The Finland Phenomenon

[Mnemosyne]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnAsTiT_Qy4&list=WL&index=73

 

This is a wonderful documentary on the Finnish school system (#1 or close to it in worldwide ratings).

 

It's not about homeschooling, but it is extremely interesting, and there are lots of things that may be able to be implemented into homeschooling, co-ops, etc.

 

I'd love to hear what you all think, it seems like a great system.

 

EDIT: Another vid.

 

 

 

[Random]

So interesting.

 

We are mostly missing the point in USA, I think.

[JanetC]

For those interested in this topic, I recommend the book The Smartest Kids in the World.  It follows a group of high school students on Rotary international study abroad programs, and how the education is different in their home town versus the countries they are visiting: Finland, Korea, and Poland.

 

 

[FO4UR]

I want to move to Finland.  I don't see the US following Finland's example any time soon.

 

 

I see some crucial similarities between Finland schools and CM.  A generous curriculum for all.  Teacher talk time is low...which means students are talking, processing, working. Students start school at 7yo (are taught language at home before then...assuming that's how to read?) and begin Upper Secondary in 10th which mirrors CMs recommendations for the beginning of academic learning no sooner than age 6 and then the beginning of analytical thinking at age 15.  Heavy emphasis on integrating the arts...a varied curriculum. Even though their classes seem to be "block schedule," within the classes there seems to be much meaningful movement through the time....students are engaged always and have that habit of attention.

 

CM says education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.  I think Finland gets a gold star for those 3 things, even though this documentary showed an emphasis on STEM rather than The Great Books.

 

 

 

 

 

[ScoutTN]

I love how carefully they train their teachers and how their culture values teachers.

[Southern Ivy]

I've always wanted a school like Finland's, especially after teaching in the PS system. 

[shawthorne44]

I would love something like that.  I might consider P.S. if it was like that.  

 

What I'd also like is a phonetic language like Finnish.   Can you imagine the wonderfulness of reading instruction ending at the alphabet?   A phonetic version of English would also make a fabulous international language.  

 

 

 

[KeriJ]

I want to move to Finland.  I don't see the US following Finland's example any time soon.

 

 

I see some crucial similarities between Finland schools and CM.  A generous curriculum for all.  Teacher talk time is low...which means students are talking, processing, working. Students start school at 7yo (are taught language at home before then...assuming that's how to read?) and begin Upper Secondary in 10th which mirrors CMs recommendations for the beginning of academic learning no sooner than age 6 and then the beginning of analytical thinking at age 15.  Heavy emphasis on integrating the arts...a varied curriculum. Even though their classes seem to be "block schedule," within the classes there seems to be much meaningful movement through the time....students are engaged always and have that habit of attention.

 

CM says education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.  I think Finland gets a gold star for those 3 things, even though this documentary showed an emphasis on STEM rather than The Great Books.

 

I have thought this for years since I first starting learning about Finland's education.  I remember thinking, "Hey.  That's how we homeschool!" :)

[mellifera33]

I would love something like that. I might consider P.S. if it was like that.

 

What I'd also like is a phonetic language like Finnish. Can you imagine the wonderfulness of reading instruction ending at the alphabet? A phonetic version of English would also make a fabulous international language.

You're not an Esperanto speaker by any chance, are you? Lol

[Mnemosyne]

You're not an Esperanto speaker by any chance, are you? Lol

 

Estas vi?

[shawthorne44]

You're not an Esperanto speaker by any chance, are you? Lol

 

No, I think that was doomed to failure, artificial and a tad bit silly.  Although I don't see phonetizing English happening anytime soon, but it is a much better idea.  

 

English is the logical international language, and thanks to Hollywood English exposure is easy to get exposure to almost everywhere. In travelling around, I've been to many countries that didn't historically speak English, but younger people spoke amazing English.  I'd ask about it, and be told "TV" or maybe a particular TV show that person really liked.   Back in college DH was involved in designing wind mills for nomads of a particular country.  The specifications were that it could power a light bulb and a TV and no more.  The government wanted to be able to broadcast educational/political programs via TV but it didn't want its people watching corrupting American TV.  The nomads skipped the light bulb and got a satellite dish and used the TV screen for light.  

