Learning from Finland: The Global Search for a Better US Education

This article on the educational system in Finland is filled with words of wisdom that many academics in the world of educationa­l research have been discussing for years. Unfortunat­ely, many of these researcher­s and teacher educators have been talking to each other in conferences and academic papers rather than to the public, limiting their audience and their influence in the debate on our education system.

Cooperatio­n, differenti­ation, the importance of the social/emo­tional side of children in learning, effective andpurposeful measures of assessing student knowledge and performanc­e, and teaching to children's talents and interests to improve quality of school and life are all things that are taught in many teacher education programs. The problem is that what is actually happening in schools and discussed in the media by politicians, pundits and lobbyists, like Michelle Rhee, is so different from what is taught in teacher education programs that new teachers feel powerless to implement the things that they learned in their teacher education programs---the same things that Finland has instituted throughout their country to make it successful­.

For example, most new teachers know that teaching to the test is harmful to children's ability to grow intellectu­ally; to solve problems, to innovate and to expand their interests and skills in school because all they do is practice filling in a bubble to respond to a known-answer question. Then, when they enter the profession­, the pressure the teachers feel to teach to the test from their schools, districts, states, and the media is overwhelmi­ng, as it is the one measure used to examine students' progress and to evaluate their quality as teachers (Example: LA Times publishing value added results of teachers' standardized tests scores to measure their effectiveness). As a result, teachers succumb, particularly new, vulnerable teachers without much experience in the classroom and without any employment security, and then they argue that their teacher education program didn't prepare them to face this reality in schools.

The solution is simple and this article is a great start in this discussion: Education researchers, academics, and teacher educators need to become an integral part of this very public conversation about the practice and purpose of our education system so that the public can begin to understand what is really needed to improve schooling for all.

Read the Article at HuffingtonPost