Like most people who are very concerned with the state of public education and the intelligence of the population in general, I am absolutely fascinated with the Finnish model of grade school education.
Finnish schools *do* care about money and about competition, same as Americans even though they don’t want to admit it. Actually perhaps not so same, because they deploy it much more effectively than we do. Finns implement these attributes systemically from the get-go, while Americans do not. Finns establish, and enforce, all rules from the inception of educational strategy of that fine nation.
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The Finnish make sure to select only intelligent highly-qualified teachers -- from the get-go.
"A master's degree is required to enter the profession, and teacher training programs are among the most selective professional schools in the country." (Emphasis mine.) Erm, that sounds an awful lot like competition to me.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/
Here in America, anyone can be a teacher. THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING. We need to face facts. People are not created equal. Intelligence is not distributed equally across the playing field. Not all people have the innate skills necessary to be good teachers. And not all people are equally capable of being larned' how to develop into good teachers.
Unfortunately this fact that is staring us right in the face is not acknowledged. It is actively, purposely ignored in the public sphere so as not to risk offending anyone. Ignoring this fact can and does have disastrous consequences, one of them being that marginally intelligent people can enter the teaching profession.
Finnish schools *do* care about money and about competition, same as Americans even though they don’t want to admit it. Actually perhaps not so same, because they deploy it much more effectively than we do. Finns implement these attributes systemically from the get-go, while Americans do not. Finns establish, and enforce, all rules from the inception of educational strategy of that fine nation.
•••
The Finnish make sure to select only intelligent highly-qualified teachers -- from the get-go.
"A master's degree is required to enter the profession, and teacher training programs are among the most selective professional schools in the country." (Emphasis mine.) Erm, that sounds an awful lot like competition to me.
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/
Here in America, anyone can be a teacher. THIS IS NOT A GOOD THING. We need to face facts. People are not created equal. Intelligence is not distributed equally across the playing field. Not all people have the innate skills necessary to be good teachers. And not all people are equally capable of being larned' how to develop into good teachers.
Unfortunately this fact that is staring us right in the face is not acknowledged. It is actively, purposely ignored in the public sphere so as not to risk offending anyone. Ignoring this fact can and does have disastrous consequences, one of them being that marginally intelligent people can enter the teaching profession.
Any mediocre high school student can be accepted into and complete a bachelor degree program in education. More rigorous fields of study such as the SMET degrees, tend to weed out mediocre students. The smart high school students tend to pursue college degrees in science, math, engineering, technology, rather than going into education.
And then only AFTER a teacher has been drafted into the profession and released out into the field are they critiqued on their abilities. Only AFTER they have already been inducted and hired into a position are they assessed on their ability to do the job.
America is trying to correct for this by proposing merit pay for the good ones, no reward for the bad ones. That's a start, I guess, but those are rather aftermarket, after-escrow measures.
Well, sigh, if you had just hired good teachers in the first place, then you wouldn't have to worry about weeding out the bad from the good. You would know that they are ALL good because that's whom you let into the profession.
Finns take care of this by *making sure they get good teachers in the first place.* They don't wait until _after_ someone starts teaching to see if they are a good teacher or not.
•••
Well, the only reason merit pay in the US is even brought up is to acknowledge the fact that there are both good and bad teachers in the first place. It is supposed to bring to light the discrepancies in teaching ability between different teachers.
Not all teachers across the board are created equal. Many are really talented and caring individuals. Many are crap.
And yes, money does help. Of course it does. We are all aware that the vast majority of armchair pundits say that money does not help one iota -- and they are dead wrong. "Schools shouldn't focus on resources... In fact, schools that poured in more resources actually got worse results."
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/12/everything-you-know-about-education-is-wrong/249722/
Acch, quit with that bull. The Finns *start off* with giving the teachers money.
The only thing is that an important question needs to be addressed: What kind of money? Are all money expenditures created equal? No, they are not. Spending money on STUFF does not make a school better. If a laser overhead projector is sitting in the corner of the classroom, it won't do a damn thing for the students if the teacher doesn’t know how to explain algebra.
However, spending the money by giving it directly to the teacher, you know, paying a good teacher for the job she is doing -- this does help. This is exactly what the Finnish do. They give ALL teachers good pay.
The Finnish seem to have arrived at some conclusions that don't seem very accurate. "Sahlberg knows what Americans like to talk about when it comes to education." Yes, there are certain topics that we Americans are more comfortable talking about as compared to other topics. But the Sahlberg guy is mistaken on what that specific topic is. He is under the impression that Americans are uncomfortable talking about equality. "And while Americans love to talk about competition, Sahlberg points out that nothing makes Finns more uncomfortable." Still here.
Erm, that is not correct.
Americans love to give lip service to how we are all equal. Spouting empty platitudes about equality, "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal," "United we stand," "One nation under dollar, with liberty and justice for dollar," and the ilk.
Americans are also very comfortable talking about competition and how it is good for the soul. What you need to understand is that this talk of competition being a good motivator is inextricably linked to the American love for “equality.” The very New World notion of equality is precisely the *reason* that we are okay with talking about competition.
The reasoning for this follows thusly: because we are all created equal, therefore we are on an automatic level playing field. We have been given equal strengths and abilities and qualities. Therefore everyone has potential to achieve their greatest dreams.
And then only AFTER a teacher has been drafted into the profession and released out into the field are they critiqued on their abilities. Only AFTER they have already been inducted and hired into a position are they assessed on their ability to do the job.
America is trying to correct for this by proposing merit pay for the good ones, no reward for the bad ones. That's a start, I guess, but those are rather aftermarket, after-escrow measures.
Well, sigh, if you had just hired good teachers in the first place, then you wouldn't have to worry about weeding out the bad from the good. You would know that they are ALL good because that's whom you let into the profession.