 

But, reading English is another thing entirely.   

[HS Mom in NC]

I'm only 20 minutes into it (I have to stop now and get back to it later) but the first sentence uttered is very important.  "In Finland parents value education." If that's the case, then Finland is not able to advise us on how to solve some of our biggest education problems: apathetic parents and subcultures hostile to academics.  It must be nice to have it so easy.

 

Finland does, however, have a lot to teach us about how to educate children who don't come from those backgrounds. I'm definetly going to watch more and consider buying the book but I have to run now.

[JDoe]

 

 

This is a wonderful documentary on the Finnish school system (#1 or close to it in worldwide ratings).

 

Finland scores well on the less rigorous PISA tests, not so well on the TIMSS

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trends_in_International_Mathematics_and_Science_Study

 

The Asians come out on top on both, but I guess it is more enticing to get pretty good results without trying too hard, as opposed to the "work your butt off to be best" attitude of the asians.

[Mnemosyne]

Finland scores well on the less rigorous PISA tests, not so well on the TIMSS

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trends_in_International_Mathematics_and_Science_Study

 

The Asians come out on top on both, but I guess it is more enticing to get pretty good results without trying too hard, as opposed to the "work your butt off to be best" attitude of the asians.

 

Finland is still in the top 10 in the year they participated (2011 was the first year they participated), on average in 8th place in math and 4th place for science.That's not terrible at all. Not first place, sure. But they are still scoring better than the vast majority of countries participating in the tests, including the United States and England.

 

I'm not saying the Finnish system is perfect by far. :)

 

I just wanted to expose the members here to something that seems to be working and that some members may want to incorporate to their homeschooling.

[JDoe]

I agree that Finland is interesting.

 

Perfection is an unattainable goal. ;)

[JumpyTheFrog]

"In Finland parents value education." If that's the case, then Finland is not able to advise us on how to solve some of our biggest education problems: apathetic parents and subcultures hostile to academics.

Yup. Also, we can't copy their success as long as we make it so easy to become an education major.

[momacacia]

I think size must have something to do with it as well. With fewer people in the country that I have in my state, it has to be easier to require higher teacher standards and to give a quality education to the great majority of the students. I would think it's also easier to control the quality of the education. Unfortunately, it evidently isn't something a country can pull off, regardless of size, no matter how much money is thrown at the project.

[PollyOR]

Thank you!  That gave me much to think about. (second video)

 

Hopefully I'll have time to watch the first video tomorrow.

[horsellian]

No, I think that was doomed to failure, artificial and a tad bit silly.  Although I don't see phonetizing English happening anytime soon, but it is a much better idea.  

 

I'm afraid phonetising English seems just as doomed to failure to me.  English is spoken by too many people in too many different accents to be standardised without some sort of standardising authority.  Who is going to be happy for some committee to tell them how to pronounce their words, and therefore how to spell them.  It's the tomayto/tomahto problem - is British English (RP accent) the standard or an American accent? (and which one?)

 

Look at how many discussions we have on the boards about how to pronounce words, names, 'does this word have a short 'a' when you say it?' etc. etc.

 

The other big problem I can see is that even if it was possible you are jettisoning about 400 years worth of literature that future readers of English will find as difficult to decipher as we find Chaucer.

[Tanikit]

Some things that are seldom considered when discussing Finland's education:

 

How homogenous the population is with regards to many more items that appear to have nothing to do with education.

The fact that the teachers have Master's degrees.

I don't believe the phonetics has much to do with their success.

Expectations of their students - it is expected that they will do well.

A confidence in their own education system - they do not test their children, they just presume they have learnt because they have been well taught.

