Finland's education system continues to
be admired around the world Shutterstock
Nordic country's repeated success in
national education rankings means there are at least a few lessons the US can
learn
Finland's repeated success in national
education rankings suggests there are at least a few lessons the US can learn.
For one, the tiny Nordic country places
considerable weight on early education. Before Finnish kids learn their times
tables, they learn simply how to be kids - how to play with one another, how to
mend emotional wounds.
But even as kids grow up, the country
makes a concerted effort to put them on a track for success.
Here are some of the biggest ways
Finland is winning in global education.
1. Competition isn't as important as
cooperation.
Finland has figured out that
competition between schools doesn't get kids as far as cooperation between
those schools.
One reason for that is Finland has no
private schools. Every academic institution in the country is funded through
public dollars. Teachers are trained to issue their own tests instead of
standardised tests.
“There's no word for accountability in
Finnish,” education expert Pasi Sahlberg once told an audience at the Teachers
College of Columbia University. Teachers are trusted to do well without the
motivation of competition.
And that's because...
2. Teaching is one of the
most-respected professions.
Teachers aren't underpaid in Finland
like they are in the US. In fact, they're valued a lot since Finland puts a lot
of stock in childhood as the foundation for lifelong development.
To become a teacher in Finland,
candidates must have first received at least their master's degree and complete
the equivalent of a residency program in US medical schools. Student teachers
often teach at affiliate elementary schools that adjoin a university.
The result: Teachers can be counted on
to know the best pedagogical research on education that's out there.
3. Finland listens to the research.
In the US, research studies looking at
what works in the classroom and what doesn't often get stuck in the mud of
local school-board politics. Parents argue certain policies aren't “right” for
their kids.
In Finland, research comes with no such
political baggage. The government makes its education policy decisions based
almost solely on effectiveness - if the data show improvements, the federal
Ministry of Education and Culture will give it a shot.
“Overall, education in the United
States is much more political than it is in Finland, where it's much more of a
professional issue,” Sahlberg told Business Insider.
In short, Finland gets things done.
4. Finland isn't afraid to experiment.
One big benefit of listening to the
research is you're not beholden to outside forces, like money and political
clout. Finland's teachers are encouraged to create their own mini-laboratories
for teaching styles, keeping what works and scrapping what doesn't.
It's a lesson for the US: An
experimental mindset at the top can lead teachers to think outside the box.
5. Playtime is sacred.
Compared to the US, where free playtime
has been dwindling in kindergarten for the last two decades, Finnish law requires
teachers to give students 15 minutes of play for every 45 minutes of
instruction.
The policy stems from Finland's deep,
almost storybook belief that kids ought to stay kids for as long as possible.
It's not their job to grow up quickly and become memorisers and test-takers.
The results speak for themselves: Study
after study has found that students given at least one daily recess for 15
minutes or more behave better in school and do better on assignments.
6. Kids have very little homework.
For all the things Finnish schools
offer kids, what they seem to lack is homework. Many kids receive only a small
amount of it each night.
The philosophy stems from a mutual
level of trust shared by the schools, teachers, and parents.
Parents assume teachers have covered
most of what they need in the confines of the school day, and schools assume the
same. Extra work is often deemed unnecessary by everyone involved.
Time spent at home is reserved for
family, where the only lessons kids learn are about life.
7. Preschool is high-quality and
universal.
Some of the only opportunities many
American kids get to stretch their imagination, get dirty, and play games come
in preschool. The trouble is, parents are often expected to pay for that early
education, setting up disparities that could last through the child's later
years.
In Finland, parents are guaranteed
everything. Preschool and daycare are both universal until age 7, and more than
97% of three- to six-year-olds take advantage of at least one, NPR reports.
More than that, though, the preschools
are good. They align their curricula with one another and prepare kids along
similar tracks. By the time kids start getting actual work, parents can rest
assured the same lessons are getting elsewhere taught across town.
8. College tuition is free.
Unlike American students, who rack up
tens of thousands in college-loan debt, Finns pay nothing to go to college. For
bachelor, master, and doctoral programmes alike, their education is subsidized
by a combination of taxpayer dollars and the federal government.
“This takes a huge burden away from
young people's minds when they don't need to wonder whether they can afford to
pay for their studies,” Pasi Sahlberg, Director General at the Centre for
International Mobility, told Business Insider.
Sahlberg said the system comes from a
belief that “education, including higher education, is a human right and also a
great equalizer in our society.
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