Finns take care of this by *making sure they get good teachers in the first place.* They don't wait until _after_ someone starts teaching to see if they are a good teacher or not.
•••
Well, the only reason merit pay in the US is even brought up is to acknowledge the fact that there are both good and bad teachers in the first place. It is supposed to bring to light the discrepancies in teaching ability between different teachers.
Not all teachers across the board are created equal. Many are really talented and caring individuals. Many are crap.
And yes, money does help. Of course it does. We are all aware that the vast majority of armchair pundits say that money does not help one iota -- and they are dead wrong. "Schools shouldn't focus on resources... In fact, schools that poured in more resources actually got worse results."
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/12/everything-you-know-about-education-is-wrong/249722/
Acch, quit with that bull. The Finns *start off* with giving the teachers money.
The only thing is that an important question needs to be addressed: What kind of money? Are all money expenditures created equal? No, they are not. Spending money on STUFF does not make a school better. If a laser overhead projector is sitting in the corner of the classroom, it won't do a damn thing for the students if the teacher doesn’t know how to explain algebra.
However, spending the money by giving it directly to the teacher, you know, paying a good teacher for the job she is doing -- this does help. This is exactly what the Finnish do. They give ALL teachers good pay.
The Finnish seem to have arrived at some conclusions that don't seem very accurate. "Sahlberg knows what Americans like to talk about when it comes to education." Yes, there are certain topics that we Americans are more comfortable talking about as compared to other topics. But the Sahlberg guy is mistaken on what that specific topic is. He is under the impression that Americans are uncomfortable talking about equality. "And while Americans love to talk about competition, Sahlberg points out that nothing makes Finns more uncomfortable." Still here.
Erm, that is not correct.
Americans love to give lip service to how we are all equal. Spouting empty platitudes about equality, "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal," "United we stand," "One nation under dollar, with liberty and justice for dollar," and the ilk.
Americans are also very comfortable talking about competition and how it is good for the soul. What you need to understand is that this talk of competition being a good motivator is inextricably linked to the American love for “equality.” The very New World notion of equality is precisely the *reason* that we are okay with talking about competition.
The reasoning for this follows thusly: because we are all created equal, therefore we are on an automatic level playing field. We have been given equal strengths and abilities and qualities. Therefore everyone has potential to achieve their greatest dreams.
If anyone does NOT achieve their dreams, this is not because they do not have the innate ability or skill, or because the contest is unfair. It is because they chose not to have strength of character; it is because they are lazy, slacker, not hard-working, and it is their own fault. With equality as a supposed driving concept behind commerce, economy, job opportunities, and general welfare, America is not afraid to let someone fall. Because if someone does fall, that means they brought it upon themselves.
The fact remains that Americans keep saying aloud that all humans on this planet are created equal and have equal potential, all of which is naive hogwash. 99.999 percent of Americans are possibly in denial of the fact that people are most certainly NOT created equal, and if any of us does think this, we dare not state this fact out loud. This is because thinking this, much less stating it boldly out loud, is unpatriotic, and oddly enough it is also un-liberal, i.e., un-politically correct.
Now, personally I am fine with competition even thought I quite vocally do not believe any myths about equality. People have different levels of skills, of strengths, of natural god-given talents. This is a simple fact. And I am fine with that. Whatever gives a person a competitive edge in education, industry, the job market, innovation, is fine by me.
The fact remains that Americans keep saying aloud that all humans on this planet are created equal and have equal potential, all of which is naive hogwash. 99.999 percent of Americans are possibly in denial of the fact that people are most certainly NOT created equal, and if any of us does think this, we dare not state this fact out loud. This is because thinking this, much less stating it boldly out loud, is unpatriotic, and oddly enough it is also un-liberal, i.e., un-politically correct.
Now, personally I am fine with competition even thought I quite vocally do not believe any myths about equality. People have different levels of skills, of strengths, of natural god-given talents. This is a simple fact. And I am fine with that. Whatever gives a person a competitive edge in education, industry, the job market, innovation, is fine by me.
If someone is best suited for a job, whether it is a result of education or of inherent ability, then that is the person that should do the job. I personally am excellent at biomedical engineering. If you ever need a dinosaur cobbled together from scattered pieces of amphibian DNA, I’m your gal. Or if you need a painting of an incredibly realistic rendition of a person, a still life, a building, etc., you can count on me. However I could not compose a symphony or any musical arrangement to save my life. And athletic ability? Hahahaha, oh I'm wiping the tears of mirth from my eyes, that's a good one; I'll have to tell that one to my allergy doctor.
If the Finnish were truly at home with the idea of equality, then why would they have to strive so hard to force the *system* to ensure equality for everyone? Answer me that.
Shouldn't they rather be comfortable with letting everyone stand or fall on their own merits? Methinks the European doth protest too much. And it seems that Finns have the same affliction with talk that Americans have, except they have it on opposite nodes. They believe that people are unequal, but they are uncomfortable talking about it out loud and would rather make sure that everyone gets equal results. Whereas Americans believe that people are equal, so they force competition.
Anyway, getting back to what Americans are and are not uncomfortable talking about in public. I'll tell you what Americans are uncomfortable talking about in public. They are uncomfortable with head-on facing the fact that people are NOT created equal. They are uncomfortable facing the fact that all the grade school education in the world will not offset a child's family, home life, and immediate surrounding community that simply do not care about formal education.
To conclude, Finns have excellent public education because they are doing everything right. Here is another great article. They are doing everything that they do not want to admit to doing right -- competition and money. They are doing everything that the primitive, trying-desperately-to seem-sophisticated-and-ludicrously-failing Americans can't seem to get right.
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