Skip to main content

Home/ Development across boundaries/ Group items tagged reform

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
Sven A. Miller

What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success - Anu Partanen - National -... - 4 views

www.theatlantic.com/...250564

school learning development research tools education sociology psychology equity equality reform pisa success

shared by Sven A. Miller on 03 Jan 12 - No Cached
  • 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.
  • Yet Sahlberg doesn't think that questions of size or homogeneity should give Americans reason to dismiss the Finnish example. Finland is a relatively homogeneous country -- as of 2010, just 4.6 percent of Finnish residents had been born in another country, compared with 12.7 percent in the United States. But the number of foreign-born residents in Finland doubled during the decade leading up to 2010, and the country didn't lose its edge in education. Immigrants tended to concentrate in certain areas, causing some schools to become much more mixed than others, yet there has not been much change in the remarkable lack of variation between Finnish schools in the PISA surveys across the same period.
  • Sven A. Miller on 03 Jan 12
     
    Decades ago, when the Finnish school system was badly in need of reform, the goal of the program that Finland instituted, resulting in so much success today, was never excellence. It was equity.
  • ...1 more comment...
  • Luciele Milani on 09 Jan 12
     
    Sven, Equity is a nobel goal, in any sense. In my country politicians also say that but never provide the resources to accomplish such a goal in education. They compete on who is increasing the own bank account faster but money for education is never availeble. The salaries of the teachers and professors are very low and despite the good will of certain people involved in education we are far from obtaining equality. And I particularly think countries like the USA like it and would like to keep it this way. If the young population of Brazil were well educated we would take over the USA power. We have resources, we have industry and we have a huge population willing to work, and many wanting to change the world for a better, more cultivated, more respectuos and less consumist and selfish one. Equity in education in Brazil would change the whole world....for better!
  • asimpson321 on 03 Feb 12
     
    I think we cannot just look at the education system alone to consider if it is successful. The overall environment and peoples' effort in making equality works in their country are also important. If education system is just a mean to an end to achieve high score in PISA, it is not so difficult to do so. However, what exactly is the function of an education system in society is important.
  • Bonnie Chung on 06 Feb 12
     
    I admire Finland's intensive teacher-training and union collaboration. I think it is one of the important keys to the educational success. Of course, equity for students is very important. But, it is not enough to make the success. I would like to share a link which shows what Finland's Minister of Education says about their excellent teacher-training and union collaboration. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/justin-snider/keys-to-finnish-education_b_836802.html
1 - 1 of 1
Showing 20▼ items per page