Open Education takes a closer look at those high-scoring Finnish students.
Finnish students don’t start school till age seven, but all attend “a high-quality government funded preschool program.”
As opposed to a focus on getting a jump academically, these early-childhood programs focus on self-reflection and social behavior. It is interesting to note that one of the most notable attributes of Finnish children is their level of personal responsibility.
Brighter students aren’t singled out — till the end of ninth grade.
Students are separated for the last three years of high school based on grades. Under the current structure, 53% will go to academic high school and the rest enter vocational school.
. . . There is no silly “college for all†mantra and there certainly isn’t a push to have all students sit through a trigonometry class if that is not relevant to the student. More importantly, there is also no negative connotation to the concept of vocational school.
The drop-out rate is only 4 percent.
Yes, Finland has little ethnic, language or cultural diversity compared to the U.S.
Interesting. I was wondering how long it would take for the debunking of Finland’s vaunted education to start this time around. It took longer last time, when this silly story appeared in 2005.
Some interesting stuff from the Open Ed article:
…“Half of all children are below average, and teachers can do only so much for them.â€. Most educators cringe upon hearing such a statement given an inherent belief that they can make a difference in the life of a child. But Murray does not contest that thought. Instead he focuses on the fact that there are limitations to innate intelligence.
Murray’s opinion, and we concur, is that more American students should examine the option of vocational education/training. Notes Murray, finding a lawyer or physician is relatively easy but finding a plumber, carpenter or other qualified tradesman in America actually tends to be far more difficult.
I have never understood the animus against labor in American schools. There is nothing wrong with making a living by skilled labor. A quality plumber or electrician working on his own can do quite well (try to hire a quality one, I dare ya). We are flogging thousands of students who simply have no desire or talent for academic work, and yet we give them zero profitable skills: they can’t fix a car or wire a light. They pop out of school all grown up without knowing anything they can use except how to consume, dislike of authority, and silly pop culture stuff. Oh, and some scattered academic facts. And we wonder why the prison population in the US is 1:00. The Finns are certainly smarter on vocational training issues.
I’d bet if you examined the performance of whites from Minnesota you’d see performance similar to the Finns. What works for the Finns and Minnesotans may not necessarily work for the rest of us.
KDeRosa, you may be on to something there, but I wonder how much uniform pre-school instruction with a focus on behavior expectations for school and respect for self and others might help even so.
A lot of us seem to bemoan the lack of home-training the kids get these days and if they have a few years of pre-school training in these areas, it might be a start.
So the public school system is responsible for the huge prison population? Sounds good to me.
There a some other things to consider, if we actually want to delve deeply into what the Finns know and do. Their approach to the teaching of languages is very different. Every child starts off with instruction in “mother-tongue,” of which there are at least three (Finnish, Swedish, and one additional). Second language instruction begins soon after. Addition of a third language (while continuing the first two) is optional at a later point. They are far more comfortable that we are with the notion that additional languages are an asset, not a liability, and provision of education “in” more than one language.
While, to us, they may look primarily like a bunch of blonde-haired, blue-eyed Scandinavians, they deal with diversity. Religion or ethics is a required course. Ethics is provided by the school (for those who are without religion), while religion is provided by either a Lutheran, on one of a host of other religious institutions. Again–this is a stumbling block for us.
While there is a division between what we would consider to be “college prep” and other divisions at the secondary level, most adults participate in continued learning opportunities beyond high school. Their vocational training actually leads to certifications–ours is a mixed bag. At the best certifications are earned and meaningful. For others, vocational ed is merely and “other” category for kids we have already given up on but won’t go away.
The Finns also have only a very small number of what we would consider to be “disabled” students–and these students are severely impaired. Their “special education” for the most part is geared at boosting lower-achieving kids back up to a level with the rest. They do have a mechanism for grade failure (as in holding back), it is primarily used for students who, say, have been hospitalized for half the school year.
And, while half of students, in any system, with be above, and half below average, in Finland the range from top to bottom is much smaller than ours. In order to catch Finland, we may want to pay attention to raising the upper echelon, but primarily we have to pay attention to raising the bottom.
Margo, While, to us, they may look primarily like a bunch of blonde-haired, blue-eyed Scandinavians, they deal with diversity.
Huh? They ARE Scandinavian, they just don’t “look” it. Over 96%. Their immigration policy is flat-out xenophopic, so they have no “diversity” to “deal” with. They just pretend. I think Japan (98% Japanese) is the only country of size more hostile to outsiders moving in.
It’s pretty easy to have a “lower range from top to bottom” when everyone has the same genetics, history, and demographics due to closed borders. Color me unimpressed.
I think Margo has failed to say that the Finns have a controlled society that diversity is considered a “no no”.
In any truly democratic society with many diverse culture, the school system can just provide the basic common courses like reading, writing and math. Religion and other sensitive topics are optional.
It’s pretty easy to have a “lower range from top to bottom†when everyone has the same genetics, history, and demographics due to closed borders. Color me unimpressed.
Lesson Learned? Lower degrees of diversity increases positive benefits to society.
Higher degrees of diversity increases negative outcomes and creates expense to society but this is offset by liberals being able to yammer on about how enriched their lives are by attending various ethnic festivals and sharing their new ethnic restaurant discoveries with their fellow travelers.