It's unorthodox, but Finland's education system ranked No. 1

[carols]

Imagine an educational system where children don't start school until they are 7, where spending is a paltry $5,000 a year per student, where there are no gifted programs and class sizes often approach 30. A prescription for failure, no doubt, in the eyes of many experts, but in this case a description of Finnish schools, which recently were ranked the world's best...

The Suutarila school -- cheerful, well-lighted, nicely heated -- is typical of Finnish "comprehensive schools," which run from first to ninth grade. The students, who number about 500, leave their snow boots by their lockers and pad about in their socks. After every 45-minute lesson, they are let loose outside for 15 minutes so they can burn off steam. Others, allowed to practice their music, file into classrooms, sling electric guitars across their chests or grab drumsticks, and jam...

So long as schools stick to the core national curriculum, which lays out goals and subject areas, they are free to teach the way they want. They can choose their textbooks or ditch them altogether, teach indoors or outdoors, cluster children in small groups or large groups...

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/168341_vene09.html

[procopia]

1. One reason students in Finland excel in reading,

I have heard, is that they like to watch subtitled American cartoons on tv. What a great incentive!

[shugah]

18. i'm sure that's what it is

/sarcasm

do you have a source for that?

[Alenne]

27. It's in the New York Times article

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/09/international/europe/09finl.html?hp

"At first, the 7-year-olds lag behind their peers in other countries in reading, but they catch up almost immediately and then excel. Experts cite several reasons: reading to children, telling folk tales and going to the library are activities cherished in Finland. Lastly, children grow up watching television shows and movies (many in English) with subtitles. So they read while they watch TV."

[Occulus]

33. Wow.

I'm very bitter at my parents for a number of reasons, but I will say one positive thing about them: they taught me how to read, and read well. In fact, I have to wholly credit my parents for taching me how to read, and for doing so in a superb fashion.

When I was in third grade I took a set a reading and comprehension tests to determine what level of comprehension I had. At that time, third grade, I was at a college reading comprehension level. No joke; I was always in our school's most advanced lit classes (except for AP Lit in high school; I wasn't interested in the material, had already read some of it, and was honestly concerned about whether I would gain anything from the class).

There are three thing my parents did for me in this area: they read to me a great deal while I was very young, they allowed me to choose things to read for myself, even if they were "above" my reading level, and they frequently took me to the library. I would grow up to bike the three miles and later drive to the library on my own, and I'd always come home with literally an armful of books.

It really is those methods, and little else, that turns kids on to reading. Teaching a kid to devour books is a very good thing.

[aneerkoinos]

32. No Fox kids cartoon, thanks

We don't let our kid watch any of that ultra violent stuff, and don't know anybody who does. Kids cartoons are dubbed anyway.

Yep, I'm Finn, and my son, 4, has just learned to read. Finnish is easy to learn to read because writing is 95% phonemic.

[xchrom]

2. there are all kinds of ways

to teach chidren successfully. it's amazing how children can thrive in such different conditions.
what they do need, however, is good, no, excellent infrastructure.
from books to buildings -- those things must be the best.
then if the teacher is inspired -- dump the books and improvise.

[Laughing Mirror]

3. Note that US placed in the middle.

But I couldn't determine if that "middle" is the middle of all the OECD rich member countries, or in the middle of all countries in the world combined.

Either way, doesn't sound good for the US. But we know that already. What are we doing about it?

[dolo amber]

19. We're not doing anything, silly

Survivor is on!! And Bratz dolls are on sale this week at WALMART!! :silly:

We have more *important* things to worry about, y'see...

:(

[EdGy]

4. but Finland has a great social welfare state

the problem in the US is not so much the education system.

It's that the rest of society's problems are all coming home to roost in the schools.

The massive inequality in wealth and income. The massive numbers of children living in poverty. The lack of a real social safety net.

Those are all things that Finland does not have to worry about because the government does take care of people in a way the US government and society don't.

It's not the schools. That's looking at the pine needle and ignoring the forest.

It's the system in the US that is the problem. And nothing will improve until we reject that Republican system of kill or be killed, their rejection of policies that take into consideration all members of our society. The primitive capitalism system here is the cause of most of our problems.

Get rid of that, put in place a truly humane system that treats people like human beings rather than just as commodities to be screwed by the Walmarts of this country, and education outcomes will improve enormously.