What is the diet of these children?

What is the family structure of these children?

 

It is not just a curriculum that runs well. Children do not just succeed because of what they are taught or how they are taught. Remove moral values, remove family life, aim for standards that do not have a more humanisitic view and any curriculum can fail no matter how smart its users may appear. (Ok that is my view :))

[Leav97]

Some things that are seldom considered when discussing Finland's education:

 

How homogenous the population is with regards to many more items that appear to have nothing to do with education.

The fact that the teachers have Master's degrees.

I don't believe the phonetics has much to do with their success.

Expectations of their students - it is expected that they will do well.

A confidence in their own education system - they do not test their children, they just presume they have learnt because they have been well taught.

What is the diet of these children?

What is the family structure of these children?

 

It is not just a curriculum that runs well. Children do not just succeed because of what they are taught or how they are taught. Remove moral values, remove family life, aim for standards that do not have a more humanisitic view and any curriculum can fail no matter how smart its users may appear. (Ok that is my view :))

 

A lot of this was discussed in the videos.  Because of size and homogenous, it's easier to compare Finland to a state instead of the whole country.  They used Minnesota in the one video.  Guess what, our results still don't compare.

 

Although I quoted you the rest of this really isn't directed at your post.

 

They value education.  Their teachers are highly trained.  They trust the system. Every child attends public school. It's hard to replicate those very important pieces to the USA.

 

They don't have a national standardized test every year like we do.  But, the kids do take tests as part of the curriculum.  So it's not like they don't have a clue how each child is doing.  In fact, they seem to have a very effective special education system.

 

I have a hard time with the no tracking of students until age 16.  I get why they do it, but I know to many highly gifted students here in the USA that have issues with the low level of content not keeping up with their needs until way too late in their education.

[AimeeM]

I'm only 20 minutes into it (I have to stop now and get back to it later) but the first sentence uttered is very important.  "In Finland parents value education." If that's the case, then Finland is not able to advise us on how to solve some of our biggest education problems: apathetic parents and subcultures hostile to academics.  It must be nice to have it so easy.

 

Finland does, however, have a lot to teach us about how to educate children who don't come from those backgrounds. I'm definetly going to watch more and consider buying the book but I have to run now.

Can Finland teach us that, though? I wasn't under the impression that Finland was a very diverse country (socially, economically, culturally, racially). 

[Leav97]

According to Wikipedia, 5.5% of Finland is foreign born.  The USA is around 13%.  Although I would argue that statistic doesn't show which portions of our society value education.

[butterflymommy]

A lot of this was discussed in the videos.  Because of size and homogenous, it's easier to compare Finland to a state instead of the whole country.  They used Minnesota in the one video.  Guess what, our results still don't compare.

 

 

They gloss over the Minnesota comparison. Just that despite scoring high on the NAEP "it isn't good enough by international education comparisons." What does he mean by that exactly? What were Minnesota's PISA scores?

 

My understanding is that white and asian americans outscore most of the world on the PISA test. I believe asian americans are only outscored by a handful of other asian countries (which likely cherry pick their students taking the test- china especially).

 

I do love how Fins don't start formal schooling until age 7. The push for ever younger institutionalized learning and standardized testing in the US seems borderline inhumane to me. 

 

ETA meant to mention how amazingly well behaved the students in this video are. That's one of the main problem w american schools, the kids can be so rotten, rude and disrespectful. No one can learn in that kind of environment.

 

I also wonder if US emphasis on high school sports inhibits academic performance.

[RoundAbout]

They also understand the importance of recess and frequent breaks - 15 minutes of free play for every 45 minutes of instruction for over an hour of recess/day. At my son's school they get a combined lunch/recess of only 40 minutes which includes transition time, plus another 15 minutes at the end of the school day right before clean up. Fortunately the school day is on the shorter side (6 hrs) and we ride bikes to and from school, else he would be a basket case.

