Finland Education Vs American Education System

Countries around the world take a world exam to see their students’ scores and to see where they rank globally. Finland has done a great job in their testing by being of the few countries to be on top. Parthanen says “Finland national education system has been receiving praise … Finnish students have … highest test scores in the world” (969). It shows that Finland has an effective method to help their students to reach to the top. The author primary audience is mainly the world to notice the achievements that Finland accomplished and try to follow their steps on education

America used to thrive on its education system and that is why it became one of the greatest nations in the world. Education is the backbone of our country, and we must give high priority to improve its current condition. Unfortunately, in the past couple of decades, the education system has been regressing. It has been on the decline and not as effective. The quality of education in a country has an influence on GDP growth, social cohesion and social well being in general. In order to improve the quality of education in the U.S., the following must be taken into consideration: the structure of our education system must be reanalyzed, we must compare and contrast our education system to systems of other countries with higher rankings, and finally, there must be a solution.

In the 1970’s Finland was not at the top of the education chain, in fact their education system was doing poorly (NEA). Finland has been changing their education system over the past 35 years to make their education system better. They have changed their education system to become very successful. When looking at the differences between the United States education system and Finland education system has obvious differences between the testing, the paths for the students to take, time management during school hours, and the environment of the classroom.

With the development of the modern state, education has been a decisive factor in affecting the international status and impacts of a country. People pay more attention to education quality and provide advanced study facilities so that their country can have a faster development. With many conflicting different education forms, it is necessary to compare and contrast them for getting a better understanding of the education system in the world. The education here refers to teaching quality, different education level system, the policy and the well-being from the government about education. I will explain the similarities and differences about the education in Finnish and Japan.

4, Partanen).” Education is Finland is used as a way to even out social inequality. As Sahlberg addresses, “This means that schools should be healthy, safe environments for children (p. 4).” Because of this, school meals are free for students, and health care is easily accessible, as well as psychological counseling and student guidance. In the end, Finland has proven that it is indeed possible to achieve

Many people know that the U.S. does not rank very high in education. You hear about how they are always trying to improve education, but they still fall short of where they strive to be. In Anu Partanen’s “Finland’s School Success, What Americans Keep Ignoring” she addresses this issue. She points out what Americans are doing wrong, what Finland is doing right, and how the U.S. can improve the education system in many ways.

When schooling was first created in the US, there were not nearly as many rules. One-room schoolhouses where there were all different kinds of ages and education levels were the norm, and the type of education that was given to students was far different than what they receive today. As education developed and various needs came to light, larger schools were built and students were segregated based on criteria such as age. Separate schooling based on learning ability (special education) was something that came later, but it was eventually developed. The system that is available today is working well in many cases, but there are areas in which it is still failing the students - mainly because there are still too many countries getting ahead of the US in areas such as science and mathematics (Darling-Hammond, 2001; Figlio, 2002). Until the US takes back the number one spot, today's students will be at a disadvantage based on what they are learning and how they can put that education to use in the job market (Collins, 1999; Darling-Hammond, 2001).

Let 's begin with our standards of education here in America. We are at a far lower placing than several other first world countries in terms of standards for our education. In fact, an article from the MBC Times ranks the US 14th worldwide. In order the rankings read something like this: South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Finland, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, Ireland, Poland,

As stated in the Atlantis, one of America’s leading political magazines, “Finland 's success is especially intriguing because Finnish schools assign less homework and engage children in more creative play”(Partanen). So how is Finland consistently turning in some of the highest test results? Could the United State’s k-12 education ever adapt to reform its system to reflect Finland 's suggests? To improve the United States current education, schools need to find an alternative to standardized tests and make classrooms more interactive. The curriculum needs to be focused on students’ futures to prepare them for the 21st century, not the past.

A plethora of European nations have found the way to properly educate their citizens, while the United States sits back and hopes methods of the past can solve the problems of the future. Proactivity and reform are absolutely essential to eradicating the national crisis Americans are facing in the realm of secondary

In the 1970’s, Finland didn’t have a spot at the top of the education chain; in fact they had a poor education system (NEA). Finland has changed their education system over the past 35 years to make it better. They have changed their education system to become successful. When looking at the American education system and the Finland education system there are obvious differences between the testing, the paths for the students to take, the time management during school hours, and the classroom environment.

Why is the same outcome expected out of every student when there are no two minds that act or think the same? While countries like Finland work on collaboration, America is focused on standardized testing and how well a student can memorize material. Each and every student should be looked at individually, focusing on their skills and assets. This would bring out so much more creativity and success to the country.

The American education has tried to make recent changes to accommodate higher education and learning by implementing Common Core Standards. According to “The Common Core State Standards” magazine by Allison Jones and Jaqueline King, “Common Core Standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life…” (Jones and King 37). Although the common core emphasizes these values, it is still an ongoing process with some issues. On the other hand, Finland focuses on these values and invests in the future of their country through their education system. Finland is ranked as one of the best educational systems in the world and uses different approaches to ensure the success of their students. Both countries have strengths and weaknesses in their education system, overall, Finland has a better education system than United States and by implementing some of the Finnish approaches the American education can be more successful.

American education and Finnish education systems are different in many ways. For example, American educations systems focus on standardized tests and base students intelligence on it while Finnish education systems only have one standardized test. Another is that all Finnish teachers must qualify using the same standards in order to teach while in the US standards that make a teacher qualified vary depending on the school system. Finland’s censorship is very similar to the US,but they sill contrast. For example, both countries have freedom of speech and press, but in Finland the citizens are allowed to see all government documents while in the US government documents  are secured from the public. Also, the US has restrictions on what books

Standardized tests are administered and scored in a consistent manner. In the US, schools give out 112 test; In Finland, schools give out 1 test at the end of 12th grade. The Finland’s Standardized test is called “the National Matriculation Examination” , which is taken at the end of high school, and graded by actual teachers. The test contains questions that ask students to show their ability to cope with multiple issues; Issues that span across multiple subjects and often require multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills.