Those Amazing Finns!

[libbygurl]

From the Providence Journal (RI):

http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/CT_gardner27_02-27-08_C48VQ4I_v12.39b8f4d.html

========== begin excerpt ==========

Walt Gardner: The Finnish Way to Education Excellence

01:00 AM EST on Wednesday, February 27, 2008

WALTER GARDNER

LOS ANGELES


WHEN FINLAND’S 15-year-olds recently placed No.1 in math and science on the recent Program for International Student Assessment, the news of the coup was received in Helsinki with characteristic reserve. For the Finns, whose schools are considered the best in the world, the scores stood as a redundant confirmation of the success of their policies.

But in the U.S., the frustration was palpable. Despite persistent attempts to bring equity to the wildly uneven quality of our schools, reformers have not been able to produce the intended results. That’s why they’ve begun to look even more closely in this presidential election year at Finland for lessons that can be applied here. What they will find in the end serves as a cautionary tale for strategies that we proudly consider cutting edge.

At the heart of Finland’s stellar reputation is a philosophy completely alien to America. The country of 5.3 million in an area twice the size of Missouri considers education an end in itself – not a means to an end. It’s a deeply rooted value that is reflected in the Ministry of Education and in all 432 municipalities. In sharp contrast, Americans view education as a stepping stone to better-paying jobs or to impress others. The distinction explains why we are obsessed with marquee names, and how we structure, operate and fund schools.

The headlines notwithstanding, misconceptions about Finland’s renown as an educational icon abound. The Finns spend a meager (compared to the U.S.) $5,000 a year per student, operate no gifted programs, have average class sizes close to 30, and don’t begin schooling children until they are 7. Moreover, Finland is not the homogeneous nation of lore. While still not as diverse as the U.S., the number of immigrant students in Helsinki’s comprehensive schools is exploding, with their numbers expected to constitute 23.3 percent of the city’s schools by 2025. At present, about 11 percent are immigrants, compared with just 6 percent in 2002. According to the City of Helsinki Urban Facts, by 2015 there will be schools with more than half of the student body from abroad.

========== end excerpt ==========


See complete article at link above.

Finns (and many Europeans) have a totally different perspective on what education is for. I doubt that this deep, mind-change regarding education for its own sake will ever take hold here, though.


Edited for clarification.

[GoneOffShore]

1. Excellent perspective -

Kicked and rec'd

[libbygurl]

2. Thanks. I really think the USA needs to re-think a lot of its conventional wisdom.

Its ideas on education, for example, such as in this case with the Finnish example, should be reexamined. There are a LOT of better ideas out there in Europe and elsewhere, and the US should see what might work here. There's so much that needs repair!

[HereSince1628]

3. Not long ago the upper Midwest had these values

maybe many other places in the US as well. It's not really a mindset totally outside the culture of the US.

[libbygurl]

4. Hmm...isn't the upper Midwest home to many Scandinavian immigrants?

Wonder if there's a connection.

Well, today, I think these values have been lost for the most part. And the results are destroying the schools, the students, the general way of thinking (or lack of it), and the results might be extrapolated to the sad state of things in the education sector today.

[provis99]

5. undoubtably there's a connection; its cultural

Same reason the South has consistently had the worst schools in the nation, from preschool up through graduate school. Southern culture is anti-intellectual and doesn't care about education; people in Minnesota and Wisconsin care about education because its in their culture.

Unfortunately, culture is nearly impossible to change.

[libbygurl]

6. Hmm...could this anti-intellectualism be related to the heavy overt religiosity in those

...states?

Richard Hofstadter's book on American Anti-Intellectualism (written in late '60s?) still resonates so loudly today. Very disturbing.

[eridani]

13. Yep. Used to be you could get four years of Latin--

--and physics and chemistry and sometimes calculus at some of the smallest small town high schools. Been away too long, but it might well be that all the kids in Lake Wobegon are still above average.

[libbygurl]

7. Wonder why there's such a lack of curiosity about this topic on DU?

Too much attention taken up by the Primaries, I guess.

[mrbluto]

15. Neat twist - if intended

In a way this thread and your post mirror the problem in a nutshell.

Your off-hand guess captures the problem. (I'm probably stating the obvious.)

"Time soaked up by horserace" = "Lack of curiosity"

It's along the lines of the old adage:

"Smart people focus on ideas, less smart on things, the least gossip about people."

And the really dumb can't get past "My guy vs. Your guy"

:sarcasm: Not that that happens on DU at all. Nope. :sarcasm:

:D

[Joe Chi Minh]

40. I'd seen it on Common Dreams, and responded to it. Too late at night,

or distracted by too many other things, to post it here.

