<p>I know it is, but money is temporary. People can take away my money, my house, my possessions, my family, my job but they can’t take away what I’ve learned and what I have done. I believe it is my duty to do my part as a citizen of humanity to help others instead of saving up for myself.</p>
<p>T&G = talented and gifted
ELP = English language period (consists of Reading/Writing/Grammar class)
AIG = ?</p>
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<p>Yeah, it lets the gifted fly in from other countries.</p>
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<p>Wow, are you ever off-base! First of all, Finland isn’t an Asian country, but I’ll just assume “like many OTHER Asian countries” is either a typo or just clumsy phrasing. </p>
<p>More importantly, Finland isn’t nearly as homogeneous as you imagine. There are 3 or 4 major linguistic groups. Finnish is the most commonly used language, but as a former Swedish territory, Finland also has a distinct Swedish-speaking population, and the languages aren’t even distantly related; Swedish is closely related to Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic and a bit more distantly related to German, while Finnish isn’t even an Indo-European language, its origins tracing to an area in western Siberia. There’s also an ethnically and linguistically distinct Sami (“Laplander”) minority in the north. And in the east, and in refugee communities in the cities, there are ethnically Finnish but to some extent Russian-speaking Karelians who were forced from their land and homes when the boundary was shifted after WWII and territory that was historically part of Finland was incorporated into Russia. The country is officially bilingual (Finnish and Swedish), but many people also speak Sami and/or Russian, some as their first language, and these days all schoolkids are required to learn English which has become the de facto language of the European Union, of international business, and of science. So basically, all schoolkids in Finland are at least tri-lingual, and having a working knowledge of 5 or 6 languages (often including German and/or Russian, but also to some extent French or Spanish) is not uncommon. To say that “language isn’t an issue” is just wildly off-base; Finnish kids have more linguistic challenges than we do, but they perform at much higher levels in learning languages and are typically functionally fluent in 3-5 languages. Without sacrificing performance in math, science, and other subjects, by the way.</p>
<p>To say that “people rarely move to other communities” is also risible. Finland has tremendous internal social and geographic mobility, and many Finns study or work elsewhere in the EU, and/or in the Americas. It’s the home of important multinational corporations (Nokia being the most prominent, but a number of other Finnish firms have global reach), which requires managerial personnel who are sophisticated, savvy, and cosmopolitan. It has a dynamic, knowledge-based economy that requires a highly educated workforce; essentially all that Finland has going for it is the social and intellectual capital of its people, and it knows it, and its education system is geared to make its citizens competitive with the best in the world.</p>
<p>And it delivers. Finland is very proud of the fact that it has the highest literacy rate in the world. It’s not just a question of the top performers performing at the highest level. It’s a genuine commitment to leaving no child behind, and to the population as a population being globally competitive at the highest levels. Yes, things are more complicated here, but the most important difference is that commitment to educational excellence for everyone, and not just the privileged few, is a deeply held societal value in Finland as part of its social democratic heritage, and as part of a commonly shared vision of what it will take to be competitive in the global economy in this century and beyond. We’re a long, long way from that in this country.</p>
<p>As a 100% Swede-Finn albeit second generation and definitely American, I totally agree with your points bclintonk and yes my cousins and their children are all at least tri-lingual.</p>
<p>[Hechinger</a> Report | An interview with Henna Virkkunen, Finland’s Minister of Education](<a href=“http://hechingerreport.org/content/an-interview-with-henna-virkkunen-finlands-minister-of-education_5458/]Hechinger”>http://hechingerreport.org/content/an-interview-with-henna-virkkunen-finlands-minister-of-education_5458/)</p>
<p>Article Finnish education - Finland is a small rich country with a small population. It invests in its children - if we did half what they do - America wouldn’t have the problems that it does. All I read about how funds are being cut for education - early childhood, primary, middle and high school. Public colleges and universities are losing funding and raising tuition - these are not things the Finns have to contend with. Politicians make teachers the enemy - they only want to eliminate their benefits, tenure, pay and jobs! How can people be dedicated to their professions when these are the rewards. What the politicians are saying is that our kids aren’t worth it.</p>
<p>bclintock,
you seem to know a lot about Finland. You say that they do have language issues. I know very little about Finland, so I’m curious. Do they have many children who come to school and don’t know any of the languages commonly used in Finland? If a child can’t speak any of the commonly used languages, how is he/she taught? For example, in the US, there are thousands of kids who come to school who cannot speak English. Many of them are educated in their native language including having state tests issued in a language other than English. Does this issue exist in Finland, and how is it handled?</p>
<p>Min</p>
<p>My DH’s grandfather came from Finland so we’ve always been sort of interested. Traveled there about five years ago, plus DH has attended a few conferences there (he looks for opportunities).</p>
<p>There may be ethnic diversity in Finland but we have always been struck by how uniformly white it is. Have never been anywhere so completely one-dimensional in terms of race. Also, DH who is always interested in demographics says that there is a very low immigration rate in Finland, it’s a difficult country to gain citizenship in.</p>
<p>So the “diversity” seems to be very old in terms of religion and geography and language – but not at all in terms of race or country of origin.</p>
<p>I think when you look at the US you have to really take note of the super huge range of life experiences among the students in the typical public system. </p>
<p>I really don’t think Finland can be remotely compared to the US in terms of diversity.</p>
<p>That said, I think it is our diversity – all the challenges it brings – that causes lots of the problems in our schools but it also foments our huge boiling social cauldron of creative energy that makes us the leaders for innovation. That seems perhaps in peril right now but so did it seem back in the 80s when the Japanese TQC model seemed about to swallow us.</p>
<p>I think our diversity causes us huge challenges but is also our secret weapon that keeps us always the most dynamic and important nation on the planet.</p>
