Education in a Finnish school
Eli Bates
Finnish Schooling
school and talks with the principal about why their system is so successful. One of his main points was trust, that the government trusts fter a 45-minute class the schools, and the schools session in the small trust the teachers; this allows Finnish classroom for much more freedom for the students began losing the schools and lets teachers their ability to retain the information coming out of the determine how they should best educate their students. teacher’s mouth; hungry, stiff Perhaps one of the most and looking up at the clock, they hear the bell ring, and it’s significant points is simple: time for a break. These hard- If you’re not entertaining, then the students won’t listen. working students use this Lack of entertainment value time to refuel and play. They is a major flaw with many come back to the classroom lessons in the U.S. But Finland in fifteen minutes or so, has a past too there school refreshed and ready to learn. system was originally based This is a simple yet effective on the german school system. solution for keeping students focused throughout the entire Throughout the 1970s, Finland developed their class period. comprehensive common The Finnish school schooling, the goal of system outperforms every which was to make sure school system in the world, that they had an equal so if we are to attempt to school system that fix our school system we educated most of the should first take a look at general population in their successes and use these the skills they need in to our advantage. In the U.S. the future to succeed. we have many flaws in our The curriculum is still system that we could easily changing today to fix by learning from the make sure that they are Finnish. For one, in the U.S., covering all of the new we focus way too much on jobs as well. In 2016, testing. We need to teach for the sake of educating students they added coding to their curriculum truly to understanding through trying to prepare their doing, not testing. In the students for the future. participatory documentary In the U.S. we have many television show Inside different ideals of how to Man, “Education” Morgan educate our students, and Spurlock goes to a Finnish
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one of those is the attempting to cram as much information into our heads as possible in as little time as possible, whereas in Finland it is quite the opposite: they use the time to elaborate and make sure the students understand the information provided.
Pre-Schooling The Finnish schooling system begins early with preschools and daycare systems which are provided by the government to ensure that all children have an equal shot at success, whether the family is poor or well off. According to Krista Kiuru, the Finnish Minister of Education and Science, “If Picture of Krista Kiuru we can see According to Kristin kids’ advantages and Cardenas, a teacher at disadvantages early on and Mountain View High School, make sure that they have “We’ve had the help in those very early years, then they can get better same school system results. Early possibilities to for over a hundred react are very important.” years. Is it the same In Finland students have the same teachers throughout all school system that of elementary our parents and our school; since most of the kids grandparents have were able to go experienced. If they to preschool or grew here up in the daycare, teachers United States they’re are be able to the kids used to it as well, so help and set them up change for them is with students with the similar also a little scary.”
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ability levels. Kiuru explains that it’s also a way to boost their economy and raise employment levels, allowing for talented young mothers to use their skills to benefit the country. The Finnish preschool system is very important to laying the educational foundation for the rest of the students’ lives. But that is not the only reason the Finnish school system is so successful; the country truly wants to educate their students as best as possible all whilst giving them time to explore the world and themselves, do things they enjoy, get a good night’s sleep, and have a social life. This is a huge step in the right direction for education. Many schools feel that success is cramming as much information into our mind as possible in a short amount of time, which can cause students to start to lose focus and retain less information; by contrast, Finland gives their students a 15-minute
Picture of Kristin Cardenas break for every hour of school work, which keeps students focused and engaged throughout the entire 45-minute lesson. This is just one of the many strategies they use that make their system so successful. Another key strategy the Finnish use is to provide consistency throughout consecutive years of schooling; from kindergarten to 5th grade, they have the same teacher. This is extremely beneficial to both the students and the teacher for many different reasons, including improved communication. After having the teacher many years, the student-teacher connection is much stronger, allowing for the teacher to have a much better understanding of the child’s needs and the student to feel more comfortable with the teacher. But one of the most different things about the
Finnish school system by far is their belief that less can be more. They spend less time in class, have shorter school
days, give less homework, and have no standardized testing. All of this with the fifteen-minute breaks between each class allows the students to feel refreshed and ready to learn. How can they be so successful with less time to teach? It’s not always just about how much information we can cram into students’ heads. Furthermore, students have little-to-no homework, they have lots of time to do recreational things and they are freer to explore the world, which leave students in a very healthy emotional state. Meanwhile, in the U.S., a very large portion of students are stressed out, and suffer from anxiety or depression because of their school workload and having to study for tests. In Finland, the education is not based around testing; it’s based on learning. Because teachers can have much more freedom to teach their subjects, students enjoy more creative and fun
activities. Finland has seen education as a high priority for a long time now, and for good reason: education is what is shaping the next generation of adults, and the next generation doesn’t need a bunch of factory workers slaving away at machines. Likewise, in the U.S., we need students who can think creatively, independently, critically, and innovatively. We need programmers, designers, engineers, doctors, scientists, teachers, and leaders, not factory workers with 12-hour shifts. Cardenas believes that “If you’re always doing something, the only time you have to just chill and be bored is in the classroom and that sucks; it kind of takes away from the love of learning and trying to create lifelong learners who are enthusiastic about wanting to know what happens next.”
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Work Sited Cardenas, Kristin. Personal interview. 2017. Day, / Kelly. “11 Ways Finland’s Education System Shows Us That ‘Less Is More’.” Filling My Map, 12 May 2015. “Education” Inside Man, Written by Jeremy Chilnick and, Morgan Spurlock, Directed by Morgan Spurlock, Warrior Poets, 21 July 2013. “Education System.” Finnish National Agency for Education - Education System, www.oph.fi/english/education_system. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017. fillingmymap.com/2015/04/15/11-ways-finlands-education-system-shows-usthat-less-is-more/. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017. “How Finland Broke Every Rule - and Created a Top School System.” The Hechinger Report, 6 Dec 2016, hechingerreport.org/how-finland-broke-every-rule-and-created-a-topschool-system/. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017. “I JUST SUED THE SCHOOL SYSTEM !!!”, youtube, Uploaded by Prince Ea, Sep 26, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqTTojTija8. “The history and present of the Finnish education system”, Jouni Välijärvi, PDF, 31May -2 June.
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“Väistyvä Valo.” Laura Kotila, 12 Jan. 2016, laurakotila.com/2016/01/12/vaistyva-valo/. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017. “Why Are Finland’s Schools Successful?” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 1 Sept. 2011, www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/.
Bio Eli Bates is a student at Freestyle Academy of Communication Arts & Technology, studying digital media. Some of his interests include science (especially astronomy), video games, hanging out with friends, and biking. Eli would like to go into a graphic design field, maybe animation or game design when he grows up. He believes that American education and society can improve significantly from following Finland’s model.
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