Finland made teaching jobs more desirable and job competition increased. Its standards for teachers became higher than other countries. “The whole teaching profession has been re-invented there,” Wagner said. “They have much much better working conditions to prepare lessons, to collaborate with colleagues, to meet with parents and students.” Teaching in Finland became a prestigious profession where master’s degrees were required to teach on every level. And only 10 percent of applicants are even chosen to begin teacher training. Once they had jobs, teachers often stayed in the profession until
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