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Re: What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?
The other half of the Social Democratic equation,
explains, I think, why those societies have a
more egalitarian attitude toward education and
why the US, and Britain since Thatcher, do
not. In other words, why their schools are
learner friendly and ours are not. Of course,
it's not just about funding, but the willingness
to support social spending reflects a more
collectivistic ethos in those countries that does
not exist here. In the US, the uppermost levels
of the Establishment, like the Business
Roundtable, invented high stakes and forced it
upon the public education systems, as a way to
enforce the zero sum game for the economy: only a
very few can have a higher education and upward
social mobility. The New World Order projects
and plans for a sharper differentiation between
the two social classes, the rich and their
managers vs. everybody else. It's a return to
Social Darwinism, rugged American individualism,
etc, except that they have installed an
authoritarian government that prevents the rugged
individuals from being able to defend their
rights. So far, they have managed to exclude
people like the members of ARN from policy
making inside the public ed system, which is why
the ideas that Monty articulates below are off the table, for now.
A good example of the collectivistic ethos: when
Michael Moore interviewed Canadians, Cubans, and
Europeans about health care in his "911" and
"Sicko" movies and asked "Do you think the
government should provide free health care for
everybody?" these folks uniformly looked
puzzled, as if he were asking if we should
breathe air. And one Canadian said "Why would we NOT do that??!!!"
Pete Farruggio
At 09:04 AM 3/4/2008, you wrote:
There is I would expect no sole reason, but several likely causes of
better results in Scandinavia include:
1) Social welfare supports that do not exist in US, which is far more
unequal in access to many things than are Scandinavian nations.
2) Greater equity in schooling itself - again, US is far less
equitable across and within both states and districts.
3) Better approaches to schooling from higher quality professional
development to a focus that helps kids learn to think instead of
filling in bubbles on tests, far less reliance on "accountability,"
less pressure, etc. The U.S. has, under immense pressure from business
groups and many politicians, tried to substitute high-stakes, test
based accountability for all 3 things that Scandinavia does to produce
better learning outcomes and I would bet better daily living
conditions for students and teachers in their schools (at least
comparing test-driven, under-resourced schools in the US with those in
Scandinavia).
Pushing, as Pete said, for greater out-of-school equity and social
welfare is certainly important, as is greater equity and real adequacy
in resources for schools. But a paradigm shift from accountability to
education is both necessary and largely doable even without addressing
the other factors. Given the impact of poverty on school outcomes,
demonstrated by many studies, greatly improving schools won't overcome
the education debt that has accumulated (see Gloria Ladsen-Billings on
'education debt') but it would make for both better outcomes and far
more livable schools.
Monty
Quoting aburke5054@aol.com:
We may not have "equalized" inputs and maybe we don't have "real
adequacy," whatever that means (I suspect it reflects the judgment of
the "real reformers"), but we've doubled spending on public education
over the last 30-40 years. That's an enormous increase and it's
rational to ask whether we've gotten our money's worth.
We spend 3.9% of our GDP on elementary and secondary education.
Denmark spends 4.1%, Finland 3.9%, Norway 4.6%, and Sweden 4.5%
Since we and the Finns are spending about the same amount on public
education, and since they are so much better than we are, it can only
be because they embrace "progressive inquiry," "questions and problem
solving," and don't give tests. Right.
Art
-----Original Message-----
From: Monty Neill <monty@fairtest.org>
To: arn-l@interversity.org
Sent: Mon, 3 Mar 2008 12:39 pm
Subject: Re: [arn-l] What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?
Indeed, the second piece on Scandinavia that Bob sent around today includes
this sentence near the end:
"Students use progressive inquiry and are educated through questions and
problem solving."
A different concept of "basics" for sure - to say nothing of the near
absence of not only tests but also grading until high school, and even then
the role of standardized tests is minimal.
The US pretended to pay attention to "inputs" while doing nearly nothing to
really equalize them (never mind provide those who need more with more),
then claimed that a focus on 'inputs' did not work, so needed to focus on
outputs, which quickly meant 'standardized test scores.' Scandinavian
nations have worked to equalize inputs and ensure real adequacy, focused on
preparing real high quality teachers (unlike the fake version in nclb), then
allowed them autonomy to do their jobs.
And the Scandinavian approach even produces better test scores than the US
approach.
Monty
----- Original Message -----
From: "Peter Farruggio" <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>
To: <arn-l@interversity.org>
Sent: Sunday, March 02, 2008 8:32 PM
Subject: Re: [arn-l] What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?