[democracyindanger]

5. Culture as well

From the article, it seems the Finnish regard teaching with great respect, even though they're paid about the same as US teachers (diddly).

[sam sarrha]

6. I would speculate that the Finnish do not allow students to disrupt class

..Bully and Assault other students..and even teachers as happens here.

Teachers here are quiting in droves.. I meet x-teachers all he time .. the one i know that still teach are not sure they will continue. They are tired of having to "PARENT" their students.. they spend a lot.. to most of their time in dicipline... they say it isn't worth it. and the system wont do anything about it.

[EdGy]

8. and that situation is the product of the wider situation in society

the culture of meanness and bullying that is exemplified in the current Bush regime.

And the attitude toward "learning" that is the opposite of true learning is also a problem and the result of Bush policies in the field of education (though they go beyond bush). The goal is to make students not want to learn, to keep them ignorant, all the better that they watch Fox News and think they're actually getting the truth.

Bottom line: the larger system is causing all of these problems, which then come home to roost in the schools, including in the form of behavior problems.

[phylny]

11. You're exactly right!

I find the information on education in Finland to be interesting, but want to know particulars with regard to how many children in the study were living in poverty, with one-parent families, and what the kids' diets consisted of. Were they well-fed? Starving?

I love the fact that they're doing something right there, though :)

[carols]

12. Here are some numbers of folks living in poverty in Finland

Very low numbers in the '90's http://www.vn.fi/vn/stm/english/tao/publicat/poverty/present.htm
Couldn't find much more recent...but compare to the US:
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/censpov.html

[newyawker99]

15. Hi phylny!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[sam sarrha]

34. recent story in the back of the paper..18% of Oregon's children hungry and

malnourished.. cant think well when you are hungry.

[Just Me]

7. I'll betcha' that "zero-tolerance" is NOT in their vocabularly.

I'll betcha' that culture embraces the value of every human being rather than the kind of "persecution/competition" style culture that we have in the US. I'll betcha' they don't pay nearly as much to their CEOs and professional sports players and movie stars and politicians as we do either.

I'll betcha' :D but the bet will have to be a truth or dare,...'cause I am too broke to do a dollar bet.

[ixion]

9. the US education system has lagged for decades

and now we're seeing the result.

And why? Because parents and administrators in this country are more concerned with what NOT to teach (evolution) and more concerned about spending time on stupid, vacuous social propaganda programs then actually spreading intelligence. They are far more concerned with making sure students say 'under god' when they pledge there allegance to 'Murika, far more concerned with making sure students are exposed to sex, making sure that students are generally only exposed to sterilized subject devoid of content.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

10. Learning what to think

should not be valued more than learning how to think.

[ixion]

16. very well said, GoG...

:hi:

I couldn't agree more.

[jpgray]

13. Some idiots will now copy this exactly, and will wonder why it fails

I believe the difference in Finland is that working-class Finns don't have to hold down two to three jobs to survive. The time parents spend with their children, parenting their children, is such a key element but hardly anyone talks about what kind of children our ECONOMIC situation is producing, as opposed to our educational system.

My mom was stay-at-home, and used to read to me every day. Partly as a result of this, I learned to read at about age 3. A kid growing up with three siblings raised by a single mom who has to bus into the wealthy suburbs at 4:00AM for her demeaning service sector job is not going to have that kind of advantage. This is why the 'standards' method won't work--disadvantaged kids will just stay in a demoralizing grade level until they are able to drop out. :(

[carols]

14. Very true - I just found this great source for comparing countries

in terms of who is the most militaristic, the most generous with foreign aid, who has the best education system, who has the least crime...check this out: http://www.nationmaster.com/red/graph-B/gov_cor&int=5 Finland has the least government corruption of any country in the world! And they are in the top 10 gor generousity with foreign aid: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/eco_eco_aid_don_cap. Of course they are way down the list in terms of crime as well..That's amazing - why can't we figure it out over in this country?

[dolo amber]

22. Amazing...

all that social welfare, dammned Commies...I'm sure their gov't is really stickin' it to 'em in taxes...

Not so fast, champ...:eyes:

26. Finland $6954.63 per person
27. United States $6702.42 per person

Thanks for that link, carols...great info there. :hi:

[WhereIsMyFreedom]

23. Here's how they afford it

No Missile Defense System!

