Finland continues to provide the gold-standard of success when comparing national education systems. From my perspective, the wisdom of Peter Pan* provides valuable insight within this inquiry: “All you need is a little faith, trust, and pixie dust”, when developing a developmentally appropriate program for our students. This is in direct contrast to the American public school system, where fear, worry, and a false sense of control, guide our efforts. As analysts describe Finland’s school system, both “faith” and “trust” are frequently highlighted within their findings. For example; Pasi Sahlberg writes in the October 2013 of Education Weekly, “When I ask these visitors what is the most important takeaway of the Finnish education system, a frequent answer is widespread trust exhibited by Finns in their schools. They also wonder how only a few Finns seem to be worried about whether teachers do what they are expected.”
Having experienced the American educational system first-hand, as an advocate, administrator, program coordinator, and teacher, I honestly can state, our system is founded upon fear, worry, and competition, as described in the Common Core declaration, “to ensure that students are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills to be globally competitive … Today’s students are preparing to enter a world in which colleges and businesses are demanding more than ever before.” Within the trenches of teaching, many teachers and principals daily experience a feeling of falling far behind, and need to work quicker to catch-up, as if in a race. As a result, this translates to an instructional pace which is not developmentally-based, but more aligned with a business model of “faster is better”.
The impact of the American educational program, which promotes a focus on employment and “to ensure all students are ready for success after high school”, creates a situation where numbers of students do not fit in within the constructs of this “competitive” philosophy. As a result, advocates, like myself, have experienced a significant number of calls and inquiries related to the disconnect between schools, learning, and their children. “Thinking this way often fails to distinguish the Finnish way from the global education reform movement (or GERM) that sees competition, standardization, afrequent testing, and privatization as the most effective drivers of change.”, according to Pasi Sahlberg. Whereas, within the Finnish educational system, students are encouraged to prosper and grow at their developmental pace as they move through the elementary years.
So when we take a serious look at our American education system, especially, when we compare and contrast with the Finnish program, a deeper understanding of the motivation and intent behind each system is most critical. In America, we are moving forward with the belief that our children need to “compete” or may lose opportunities due to the limited number of jobs that will be available in the unforeseeable future. In contrast, in Finland, the educational system is guided by faith, trust, and an unyielding belief that our future looks promising as long as we encourage each child to reach his or her potential at their own pace.
From my perspective, when it comes to our children’s future, I’ll believe in faith, trust, and little pixie dust every time.
* “My partner, Carmel, is credited for sharing this wonderful quote … thank you.”