peruskoulu required that teachers who had previously worked in very different schools had to now all work in the same type of school with students with diverse abilities this meant that teachers needed new instructional methods they needed to design learning environments that enable differentiated learning for different pupils and they needed to perceive teaching as a top profession these expectations led to a widescale teacher education reform in that emphasised ihe professional development and researchbased learning that have been the key drivers of finlands rapid educational improvement