Why are Finland's Schools Successful

bobbycheung

Why are Finland's Schools Successful
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/Why-Are-Finlands-Schools-Successful.html?c=y&page=2

1. In Finland, children from wealthy families with lots of education can be taught by stupid teachers.  They try to catch the weak students.
    In HK, we pay more attention to the strong ones (because their results will help boosting the reputation of the  school) and give up on the weak ones.
2. In Finland, there are no mandated standardized tests, apart from one exam at the end of students' senior year in high school. There are no rankings, no comparisons or competition between students, schools or regions.
    In HK, we go to the other extreme.
3. In Finland, the differences between weakest and strongest students are the smallest in the world,
    In HK, the differences are so huge that it is beyond measure.
4. In Finland, they prepared children to learn how to learn, not how to take a test.  
    In HK, we do the exact opposite
5. In Finland, homework is minimal. Compulsory schooling does not begin until age 7
    In HK, kids are overloaded with homework and schooling starts a few years before they reach 7

All of these fly in the face of our HK education system.  Yet they succeed tremendously and we fail miserably. .

FattyDaddy

bobbycheung 發表於 12-3-20 00:44
Why are Finland's Schools Successful

Education serves the society we live in, education in Hongkong is the way it is because Hongkong soceity is the way it is. When the majority of Hongkongers look towards exam results as the sole measure of success, it is no wonder that Hongkong education is geared towards achieving exam results only. Why do we view exam results with such importance? Well that attitude really goes back a long long way, deep into our cultural past.

Can Hongkong education become like that in Finland? Theoretically yes, when Hongkong is not ruled by China, when Hongkongers drop Confucian and even Chinese culture, when Hongkong society becomes more like a European society. Do the majority of Hongkongers want that to happen? I doubt it.

bobbycheung

FattyDaddy,

It seems that Finland also has its fair share of problems and its unique past history.
The articles said:-
1.  Finland’s schools were not always a wonder. Until the late 1960s, Finns were still emerging from the cocoon of Soviet influence. Most children left public school after six years. (The rest went to private schools, academic grammar schools or folk schools, which tended to be less rigorous.) Only the privileged or lucky got a quality education....
2.  In 1963, the Finnish Parliament made the bold decision to choose public education as its best shot at economic recovery.........It was simply the idea that every child would have a very good public school. If we want to be competitive, we need to educate everybody. It all came out of a need to survive........Teachers from all over the nation contributed to a national curriculum that provided guidelines, not prescriptions
3.  The second critical decision came in 1979, when reformers required that every teacher earn a fifth-year master’s degree in theory and practice at one of eight state universities—at state expense. From then on, teachers were effectively granted equal status with doctors and lawyers. Applicants began flooding teaching programs, not because the salaries were so high but because autonomy and respect made the job attractive.
4.  By the mid-1980s, a final set of initiatives shook the classrooms free from the last vestiges of top-down regulation. Control over policies shifted to town councils. The national curriculum was distilled into broad guidelines......Sifting and sorting children into so-called ability groupings was eliminated. All children—clever or less so—were to be taught in the same classrooms, with lots of special teacher help available to make sure no child really would be left behind. The inspectorate closed its doors in the early ’90s, turning accountability and inspection over to teachers and principals.
5.  And there are still challenges. Finland’s crippling financial collapse in the early ’90s brought fresh economic challenges to this “confident and assertive Eurostate,". At the same time, immigrants poured into the country, clustering in low-income housing projects and placing added strain on schools.

I don't really know what the majority of Hongkongers want.  Personally, I want my kids to go to school to learn and do it happily.  I don't want them to be drowned by loads of homeworks, stressed by numerous tests and exams and worried about the marks the day they start schooling.  I want them to enjoy school and love learning.  Apparently, in Finland, teachers have the same status as doctors and lawyers and they find the job attractive mostly because of the autonomy and respect they get as teachers.  In HK, I don't think teachers' salaries are really that low nowadays in comparison with say lawyers or accountants in general.  But how can we attract the top or better graduates is a question that we need to think about.  As to the issue of giving them autonomy, I don't really know how it can be achieved.  Could you imagine the Education Department willingly doing less and giving out less policies and directions?   I have the feeling that the Education Department is going the opposite direction partly to keep their staff busy and partly because they will tell you they know better.  I must admit I am no expert in education matters.  This is just my personal view.  More importantly, I want to share with the interested parents what I found in the internet   

Mighty

香港同ＦＩＮＬＡＮＤ是不可同日而語、当然可以羨慕下、始終両個完全不同的世界、ＦＩＮＬＡＮＤ是社会主義/共産主義国家、首先貧富之差非常小、無論是ＴＥＡＣＨＥＲＳ，ＬＡＷＹＥＲＳ、大家収入差不多。　家庭之間的比較就自然小。　国家非常注重学前教育、幼稚園老師受尊重。　　想想我地香港有多少人是尊重幼稚園老師？　香港現今這個社会、只可靠自己、競争又大、形成父母非常緊張小朋友的成績、如果這個現象不変、都好難要求軽鬆愉快学習。　ＷＥＬＬ，我想父母取其平衡吧！