For the class book club, I’ve been reading “Finnish Lessons” by Pasi Sahlberg. Though most of you haven’t read the full book, one of our readings for Tuesday is the third part of the Archer and Bessie comic series, which features the Finnish education system. Even before reading about Finland’s school system, we have often discussed in class the concepts of teacher appreciation and student equality. Adding to this the example of Finland, where teaching is a highly competitive and respected field, and where students are given an equitable education, gives me some questions about how we can improve the American education system.
Archer and Bessie discuss how competitive teacher education programs in Finland are–acceptance rates are around 10%. Finnish teachers also receive above average wages and are well-respected in the community. Students in Finland perform just as well if they come from an advantaged or a relatively disadvantaged background. This is likely due largely to the social services offered in Finland–medical care, free preschool, etc. But does this type of system only work because of the values of the nation? Would this work in America, if tomorrow an identical system was put into place?
The values held in Finland are far more social justice oriented, compared to America’s ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ mentality. I have to wonder if the US can ever really become an equitable country with the long-standing values we hold as a nation. Programs like preschool are incredibly valuable for the mental growth of young children, and set them up well for later schooling. Offering these services for free benefits everyone, but many Americans are opposed to the idea of paying for services that directly serve other people’s children (or other people in general). Finland, and other welfare states like it, don’t view welfare as something that goes to the poor, but as something that everyone receives equally. Teaching in America is not seen as a profession, and salaries are low compared many other careers.
Comparing Finland to the US leaves me with a lot of questions about how much education can truly be reformed here in the States. What do you all think? If all teachers had Masters degrees, like in Finland, would they be seen as more professional and be more respected and better paid? Do American individualistic values simply prevent us from having a fully equal education system?
Comments
16 responses to “Can we become the next Finland?”
Alex, I really like your insights into the Finnish education system and how it relates to education here in America. Your last questions are very interesting. I do not think the Masters degree at all affects teachers’ reputations here in the US. Most teachers are required to have a Bachelors and a teaching credential. I think the view of their profession comes from the fact that they are often employing what some call “soft skills.” These are not mathematics, analytics, science, or economics but rather compassion, comfort, and discipline. I would be interested to hear what other people think about teachers having Masters degrees. Do other people think their poor reputation in America is a result of not having a Masters?
As we have discussed again and again, a major problem with the US education system is that highly-qualified candidates do not want to enter the teaching profession due to the subsequent reputation. Considering this, I agree with Hannah that a simple “Masters” degree would not bolster the teaching profession dramatically. However, I do feel that having a more Finnish mindset could. Like Finland, in order for teaching to be held in a higher regard, Americans need to start considering others besides themselves. Finland offers free (and good!) healthcare and education to all. Is their simple attitude, of wanting EVERYONE to have the best education, all the US system really needs?
McKenzie, while I do agree with you that if we want to have the best education for all, we need to all take on that mindset. Where I do not agree, however, is that this is the path America should head down. America in its current form is not designed to be this type of equal market system. America is a country of capitalism and the free market. The Finnish system works because the entire country is modeled after equality for all. America is not modeled in this way, and despite the efforts of some to push the society in this direction, it is not being fully embraced. (Disclaimer: I am not saying that I do not believe in equality. I am just saying that all American residents are not equal.)
Hannah-
I see where you are coming from. I guess I should have prefaced my post, that from my Economics coursework, I have learned in depth about Finland’s social democracy- in which I’m a huge supporter of. (Social democracy is basically the middle group between socialism and democracy.)
However, all governments aside, I think you make a great point-all American residents are not equal. Is the problem then that we are trying to create an education system that provides equal education to all-basically going against our capitalist and free market system beliefs? Perhaps, it might be interesting to think about completely reworking our education system to not fit this “equal” motto. Since all Americans are unique (coming from different backgrounds and having different needs), maybe education needs to take this into consideration in its social construction? Or do you think that not keeping the “equal education for all” mindset would inevitability create more inequalities? Thoughts?
I agree with you Hannah that I don’t see not having a Masters degree really affecting teachers’ reputations here in the U.S. For me, I think the majority of the teachers I know do not go past getting their Bachelor’s degree. Is this weird? Is it leaving a bad reputation? If we compare it to other countries then maybe, but I also think back to the fact that teachers in generally are not looked so highly upon as in other countries. While the U.S. stresses the importance of education, it is not nearly as stressed in surrounding countries, hence why they perform so much better than our students. Maybe one fact of that is that teachers get their Masters, but I think overall that it has to do with how high we place our teachers. Unfortunately here in the U.S., it isn’t very high most of the time when it is one of the most important jobs that we have who establish our future here in America.
I think that this is essential. The U.S. needs to have a viewpoint like Finland’s where they are out to help each and every individual in every aspect that they can. It seems that the U.S. is always competing to be the best and leaving behind those that cannot catch up. How is this fair when we live in a country established around freedom? To have the best, we need to establish a system that helps each and every individual. We cannot just rely on luck to turn our society around, but what are we truly doing here in the U.S. to fix our problems?
