Finland vs. U.S.

[sleigh]

An interesting article pointed to by Toby Buckell: Finland’s education system has consistently ranked among the best in the world for more than a decade. Yet in Finland, there is no standardized testing of schoolchildren, they're not 'taught to the test' but instead taught critical-thinking skills, and the difference between the highest performing school and the lowest performing school is less than four percent.

"So they began in the 1970s by completely transforming the preparation and selection of future teachers. That was a very important fundamental reform because it enabled them to have a much higher level of professionalism among teachers. Every teacher got a masters degree, and every teacher got the very same high quality level of preparation.

"So what has happened since is that teaching has become the most highly esteemed profession. Not the highest paid, but the most highly esteemed. Only one out of every 10 people who apply to become teachers will ultimately make it to the classroom…

"This is what Finland has done that's different -- they've defined what is excellent teaching, not just reasonable teaching, and they have a standard for that. Second, they've defined what is most important to learn, and it's not a memorization-based curriculum, but a thinking-based curriculum."

Could something like this work in the U.S.? Discuss.

Comments

Our Republican

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

Masters would not like this system.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I think they must have a more homogenous population in Finland than we do in America. Mulitcultural classrooms are harder to teach because of the different experiences and expectations the students bring to school, and also because immigrants in America are often in poverty, and that brings another set of problems with it.

Plus, the teacher's unions in America exist PRIMARILY to keep teachers in jobs with good benefits, and not to ensure that children find success in school.

K.

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

It could work in the US if we could divest ourselves of the crazy fundies who believe that critical thinking is anathema to god's will. But right now those idiots are still sometimes successful in packing their local school boards with people who want to teach Creationism as if it has some connection to reality.

If New York City would get over itself and say "Screw Federal dollars, we'll find a way to fund our educational system from our tax revenue," I think they could get such a system in place. It's essentially the system I was raised with--in the best public grammar school in the city.

[scottakennedy.livejournal.com]

Greater prestige for teachers in the U.S. would be wonderful, but seems a fantasy to me, given the current orgy of union/teacher bashing that became common after last year's release of Waiting for Superman.

A main element that comparisons of U.S. schools with Finland often leave out is the level of cultural homogeneity and lower level of poverty. Finland trends toward a low child poverty rate, while the US trends high
(http://www.conferenceboard.ca/hcp/details/society/child-poverty.aspx)

I read a good deal about this after "Waiting for Superman" came out, as my wife (a former CPS fifth grade teacher) and I were both pretty incensed at the anti-union/teacher bashing/money-doesn't matter narrative of that film. Even as Oprah was having those filmmakers on, CPS was trying to raise the student/teacher ratio 37! 37 fifth graders in a classroom. The mind boggles. That would have been day-care, not teaching (and eventually that effort failed). At the same time, again as shows like Oprah were promoting the blame-the-teacher-meme, CPS fired many of its more experienced teachers and teacher mentors, as they had higher salaries, and inexperienced teachers would make for a smaller budget to fit with the state's budget crisis.

The Nation actually summed the ways that comparison to Finland leave out the invoconvenient aspects of by those trying to privitize public schools:
"In the Finnish education system, much cited in the film as the best in the world, teachers are – gasp! – unionized and granted tenure, and families benefit from a cradle-to-grave social welfare system that includes universal daycare, preschool and health care, all of which are proven to help children achieve better results in school."
http://www.thenation.com/article/154986/grading-waiting-superman?page=full

Ok. Rant over. Sorry.

[earthforge.livejournal.com]

Finland and most other Scandinavian countries have a different structure. The US is focused on personal choice to the point of obsession, whereas Scandinavian countries have a well-developed "nanny state" that everyone is expected to obey and respect. So if the US government were to make the same steps to make teachers more respected, it would fall flat particularly with the ideologues and uneducated because they would be overruled by the state.

As to the American school system issues, I don't blame it entirely on teacher unions. There are also the endless cuts to schools and lack of focus on individual students. Standardized tests and "No Child Left Behind" just enforce the idea that schools must graduate the most students they can at the most mediocre level. This ignores the kids who need more help (Special Ed) and the kids who need to be challenged (GATE programs, K12 program at the local community college.)

If there should be a change to the teacher's union, here it is: don't cut their salaries, cut their tenure. Part of the issue is K12 teachers don't have to fight for their jobs by teaching well, they just cling to their union. I think a performance-based system that rewards effective teaching and has turn over would be a start to improving the system.