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/06/how-finland-keeps-kids-focused/373544/

[shawthorne44]

Some things that are seldom considered when discussing Finland's education:

 

How homogenous the population is with regards to many more items that appear to have nothing to do with education.

The fact that the teachers have Master's degrees.

I don't believe the phonetics has much to do with their success.

Expectations of their students - it is expected that they will do well.

A confidence in their own education system - they do not test their children, they just presume they have learnt because they have been well taught.

What is the diet of these children?

What is the family structure of these children?

 

It is not just a curriculum that runs well. Children do not just succeed because of what they are taught or how they are taught. Remove moral values, remove family life, aim for standards that do not have a more humanisitic view and any curriculum can fail no matter how smart its users may appear. (Ok that is my view :))

 

 

I do think that the phonetic language is what allows them to start school at 7.  They can basically skip reading instruction and start when most kids are developmentally ready to write.  

 

Personally, I think the ideal start time in America is like it used to be.  A K that was really a K, and half-days,.

[EmilyGF]

The note about people in Finland valuing education made me think of Massachusetts. Guess what - MA would have outperformed Finland on TIMSS and PISA.

 

MA is about the size of Finland. 

 

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/curriculum/2012/12/educational_tourism_has_become.html

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/if-massachusetts-was-a-co_b_3880884.html

 

Emily

 

[HS Mom in NC]

Can Finland teach us that, though? I wasn't under the impression that Finland was a very diverse country (socially, economically, culturally, racially). 

 

 

It's only theoretically possible IF Finland has, in the past, had significant groups of parents who were apathetic and/or subcultures that were openly hostile (violent and anti-social toward students who do well academically) and overcame that.  If they haven't actually done that, then they're useless on that particular topic.

 

When I talk about subcultures I most certainly do not mean immigrants as a whole because most immigrants to the US are not hostile to academics.   It's far more complex.   The problem of parental/cultural hostility and the problem of teacher training, pedagogy, curriculum, etc. are two completely different problems. Way too many people who get into this discussion mix them up.

 

I have a friend whose daughter (Russian adoptee who came to the US at age 13)who is now in her second year of teaching second grade in the PHX area. Both years she taught impoverished children in the inner city.  The children of Mexican and South American illegal immigrants and the parents of the children in her school were, as a whole, extremely positive when it comes to academics and she gets lots of parental support. 

 

The year before she taught in an inner city on the other side of town with mostly African American children whose parents are not immigrants.  Most of the parents of children in her school were openly hostile and combative toward the schools and staff and didn't care at all about their child's academic success. That's a monumental problem in pockets all across America and doesn't apply to any one racial group.  There are subcultures within each racial group that have this problem. 

 

We even have it in the homeschooling community.  If you homeschool long enough in a big enough homeschooling community you will meet homeschoolers who are anti-college, not for their particular child who really isn't a good fit, but rather anti-college in general for all children.  They also say things like, "We're raising saints, not scholars." or "We prioritize character/life skills  over academics." when someone starts to suspect their children are not getting much in the way of high school level academics. Of course, there's no reason a child can't be both, but this particular subculture believes rigorous academics cause a person to not be what they should be spiritually.

[Random]

According to Wikipedia, 5.5% of Finland is foreign born.  The USA is around 13%.  Although I would argue that statistic doesn't show which portions of our society value education.

 

I would argue (cynically) that it is the 13% that does value education.

[happypamama]

I haven't watched the videos yet, so I don't know if this was mentioned in them or not, but last summer I read somewhere the in Finnish schools, the children have a fifteen minute recess every 45 minutes. I thought that sounded great, and a good way to guard against the "oh, just squeeze one more subject in before you take a break" trap that is so easy to fall into, so I implemented it this year. It has been working very well! The children know they only have to focus for a certain amount of time, and getting up to stretch or jump or run around the house, or just have a quiet break (I encourage, but do not require, physical activity; no screens are allowed in that break time, though), really seems to help them.

