“Since the 1980s, the main driver of Finnish education policy has been the idea that every child should have exactly the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or geographic location. Education has been seen first and foremost not as a way to produce star performers, but as an instrument to even out social inequality. In the Finnish view, as Sahlberg describes it, this means that schools should be healthy, safe environments for children. This starts with the basics. Finland offers all pupils free school meals, easy access to health care, psychological counseling, and individualized student guidance. In fact, since academic excellence wasn’t a particular priority on the Finnish to-do list, when Finland’s students scored so high on the first PISA survey in 2001, many Finns thought the results must be a mistake. But subsequent PISA tests confirmed that Finland — unlike, say, very similar countries such as Norway — was producing academic excellence through its particular policy focus on equity. That this point is almost always ignored or brushed aside in the U.S. seems especially poignant at the moment, after the financial crisis and Occupy Wall Street movement have brought the problems of inequality in America into such sharp focus. The chasm between those who can afford $35,000 in tuition per child per year — or even just the price of a house in a good public school district — and the other “99 percent” is painfully plain to see.”
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What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland’s School Success – Anu Partanen – The Atlantic (via markcoatney)
I’ve mentioned how I’d like to move to Scandinavia if I were at all good at languages, right? I think I’ve settled on an unlikely-to-actually-happen dream country.
(via rhube)
The longer I teach in the UK, the more upset I find myself. There is an initiative called Every Child Matters which presents the same idea – that all children, regardless of background, have the right to a safe and healthy environment. However, the execution and spirit of the initiative are poor-to-non existent.
The single most important factor in UK education right now is the percentage of pupils achieving 5 or more GCSEs (or equivalents) in the A*-C range. When confronted individually on this, teachers, heads, senior leadership, union leaders and representatives, and politicians will deny it *flat*. They will tell you to your face that the child is the most important thing. That every child matters.
Nevertheless, the pressure on teachers is to hit targets.
For obvious reasons, the story I’m about to share is anecdotal and very vague, but just after I qualified, I came very, very close to throwing the towel in when I was challenged about a student’s progress in my class. The student was on a coursework-based qualification, which gives an equivalent grade to the GCSE based on independent work. Essentially, there is no exam – the work they do in the class is handed in instead.
However, this student had profound learning difficulties, and struggled with basic literacy and maths to the point that I had given up trying to teach the coursework and instead was focusing on those essential tools. Getting the student’s name and date down every day was one target, but we were making good progress.
I was confronted with a spreadsheet showing a list of green boxes (pass rates >99%) and one red (pass rates <99%) – my subject. I was asked very pointedly – why wasn’t this student passing in my subject?
I turned the question back on them. Why is this student passing English when basic writing is a struggle? Why is the student passing Maths when said student cannot even grasp the use of a calculator?
Long story short, they were doing the work for the student.
I ended up at another school, but later heard that the student left with the equivalent of 5 GCSEs, all grade C. My old boss still thinks that the school did a fantastic job and that there is nothing wrong with that outcome. Can’t write, can’t do sums, can barely function socially because all they know is that someone will do it for them eventually – but still! 5 GCSEs! Apparently this is how we do right by children in this country.
(via mygoditsraining)
Rereblogging for mygoditsraining’s story.
Wow. Just… wow. Things were not awesome at my school, but I don’t think this ever happened.
In the US “No Child Left Behind” is the national policy analagous to the UK’s “Every Child Matters”. I’ve heard it called No Test Left Behind by parents and teachers.