space.

The fact that they are open spaces makes Finnish schools more vulnerable to attack?

"The bottom line is that this transparency and openness helps security and easy orientation towards escape routes, rather than closed classrooms and corridors,"adds the chief architect.

A model of success

There are 4,800 primary, secondary and tertiary schools in Finland. Between 40 and 50 establishments are built or renovated annually, Tapaninen explains.

The concept of open design is being applied in most of these works.

"Providers, schools and their users can freely choose their own concept of learning environment depending on the local vision, curriculum, work culture and methods," says the architect.

"Apparently, the trend of openness in educational environments is becoming the favorite."