A Lesson from Finnish Schools

When thinking of top academic schools in the world, we don't normally think of Finland. Yet Finland produces some of the top producing students in the world.

I came across this interesting article about Finnish schools, and while not a perfect system, does help to point up some of the severe deficits within the US system.

The Finnish Miracle - Academics and Activities

Two Finnish ideals from this article lie in stark contrast to our schools in the US: teacher independence and teacher value.

The first contrast lies in the US idea that big government is the solution to all problems, including the regulation and standardization of schools.  This ideal stems from the federalization of school standards with the creation of the US Department of Education back during the Carter years or with the passing of the No Child Left Behind legislation of the George W. Bush years.

By way of contrast,

Finnish teachers enjoy immense independence. Allowed to design their own lesson plans and choose their own textbooks (following loose national guidelines), Finnish teachers regard their work as creative and self-expressive. (Source)

I've long maintained that deregulation, not government interference will produce better teaching and better learning, especially deregulation where it matters most - in the classroom. Bureaucrats simply cannot make broad-based decisions that are best for all concerned within the classroom. (And if the bureaucracy has failed schools, how much more will bureaucracy fail our health system?)

The second contrast with the Finnish system lies in the social regard of teaching as a profession.

The level of respect accorded to Finnish teachers tends to grab attention, especially in America where teaching is viewed as a "fallback" profession occupied primarily by the lower third of college graduates. That equation is flipped in Finland, where teachers boast the highest vocational status (followed by physicians.) A full 25% of Finnish youngsters select teaching as their career goal, but only a fraction succeed. Only 10% to 13% of applicants gain acceptance into the masters' degree in education program. (Source)

While we cannot easily change the social outlook of teachers, we can rearrange government priorities to support teaching as a profession, increasing salaries and allowing teachers the freedom to respond to the classroom without such idiocies as: teaching toward standardized testing; reliance on poorly written, yet politically correct textbooks; inability to impose control in the classroom; or dealing with a top-heavy administration.