We aspire to be Finland, but we're not even close
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| via: elearninginfographics.com |
The irony of this is staggering.
Consider what the people making the decisions that drive American education believe is effective:
- Large class sizes
- Plenty of homework
- Tons of standardized testing
- Little or no time for physical activity, like recess
- A bizarre teacher evaluation system that rates educators on traditional methods and student test scores
Still, "We need to be more like Finland," is the bureaucrats' favorite mantra.
Take a look at how Finland does education:
- Average class size is 1 teacher to every 12 students.
- There is virtually no homework.
- Finland has 10 times less standardized testing than American schools.
- There is heavy emphasis on physical activity and down time (75 minutes of recess).
- Teachers are as respected as doctors.
Sure, we're not Finland. We're much larger and face different socio-economic issues. If we aspire to be like Finland, though, why not at least attempt to incorporate some of its simple strategies?
Right now, we're not even close!
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