High-school students here rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night. They have no school uniforms, no honor societies, no valedictorians, no tardy bells and no classes for the gifted. There is little standardized testing, few parents agonize over college and kids don’t start school until age 7.
Yet by one international measure, Finnish teenagers are among the smartest in the world. They earned some of the top scores by 15-year-old students who were tested in 57 countries. American teens finished among the world’s C students even as U.S. educators piled on more homework, standards and rules. Finnish youth, like their U.S. counterparts, also waste hours online. They dye their hair, love sarcasm and listen to rap and heavy metal. But by ninth grade they’re way ahead in math, science and reading — on track to keeping Finns among the world’s most productive workers.
Hat Tip: Odonnellweb.com
Fascinating. I am not sure how I feel about giving children THAT much freedom, but I do think that the US should emulate more of that sort of thing. Our education system here in States is a shambles. Its not just that we are doing good policy badly – common ideas of what education should be are by and large flat out wrong (imho).
WOW. Not sure what to think about this one. It is so counter-intuitive to my instincts.
I agree that teachers need some freedom to choose the specific means by which a prescribed base of knowledge and skills will be taught. For example, if a love of poetry, an understanding of how to read and comprehend poetry and the basic grammar of poetry (rhyme schemes, meter, foot, etc) is deemed essential to a full-orbed education, then competent and well-educated teachers should be able to choose poetry that they personally love and with which they are familiar to get the job done. Their enthusiasm and personal attachment to the poems are more likely to produce appreciation and understanding in the students.
HOWEVER….I also believe that intelligent oversight, which ensures that necessary analytical and observational skills, modes of interpretation, etc, are incorporated into the program, is absolutely necessary. It seems that they offer much more freedom than I am comfortable with.
It also makes me wonder what the tests are looking for. (I did not take the time to look at the samples.) So much of what Christian Education is (or ought to be striving for) is not measurable on a standardized test.
Well….provocative article, Mark. Thanks.
Has anyone considered the possibility that perhaps they are smart because they are Finns? (I.e., a genetic component.) So much for the “dumb blonde” theory . . .