Melinda, I agree. The United States would have to completely alter its popular ideologies- its priorities. I wonder if, in a way, when we are in denial about things like living in a post-racial society, the existence and significance of the achievement gap, the impact that income- inequality has on the performance of a child in the classroom and their prospective futures (all of which we have had the privilege of studying here at bucknell)- if this pop-culture that romanticizes social justice and equity in the United States is what’s counteracting on education reform.
I think that we need to find our version of what works for the United State’s and its competitiveness. It can be used to our advantage at times. One thing that is unique to us is our use of nonprofit organizations and community resources that stem from those. In Finland, a very very small number of students attend tutoring and extra lessons/classes that are not already offered by their schools. In low-income communities in the United States, sometimes these education nonprofits make the difference between academic ‘success’ and a student falling through the cracks. (Think of college-prep organizations or early outreach.) These orgs cater to specific communities. My general idea here is that we have a unique force that reaches out to students from all angles. Maybe we should also take these in mind when studying education reform.
As mentioned already, the Finnish education system would be very unlikely to work in the US because of the conflicting social ideologies. It seems like Finland is not a country with as wide a gap between the upper and lower classes as exists in the US. A smaller gap between rich and poor would make it much easier to adopt the “equal education” opportunity mindset that people have. This does come at the cost of some liberties though and the tradeoff between more economic freedom for the middle/upper class citizens and more equal opportunities for lower class citizens must be considered when debating this issue.
However, I don’t think the tradeoff is as big a deal as is the individualistic mindset that Americans have. This is a large barrier to solving many social issues and will continue to be a large factor in public policy addressing inequalities.
I think one potential problem with this proposition could be that competitiveness is more prominent in the upper and middle classes and not nearly so in the lower class (interpreting competitiveness in the economic sense). We have already seen in class that competitiveness in schools located in lower-class neighborhoods is not very prominent. Since this is the case, using competitiveness as motivation to serve students falling through the cracks may not have the greatest impact on their academic performance. It may work in some cases but overall, I’m not sure it would have widespread effects in low-income communities.
Hannah,
I also agree with you in that I do not think a Masters degree would affect the reputation of teachers here in America. The fact that teachers’ are employing these soft skills of compassion, discipline and comfort like you said, I think is the main reason why teachers are not as highly regarded in America. Because as a society we value money and power, teachers will not be given the respect they deserve because teaching is not a profession that we give value or power to. Teachers are not directly saving lives, or putting people in jail, or running large companies and these are the things we value as a society. We put jobs like doctors and CEO’s and Lawyers on pedestals and teachers are left behind. Until our society changes its values, I do not see a world in which teachers will be as highly regarded and respected as they are in other countries.
Mckenzie,
I agree with you in that Finland has the right idea in providing free healthcare and education to all but I do not think that this means they care about education more than we do as Americans. I think that while Finland is taking the correct steps towards showing the importance of education, we as a country clearly value education as well. While we are not taking the correct steps or making the correct decisions in order to show this, I think the pure controversy and platforms and amount of education reformers that are in America show that we are trying to change the public education system for the better. I think that we definitely have the attitude of wanting everyone to have the best education I just think that we are not going about change in the correct way. Maybe we can learn something from Finland’s approach.
Melissa,
I agree that we should keep these organizations and programs in mind when studying education reform. These programs serve our lower income communities in a way that can help them to succeed and achieve the best education possible. However my only concern with putting more focus on these orgs is that not every child or family is going to take advantage of them. Just because something is available and offered does not mean that every student who needs it will take the steps towards improvement. These orgs are a great aspect of our community but if the children who really need the help are not participating, how can they be helped?
That’s a good point Amanda. What made you said also made me think of a huge underlying issue with poor school performance. No sort of reform to the school system will be helpful if the population that it serves does not want to be helped. Although this is not exclusively the case, many students/families do not emphasize academic achievement as being important in their lives. Some people value things more than others and education is not exempt from this. No degree of reform can help someone who does not want to be helped and no matter what organization/program is offering, there will always be some people who will continue on their paths as they did before. This is something that can’t be fixed.
I think that everyone has made some really good points here and has explored a lot of the reasons why today, our educational system looks so different from Finland’s. Alex asked the question, ‘If we implemented the Finnish educational system into the United States, would it work?’ I think that all of the above comments have proven why such a sudden and drastic change of ideology wouldn’t exactly be in sync with what most Americans value today. However, I do believe we are headed in a more liberal direction, and with that political movement will come an educational system that more closely resembles Finland’s. After all we are one of the last developed countries to offer universal healthcare. Doesn’t a change like this seem inevitable? As the developed world slowly becomes more and more liberal in its ideologies, doesn’t the United States have no choice but to follow along?
Melissa,
I agree that the United States is certainly going to have to change its priorities before we make any sort of major social changes, especially in the realm of education. I also think that we are going to have to start looking at things like health care and quality education as universal rights. For example, we have public education because we believe all citizens have a right to education. However, we don’t believe that everyone has a right to an equal education. We say that if you can afford tutors, preschools, and private schools then you are entitled to a quality education. If you cannot afford these things, well, they’re not your right to have. I think we need to change our mindset about just giving students the bare minimum. We need to believe thinking that a quality education that allows everyone to be successful, regardless or race, ethnicity, religion, social class and whatever else makes people different.