[AimeeM]

I would argue (cynically) that it is the 13% that does value education.

I'd love it if you would elaborate a bit.

[MistyMountain]

I'd love it if you would elaborate a bit.

 

It isn't easy to immigrate here. In order to immigrate a lot of people go from being on the top where they came from to not here. Their cultures also are ones that do value education even if they are poor countries. My friend's who teach in communities with a lot of immigrants have parents that are involved and expect their kids to work hard but trust they the teachers and believe the teachers. 

[SereneHome]

You can't really compare other countries to US.  In anything, really. 

 

there are a lot of things that might work somewhere else but wouldn't work here
 

 

[madteaparty]

What is the diet of these children?

 

I feel more than a little crazy, but I was thinking the other day that instead of GDP, a better measure of country's success should be based on just what they feed their children for lunch in public schools.

NYC schools are ran by the DOE, presumably not funded by property tax dollars, and the differences  in lunch served in public schools are astounding. I was browsing the lunch menu for a little suburban school in France and was astounded.

[PollyOR]

is basically the same presentation by Pasi Sahlberg  but given in Australia.  He doesn't mention the state religious instruction but he does talk a little about recess.  Plus, he is more critical of the US which I actually was glad to hear.

[Library Momma]

I would argue (cynically) that it is the 13% that does value education.

 

 

Not necessarily (and I know you are being somewhat sarcastic).  I have a friend that teaches in an urban elementary school where a majority of his students each year have parents that are recent immigrants and work as day laborers.  In the late fall as work opportunities decrease the fathers head back to South America (mainly Brazil but other countries too) and often take their children with them.  Then they return in March and re-enroll the students at the school.  They often return right before standardized state testing completely unprepared and many of the students are so behind that they need to repeat grades.  It is a never ending cycle that he has witnessed for the past 15 years.  I have heard similar stories from other teachers that I know.

[SarahW]

 

 

I do love how Fins don't start formal schooling until age 7. The push for ever younger institutionalized learning and standardized testing in the US seems borderline inhumane to me. 

 

 

 

Umm, then you may not want to emulate Finland completely. Nearly all of their under-7's go to institutional preschool. No testing necessarily, but there are academic standards.

 

http://www.newamerica.net/blog/early-ed-watch/2008/how-finland-educates-youngest-children-9029

[SarahW]

 

ETA meant to mention how amazingly well behaved the students in this video are. That's one of the main problem w american schools, the kids can be so rotten, rude and disrespectful. No one can learn in that kind of environment.

 

I also wonder if US emphasis on high school sports inhibits academic performance.

 

About respect, yes. My EU (not Finn) DH believes that respecting teachers is right up there with respecting judges, police, and the royal house. They are the professionals. You do not disrespect or disobey them (within the law, of course). Ever. Never ever.

 

Here in America it seems that disrespect comes from even the parents. I've heard of teachers throwing the towel because of the severity of abuse from parents. It's crazy.

 

Like the first video says, it's about trust. In America I see so many religious, political, and social wars being fought with the teachers, that I think it is nearly impossible for there to be a culture of trust any time soon.

 

 

 

Additionally, I can say that a school system that separates academics from sports is a breath of fresh air. Lots of kids join club sports, but what they do there is largely left at the door of the school. Just on the social level, it's a very positive thing.

[Kendall]

Now I understand why a couple my husband knows (the husband is from Finland/wife is from the US) chose to move to Finland because of the educational system.  They tried a few years of US schools and then moved.

 

[RootAnn]

We even have it in the homeschooling community.  If you homeschool long enough in a big enough homeschooling community you will meet homeschoolers who are anti-college, not for their particular child who really isn't a good fit, but rather anti-college in general for all children.  They also say things like, "We're raising saints, not scholars." or "We prioritize character/life skills  over academics." when someone starts to suspect their children are not getting much in the way of high school level academics. Of course, there's no reason a child can't be both, but this particular subculture believes rigorous academics cause a person to not be what they should be spiritually.