Somebody should inform the reporter that "back to
basics" as used in US education discourse, refers
to the exact opposite of Finnish teaching as
described here. Back to basics, since the 1980s
has meant scripted, behaviorist pedagogy. We
don't see any of that in the description of these schools.
Pete Farruggio
At 11:47 AM 3/2/2008, you wrote:
WHAT MAKES FINNISH KIDS SO SMART?
Wall Street Journal -- February 29, 2007
by Ellen Gamerman
Helsinki, Finland -- 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.
The Finns won attention with their performances in triennial tests
sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development, a
group funded by 30 countries that monitors social and economic trends.
In
the most recent test, which focused on science, Finland's students
placed
first in science and near the top in math and reading, according to
results
released late last year. An unofficial tally of Finland's combined
scores
puts it in first place overall, says Andreas Schleicher, who directs
the
OECD's test, known as the Programme for International Student
Assessment,
or PISA. The U.S. placed in the middle of the pack in math and
science; its
reading scores were tossed because of a glitch. About 400,000 students
around the world answered multiple-choice questions and essays on the
test
that measured critical thinking and the application of knowledge. A
typical
subject: Discuss the artistic value of graffiti.
The academic prowess of Finland's students has lured educators from
more
than 50 countries in recent years to learn the country's secret,
including
an official from the U.S. Department of Education. What they find is
simple
but not easy: well-trained teachers and responsible children. Early
on,
kids do a lot without adults hovering. And teachers create lessons to
fit
their students. "We don't have oil or other riches. Knowledge is the
thing
Finnish people have," says Hannele Frantsi, a school principal.
Visitors and teacher trainees can peek at how it's done from a viewing
balcony perched over a classroom at the Norssi School in Jyväskylä, a
city
in central Finland. What they see is a relaxed, back-to-basics
approach.
The school, which is a model campus, has no sports teams, marching
bands or
prom.
Trailing 15-year-old Fanny Salo at Norssi gives a glimpse of the
no-frills
curriculum. Fanny is a bubbly ninth-grader who loves "Gossip Girl"
books,
the TV show "Desperate Housewives" and digging through the clothing
racks
at H&M stores with her friends.
Fanny earns straight A's, and with no gifted classes she sometimes
doodles
in her journal while waiting for others to catch up. She often helps
lagging classmates. "It's fun to have time to relax a little in the
middle
of class," Fanny says. Finnish educators believe they get better
overall
results by concentrating on weaker students rather than by pushing
gifted
students ahead of everyone else. The idea is that bright students can
help
average ones without harming their own progress.
At lunch, Fanny and her friends leave campus to buy salmiakki, a salty
licorice. They return for physics, where class starts when everyone
quiets
down. Teachers and students address each other by first names. About
the
only classroom rules are no cellphones, no iPods and no hats.
Fanny's more rebellious classmates dye their blond hair black or sport
pink
dreadlocks. Others wear tank tops and stilettos to look tough in the
chilly
climate. Tanning lotions are popular in one clique. Teens sift by
style,
including "fruittari," or preppies; "hoppari," or hip-hop, or the
confounding "fruittari-hoppari," which fuses both. Ask an obvious
question
and you may hear "KVG," short for "Check it on Google, you idiot."
Heavy-metal fans listen to Nightwish, a Finnish band, and teens
socialize
online at irc-galleria.net.
The Norssi School is run like a teaching hospital, with about 800
teacher
trainees each year. Graduate students work with kids while instructors
evaluate from the sidelines. Teachers must hold master's degrees, and
the
profession is highly competitive: More than 40 people may apply for a
single job. Their salaries are similar to those of U.S. teachers, but
they
generally have more freedom.
Finnish teachers pick books and customize lessons as they shape
students to
national standards. "In most countries, education feels like a car
factory.
In Finland, the teachers are the entrepreneurs," says Mr. Schleicher,
of
the Paris-based OECD, which began the international student test in
2000.
One explanation for the Finns' success is their love of reading.
Parents of
newborns receive a government-paid gift pack that includes a picture
book.
Some libraries are attached to shopping malls, and a book bus travels
to
more remote neighborhoods like a Good Humor truck.
Finland shares its language with no other country, and even the most
popular English-language books are translated here long after they are
first published. Many children struggled to read the last Harry Potter
book
in English because they feared they would hear about the ending before
it
arrived in Finnish. Movies and TV shows have Finnish subtitles instead
of
dubbing. One college student says she became a fast reader as a child
because she was hooked on the 1990s show "Beverly Hills, 90210."
