One of the
most passionate topics in today’s political atmosphere is education. Huffington Post states that
during a survey from Pearson firm that United States will rank 17th
amongst the world. Even worse is that according to
the same study that only six percent of American students would actually be
testing at an advanced level from taking an international exam. Sir Ken Robinson examines the
detrimental effect of education and how modern education is not preparing our
children for our generation. So how can we gain ground on a paramount
issue in our country? A country that might have the answer is Finland. Finland
normally ranks in the top education levels of the world. Due to its small
population and small resources Education Minister, Tuula Haatainen, says, “In Finland, we believe we
have to invest in education, in research and in higher education. Education can
Pioneer new areas for jobs.” We always need new skills for the labor force.”
Finland ranks high in every study, because it’s willing to put forth the effort
and research into education. America could gain more ground in our education
system if we emulate Finland in their approach for their future generation. I believe
that if we understand more about Finland’s education process and implement into
our schools we could better prepare our children.
Finland’s education system works
quite differently from other countries. The schools won’t separate children
into different education groups from performance. From ages seven to sixteen
you would go to the same school system as your peers. After that you would
choose to go to either vocational school or higher learning school systems. In
America we want to separate the over-performers from the underperforming
children. It’s a distinct reflection of our high capitalism market. Our economy
and work force is based on showing up and working harder than the person next
to you to achieve greater status, so of course this will trickle down to our
children. Finland believes in inclusion of all students for nine years in comprehensive
school (school ages 7-16). Across the board students get the same education
base as their peers. Haatainen
would state that this is the most important part of the system, because for
those crucial nine years they can invest the same amount to everybody.
Another key note in their schools is
that their students are not charged money for amenities like in America school
systems. No child has to pay for lunch. No child has to pay for their
universities. This develops a sense that the country is investing substantially
towards its children. This will result into more students going into higher
learning and being able to perform at higher levels. Bill Gates in Waiting
for Superman tells us that we have a plethora of highly skilled jobs in
America, but the sad truth is that due to the neglect of education amongst our
citizens, we will not be able to hold those positions. Our economy has a
bleak view from us is because that our own people can’t fill the shoes for the
demand of new jobs. Those positions will go to other people and thus hurting
our economy. One of the worse things is knowing after surviving a barrage of
sub par public schooling in America is the realization that in order to gain
higher learning you will have to pull money out of your own pocket, and not
just a little but thousands of dollars. In 2012, the average college graduate loan debt was $27,253 which is a 58%
increase from the past seven years, according to Forbes. Imagine a place where
you would not get punished for seeking higher learning. It could definitely
benefit our country if our future workers were not restricted in what jobs to
apply solely based on how well they can manage that school debt. More students
might be more eager to go into more fields that may not yield more income, but
further develop our country. Maybe students would be encouraged to go into a
job that makes them happy instead of just a place to make their bills more
manageable. This could a great factor in
our next generation doing something that benefits our future not just our
future bank account.
Finland also employs teachers with
high skill sets to teach their students. They are entrusted with doing whatever
it takes to help prepare their pupils for life and higher education. Finland has strict guidelines if
you want to become an educator in their country. Their teachers are chosen from
the top ten percent of graduates that would go on to highly specialized master’s
program. They are more prepared
for the classroom. In America it seems that after only four years of
undergraduate study in an education field might push out teachers too soon. A
lot of teachers would say that the first couple of years is hard to adjust to
teaching and that could be detrimental in losing a year of a child’s education.
Finland will let people more skilled in teaching go on to educate children. An
education taught by a proficient teacher is only the standard for a select K-12
schools in America, but it is the normal for all schools in Finland. If you’re
a child in poverty or a child blessed in a wealthy family you will receive the
same education.
I believe America can learn a lot
about Finland’s education system. With our country’s dwindling process to
prepare our children for the future we have nowhere else but look upon the
countries that are doing the most to benefit their children with education.
Finland is at the top of most rankings due to the extensive research and
resources devoted solely to public school systems for their country. They have
unified school systems that will give every child the same opportunity to
better themselves. They implement their highly skilled process for almost zero
dollars. You can go through all levels of education without going into mass
debt. They also make sure that their children are only learning from the best
teachers by using a great standard of what skills an educator can have. America
has spent a lot of time at the top of many categories in the world, but
education is not one of them. We must do the logical thing and look upon which
systems are working and used those methods to help our children get back on
track. If we do not fix the education system in our country than it will only
get worse for our future development and economy.
No comments:
Post a Comment