The Finnish School 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

"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

How are Finland's school's so successful? Finland's school systems actually treat children like children. They have less homework and more creative play. Finland has

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 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.

Remember that one teacher that you loved, that made you want to go to class everyday just because of their pure enthusiasm for teaching, odds are that teacher is paid at least 100 times less than your favorite basketball player. Nowadays, kids dream about becoming a professional basketball and football players, hoping they can become a millionaire doing what they do during recess and gym class. Kids see posters and advertisements glorifying these guys broadcasters talk about on the sports channel. Many hope to be them, but not many hope to become the heroes that affect them and that they see everyday; their teachers. The reason for this is pay. I come from a family of teachers, and have seen the effort that teachers put into helping their students reach their full potential. Additionally, I have also experience first hand the economic stress that teachers’ low paying salary puts on the teachers and their families. Professional athletics live a luxurious life, bouncing balls and making goals, while teachers work overtime struggling to pay the bills.

Andrew G. Biggs and Jason Richwine states that average public school teachers have paid too much than the private sector including the fringe benefits. They mentioned it was an inefficient fee for taxpayers. And Lisa Snell point out the fact that in the elementary and secondary school teacher increased a lot than before. And it creates a problem that too many teachers work because of the salaries. She insists that the governors need to focus on pay for high-quality teachers instead of the number. However, C. Kent Mcguire does not have the same opinion as them and think teachers are not overpaid because it could maintain the high-quality teachers. People could not use the money concept to value the knowledge and skills.

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.

In school, the quality of the teacher is highly important and is a major factor when it comes to a student’s success. Teachers do not get paid like they are leading and preparing the future generations of the world. The cost of college to be a qualified teacher mimics the numbers of many higher-paid jobs. As stated in Jen Huckwaldt’s article, “For the Love of the Job: Does Society Pay Teachers What They Are Worth?”, she says “[There are] other jobs that pay more with a master's degree, like a database administrator (median salary for all education levels: $69,626) or a software engineer (median salary for all education levels: $77,982).” (Huckwaldt, Par. 7) This is a hefty investment for a relatively low pay with an average base salary of

Well we’ve all heard growing up that the incoming generation is the future of the world. However, teaching involves way more than throwing, catching, and shooting balls. As we look around the society some ask is the job market fair and logical with jobs such as acting, music artist and being a professional athlete are far more important than teachers, doctors, police officers because the ones that matter the most and actually help out are paid substantially lower than athletes and others. This is why I’m here to argue why teachers should get paid more.

Finland has done some things to change its education system. Their teachers make a good wage, homework is non-existent, the school days are shorter, and collaboration is encouraged, not competition (Sahlberg). It sounds like a radical change, and it is, but Finland’s education system has rocketed to become the best in the world (Zhao). Countries such as South Korea and Singapore took after Finland once they saw their success, and their education systems have boosted greatly in the rankings too.

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.

“How much better is it to get wisdom than gold! and to get understanding rather to be chosen than silver! “The finish school system is an essential educational system in Finland which consists of a nine-year comprehensive school from 1st to 9th grade, from the ages of 7 to 16 in which attendance is mandatory. According to (Hammond, 2010) Finland built a robust educational system, nearly from the ground up, Finland was fading educationally in the 1970s, when the United States was the undisputed educational leader in the world. Thus far Finland country created a creative teaching and learning system by intensifying access while investing firmly in ambitious educational goals using a calculated approach to be building the

As a global superpower the United States has always strived to excel in every aspect of global competition, for instance, Olympic sports and technological advances. Education is also increasingly competitive. But according to results from The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), a survey administered every three years to internationally compare education systems, over the past decade we have been seemingly falling behind other nations. Finland has maintained the highest overall scores since the first assessment in 2000, while the U.S. has maintained average to below average scores (Dall, 2012).

Before we begin explaining the Finnish system of schooling, it is important to understand that they are not only one of the top performing countries, but also how far they have come. The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), which began testing in 2000, rated Finland as one of the top 5 countries, as it has since its inception. In 2009 they ranked sixth in math, second in science and third in reading, comparison, U.S. students ranked 30th, 23rd and 17th, respectively, of the 65 tested countries (1). By 2012, the gap between the