Maybe it isn’t just the teachers in Finland

[eridani]

http://washingtonpolicywatch.org/2013/06/11/maybe-it-isnt-just-the-teachers-in-finland/

Dr. Pasi Sahlberg, the esteemed Finnish educator, scholar and speaker who visited Seattle this past November to discuss the applicability of Finland’s education system to Washington state, recently proposed an interesting idea in a column for The Washington Post: what if, in a perfect world, we simply supplanted Finnish educators – who are considered among the best in the world – to Indiana schools? Would Indiana all of a sudden become the world’s bastion of academic success?

The answer – unsurprisingly – is no.

While Dr. Sahlberg is quick to note the importance of adequate training for teachers, he condemns the notion that “poverty is only an excuse not to insist that all schools should reach higher standards.” In his mind, children should be elevated out of poverty by public policy, and “teachers alone, regardless of how effective they are, will not be able to overcome the challenges that poor children bring with them to school everyday.”

[LeftishBrit]

1. k&r

[Enthusiast]

2. We should hire Dr. Pasi Sahlberg to oversee

the implementation of his educational policies. After Arne Duncan is removed from his position.

[Igel]

8. If he said 20 different things, that's the one that would be reported on.

It's the thing we want to hear. Need to hear. Hope to hear. Desire to hear. Expect to hear.

Most other things are translated to "blah-blah."

Rather like the Farside cartoon.

What you say: "Okay, Ginger, I've had it, stay out of the trash."
What the dog hears: "Blah Ginger blah blah blah blah blah blah blah".

Sahlbert says all sorts of things. What American reporters mostly hear is "blah blah blah poverty blah blah blah."

[mtasselin]

3. get out

If only we would get the hell out of the teachers way and let them teach. Enough of these bureaucrats who are always trying to get on the front pages for some face time and they do not know what the hell they are talking about. School vouchers are not the answer, certain people just want to dismantle the teachers union.

[MannyGoldstein]

4. Massachusetts schools perform better than Finland's schools

Mass. pupils near the top in math and science

(Please ignore the fellow pictured at the top of the article - he has zero to do with our student's test scores.)

So why don't people make a fuss about Massachusetts' education system, instead of looking to other countries? Boggles the mind.

[TRoN33]

5. Yet the far-right are angry with Massachusetts because....

They are mad at voters in that state that are leaning toward Markey over Gomez. The far-right dare to think they can question well-educated voters without impunity yet they rooted and voted for Mark Sanford. They can't understood the very simple logic thinking of Massachusetts voters.

[Android3.14]

7. It's about poverty, but even more than that...

Massachusetts isn't doing anything significantly different statewide than other states. The median income, however, is fifth in the nation at over $62,000 and the per capita number of college degrees is the highest in the nation at 53%
Income and academic achievement of parents are the most accurate predictors of a student's academic achievement.
The real problem is a profound undervaluing of education resultng in low pay and marginal quality for a great number of teachers, rampant anti-intellectualism; teachers who lack basic skills in fundamental areas such as math, reading and writing; teachers who lack content knowledge; and the celebration of mediocrity/self-esteem over measurable mastery of skills.
Until we address these issues, nothing will change.

[duffyduff]

11. Prove it we have lousy teacher quality and don't have "content knowledge"

or are you just spouting off bullshit from privatizer outfits?

I don't take kindly to nonsense like you are spewing because you don't know what you are talking about.

[Android3.14]

13. Math

I was in the profession for 10 years teaching science and mathematics in middle school and high school, and I've taught mathematics for elementary school educators at the college level. Except for the occasional person with a real calling, the student teachers were able to perform arithmetic only with a calculator and their use of the English language in writing was usually at a fourth or fifth grade level.
Our public school system is rotten from top to bottom. You either have dedicated professionals with deep content knowledge and teaching skill struggling in a system that grows worse each year, or you have people who joined a profession because they have a vague sense that they like children.
With my own sons, I've struggled to find teachers that actually have depth and rigor to their teaching, especially when it comes to math and language. All to often the teachers barely cover half of the scope and sequence in a course, often because they are afraid to demand students work as hard as they must in order to master the skills and knowledge, but also because they didn't understand the concepts the subject requires.
Here is a WSJ article backing up some of what I observed.

[MannyGoldstein]

12. That's all part of it. But there's other factors, too.

Mass probably has more poverty than many other countries, e.g. Finland, but it still produces amazing results.

This won't be popular, but I suspect a lot of it has to do with Mass being the first state to implement standardized curricula and testing.

[Android3.14]

14. Perhaps

The emphasis on standardized testing is annoying, bit there is plenty of evidence that a standardized curricula improves education. The top countries education-wise all have national curricula.

[duffyduff]

9. Since Finland's ENTIRE population is only about one tenth the number of all students in American

education, and they don't have the diversity we have here, I simply don't give a rip about them.

The privatizers will make their way to Europe as sure as anything and undermine education in those countries.

The privatization movement is a worldwide phenomenon.

[Enthusiast]

10. Massachusetts is to be commended for their excellence.

I commend them. Seriously.

[MannyGoldstein]

15. Massachusetts is a pretty good place to live in general

Other than the weather.

Common sense tends to rule the day.

[Enthusiast]

16. "Common sense tends to rule the day."

Manny, that's why I love Massachusetts. Honestly. I only wish Ohio was as enlightened.

[HiPointDem]

17. +1

[sulphurdunn]

6. This man has said all the wrong things.

Had he said the right things his message would be trumpeted from the reform education through privatization rooftops. He did not say what the billionaires want to hear though, and because of that the thirty years of systematic research he cites to support his argument will be systematically ignored or casually dismissed by the makers of public education policy in the United States.