Ofter reading this article around 10m I was just quite....no words.... On 21-Mar-2016 10:21 AM, "Gurumurthy K" <itfc.stfk...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear teachers > > article worth reading and thinking about and discussing.... comments > welcome.... > > regards > Guru > > The Harvard education professor Howard Gardner once advised Americans, > “Learn from Finland, which has the most effective schools and which does > just about the opposite of what we are doing in the United States.” > > I enrolled my 7-year-old son in a primary school in Joensuu, Finland. For > five months, my wife, my son and I experienced a stunningly stress-free, > and stunningly good, school system. Finland has a history of producing the > highest global test scores in the Western world, as well as a trophy case > full of other recent No. 1 global rankings, including most literate nation. > > In Finland, children don't receive formal academic training until the age > of 7. Until then, many are in day care and learn through play, songs, games > and conversation. Most children walk or bike to school, even the youngest. > School hours are short and homework is generally light. > > Unlike in the United States, where many schools are slashing recess, > schoolchildren in Finland have a mandatory 15-minute outdoor free-play > break every hour of every day. Fresh air, nature and regular physical > activity breaks are considered engines of learning. According to one > Finnish maxim, “There is no bad weather. Only inadequate clothing.” > > One evening, I asked my son what he did for gym that day. “They sent us > into the woods with a map and compass and we had to find our way out,” he > said. > > Finland doesn't waste time or money on low-quality mass standardized > testing. Instead, children are assessed every day, through direct > observation, check-ins and quizzes by the highest-quality “personalized > learning device” ever created — flesh-and-blood teachers. > > In class, children are allowed to have fun, giggle and daydream from time > to time. Finns put into practice the cultural mantras I heard over and > over: “Let children be children,” “The work of a child is to play,” and > “Children learn best through play.” > The emotional climate of the typical classroom is warm, safe, respectful > and highly supportive. > > The emotional climate of the typical classroom is warm, safe, respectful > and highly supportive. There are no scripted lessons and no quasi-martial > requirements to walk in straight lines or sit up straight. As one Chinese > student-teacher studying in Finland marveled to me, “In Chinese schools, > you feel like you're in the military. Here, you feel like you're part of a > really nice family.” She is trying to figure out how she can stay in > Finland permanently. > > In the United States, teachers are routinely degraded by politicians, and > thousands of teacher slots are filled by temps with six or seven weeks of > summer training. In Finland teachers are the most trusted and admired > professionals next to doctors, in part because they are required to have > master's degrees in education with specialization in research and classroom > practice. > > “Our mission as adults is to protect our children from politicians,” one > Finnish childhood education professor told me. “We also have an ethical and > moral responsibility to tell businesspeople to stay out of our building.” > In fact, any Finnish citizen is free to visit any school whenever they > like, but her message was clear: Educators are the ultimate authorities on > education, not bureaucrats, and not technology vendors. > > Skeptics might claim that the Finnish model would never work in America's > inner-city schools, which instead need boot-camp drilling and discipline, > Stakhanovite workloads, relentless standardized test prep and > screen-delivered testing. > > But what if the opposite is true? > > What if high-poverty students are the children most urgently in need of > the benefits that, for example, American parents of means obtain for their > children in private schools, things that Finland delivers on a national > public scale — highly qualified, highly respected and highly > professionalized teachers who conduct personalized one-on-one instruction; > manageable class sizes; a rich, developmentally correct curriculum; regular > physical activity; little or no low-quality standardized tests and the > toxic stress and wasted time and energy that accompanies them; daily > assessments by teachers; and a classroom atmosphere of safety, > collaboration, warmth and respect for children as cherished individuals? > > Why should high-poverty students deserve anything less? > > One day last November, when the first snow came to my part of Finland, I > heard a commotion outside my university faculty office window, which is > close to the teacher training school's outdoor play area. I walked over to > investigate. > > The field was filled with children savoring the first taste of winter amid > the pine trees. My son was out there somewhere, but the children were so > buried in winter clothes and moving so fast that I couldn't spot him. The > noise of children laughing, shouting and singing as they tumbled in the > fresh snow was close to deafening. > > “Do you hear that?” asked the recess monitor, a special education teacher > wearing a yellow safety smock. > > “That,” she said proudly, “is the voice of happiness.” > > William Doyle is a 2015-2016 Fulbright scholar and a lecturer on media and > education at the University of Eastern Finland. His latest book is “PT 109: > An American Epic of War, Survival and the Destiny of John F. Kennedy.” > > source- Why Finland has the best schools > <http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0318-doyle-finnish-schools-20160318-story.html> > > regards, > Guru > IT for Change, Bengaluru > www.ITforChange.net > > -- > 1. If a teacher wants to join STF, visit > http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Become_a_STF_groups_member > 2. For STF training, visit KOER - > http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php > 4. For Ubuntu 14.04 installation, visit > http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Kalpavriksha > 4. For doubts on Ubuntu, public software, visit > http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions > 5. Are you using pirated software? 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For doubts on Ubuntu, public software, visit http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Frequently_Asked_Questions 5. Are you using pirated software? Use Sarvajanika Tantramsha, see http://karnatakaeducation.org.in/KOER/en/index.php/Why_public_software ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಇಲಾಖೆಗೆ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ತಂತ್ರಾಂಶ --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Maths & Science STF" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to mathssciencestf+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send an email to mathssciencestf@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/mathssciencestf. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
