On 4/10/2013 6:10 PM, Aahz Maruch wrote:
Only if we want to continue with a failing school system. If we want a
school system that works, we need to switch to an all-public model (with,
of course, some caveats):
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/
You have valid points about the entrenched interests, but vouchers and
charter schools are not the answer, if only because they just won't take
the real problem children (behavior disorders and physical/mental
disabilities).
I opine that Finland schools are not that successful as this article
aims to present. Consider this page:
http://www.imo-official.org/results.aspx
You will see that Finland scores between 57 and 72 in the last 3 years
is International Math Olympiad (IMO). Who scores first - China and Russia.
By the way Israel improved from 53rd place in 2010 through 23 to 31 in
2011 and 2012 respectively. I happen to know personally two very fine
gentlemen who helped make this happen (similarly in IPhO (physics) ).
Well, naturally, IMO is not the measure as the IMO itself is a very
special kind of sport. However, if with all that might Finnish system
cannot come up with the group of 6 really bright kids to solve these
math problems - then the system either doesn't want to do so or cannot
do so.
If they can't but want to - they might have some bugs in the system. If
they don't want (which is legit) it means that if next Newton or Leibniz
is born in Finland - we'll never know. That's a mighty shame.
Further, two very interesting quotes for you:
Quote #1:
"For Sahlberg what matters is that in Finland all teachers and
administrators are given prestige, decent pay, and a lot of
responsibility. A master's degree is required to enter the profession,
and teacher training programs are among the most selective professional
schools in the country. If a teacher is bad, it is the principal's
responsibility to notice and deal with it."
Quote #2 (just next paragraph really):
"And while Americans love to talk about competition, Sahlberg points out
that nothing makes Finns more uncomfortable. In his book Sahlberg quotes
a line from Finnish writer named Samuli Paronen: "Real winners do not
compete." "
Without being overly politically correct - tell me, Aahz - which one of
these two statements is total bullshit? Because they contradict one
another. It takes lots of effort to complete two university degrees,
then I suppose pass certain very serious tests, have a goal in front of
you being "given prestige, decent pay, and a lot of responsibility" and
then being totally not "about competition"...
It has nothing to do with being American or non-American. It is about
being human. Social life is mostly competition or may be I am missing
something very basic here.
Another interesting quote:
"In fact, since academic excellence wasn't a particular priority on the
Finnish to-do list, when Finland's students scored so high on the first
PISA survey in 2001, many Finns thought the results must be a mistake.
But subsequent PISA tests confirmed that Finland -- unlike, say, very
similar countries such as Norway -- was producing academic excellence
through its particular policy focus on equity."
This in fact may explain why Finland scores so low in IMO. They simply
don't hold things such IMO or IPhO (physics) to be of any importance.
But then don't tell me about academic excellence, thank you very much.
Now, you might notice something entirely different. Finland does show an
excellent example of very good (if not very excellent) educational
system that is totally under aegis of the state. State of Finland sees
it as its own goal, responsibility and area of vested interest to have
the educational system as per the state's own notions.
This by the way was the same education system I grew up with. It had its
flaws, but it wasn't half as bad as what I am seeing right now. And
believe me my teacher of Algebra, Geometry, Physics, Astronomy and
Informatics (all 5 being separate subjects during last two years in
school) was amazingly good. Notice - it wasn't public school without any
in-depth classes, etc. It was your regular average school. Further,
thanks to my Russian and Literature teacher I can still quote Pushkin
from memory. Thanks to my English teacher I am writing this message,
though of course I had to invest a lot of my time after I finished
school... I can probably continue this list as well...
Boris
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