So What Is It about Finland’s Schools? by David Warlick

So What Is It about Finland’s Schools? by David Warlick

            David Warlick read an interview between a Swiss educator and a Finish school principal and learned some interesting things about Finland’s educational system and I learned the United States should take a look too. Much of the success of the educational system is based on the fact that most people in Finland take their children’s education seriously and respect the profession. And everyone gets a free education for the first nine years of their life—after that they have to pay a nominal fee. (I saw an interview on television about Finland’s school systems and the one drawback was that the Finnish people pay out a lot in taxes, but they also receive higher pay and there is almost no unemployment.) Another aspect is that there isn’t a big divide between the haves and the have nots like there is in the U.S. There is scientific evidence that the great economic divide affects learning—brings it down. In Finland, they don’t test the teachers or students very often. They seem to trust that the teachers know what they are doing.

            The principal says that schools have to integrate technology into the classroom especially social media and networks. He says that the Internet gives teachers much more means of connecting students to the world’s knowledge, each other and helps them to create new knowledge. And it connects teachers to other teachers from around the world and they can share ideas and information.

            I would personally love to see our educational system modeled on Finland’s system, but until we can straighten out the economic disparities in our country, I don’t think it would be feasible. However, I do believe that we could change the way we treat educators, how high a priority we place our children’s education and how we test our teachers and students. Then we might have a model that works!

All of the bloggers seemed to love the interview and were excited about the fact that educators from around the world are talking to each other and sharing. (I know this article is a little older, but thought it was a very interesting one. Also, I’m not sure how long you want these reflections to be.)

Citation:

Warlick, David. “So What Is It about Finland’s Schools?” 2 Cents Worth 21 May 2011. Web. 17 Jun 2011. http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?feed=rss2