Top Finland educator outlines why its teachers are better off than New Zealand's

One of Finland's top educators has outlined a number of reasons why its teachers are better off than New Zealand’s that include less time teaching and better wages.

Pasi Sahlberg is the Professor of Education at Sydney's University of NSW and is currently in New Zealand for an education conference.

TVNZ1's Q+A asked Professor Sahlberg what the biggest difference is between the teaching profession in Finland and New Zealand.

"The biggest difference is probably the amount of time the teachers spend teaching children in Finland compared to New Zealand and many other countries.

"The teaching load is much lighter which means they have more time to work with each other and think about how and what they teach," he said.

Professor Sahlberg says that teachers in Finland spend around 30 hours a week in the classroom and planning lessons, whereas in the OECD teachers typically work 40 hour weeks or longer.

In terms of money, Finland also seeks to look after those in the profession.

"The money is important in teaching in Finland and it should never be why talented young people would not becomes teachers, but it should not be the only motivation as well, so in Finland we often say teachers should earn the national average wage.

"We want to make sure it's a competitive salary and that the profession itself is competitive and interesting for young people."

* Q+A is on TVNZ1 on Mondays at 9.30pm, and the episode is then available on TVNZ OnDemand and as a podcast in all the usual places.