 

I have friends who are athiests who homeschool. The wife is anti-college for her kids, but she sure plans to prepare them well for life. She's a former college professor who also worked a job as a social worker at one point in her life. While she is going to make sure her kids have life skills, she is also doing a good job, IMO, giving them a sound academic foundation. I think she's just extremely cynical & jaded toward the 'college system.' Her oldest still has a couple of years before high school, so things might change. I don't think she'll keep them from going to college, but I don't think she's going to encourage it either. The husband is interested in not standing out, so he'll encourage college just because everyone else is doing it. (He is a reluctant homeschool dad.)

 

A friend of mine who has very smart & successful grown children recently referred to college as "post-high school babysitting." 

 

IMO, it isn't just the lower educational system that is messed up in the US.

[MotherOfBoys]

I watched the first video last night and the second this morning.

 

I think the first video said they have one teacher that stays with about 20 students from 1-6. I like the idea of the same teacher for 1-6th grade. They move up with the teacher. Then, I'm guessing, the teacher starts over with a new class. I think that is a quick switch that would make a difference for us. Teachers are then accountable to the students/parents for a longer ride. It would , hopefully, create transparency, work through tensions, and give students a constant. This would make it obvious who was the insufficient teacher.

 

I also wish we could compromise, many tests or no tests, on one test at the same time every year. Then slowly work on trust while cutting back to every few years testing.

 

I like the idea of an ethics class or religious class of your choice. That might help some of our socializing problems.

[imagine.more]

Finland scores well on the less rigorous PISA tests, not so well on the TIMSS

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trends_in_International_Mathematics_and_Science_Study

 

The Asians come out on top on both, but I guess it is more enticing to get pretty good results without trying too hard, as opposed to the "work your butt off to be best" attitude of the asians.

 

I think this is a very good point that unlike the video touted Finland is not a the absolute top in academic achievement. However, for me personally I'm not necessary competitive enough to want my kids to be the absolute best academically, like #1. I'm also somewhat naturally suspicious of anything being put above all else, whether that is academics or economic success or the arts or whatever. All good things, absolutely! But not the end-all-be-all of life. 

 

So I do think Finland is more enticing because to me it is a good example of achieving excellent results (within the top 10% pretty consistently) and yet without sacrificing anything else like social skills, free play, athletics, emotional health, etc. 

 

I really enjoyed the video, I think it addressed a lot of the questions I've had about how Finland can achieve what they do academically. And I don't think being homogenous or small explains it all. Minnesota is just as homogenous (*I* got asked what culture I was from when i lived there!) and a similar population and yet they scored 17th on the PISA math tests that Finland scored 1st or 2nd on. Theoretically our states have some educational autonomy so we could replicate aspects of Finnish education at the state level. 

 

I think a lot of what they do that helps them succeed is the same reason homeschoolers often score well compared to public schooled students. Now these aren't true for everyone but they are some common trends I see among homeschoolers and the Finnish schools: 

 

- parents think education is important

- play-based instruction in the early years and then starting slow and steady, revving up to a more demanding curriculum in high school

- short instructional time (I'd say in elementary school avg homeschooler spends 3 hours a day and avg Finnish school spends 4 hours but with four 15 minute breaks in there)

- encouraging creative and critical thinking (I think as a homeschooler I could improve here myself for sure in my instruction)

- lots of free time in the afternoons, particularly outside (my kids are outside 2+ hours a day but NONE of our neighbors' kids are)

- accelerated math (I know lots of homeschoolers who just let their kids keep going in math, leading to being a grade ahead or more. Those Finnish 8th graders were doing the Pythagorean Theory, which I didn't do until 10th grade Algebra II in PS)

- focus on teaching to read BEFORE anything else. I read a neat story about how with struggling readers they basically sit and read with them 3+ hours a day for months until they are caught up, suspending most other subjects. Homeschoolers usually do this by default, it's just common sense that you teach the kids to read (whether at 4 or 7) and then move on to learning through reading. US schools do not do this at all, our local school has several illiterate 6th graders that are doing the typical curriculum.