<p>Finland is impressive. We enjoyed our visit a lot. To be honest, wouldn’t want to live there. Just a tad boring.</p>
<p>And finally, I’d say that standardized test results for kids are all very nice and meaningful but the real measure of the society’s intellectual capital is whether or not it is a leader in technological innovation. Not just a perfecter of technologies developed elsewhere, but a place where real creative discovery flourishes. I think that would be the US over Finland in a walk.</p>
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<p>Asia? Home of 65% of the world’s population?</p>
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<p>A large part of American creative energy is fueled by foreign imports. A far smaller part comes from the homegrown diversity.</p>
<p>IndianParent, I’ve been to South Korea and Singapore in the early 90s. Oddly, I found it very diverse! I guess I’ve known and worked with so many Asians over the years that they long ago stopped all “looking alike”. Whereas in Finland . . . this white person thought everyone looked remarkably the same!</p>
<p>And yes, I noted in my post the relatively tiny amount of immigration to Finland compared to the US. I completely agree that immigration largely fuels our competitive advantage in innovation.</p>
<p>I read that 92% of the population of Finland are native speakers of Finnish, and the rest are mostly speakers of Swedish. It is a pretty homogeneous country, at least compared to the U.S.</p>
<p>I believe that looking at Finland relative lack of diversity does not point us to any of the reasons Finland did turn its education system around … just at the same time we allowed ours to spiral down to its current mediocre status. </p>
<p>For what it is worth, you would have a hard time finding any reports or studies about Finland’s success that show a relation to the … parental effort and support. Here, in the land of thousands excuses, this is the first rebuttal that seeps out of the mouth of the “defenders” of status quo. It sounds very much like, “Yes, we will educate anyone as long as the parents can find a way to do it.” Fwiw, a clear example of this is that Finland does NOT rely on an extensive HOMEWORK requirements. They do not send children home who did not “get” it with the secret hope that parents or friends will complement the failed instructions. All the instruction is provided AT THE SCHOOL. Do not believe all Fins are bona fide geniuses; a good third of them require individual attention and tutoring. The difference is that this IS part of the activities of the teachers who provide them during and after regular hours. Does that sound like your typical US public high school?</p>
<p>Finland did make the considerable effort to find the source of its past problems. They invested in education, but also made the courageous decision to demand strong qualifications from their educators. At it has been written before, teachers who do not have a Master’s degree in the SUBJECT they teach do not progress in the profession. Finland, however, has not turned its back to pedagogy and early skills development. The first two years of education are devoted to develop individual skills such as self-reliance and boost the self-esteem of students; they do not focus on ABCs and early numerology. This comes later! </p>
<p>This said, there are cultural differences between the US and Finland, as their system is closer to Japan’s than to ours. The education system, despite being warm and supportive, is also autocratic. It works well because the Finnish kids are taught to be respectful of authority. This is, of course, an issue (the lack of respect) that plagues the teachers in the US.</p>
<p>Last but not least, it is important to know that the Finnish model also includes a clear separation in 9th grade. Students, depending on their grades, are sent to vocational schools or “allowed” to remain in the clearer path to tertiary education. This is an issue that has created considerable debate in our country. In a nutshell, we need to decide if we prefer more dropouts or more qualified plumbers and masons. We do not seem to know what is best for the US. </p>
<p>But, in the end, the model is not hard to comprehend, and the messages are clear. It starts and it ends with having well-trained and well-educated teachers being allowed to show the professional talent in an environment that respects them, and rewards them correctly. Our current model, based on protecting the less-performing and rewardng the tenured and the older, simply does not allow for this. By low-balling starting salaries of new teachers to overcompensate the teachers that benefited from the extorsionary practices of the unions and CBA only attracts people who do not have better choices. This is why we are spiralling down!</p>
<p>Singapore has four main races and four main religions. I believe that students are required to learn two of the major languages there.</p>
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<p>Never been to Singapore, but I wouldn’t extrapolate either Singapore or South Korea to all of Asia. Let’s start with the countries with the biggest populations in Asia.</p>
<p>China is fairly homogeneous, most of the time. There are differences by regions, but within a region it is fairly homogeneous. And, a Chinese region is like an European country.</p>
<p>Same for India.</p>
<p>Not sure about Indonesia but I believe that it is actually more diverse</p>
<p>Next is Pakistan, which is just like India, quite homogeneous</p>
<p>Bangladesh, same as India</p>
<p>Then comes Japan, and it is homogeneous, and with that we are now in countries with less than 100M in population, which is nothing in Asia. The top 6 countries cover some 90-95% of the Asian population. They are all quite homogeneous, except perhaps Indonesia.</p>
<p>Which asian nations are leaders in education though - I don’t think that Indonesia is a powerhouse there.</p>
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<p>Finland has a 5% primarily Swedish speaking minority, a small number who primarily speak Sami, and 4% who primarily speak languages other than Finnish or Swedish (e.g. Russian, Estonian, Somali, English, Arabic).</p>
<p>At least one Swedish speaking Finn is internationally famous in the computer world.</p>
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<p>While most people in China self identify as “Han Chinese” (which still leaves millions in many ethnic minority groups), the majority is not so homogeneous in language variants and cultural habits.</p>
<p>How is India homogeneous with numerous languages and religions, often co-existing within the same regions?</p>
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<p>Within each state, the culture and the language is pretty much the same. Religion is a non-issue when it comes to education. Frankly, religion is a non-issue in most cases except for two. The first is Kashmir. The second is terrorism sponsored by Pakistan over Kashmir.</p>
<p>I’m curious what the take is on this thread as to whether or not Finland is truly besting the US for innovation. A cursory internet search showed ranking indicating that but I’m always dubious of those sort of beauty pageant rankings.</p>