Value Teachers,
Customize Learning for Students, Let Teachers Shape Curriculum & Policies
By Jay Walljasper
Teachers are given
considerable freedom to shape curriculum and student assessment policies in
their classrooms, which Sahlberg believes translates into better educated kids.
Educators and school reformers all over the world are
descending on Finland to learn from the success of their educational
system, which since 2001 has ranked #1 (or close to it) for the performance of
15 year olds on standardized tests in reading, math and science. The
irony is that Finland— a prosperous, technologically top-tier nation— doesn’t
place much emphasis on standardized tests.
What they value most
is teaching. Surveys show that Finnish men name teachers as the most
desirable profession for a spouse, while Finnish women rank only doctors and
veterinarians higher as potential mates. That’s according to Finnish
Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Changes in Finland? by
Pasi Sahlberg of the Finnish Education Ministry. This kind of respect
means that teachers are given considerable freedom to shape curriculum and
student assessment policies in their classrooms, which Sahlberg believes
translates into better educated kids.
Another element of
the Finnish success story is a focus on personalized learning: students work at
their own pace based on particular abilities and interests.
“Personalization is not about having students work independently at computer
terminals,” Sahlberg notes. Indeed, Scholastic
magazine notes that visitors to Finnish schools are surprised to find
relatively little technology in classrooms, even in a country with a strong
high-tech economy.
“The Finnish Way is
to tailor the needs of each child with flexible arrangements and different
learning paths,” Sahlberg adds. “Technology is not a substitute but merely a
tool to complement interaction with teachers and fellow students.”
Sahlberg’s
conclusion: “Creative curricula, autonomous teachers, courageous leadership and
high performance go together.”
Adapted from 27 Bright Ideas We Should
Steal From the Rest of the World, a report on best practices by Jay Walljasper published by the McKnight Foundation of Minnesota
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/?no-ist
ReplyDeleteThe above link is to a more n depth article regarding the Finnish school system and in my opinion a more balance review of what actually goes on.
It would appear that the conclusion noted above ( as the final closing line) can be very misleading without all the aspects of the school system being reviewed.