- teacher autonomy (can't beat homeschool for this :) )

- student independence in learning

 

I am a bit jealous of the Finnish vocational track, those resources they have for the kids are amazing! Our voc track was a complete joke in PS, it was for slackers who wanted to smoke pot outside and get A's in "home ec" where they made pancakes from a box or A's in "computer ed" where they'd do one powerpoint presentation for 50% of their grade. As a homeschooler I'll struggle to give a rigorous education to my non-traditional learner who would do better in a more vocational track as opposed to college prep. I just don't have those kinds of resources or background knowledge, kwim? 

[SarahW]

I think the first video said they have one teacher that stays with about 20 students from 1-6. 

 

 

Yeah, wow. One of the things that surprises me by public school (and most "Christian school") books is just how very redundant they are. I understand that some kids need spiral, but sheesh, does every grade level need to start at zero all over again, for every grade?

 

I know, kids move around, and a teacher has no control over where her student came from or where they'll go. CC could theoretically solve that problem. But I don't think that will happen.

 

If a teacher is able to teach kids for 6 years, she'll be able to bring the students to mastery without nearly as much redundancy. Which will take less time per day, and a shorter school year....

[HS Mom in NC]

Don't mistake culture for ethnicity.  They are completely different things.  People with the same ethnicity can have very different subcultures.

[MarkT]

"- accelerated math (I know lots of homeschoolers who just let their kids keep going in math, leading to being a grade ahead or more. Those Finnish 8th graders were doing the Pythagorean Theory, which I didn't do until 10th grade Algebra II in PS)"

 

Now they introduce the Pythagorean Theorem in Pre-Algebra and cover it more formally in later Math courses.

[MarkT]

About respect, yes. My EU (not Finn) DH believes that respecting teachers is right up there with respecting judges, police, and the royal house. They are the professionals. You do not disrespect or disobey them (within the law, of course). Ever. Never ever.

 

Here in America it seems that disrespect comes from even the parents. I've heard of teachers throwing the towel because of the severity of abuse from parents. It's crazy.

 

Like the first video says, it's about trust. In America I see so many religious, political, and social wars being fought with the teachers, that I think it is nearly impossible for there to be a culture of trust any time soon.

 

 

 

Additionally, I can say that a school system that separates academics from sports is a breath of fresh air. Lots of kids join club sports, but what they do there is largely left at the door of the school. Just on the social level, it's a very positive thing.

The one thing I noticed that the students were all well behaved and respectful which led to a culture of learning. All it takes is a couple of "hoodlums" to disrupt the whole class here in the USA. When I grew up those students went to visit the Principal or Vice-Principal - got detention, etc.  Our society is so permissive now that the poor teachers have to grin and bear it.

[HS Mom in NC]

Finally watched it all the way through. 

 

One thing I want to take issue with is their statement that Finland has a high level of trust for their teachers.  Yes, and no.  Let's remember that to even be a teacher they had to be at the top academically, have the lessons they taught as student teachers watched by 1/2 a dozen or more other student teachers, had their lesson plans supervised and altered by mentor teachers, and follow the basics of the core curriculum.  I'm not saying any of those things are bad, but let's be honest here, you have to get through a lot of the system and be scrutinized very closely for a long time before you earn any trust in Finland.  I'm not sure how American teachers or American homeschoolers would react to that and if that would meet their definition of trust.

 

Aside from that, I think it’s incredibly useful for teachers, homeschoolers, parents, taxpayers and voters to watch it so they’re not scammed by politicians running for office into the idea that we need to keep increasing tax dollars, regulation and homework to solve our education problems here in the US.

 

[Reefgazer]

Thank you for posting these videos, OP. there's a lot to learn from these videos, even for homeschoolers.