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As everyone is well aware, education in America has been under a constant barrage of criticism since at least the 1960's, at which time President Kennedy decided it was best that politicians drive educational policy in this country. That trend has escalated in the decades since so that now virtually every decision governing education is made with political agendas in the forefront.
Given this fact, one has to wonder why they continue to implement policies that are exactly the opposite of those that govern what is widely considered the most effective educational system in the world, which resides in Finland. Wouldn’t you think that if you were trying to improve our educational system we would study the best of the best and try to model it here? Wouldn’t that just make sense? Instead, if you didn't know better, you would think that we look at a model of excellence and make a conscious decision to do just the opposite. Why would we do that?
Let's look at just a few examples of where this has been true. Mandatory education in Finland begins at age seven, the school day is short, and play, socialization, and an emphasis on the arts are considered as important in the development of a child as is academic rigor. In America, discussions abound of lengthening the school day and year, we talk about the importance of forcing five-year-olds to attend school all-day to improve academic achievement, and no educational discussion at the policy-development level ever involves the importance of socialization and play. Ignoring all the evidence to the contrary, we act as if those two skills are completely unimportant in childhood development.
In Finland, standardized tests are non-existent, schools are not ranked or rated in any way, and the idea of evaluating teachers based on student test scores would be viewed as ludicrous. In America, students are tested to death in the name of school accountability, policy-makers are developing new ways to rank schools all the time, and state law has been passed which mandates that teachers will be evaluated and paid with an eye toward student performance on standardized tests.
In Finland, educators, not politicians, drive educational policy, a federal curriculum is general in nature, teachers are given the freedom to teach material as they see fit, and charter schools are non-existent because they are viewed as ineffective. In the United States, nearly all educational decisions are made by politicians, educators are invited to participate only after faulty policies have been developed, states mandate masses of very specific standards that dictate how and what teachers teach, and charter schools are sold as the end-all and be-all.
In Finland, a culture of reading exists in which parents begin developing the skill in their children at a very young age and preschool programs emphasize not academics, but socialization, the development of interpersonal skills, and the important of social responsibility. In the United States, the importance of the role of parents in developing such skills is rarely discussed, schools are held solely responsible for a child's academic abilities, and there is talk of ensuring that preschool programs emphasize academic development, not the growth of the child as a human being.
These are but a few of the differences that exist between what is considered the best educational system in the world and the one that critics contend needs much improvement. What is so perplexing is why those same critics continue to implement changes that go against what has proven to be successful. What logic is there in that?
Tom Dunn, Superintendent, Miami County Educational Service Center
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