How teacher recruitment works for OPPI affiliated schools
OPPI does not recruit or place teachers. Hiring stays entirely with the affiliated school, and OPPI's role begins once staff are in place, training the teachers a school already employs, or is in the process of hiring, to teach Finnish inspired pedagogy in K-5 classrooms.
- Recruitment and employment decisions remain with the affiliated school at every stage; OPPI does not supply, place or employ teachers on a school's behalf.
- OPPI's role is training, covered in full in OPPI's teacher training programme explained, applied to whichever teachers a school assigns to early years and primary classrooms.
- Because affiliation is K-5-first, recruitment questions most often arise for early years and primary teaching roles rather than across a whole school.
- Schools hiring specifically for these roles can use Finnish pedagogy familiarity as one factor in recruitment, but OPPI's training is designed to work with generalist class teachers, not only specialists with prior exposure to Finnish methods.
Why OPPI stays out of hiring
Keeping recruitment entirely with the school is a deliberate design choice, not a gap in the programme. A school's employment relationship with its own staff, its pay structures, contracts and local hiring norms, are matters the school is best placed to manage. OPPI's contribution starts once a teacher is in the classroom: building the practical skills covered in OPPI's teacher training programme, such as running phenomenon-based units and formative assessment, rather than deciding who is hired to use them.
What this means when a school is hiring for K-5 roles
Because affiliation is K-5-first, most of the practical recruitment questions schools raise relate to early years and primary teaching posts. Schools do not need to hire teachers with existing Finnish pedagogy experience, since OPPI's training is built for generalist class teachers who may have no prior exposure to phenomenon-based learning or formative assessment. What matters more at the hiring stage is the same as for any strong K-5 appointment: a genuine interest in child development, willingness to adapt classroom practice, and comfort working collaboratively with colleagues and coaches.
- No requirement for prior Finnish pedagogy experience at the point of hiring
- Openness to coaching and classroom observation as part of ongoing development
- Comfort with collaborative, team based teaching approaches
- Interest in early years and primary pedagogy specifically, given the K-5-first focus
Training begins after recruitment, not instead of it
Once a school has recruited or assigned teachers to early years and primary classrooms, OPPI's training takes over: initial sessions on the practical building blocks of Finnish-inspired teaching, followed by ongoing coaching and classroom observation, described fully in OPPI's teacher training programme explained. This sequencing, school led hiring followed by OPPI led training, is the same structure used throughout a school's wider affiliation with OPPI.
Frequently asked questions
Does OPPI place or supply teachers to schools?
No. Recruitment and employment stay entirely with the affiliated school. OPPI's role is training the teachers a school hires or assigns to early years and primary classrooms.
Do new hires need prior experience with Finnish pedagogy?
No. OPPI's training is designed for generalist class teachers with no prior exposure to phenomenon-based learning or formative assessment, so this is not a hiring requirement.
Which roles does this most commonly affect?
Because affiliation is K-5-first, recruitment questions most often concern early years and primary teaching posts rather than roles across the whole school.
When does OPPI's training start relative to hiring?
After. A school recruits or assigns its own teachers first, and OPPI's training, described in OPPI's teacher training programme explained, begins once those teachers are in place.
Related reading
Bring Finnish pedagogy to your school
OPPI affiliates a selective cohort of schools each year for its K-5 Finnish-pedagogy programme, backed by Education Finland. Tell us about your school and our team will reach out.
Backed by Education Finland. Over 20 schools have already affiliated, including DPS, Radcliffe and Sanctus. Places in each cohort are limited.
Apply to the affiliation cohort →