Military Expenditures per capita

3. United States $953.01 per person
24. Finland $346.76 per person

[dolo amber]

25. NO MISSILE DEFENSE?!?!

But...how will they protect themselves from the brown boogeyman??? :o

Must be nice to live in a sane country. :(

[carols]

28. Looks like they are number one in Environmental compliance too

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/env_env_agr_com

And they have twice as many hospital beds available per person than we do if you check the health care section - how do I immigrate???!!!
Carol

[jmatthan]

30. Health update in Finland

When my 84-year old mother-in-law recently was ill it took over an 8 hours wait in the emergency section to have her just examined!!

Treatment of my knee has been on the process list for over a year!

Need more examples?

Further, Finland is a xenophobic society, so do not pin any hopes of integration without severe hardships.

The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.

Annikki & Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland
http://www.findians.com

[KittyWampus]

17. On Not Seperating Out "Smart" Kids

My Dad was an excellent teacher who was also a Supervisor. Tough but fair... many kids wrote to him saying how he helped change their lives.

He firmly believed it best NOT to seperate out the "smart" kids and the "slow" ones.

Keep them together so the smart ones can help the slow ones... and give them all responsibilities.

If you give kids responsibilties along with the expectation that they WILL succeed... they usually rise to the occassion.

[DivinBreuvage]

20. So what? Stupid Finns.

I'd like to see the Finns try to kick some Iraqi ass. USA! USA!

(In actuality the Finns almost fought the Soviet army to a standstill when the Big Red Bear invaded them in the "Winter War" of 1939-40. One reason was that the Finns hit on the idea of equipping their soldiers with skis, making them much more mobile than the foot-slogging Soviet troops.)

[JoFerret]

21. Children allowed to play??

whatever next!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. I noticed that, too

We have districts here that have eliminated recess. I wonder if anyone has done a study comparing the rates of hyperactivity in districts that have eliminated recess and those that have kept it.

Kids are naturally active and need to run around and yell periodically.

A workplace that never allows adult workers to take a break is considered inhumane. Shouldn't the same be true of schools?

[Lori Price CLG]

26. Compare and contrast to the Florida school system, :)

Sounds like 'No Child Left Behind' would be left behind in Finland!
:)-

[jmatthan]

29. Not so rosy in Finland

Having had our four children, and a grandchild going through the Finnish school and university education system to different stages over the last 20 years, and having worked 7 years with students in the University here, we don't think the real situation is anywhere near what is described in the article.

There are severe problems in Finnish schools related to poor quality of teachers (a Master's degree does not mean an "educated" teacher), student teasing. The psychiatric hospitals are full of adolescents who are suffering in this system. The problem of drugs in schools has gone over the top. Suicide rates of youngsters are abnormal. The actual classroom atmosphere used to be so ridiculous even as late as the mid 1990's, but of late it has changed for the better due to internationalisation - but many of the problems still remain.

Finnish bureaucrats are undoubtedly masters of spin. Even Karl Rove can learn lessons from Finnish bureaucrats! Finland is considered to be the least corrupt country in the world, but the person's who write such reports meet with the people who want to project such images. So also with education. You cannot judge the situation based on narrow tests.

The reason for the excellent reading ability of Finnish students is nothing to do with the education system but

1. the structure of the language, (anyone who has studied speed reading will understand this)
2. that it is a dual language country, and
3. the incentive to move out of this frozen wilderness to better pastures, and hence the drive to learn at least one, if not two or three foreign languages.

Nothing is black nor white, good nor bad. The article does not even begin to look at the complex issues relating to the cultural aspects prevailing in this country.

It is a typical product of Finnish spin!!

Annikki & Jacob Matthan
Oulu, Finland
Authors of:
"Handbook For Survival in Finland" (published 1994)
"Seven Years Hard Labour in a Finnish Holiday Camp - A Finnish University" (1994)
http://www.findians.com

[w4rma]

35. Nowhere near perfect (what is?) but still seems a great deal better

than what we've got over here, imho.

[polazarus]

31. That is the way

It used to be here...
until the lawsuits, political correct, banning books, and that other outside stuff got in the way.

[daleo]

36. Finland always does well in the PISA tests (international comparisons)

These tests are given to large samples of students from a number of OECD and non-OECD countries (about 40 or so), in a number of domains - reading, science, math. Students are tested at 15 years of age and 11, I think. Finland is always at or near the top in these tests. Canada also does quite well, especially Alberta. The U.S. is generally about middle of the pack. PISA stands for Programmme for International Student Assessment.

http://www.pisa.oecd.org/