This is a very interesting read about how Finns think about education.
They think about education, not just schooling. They think about how different institutions interact to shape young people. As Lawrence Cremin (my mentor and the author’s) taught, education is a network of institutions.
Finns care about equality, not as an abstraction but a reality. They make sure that everyone has health care and education. Teachers are highly respected. And they don’t understand our obsession with choice.
This is a good read.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I am happy to say that even with the corporate reform push to nonprofessionalize teaching and to remove dignity from the classroom, I still have parents who esteem me and the value I bring to the lives of their children. I know it from contacts with them, which these days often happen via email.
I save those emails.
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A friend recently questioned me as to why U.S. couldn’t match the Finn’s educational accomplishment. Comparing apples to oranges was principal argument. A very small, homogenous society versus our large more and more diverse one. “And what,” I said, defensively, I’ll admit, “are we to make of this country ‘s enormous alcohol problem?” Isn’t it something like 17% of its adult males die of the disease? What are we indeed to make of these considerations when looking to the Finns for a model?
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That they were educated before a more enlightened approach came into vogue. Or maybe seasonal affective disorder.
Or do you mean that 17% of adults in the US die of alcoholism?
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The data tell us that we can match or even exceed Finnish educational achievement by simply ensuring that all American children attend a school where less than 10% of the kids are in poverty.
Given that 24% of our kids are currently in poverty, it’s going to require some serious breakthroughs in mathematics… or a commitment to getting kids out of poverty.
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The only reason we are having problems is first: the public and many teachers and school employees really do not care until their job is gone, this is a fact here at LAUSD, the second larges school district in the U.S. The second is: the U.S. public is self destructive and ignorant as dirt. The third is: no free press thanks to first Bill Clinton and second Obama for making the situation worse. How is it that they get it in China, Russia, the Middle East and Europe and we sit here on our butts doing nothing? And we caused their grief right now with the CBO’s and the “Broadfather”, being on the board of AIG, helped to cause that so they can do what they are doing right now. Does anyone study history and perspective and read “The Art of War” as that is what they have declared on us is WAR.
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Actually we trail Finish schools at every level of income.
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They have some sense and ethics we do not.
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I’ve thought about the fact that they have high suicide rates. Don’t they?
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Both this post and Part I were quite interesting. But what’s missing from the discussion, and what I think is critical, is that the Finns have a cohesive vision of what an educated person look like. They also have a much more defined culture. We Americans have lost sight of both these elements in our belief that we can create a society of individualists, which is really an oxymoron. Without a cultural vision, we can’t define what an education should include, and we won’t have the social values necessary to give teachers respect and children the drive to succeed at becoming educated as opposed to seeking grades.
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I agree with you completely. It is our hyperindividualist culture that is driving the faux privatization reform movement, but at the same time it is no excuse to just dismiss Finland’s success as impossible to reproduce in America. If we actually are ever going to save public and higher education in this country, then we do need to adopt certain aspects of Finland’s success. I think the grassroots in America, especially the teachers, students, and parents who are fighting to save public education have a different culture from the politicians, philanthropic corporate reform billionares, dominant media, and transnational textbook, standardized testing companies that are fighting to privatize it. Its just a question of unequal power relations and whose voice is actually getting heard and listened to. But then again that is also a matter of culture and social values, the fact that we value the private more than the public, although I don’t really know that “we” is most ordinary people in this country. I think the conclusion is that if change is going to happen in America its not gonna come from within dominant institutions of power.
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There’s definitely something ironic about the fact that our obsession with Finland’s education policy is due entirely to our obsession with test scores and achievement.
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The Finnish approach to schooling resembles the kind of substantive, creative, and rich education we find in our private schools and affluent communities — schools that treat educators as professionals and students as thinkers, artists, and problem-solvers. This was the kind of education I had at the U. of C. Lab School and the kind of education offered at the well-endowed suburban public school where I taught. All Finland has done is to make this education available to everyone, regardless of zipcode. As Matt Farmer highlights in his mock interview of billionaire reformer Penny Pritzker, the edupreneurs believe that students in impoverished communities need a different sort of education — something along the lines of Atlanta’s model: Raise students’ test scores any way you can without enriching the kids’ learning. I was witness to such nonsense last week when I visted an honors English class in a public high school. Although the students were bright and highly motivated to learn, the teacher’s curriculum for an entire month consisted of ACT test prep — under strict orders from the principal.
