Finnish Education in 5 Election Memes

By Kristoffer Kohl

Kristoffer Kohl is a former classroom teacher and current CTQ staff member. This week, he's traveling in Finland, along with CTQ teacher leader Dave Orphal, who's been reflecting on the trip on his own transformED blog.

While touring a series of schools in Finland with a group of
education professionals from the U.S., I can't help but recognize the severe
divide between the countries’ respective approaches to teaching and learning.
In the truest sense of the word, education is valued as an investment in Finland’s
future, which, after talking with several groups of students, I can say looks brighter than ever.

As Americans prepare to vote on two different visions for
the future, it seemed appropriate to capture some initial insight on the
Finnish education system through the lens of five popular U.S. presidential election
memes*.

Big Bird

• While the U.S. debates
  less-than-a-rounding-error of funding that provides high-quality educational
  programming nationwide, the Finns equip every student with high-quality meals, books,
  technology, transportation, early-childhood education, and a range of
  additional supports designed to ensure equal opportunity and excellence (not an either/or scenario).
• Finland’s social safety net guarantees all
  children the right to free health care and government-subsidized day care until
  they begin primary school at age seven. Seventy-five percent of three- to five-year-olds are
  in daycare, with more than 96 percent of children attending tuition-free preschool at
  the age of six. For the same age group in the U.S., preschool enrollment hovers
  consistently around 55 percent.
• Backed by a similar
  decree from the U.N., access to the Internet is considered a human right in Finland.

You Didn't Build That

• The U.S. may not have built an education system that's as comprehensive
  and equitable as Finland's, but we have certainly designed the
  core elements of their system via expensive R&D efforts in the States—which we have also carried out in small pockets across the country. Case in point: The
  wraparound social services that garner attention for Harlem Children’s Zone
  are the norm here in Finland.
• The Finns are content to let us do the messy
  work of experimenting, but they are masters of identifying the practices and
  structures that enable students and teachers to be successful. Most
  important, they trust teachers with implementation expertise, which we’ll get
  to later (“I think we all love teachers”).
• Baseball may have originated in America, but Finland
  was smart enough to co-opt it as their national pastime and
  update the rules to create a quicker, more efficient game than the snooze-fest
  we only watch during October. Rather than four bad pitches
  resulting in a walk, Finnish baseball allows just one pitch outside of the
  strike zone before a hitter is granted first base. They didn’t build it, but
  they did improve it.

Binders Full of Women

• 86 percent of women in Finland (ages
  25-64) work outside the home, compared to about
  60 percent in the U.S (PDF). The high rate of working households leads to latchkey generations
  of children who are trusted by parents and schools alike to take care of
  themselves independently.
  This deep trust among Finns strengthens their social
  fabric and encourages intrinsic accountability and integrity.
  
• Each gender must have at least 40 percent representation on all public boards, committees, and
  municipalities. In both the U.S. Senate and
  House of Representative, just 17 percent of representatives are women, meaning that
  men have six times the political power as women.
• Finland was the first country to grant women
  both the vote and the opportunity to run for office.

Horses and Bayonets

• Finnish students may have fewer years of formal
  education at a young age, but only because the country has realized how children
  "learn to learn" through organized play and socialization. Perhaps as important, seven-year-olds are so eager to enter school and receive
  books, backpacks, and other supplies, that they enter formal education as eager,
  engaged, and mature learners.
• Finland suffers from a severe shortage of
  abacuses (abaci?), but there are SmartBoards everywhere.
• I have not seen nearly enough convertibles and
  surfboards for a nation with beautiful coastlines. However, Finland boasts 2.2
  million saunas, shared by a population of 5.5 million (seriously).

(Do) We All Love Teachers (?)

The only thing the Twittersphere
loved nearly as much as "horses and bayonet" was Bob Schieffer’s “I think
we all love teachers” comment before closing arguments on Monday evening. Nothing says
"we love teachers" more than a lukewarm endorsement as the final (and only) word
on the profession in the last of three presidential debates.

I’m no Rico Suave, but I’m fairly certain that we have more affectionate
ways of demonstrating our love. Who needs Cupid when unreliable test score data
is published on the front page of newspapers?

In Finland, admiration for the profession is expressed by
making teaching one of the most difficult fields to enter. Just under 7 percent of
those who apply to teacher education programs are accepted. Teaching is
recognized as complex, rewarding, and noble work that attracts the country’s
best and brightest. But then they insist on really good teacher education for everyone before they enter the profession. I am a Teach for America alum—and there is no Teach for Finland. I don't think they would consider it.

When Finns are asked what profession they want their life partner to be a member of, teaching is number one on the list. The Finns love teachers—and its policymakers do, too.

Want to demonstrate your deep commitment to teachers here in the U.S.? Become
a fairy
godparent. I can’t think of a better way to show how much you appreciate
the challenging and important work they do to build a more promising future.

#Binders #horses/bayonets #BigBird

*Mentioning these memes in no way signals an endorsement of either candidate. We just enjoy the memes for their own sake.