Why Finland's education system puts others to shame. For as small and homogeneous as Finland may be, its repeated success in national education rankings means there are at least a few lessons the US can learn.
For one, the tiny Nordic country places considerable weight on early education. Before Finnish kids learn their times tables, they learn simply how to be kids — how to play with one another, how to mend emotional wounds. But even as kids grow up, the country makes a concerted effort to put them on a track for success. District Administration Magazine. In the latest round of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) exam, given to more than 500,000 15-year-olds in 72 nations, students in the U.S. once again scored in the middle of the pack—and below average in math—raising concerns and sending educators looking for answers.
The search often turns to the top of the PISA results and the countries listed there, specifically Finland, which is often hailed as a model for Western education systems. Comprising 130,000 square miles of northern Europe, Finland is a homogeneous nation where 90 percent of the 5.5 million people speak the same language and the poverty rate is under 6 percent, compared to the 15 percent poverty rate in the U.S. Consequently, economic and social diversity are not significant issues, which are major considerations for U.S. educators.
Education is also a national priority, funded well, with more than 55 percent in federal dollars, and catering to working families. Can’t copy everything. When Finland's Teachers Work in America’s Schools. “I have been very tired—more tired and confused than I have ever been in my life,” Kristiina Chartouni, a veteran Finnish educator who began teaching American high-school students this autumn, said in an email.
“I am supposedly doing what I love, but I don't recognize this profession as the one that I fell in love with in Finland.” Chartouni, who is a Canadian citizen through marriage, moved from Finland to Florida with her family in 2014, due in part to her husband’s employment situation. After struggling to maintain an income and ultimately dropping out of an ESL teacher-training program, a school in Tennessee contacted her this past spring about a job opening. Shortly thereafter, Chartouni had the equivalent of a full-time teaching load as a foreign-language teacher at two public high schools in the Volunteer State, and her Finnish-Canadian family moved again.
Finland Will Become the First Country in the World to Get Rid of All School Subjects. Uk.businessinsider. Reuters/Vesa Moilanen Year after year, Finland is ranked as one of the world leaders in education while America lags far behind.
But it's not that Finland knows more about how to build effective schools than the US does. Almost all education research takes place in the US, and American schools can't seem to learn from any of it — and yet Finnish people do. What is HundrED? Kate Robinson. This is why Finland has the best schools. How Sydney schools can be more like Finland The Harvard education professor Howard Gardner once advised Americans, "Learn from Finland, which has the most effective schools and which does just about the opposite of what we are doing in the United States.
" This is a modal window. This modal can be closed by pressing the Escape key or activating the close button. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. End of dialog window. Wall Street rallies on jobs report What's so good about Finland? We're always hearing Finland has the best quality of life, find out why. The Dow has risen to its eighth straight record closing high. 'This culture of leaking must stop': Sessions 'This culture of leaking must stop': ... US Attorney General Jeff Sessions says leak investigation have tripled under Trump's administration, hampering the government's ability to protect the country. 'That' Scaramucci audio released Much of South Asia could be unlivable by 2100 Scuffles break out at Trump rally.
This is why Finland has the best schools. Finland schools: Subjects are out and ‘topics’ are in as country reforms its education system - Europe. Finland to remove cursive handwriting from education curriculum - Education News - Education. The country’s education board said that the change - set to take effect in 2016 - will reflect how typing skills are more relevant than handwriting.
The move has sparked debate over the future of handwriting in the classroom. Minna Harmanen from the National Board of Education told Finnish publication Savon Sanomat that "fluent typing skills are an important national competence". In September 2013 cursive handwriting was removed as a compulsory skill in the US, where 43 states have adopted the standard as of last year. Misty Adoniou, senior lecturer of Language, Literacy and TESL at the University of Canberra, told The Independent: "I think they [Finland] have made a sensible decision, and it has probably come about from a sensible curriculum review. "Cursive writing is a reflection of a time when we used a fountain pen and ink - a writing technology. "Nobody is arguing that children shouldn't learn to write by hand.