[1776Forever]

8. When one reads things like this it makes you realize just how behind in the world we are!

Yet you hear this Administration say how wonderful we are doing! How misguided most of the people in this country are when it comes to the education of our children! All you hear is vouchers on the other side! Looks like Finland doesn't have vouchers! When Obama talks about us embracing ALL children as our own and working toward a unified educational program one can see that this is truly what is needed!

I feel if we can hold our heads up high and walk through the "silly" stuff that will surly come Obama's way we can have one of the great visionary leaders of our time! I am sure he would take a good look at what does work around the world and incorporate that into our system!

:grouphug:

[libbygurl]

9. I actually heard one guy interviewed on NPR say something out of this (my) world...

...To the question: 'Is there anything that needs to be improved in America?' or words to that effect, he confidently said,

'Nothing. America is perfect!'

And he sounded sincere in that opinion. I was completely shocked. So, of course, to these individuals, nothing needs to be changed.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

21. Yes, the excellent schools of other countries (Finland, Singapore, etc.)

are nearly all PUBLIC schools.

[Joe Chi Minh]

42. Zulu children have a far superior level of education to ours in the UK.

I think, understandably, education is prized in poorer countries as a way for the children in the family to get out from under, to escape the poverty and marginalisation their parents grew up with.

If they have good, reasonably wise leaders, instead of avaricious ogres, they will be given appropriate, State-funded, educational opportunities. The whole country will prosper, since the same wisdom will ensure that they are able to find reasonable jobs, paying a living wage, and synergies will proliferate. Imo, one of THE major factors for the welfare of a Western society is a minimisation of the stresses imposed by the powerful worldlings who, given the chance, will continue to multiply such stresses.

One example would be that, in one or other, perhaps all the Scandiavian countries, TV advertisements for children's toys are prohibited during the Christmas period, for the sake of poorer parents and their children. Another example, I hope I live to see come to pass in the UK, is a prohibition on TV advertisers' straining out certain types or pitches of sound, so that the voice-over and music sound much louder. I'm retired now, but after a hard day's work, why should people have to dive for the handset every time a programme starts or finishes?

[libbygurl]

46. Wow to your last paragraph!

Yes, it's true that education is much better valued in less developed countries than it is here. I just don't know what's happened to the US these past few decades - gone too complacent in its superiority? Used to be looked up to by most other countries around the world.

Those rules about adverts and TV sound volumes are music to my ears - I hate the way everything is practically unregulated here, all for the sake of increasing corporate profits. It also boils down to the cult of individualism that has been revered as sacred since forever in the USA. Something has got to give after all these decades of worship of unbridled capitalism and individualism - I believe you're seeing the results of this now, in the general breakdown of nearly every social, political, medical, etc. infrastructure today.

[Joe Chi Minh]

49. Absolutely. We tend not to think of anarchy as being official, but rather

the chaos caused by loony mavericks on the fringe of society.

I think our societies are now in a worse position than at any time before in recent history, in terms of their governance. Before, rulers deemed it prudent to maintain a more or less stable society, and they constructed the laws to further that aim.

Now, however, I am not sure they don't want - I'm talking about the polity in the US and UK now - to create an Escape from New York scenario, with the masses at the mercy of feral criminal gangs, etc, while they retire to, or just live in, their moated estates with their own private security services. Think third-world South America. It is why, despite President Bling Bling's admiration for the political and economic ethos of the crypto and not so crypto-fascist US and the UK, Blair is so despised in the rest of Europe, most notably, of course, by Angela Merkel. They, New Labour and the Republicans, certainly undermine her political standing with their mindless anarchy.

Of course, they do need a thoroughly cowed populace in relation to themselves, and hence the ubiquitous surveillance, ID cards, etc. On the other hand, I'm not really sure if it isn't, rather, a sexual buzz they get out of the idea of having total control over the citizenry. Increasing their power endlessly, simply because they feel they can. Masters of the Universe Mark II (though doubtless including Mark I).

Before WWII, the old Norman Tories were shockers, yet from the Middle Ages, some of the worst of their essentially materialistic and venal character really was tempered by a Christian faith, however deficient in terms of their love of money and power.

The thing with Conservatism was that:

On the one hand, they recognised the ancient and immutable axiom of Christianity: that grace builds upon nature. Virtue and progress are not gained by a single act of the will, or even a number of them, but are slowly achieved by lives committed to achieving them. The failure to understand this by atheist Socialist regimes has led to the some of the Gospels' most central teachings, substantially ignored by the right, with the approval, not always tacit, of the institutional church, being promoted as their own; which brings to mind Evelyn Waugh's analogy with a Sevres vase in the hands of chimpanzee.

On the other hand, the right have, in fact, largely neglected the axiom, taking it as an excuse for not making spiritual and hence, concomitantly social progress! As if saying to God, "Give a dog a bad name....!"

[silverweb]

10. K&R

Excellent article and a very interesting analysis of much that's wrong in our culture.