By the way, Pasi Sahlberg will be headlining an important conference in Chicago in 2 weeks : Reframing Reform: Achieving Equity and Excellence in Public Education.
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Everyone should read Lawrence Cremin. I think getting into this mindframe that institutions are what educate a society would do us all a world of good. We should be asking ourselves how we can build a society of strong institutions that will help to educate our population. In many ways we are doing this; we just don’t talk about how it all connects. For example, Obama would help by simply stating that his health care plan is in many ways an education plan. Bloomberg’s soda law similarly is an example of how laws educate the public. And so on.
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For those of you in Chicago, Pasi Stahlberg, the Director General at the Center for International Mobility & Cooperation, Finland, will be the Keynote Speaker at the April 15th conference “Reframing Reform:Achieving Quality.” Google that to find registration at constantcomment.com
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Sorry, Sherry–bypassed your comment.
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Isn’t that an interesting outlook, they care what happens and how it happens. Gee!
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We Americans will never come even remotely close to the Finnish model unless we evolve and part with the notion that individualism invariably trumps collectivism.
We used to have both in our culture, and there was a system of checks and balances in place. But compared to now, those balances have mostly faded, and we are left with a much more stratified society.
Finland probably has free or nominal cost day care, and public education begins as early as one year old. Finland also has a single payer national healthcare system, and a unionized public sector that earns a pension. The Finnish also have more vacation time off than Americans.
Finland is by no means without very serious problems, but it’s also a country where a sick person will not have to sell their house or reduce themselves to a pauper in medical or educational debt in order to receive proper medical treatment or excellent schooling.
We in the United States lack the will FAR more than the ability to have such equality.
We are a young nation. . .
We will have many schizms and hard lessons to learn that are requiste for morphing into a fairer and more just culture.
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When you have a public in which only 15% believe in evolution and 45% believe that the world is only 5-10,000 years old and that Jesus will come back in their lifetime what else do you expect? Dumb, blind and totally ignorant and incapable of thinking. Proof is in the pudding. Look at what we have become. Civil rights is going backwards and the general public is getting poorer. How does that happen without the collusion of the general public? Got a good answer for that?
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Finland’s unionization rate is well above 80% for the whole workforce. Our unionization rate is down to 11.3% and falling every year, it seems, because of the aggressive union busting. The oligarchs will not be happy until they have gutted and/or destroyed the teachers’ unions. How dare those teachers take public money and belong to unions as well (the right wingers contend). The private sector unionization rate is barely 7% (I think it’s currently at 6.9%?)
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Home schooling does not exist in Finland. But in this country, many people seriously think that home schooling would be a great alternative to public education. We have a very strong, well funded and well-think tanked contingent in this country that does not believe in public education or the public good. For them, it’s every man/woman for him/herself and tough luck if you didn’t make enough money to send your kids to a private school. Any mention of universal health care drives these right wingers and libertarians and Ayn Randians go bonkers.
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And most of them are Christian fundamentalists who believe the world is only 5,000 years old and we played with dinosaurs. Have you seen the park on this in I think Arkansas and have you ever listened to the person head of textbooks for Texas? Then what I said will make sense. It reminds me of the cults I ended up fighting years ago. Four to be precise. They do not like people they cannot control. In two of them people died for the phony beliefs like going to the comet. Give you experience in what we are dealing with today, and understanding also. Even if it is insane.
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I can only hope that we Americans could revamp the educational system to reflect a more holistic approach to learning. Great read! The Finnish clearly rock on this one!
Christine Terry
http://www.TerryTutors.com
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As regards suicide rates: according to WHO (from 2011), Finland is 20th for suicide after Greenland, Belgium, South Korea, Lithuania, Guyana, Kazakhstan, Belarus, China, Slovenia, Hungary, Japan, Sri Lanka, Russia, Ukraine, Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro (tie for 16th), Estonia, Latvia, Moldova then Finland at 20th. The US is 34th and Sweden is 35th. I remember the bad old days when they tried to demean and smear Sweden with the suicide accusation. Oh those horrible Swedes with their universal health care, strong social safety net, family leave, paternal leave and virtually free university education. The US and Swedish suicide rates are just about the same. I wonder what the suicide rates are for our combat troops who are veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan?
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