In November, a U.S. delegation visited, hoping to learn how
Scandinavian
educators used technology. Officials from the Education Department,
the
National Education Association and the American Association of School
Librarians saw Finnish teachers with chalkboards instead of
whiteboards,
and lessons shown on overhead projectors instead of PowerPoint. Keith
Krueger was less impressed by the technology than by the good teaching
he
saw. "You kind of wonder how could our country get to that?" says Mr.
Krueger, CEO of the Consortium for School Networking, an association
of
school technology officers that organized the trip.
Finnish high-school senior Elina Lamponen saw the differences
firsthand.
She spent a year at Colon High School in Colon, Mich., where strict
rules
didn't translate into tougher lessons or dedicated students, Ms.
Lamponen
says. She would ask students whether they did their homework. They
would
reply: " 'Nah. So what'd you do last night?'" she recalls. History
tests
were often multiple choice. The rare essay question, she says, allowed
very
little space in which to write. In-class projects were largely "glue
this
to the poster for an hour," she says. Her Finnish high school forced
Ms.
Lamponen, a spiky-haired 19-year-old, to repeat the year when she
returned.
Lloyd Kirby, superintendent of Colon Community Schools in southern
Michigan, says foreign students are told to ask for extra work if they
find
classes too easy. He says he is trying to make his schools more
rigorous by
asking parents to demand more from their children.
Despite the apparent simplicity of Finnish education, it would be
tough to
replicate in the U.S. With a largely homogeneous population, teachers
have
few students who don't speak Finnish. In the U.S., about 8% of
students are
learning English, according to the Education Department. There are
fewer
disparities in education and income levels among Finns. Finland
separates
students for the last three years of high school based on grades; 53%
go to
high school and the rest enter vocational school. (All 15-year-old
students
took the PISA test.) Finland has a high-school dropout rate of about
4% --
or 10% at vocational schools -- compared with roughly 25% in the U.S.,
according to their respective education departments.
Another difference is financial. Each school year, the U.S. spends an
average of $8,700 per student, while the Finns spend $7,500. Finland's
high-tax government provides roughly equal per-pupil funding, unlike
the
disparities between Beverly Hills public schools, for example, and
schools
in poorer districts. The gap between Finland's best- and
worst-performing
schools was the smallest of any country in the PISA testing. The U.S.
ranks
about average.
Finnish students have little angstata -- or teen angst -- about
getting
into the best university, and no worries about paying for it. College
is
free. There is competition for college based on academic specialties
--
medical school, for instance. But even the best universities don't
have the
elite status of a Harvard.
Taking away the competition of getting into the "right schools" allows
Finnish children to enjoy a less-pressured childhood. While many U.S.
parents worry about enrolling their toddlers in academically oriented
preschools, the Finns don't begin school until age 7, a year later
than
most U.S. first-graders.
Once school starts, the Finns are more self-reliant. While some U.S.
parents fuss over accompanying their children to and from school, and
arrange every play date and outing, young Finns do much more on their
own.
At the Ymmersta School in a nearby Helsinki suburb, some first-grade
students trudge to school through a stand of evergreens in near
darkness.
At lunch, they pick out their own meals, which all schools give free,
and
carry the trays to lunch tables. There is no Internet filter in the
school
library. They can walk in their socks during class, but at home even
the
very young are expected to lace up their own skates or put on their
own
skis.
The Finns enjoy one of the highest standards of living in the world,
but
they, too, worry about falling behind in the shifting global economy.
They
rely on electronics and telecommunications companies, such as Finnish
cellphone giant Nokia, along with forest-products and mining
industries for
jobs. Some educators say Finland needs to fast-track its brightest
students
the way the U.S. does, with gifted programs aimed at producing more
go-getters. Parents also are getting pushier about special attention
for
their children, says Tapio Erma, principal of the suburban Olari
School.
"We are more and more aware of American-style parents," he says.
Mr. Erma's school is a showcase campus. Last summer, at a conference
in
Peru, he spoke about adopting Finnish teaching methods. During a
recent
afternoon in one of his school's advanced math courses, a high-school
boy
fell asleep at his desk. The teacher didn't disturb him, instead
calling on
others. While napping in class isn't condoned, Mr. Erma says, "We just
have
to accept the fact that they're kids and they're learning how to
live."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120425355065601997.html
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