What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success

[random3434]

Since the 1980s, the main driver of Finnish education policy has been the idea that every child should have exactly the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or geographic location. Education has been seen first and foremost not as a way to produce star performers, but as an instrument to even out social inequality.

In the Finnish view, as Sahlberg describes it, this means that schools should be healthy, safe environments for children. This starts with the basics. Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance.

In fact, since academic excellence wasn't a particular priority on the Finnish to-do list, when Finland's students scored so high on the first PISA survey in 2001, many Finns thought the results must be a mistake. But subsequent PISA tests confirmed that Finland -- unlike, say, very similar countries such as Norway -- was producing academic excellence through its particular policy focus on equity.

What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success - Anu Partanen - National - The Atlantic

 

[Mad Scientist]

Interesting that the countries that have the best performing schools also have homogenous societies; South Korea and Finland (It was mentioned in the article). I would add Japan to that list as well.

The writer is quick to point out that Finland gives all it's students free lunches and health care and seems to imply that if we do that here our public schools performance will return to top 10 status? Not likely, we spend the most per student yet we're something like 37th in the world. Again, not even in the top ten.

There's a reason for that and it's not money, or "economic equality" as mentioned in the article. It's the NEA and it's power over the system. Until the NEA is dealt with, nothing will change.

The writer says that competition and private schools is the problem to "economic equality" yet Private Schooled and Home Schooled students are consistently our nations top performers.

Name the last Scripps Spelling Bee winner who was Public Schooled. You can't. There's a reason for that.

Nothing by accident in the gov't I tell ya'. Public Schools are sh*t because the Gov't wants them that way.

 

[xotoxi]

99% of all Finnish children are Finnish.

In other words, they are all the same...have the same culture, same morals, same work ethics, etc.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Since the 1980s, the main driver of Finnish education policy has been the idea that every child should have exactly the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or geographic location. Education has been seen first and foremost not as a way to produce star performers, but as an instrument to even out social inequality.

In the Finnish view, as Sahlberg describes it, this means that schools should be healthy, safe environments for children. This starts with the basics. Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance.

In fact, since academic excellence wasn't a particular priority on the Finnish to-do list, when Finland's students scored so high on the first PISA survey in 2001, many Finns thought the results must be a mistake. But subsequent PISA tests confirmed that Finland -- unlike, say, very similar countries such as Norway -- was producing academic excellence through its particular policy focus on equity.

Needless to say, since such evidence doesn’t comport with conservative dogma, the right will only ridicule, make pathetic excuses, and reject the evidence out of hand.

 

[FurthurBB]

Interesting that the countries that have the best performing schools also have homogenous societies; South Korea and Finland (It was mentioned in the article). I would add Japan to that list as well.

The writer is quick to point out that Finland gives all it's students free lunches and health care and seems to imply that if we do that here our public schools performance will return to top 10 status? Not likely, we spend the most per student yet we're something like 37th in the world. Again, not even in the top ten.

There's a reason for that and it's not money, or "economic equality" as mentioned in the article. It's the NEA and it's power over the system. Until the NEA is dealt with, nothing will change.

The writer says that competition and private schools is the problem to "economic equality" yet Private Schooled and Home Schooled students are consistently our nations top performers.

Name the last Scripps Spelling Bee winner who was Public Schooled. You can't. There's a reason for that.

Nothing by accident in the gov't I tell ya'. Public Schools are sh*t because the Gov't wants them that way.

The national spelling B has been won by a public school kid for the last 6 years. I believe the mathletes competition has been won by a public school kid the last 3. A home schooled child won the national spelling B for 5 years in a row and has not won in the last 12 years and all those where Indian-Americans. Indian Americans also won the last 3 years in a row, but were from public schools. There are many public schools in the US that are in the top 2% and beat out most private schools. Misinformation might be part of the problem.

 

[PrometheusBound]

Since the 1980s, the main driver of Finnish education policy has been the idea that every child should have exactly the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or geographic location. Education has been seen first and foremost not as a way to produce star performers, but as an instrument to even out social inequality.

In the Finnish view, as Sahlberg describes it, this means that schools should be healthy, safe environments for children. This starts with the basics. Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance.

In fact, since academic excellence wasn't a particular priority on the Finnish to-do list, when Finland's students scored so high on the first PISA survey in 2001, many Finns thought the results must be a mistake. But subsequent PISA tests confirmed that Finland -- unlike, say, very similar countries such as Norway -- was producing academic excellence through its particular policy focus on equity.[/QUOTE

What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success - Anu Partanen - National - The Atlantic

The US has been most successful in developing athletic talent, so that should be the model for developing mental talent. If we did sports like Finland does education, we would neglect the needs of the talented to have special focus and funding directed to them, because they create all the wealth, not the parasites who imposed the educational insult to intelligence. Using the sports analogy, Finland's leveling policy would be like trying to improve a school's team by making all students practice that sport, taking money,, coaching, and equipment away from where it will do the most good, with the naturally superior athletes.