Finlands School Success

"What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success" by Anu Partanen begins by talking about the great success Finland has had with their school system after they reformed. Finland completely changed their outlook on school and how it is perceived. Finland now has the highest test scores among the world without all the standardized test and ample amount of homework. The focus is on engaging children in creative play and providing a healthy, safe environment for children. There are no private schools in Finland and children are provided with free schooling, free meals, easy access to health care and counseling. From pre-K to a Ph.D there are no tuition fees. The three major reforms made to the school system

What makes Finland's schools so great? Why does American school's need improvement? How can Americans improve their school's? Anu Partanen tells us all about it in her essay "Finland's School Success What Americans keep ignoring." I find her essay very interesting being a mother of 4. I myself agree with her essay, I see how us Americans can make our schools better. She has done amazing research on Finland VS American schools. She points out that, Finland school systems are much better than American school systems.

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.

The author proves how our present school system is based on an old-fashioned model designed for students who would finally work in factories. Provided that simple abilities to young pupils might have been enough by the turn of the 21st century, but it is absolutely not satisfactory in the 21st. The several and cumulative things of a broader base of knowledge and rapidly proceeding technologies need extension of access to education and overhaul of curricula, teaching styles, and learning assessments. Darling-Hammond discovers imaginative changes in Finland, South Korea, Singapore, and other places that have kept up with the rising needs for educating school children. She poignantly shows how California pales in comparison to these places.

The difference of two years for the commencement of compulsory education contributes to the effectiveness of the Finnish education system, as opposed to the American system. Starting compulsory school at the age of seven, students have more time to mature and recognize school as a positive environment. Students are determined and poised to learn more at school if they enjoy the environment, as opposed to the United States system, where children typically start school around five, offering a more negative outlook on school. The opportunity cost of having American students start earlier in their education careers is the lack of determination and positive view in the starting years of instruction, which makes the system less effective.

As America is not a leader in academic achievement, it would be helpful to take note of what more successful nations are doing for their students. Finland is regarded as one of the best at educating their students, according to the World Economic Forum. As the New York Times Article “From Finland, an Intriguing School-Reform Model” describes, there are many lessons that we can take from their successes. Many of their practices seem unorthodox to us, but it is hard to argue with the results. Finnish students do not start school until they are seven years old, and they are not given homework or tests until they are well into their teens. They are also given on average three times as long of a recess as

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.

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.

Many believe that the Scandinavian School System is a superior school system to the one in North America. In many aspects, I believe this is true due to the fact that in many Nordic countries the school system is being constantly updated, while here in North America, our school system has been the same for decades and is now outdated. According to an international ranking of OECD countries, the U.S. education system is mediocre compared to the rest of the world. Also, according to this ranking, Scandinavian countries rank above average in most of the recognized categories such as science, math, reading, etc. In this paper, we will examine how these two school systems differ and why is it that North America’s school system is so outdated compared

Across the United States there is inequality sprinkled throughout the schools where children cannot get the same education as the ones with money. By allowing economic stature to affect education, it limits children all over to not excel to their true potential. They receive raggedy textbooks, subpar teachers, and rundown learning facilities. “In every society, the highly educated are those first and most likely to hold individualistic ideals. The specific choices young people make in the transition to adulthood are therefore responsive to both structural and ideological forces, both of which are associated with education” (Thompson, Bernhardt 2010). Well in Sweden schools operate as an open market and the right for guardians to choose any school for

Compared to America, Finland has a different education system. Children in Finland go to school from age 7 to age 16. They rarely have homework and are only required to take one standardized test, at age 16. Middle School aged students are allowed a 75 minute recess, and teachers only spend an average of 4 hours a day 5 days a week in the classroom along with 2 totals extra hours a week which are spent working on, as the article states, "professional development."  There's a broad list of curriculum outlines that all teachers must follow. One specific thing is that all students learn is 3 languages: Finnish, Swedish, and a third that they pick. There are no academic competitions, rankings, or comparisons of students. Students aren't separated into different classes based on intellect.   Though this seems like an odd way of teaching, studies show Finland has the smallest difference between "strong" and "weak" students in the world. 96% of students graduate high school, 17.5% more than in the U.S., of these 66% go to college and 43% go to vocational school. All schools are 100% government funded and provide students with food, medical care, counseling, and taxi service. Teachers must have a masters degree and all are picked from the same group. Finland's goal is to provide every student, native or foreign, with equal opportunities to education. They strive to have all their students on the same level of knowledge when the graduate.

The Finnish education systems shows that their high test scores from the OECD are the result of students receiving a better education. As for Hong Kong, their high test scores are the result of students mastering standardized testing, rather than their learning. Although some may believe that a country’s education in standardized testing helps the students master the basic education principles, the United States is proof that this is not the case. From 2000 to 2009, students of the United States “slipped from 18th in the world in math… to 31st place” (Standardized Tests), as the American education system turned towards standardized

When an individual thinks about education, they would probably have some upper echelon colleges like Harvard or Princeton already in their mind. Now expand your thinking of education systems to a worldwide view. Most people would spring for The United Kingdom or Germany, but actually the smaller country of Finland outperforms all others. Their educational approach to the minds of the students is uncanny when compared side by side of our own. As well as allowing multiple breaks throughout the school day whether rain or shine.Another essential part about Finland’s teacher requirements blows ours out of the water; A masters in teaching is needed to even start bestowing knowledge upon the young minds of children that stand before them that day.

Education is an important part of US society and all its issues should be recognized and addressed. Unfortunately this is not the case. Education has many issues and the three most important are the day-one problem, bullying, and high dropout rates. These issues are often a big problem and can lead to an education that does not do the United States justice.

The best choice of entry for Finnish Schools International is to seek a local investor in every country it seeks to expand to while using licensing as the market entry mode, which will be critical in matters involving the procurement of local licenses in the country/countries it chooses to operate in, such as from the Ministry of Education of the country. Seeking a local investor is very important because every country has different rules, laws, and ethnic beliefs to abide to, so there is nothing better than to partner up with a local investor that knows the in’s and out’s of the country that is being looked at.