Finnish Education

The biggest reason why most of the FUSYE students chose Finland is to learn about the education system. During our orientations in Washington D.C. and Helsinki, we went over the outline of the Finnish education system. When we went to the Ministry of Education in Helsinki, the secretary explained the principles and the philosophies that they have been following and how they have shaped the successful system that they have today.

There are so many factors that go into analyzing an education system, but let's start with the teachers. Looking back to my K-12 education career, I can't say that all of my teachers were very effective with their teaching. But it's not always their fault. Their work-to-salary ratio doesn't match up, their curriculum is standardized from the district policies, and they're not held very highly for what they do. On the other side of the world, Finnish teachers are well-trained professionals in what they do. Finnish teachers are given much more respect in the career field. Moms and dads brag about you if you become a teacher! They're given freedom with their curriculum and can decide their lesson plans. The chance of a teacher going rouge with their lessons is slim to none. There's a strong link of mutual trust between the education system, the principal of the school, and the teachers. The teachers are trusted with a job, and they do it well.

One of the biggest problems with US education system is the number games the government and schools play. We focus on standardized testing not only for college applications, but schools are trying to squeeze out as many points as possible since incentives like Obama's "Race to the Top initiative invites states to compete for federal dollars using tests and other methods to measure teachers" (Smithsonian). Nowadays, it seems that US schools are forgetting to nurture the "human" side of their students and are instead teaching them to the test. And we keep the system going. From the moment they learn how to walk, parents rush to have their kid do something "unique" to put on their college resume. Summer vacation is a time to squeeze in that volunteer position at Beaumont. Some students study the whole year to get the perfect ACT or SAT score. American students are so busy making themselves "look unique and well-rounded" that their childhood years vanish before their eyes.

The atmosphere for the students in Finland is so different. The learning is done in the classroom. This sounds simple, but in Finland, this means that students have no required homework. Teachers can assign optional homework, but students can choose to do it if they find themselves struggling with the material. Class sizes are small since Finnish educators know that close teacher-student relationships nurture the learning process. Students have plenty of recess and free time through the entire span of their basic and secondary education. The government provides students with health care, plenty of psychological support, and pays for their hot lunches in school. Finns know that a student can't learn if they're not healthy!

Compared to the US, Finland has minimal standardized testing. The only big standardized test is at the end of high school. However, the test isn't as restrictive as the standard multiple choice tests in the US. Students can decide which subjects they will be tested on, but with a few required subjects such as Finnish. It focuses on testing the student's knowledge, not lucky guesses on the multiple choice. There's another test for university admission, but it focuses on what study you're going into. If you're applying to technical school, your test will focus on math and will have no essays. If you're studying to become a doctor, you'll be tested on your knowledge on questions focused on medicine and biology. Some schools in Finland are selected to take the PISA exam, an international exam to survey 15 year old students' skills in reading, math, and science. Even with such little experience with standardized testing, Finnish students consistently rank as one of the highest performing countries taking the PISA exam.

http://www.ncee.org/programs-affiliates/center-on-international-education-benchmarking/top-performing-countries/finland-overview/

Finnish students are much more relaxed and modest than American students. The classroom atmosphere emphasizes cooperation, not competition, so there isn't an incentive to be the best in the class or to be the student with the most extracurriculars. There are no AP or lower level classes until high school. The curriculum is designed for students of all IQs and economic backgrounds. There is rarely a student who is held back because the lessons are designed to include every student. Finnish people are very modest, so students don't brag about their test scores, unlike American students.

Finland's picture perfect education system works because of their socialist economic system. Citizens pay higher taxes, but it all works out in the end. The government manages their tax dollars efficiently, pouring it towards paying the tuition for all of the students and providing their citizens with health care. Its effectiveness is clearly seen in Finland's 100% literacy rate and their high standard of living. There's no bad side to studying in university since it's free, so students don't have to live the rest of their lives paying off their huge student loans. Students only have to worry about their books, living, and their studies!

http://www.virtualcampuses.eu/index.php/Finland_from_Re.ViCa

I am by no means writing this post to bash on the US education system. Since the US has so many citizens, providing full tuition for all of them would be a nightmare. With our high distrust in our government, there's no way that US citizens would trust their tax dollars to be put into benefiting citizens with health care or education. So with low taxes and so many people, it seems that we can't help but to play the Race to the Top number game. However, I do wish that the US would consider some of Finland's education philosophies. Finland's focus on cooperation rather than competition among students benefits their future and their society. It promotes their sense of community and empathy instead of this "only look out for yourself" mentality we have in the US. A bit of change in the US way of thinking would go a long way for our students and our society. However, referring back to the Finnish education outline graph above, students must decide if they should go to secondary school (high school) or vocational school when they're 16 years old. But this doesn't mean that their career is set in stone at this age. Students who don't know what they want to do yet usually continue on to secondary school and those who see themselves doing other things split off to vocational school. Both are equally successful in getting their students into university with a superb education.

Back in Helsinki, the trip to the Ministry of Education was eye-opening. After finishing my entire public education career in the US, I longed to have a taste of this amazing sounding Finnish education! So the gears started turning. My older sister studied abroad in the University of Tokyo for her senior year of undergrad, so why not do the same in Finland? I haven't had the chance to look at any financial programs to fund the costs of living or books, but with free tuition to a Finnish university, there shouldn't be too much to worry about! I really hope that this idea doesn't become an unrealistic dream because Finland is a place that I would absolutely love to live in for a year. We'll see what happens.

I highly recommend watching the The Finland Phenomenon documentary. It figures out why and how Finnish education works so well compared to education systems around the world. You can easily find the hour long documentary on Youtube. This Smithsonian article helped me sort out my facts about Finnish education with this post and my FUSYE essay. It's a very interesting read!
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/why-are-finlands-schools-successful-49859555/?c=y%3Fno-ist

Sorry for the serious post, but Finnish education is something that I really wanted to share with you guys! Thanks for reading my huge block of text!