Learning from the Finns

Remember Andy Rooney's comments about The Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago? He talked about the number of articles that relate to the financial world, and all the lingo that goes along with it (write-downs, global debt issuance, resellers, yield-starved investors). One of the perks of being a newspaper editor is getting a subscription to the Wall Street Journal for only $100 a year. And yes, Andy's right, most of it is financial, but there are also some really interesting articles on all kinds of stuff, like building a "green" house, watching videos in the workplace, and the latest styles in men's ties.

As Maine school districts scramble to comply with the ultimatum that 290 districts must get shrunk down to 80 (even as some legislators try to change it or throw it out altogether) it was intriguing to read a February 29, 2008 Wall Street Journal article titled, "What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?" In a recent test Finland's students "placed first in science and near the top in math and reading, while the U.S. "placed in the middle of the pack." Yet high school students in Finland have very little homework, don't begin until age seven, have no uniforms, no honor societies, no valedictorians, no bands, no proms and little standardized testing. There are no classes for the gifted, because the smart kids are supposed to help others if they finish first. One of the schools is run like a teaching hospital, where 800 teacher trainees and graduate students help out "while instructors evaluate from the sidelines." Teachers must have master's degrees and there are 40 applicants for every teacher's job. Salaries are about the same as in this country, but teachers have more freedom as they "pick their own books and customize lessons" aimed at meeting national standards.

One of the explanations for their great success is the Finns love of reading. Libraries are often in shopping malls, and book buses travel around to rural areas. Their tests are more likely to be essays than multiple choice. One student from Finland who spent a year in Michigan as an exchange student was forced to repeat the year when she returned home because she hadn't received the education she should have. A U.S. delegation that visited schools in Finland last year found they were not so concerned with the latest in technology as we seem to be here.

It's always a good idea to test our own methods against what others are doing.