5 REASONS WHY FINLAND IS A GLOBAL EDUCATIONAL LEADER
When it comes to providing a quality education, money isn’t everything. In fact, some of the
countries that spend the most on education, like the United states, are not necessarily
the countries that display the best results. But one country is showing that providing a quality
education is about much more than money. That country is Finland, about 5% of finland gross
domestic product is spent on education, lower than neighboring Norway and Sweden,
as well as other countries such as South Korea, Brazil, and Colombia. That comes out to about
10,000per student, which is right about average for an organization for economic cooperation and
development country. Nevertheless, Finland has put together one of the most respected education
systems in the world. Education is one of the best ways to eliminate extreme poverty, increasing
access to education can lead to stronger economies, reduced inequalities, and even spark
climate action. Many people are familiar with the stereotype of the hard-working, rote memorization,
myopic tunnel vision of Eastern Asian study and work ethics. Many of these countries, like China,
Singapore, and Japan amongst others routinely rank in the number one spots in both math and science.
Some pundits point towards this model of exhaustive brain draining as something Americans
should aspire to become. Work more! Study harder! Live less. The facts and figures don’t lie, these
countries are outperforming us, but there might be a better and healthier way to go about this.
Finland is the answer, a country rich in intellectua and educationa reform has
initiated over the years a number of novel and simple changes that have completely revolutionized
their educational system. They outrank the United States and are gaining on Eastern Asian countries.
Are they cramming in dimly-lit rooms on robotic schedules? Nope. Stressing over standardized tests
enacted by the government? No way. Finland is leading the way because of common-sense
practices and a holistic teaching environment that strives for equity over excellence. Joint
us on a swift adventur and take a look at the 5 reasons why Finland is a global education leader.
5. NO STANDARDIZED TESTING Staying in line with our print-minded
sensibilities, standardized testing is the blanket way we test for subject comprehension.
Filling in little bubbles on a scantron and answering pre-canned questions is somehow
supposed to be a way to determine mastery or at least competence of a subject. What often happens
is that students will learn to cram just to pass a test and teachers will be teaching with the sole
purpose of students passing a test. Learning has been thrown out of the equation. Finland
has no standardized tests. Thier only exception is something called the national matriculation Exam,
which is a voluntary test for students at the end of an upper-secondray school.
All children throughout Finland are graded on an individualized basis and grading
system set by thier teachers. Tracking overall progress is done by the ministry of education,
which samples group across different ranges of schools.
4. ACCOUNTABILITY FOR TEACHERS IS NOT REQUIRED A Lot of the blame goes to the
teachers and rightfully so sometimes. But in Finland, the bar is set so high for teachers,
that there is often no reason to have a rigorous grading system for teachers.
Pasi Sahlberg, director of the finish ministry of education and writer of finish lessons,
what can be world learn from educational change in Finland? Said that following about teachers
accountability. All teachers are required to have a master’s degree before entering the profession.
Teaching programs are the most rigorous and selective professional schools in the entire
country. If a teacher isn’t performing well, it’s the individual principals responsibility
to do something about it. The co dept of the pupil-teacher dynamic that was to do something
to apprentice cannot be distilled down to a few bureaucratic checks
and standardized testing measures. It needs to be dealt with on an individual basis.
3. COOPERATION NOT COMPETITION While most Americans and other countries
see the educational system as one big Darwinian competition, the Finns see it differently.
Sahlberg quotes a line from a writer named Samuli Paronen which says that. Ironically, this attitude
has put them at the head of the international pack. Finland’s educational system doesn’t
worry about artificial or arbitrary merit-based systems. There are no lists of top performing
schools or teachers. It’s not an environment of competition instead, cooperation is the norm.
2. MAKE THE BASIS A PRIORITY Finish education system focus on what
makes students happy and healthy, education should be an instrument to balance out social inequality.
All student recieved free school meals, ease of access to health care, psychological counseling,
and , individualized guidance. Many school systems are so concerned with increasing test scores and
comprehension in math and science, they tend to forget what constitutes a happy, harmonious
and healthy student and learning environment. Many years ago, the Finnish school system was in
need of some serious reforms. The program that Finland put together focused on returning back
to the basics. It wasn’t about dominating with excellent marks or upping the ante.
Instead, they looked to make the school environment a more equitable place.Since
the 1980s, Finnish educators have focused on making these basics a priority.
1. STARTING SCHOOL AT AN OLDER AGE Here the finn’s start by changing
every details,students start school when they are seven years old. They have given
free reign in the developing childhood years not to be chained to compulsory education.
Its simply just a way to let a kid be a kid. There are only 9 years of compulsory
school that finish children are required to attend. Everything past the month grade
or at the age of 16 is optional. Just from a psychological standpoint, this is a freeing ideal.
Although alleviates this forced ideal pots to prepare its children for the real world.
Am sure we now know why Finland is leading. While hoping we must have learn something significant,
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