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It will not work here as the American mindset is not the same. First, we do not value learning in this country, and second there is a great divide in "parenting" and those grpups of people who take it seriously and actually WORK and with and NURTURE their children and those who just "pop em out" and then basically ignore them. Plus, too, America is HUGE, and we have too many different ethnic groups and economic groups to contend with and something like the Finnish model works when people are more alike and are NOT living in poverty. I have taught in Europe and trust me, that a lot of what they do there is the right way to go, but.... getting anyone to listen in this country esp since national standards would have to be developed (and yes, I am aware of the core standard's movement), is an impossibility.
Finland has vastly improved in reading, math and science literacy over the past decade in large part because its teachers are trusted to do whatever it takes to turn young lives around.
They trust their teachers and respect them. That is not the case here in the US and until this changes, nothing will.
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Many schools are small enough so that teachers know every student.
Won't happen in Texas at least. My dgd's school is huge. They had 9 K classes when she started at 5 (they had 21 kids in a class then) and they have 5 4th grade classes (with 24 students per class) now.
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Nearly 30 percent of Finland’s children receive some kind of special help during their first nine years of school.
People don't want the kids to be *different* so getting special help is stigmatized.
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The people in the government agencies running them, from national officials to local authorities, are educators, not business people, military leaders or career politicians. Every school has the same national goals and draws from the same pool of university-trained educators.
We prefer not to listen to teachers and professional educators.
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Teachers in Finland spend fewer hours at school each day and spend less time in classrooms than American teachers. Teachers use the extra time to build curriculums and assess their students. Children spend far more time playing outside, even in the depths of winter. Homework is minimal. Compulsory schooling does not begin until age 7.
Americans are in rush and keep pushing academics early before kids are ready. When they want achievement, they delete play time and recess. Not doing exams in the early grades works better, but Americans want to test so they can see where the kids are.
In addition, of course, Finland does not have the poverty and homelessness because of their social system.
Finland has vastly improved in reading, math and science literacy over the past decade in large part because its teachers are trusted to do whatever it takes to turn young lives around
Teachers are not trusted in the US. Curriculum is determined and teacher performance is set by bureaucrats and administrators. Teachers are criticized by everyone from parents to administrators to the media. Until TEACHERS are put in charge of education, our educational system will not improve.
The closest parallel to the Finnish model in the US are private schools. Obviously, the fact that private schools require tuition is a major difference, but putting trust and control of the curriculum in the hands of teachers is something far more prevalent in private schools in the US.
The closest parallel to the Finnish model in the US are private schools. Obviously, the fact that private schools require tuition is a major difference, but putting trust and control of the curriculum in the hands of teachers is something far more prevalent in private schools in the US.
I haven't seen that. Certainly this is not true in religious private schools. The Catholic schools, for example, have their own curricula and the diocese usually approves it.
It will not work here as the American mindset is not the same. First, we do not value learning in this country, and second there is a great divide in "parenting" and those grpups of people who take it seriously and actually WORK and with and NURTURE their children and those who just "pop em out" and then basically ignore them. Plus, too, America is HUGE, and we have too many different ethnic groups and economic groups to contend with and something like the Finnish model works when people are more alike and are NOT living in poverty. I have taught in Europe and trust me, that a lot of what they do there is the right way to go, but.... getting anyone to listen in this country esp since national standards would have to be developed (and yes, I am aware of the core standard's movement), is an impossibility.
I agree with some of this, but the article did note that the demographics of Finland are changing; these students are not all from the same background, and include plenty of new immigrants. On the other hand, they are all benefiting from the many other elements of Finnish society that make it possible for the schools to succeed. The schools can really do only so much until the rest of the puzzle in place.
That said, I think there are still many lessons to be learned from Finland, and to think that the United States could certainly stand to pay attention. I'd love to see less focus on testing, less attention on grades and rankings (of students or schools), and much more freedom for schools and teachers.
The schools are just one reason of many that I'd jump at the chance to live in Finland, should the opportunity ever arise!
I haven't seen that. Certainly this is not true in religious private schools. The Catholic schools, for example, have their own curricula and the diocese usually approves it.
Americans are in rush and keep pushing academics early before kids are ready. When they want achievement, they delete play time and recess. Not doing exams in the early grades works better, but Americans want to test so they can see where the kids are.
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Having taught both elementary and middle school I am opposed to pushing academics down into kindergarten. The concept of kindergarten developed by Friedrich Frobel was a "children's garden" of exploration and activity. Many prominent researchers that helped make public education a reality documented the value of play and socialization in early education. Putting all 4/5 year-old children on a rigid academic path does not improve their longterm educational development.
Nearly two decades ago it was understood that students in first or second grade could be as much as 24 months apart in terms of reading ability. Children were evaluated based on their readiness skills. Activities to promote reading such as read alouds, picture books, letter recognition, and phonics were used to help prepare students for reading. Now all students are expected to be roughly in the same place on the learning curve at the same time regardless of their differences in age, maturity or readiness. It doesn't make sense.
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