Sometimes the thirst for knowledge is just something that comes naturally, too. I'll never forget the first parent-teacher conference I had with my son's first grade teacher. She said that at the beginning of the year, she asked the class what "education" meant to them. My six year old raised his hand and solemnly said, "Education is life." Granted, I had always read to him, encouraged his natural curiosity, and told him learning was important, but that answer floored me as much as it did the teacher. He never lost that outlook, either, and is now a Ph.D. candidate.

My daughter is a college senior and recently commented on a boring class she had to sit through. She said she consoled herself with "mommy's advice that no knowledge is useless" and promising herself that she'd learn at least one interesting thing during that class.

Learning for its own sake is a beautiful thing. How much more fulfilling life is when we are curious and intrigued by everything around us -- instead of trying to figure out ways to exploit the planet and each other!

[OwnedByFerrets]

11. Hasnt everyone here got it already....

that those in power do NOT want an educated populace??

[awoke_in_2003]

27. Bingo

an educated workforce demands more pay. Same thing with an organized workforce

[Forrest Greene]

12. I Think We'd Better Get Some Goons Over To That Helsinki

...& cook those test scores, toot sweet.

[libbygurl]

20. LOL! And a few might actually take you seriously! nt

[Forrest Greene]

24. Worked In Ohio... n/t

[libbygurl]

32. Indeed it did. And in FL, too. nt

[BobTheSubgenius]

14. I learned ALL KINDS of useless things in school.

How to conjugate verbs, punctuate...hell....to spell words. While history was too Eurocentric (broadly speaking, that is...to include the more or less Eurocentric heritage of North America), I learned a LOT that gives me historical perspective on much later events.

In-depth WORLD geography, rudimentary philosophy (Plato's Republic, etc), Shakespeare, romantic poets, basic economics, money management principles, French, Latin, a smattering of comparative religion, bookkeeping & budgeting, the basic workings of the stock market.

I even survived learning about evolution. Such was public education in the late 50's and 60's.

I don't regret a SINGLE fact. I don't "USE" a lot of it, but I like to think I understand the world somewhat. You go, Finns.

[Forrest Greene]

26. I Attended School in Connecticut

...between 1958 & 1971, at a time when CT had one of, if not the highest, expenditures on education per capita in the country. I was incredibly fortunate.

We had well-paid, competent teachers, decent equipment & supplies, &, well, let's face it, we had a society which in many important ways, was very different than that in which we live now.

The most important thing that middle-of-the-road education taught me was how to learn.

[libbygurl]

33. Yes, the importance of a well-rounded liberal arts education has just been dismissed...

...in the last few decades, to the extreme disadvantage of the studentry.

I find it always interesting to chat with people from outside the US (Canada, Europe), who seem to have a better grasp of the world and its history. There's such a dearth of knowledge outside of the immediately useful (job/career-related) among a lot of people I speak to in the USA. Doesn't mean they're (Americans) are less bright, just much less informed about anything that doesn't have to do with the USA today.

[BB1]

16. Netherlands here.

We also have a tendency to learn for the sake of knowledge. A career is not something people in Holland actively pursue, at least not most of them.

Things started to change around here when it became obvious that CEO's get paid much more then anybody else. This mythical figure 'CEO' apparently doesn't do any more work then the rest, he just makes tonnes of money. And he'd have to be a devious bastard to get the job in the first place.

So now we have people learning to be devious bastards, instead of learning for knowledge. So far, we're still doing pretty good, but things will definitely pick up when the good ol' USA influence is gone.

[libbygurl]

19. Ack! It's like the pernicious influence of McDonald's on the world's diet - gen. bad and ...

...corrupting! Let's hope the trend goes in the way of lesser influence from unfavourable practices in the US!

[bulloney]

17. What's the employment picture in Finland? Low unemployment?

Living wage jobs? Both spouses need to bring in an income to sustain a family?

I deal with adult students of dysfunctional families. Many of them have no motivation to even attend a class on time every day, which could be their ticket to a better paying job. Many of them cannot do the simplest math problems, like converting 1/2 to a decimal.

I think the root of the problem is upbringing. If they were raised in a one-parent home, or if both parents need to work to support the family, the children are not getting the discipline to apply themselves to do well in school. Their natural curiosity is not nurtured. So, we end up with a society of people who just go week-to-week and somehow manage to get by. Often, they do it by selling drugs or stealing.

[libbygurl]

18. I think the socialised medical system and universal education offered...

...like the ones in place in Sweden (probably the same case in Finland, but I haven't checked yet) takes care of these other problems.

The whole structure of society in the US (which emphasises unduly individuals' rights instead of the common good) needs to be revamped, because here you don't have that social, medical and financial safety net for the unemployed, the solitary residents, the elderly, etc. that the Swedish society does.

But that's just my take on it.


FYI, here's what I found on the Finland employment stats:

http://www.stat.fi/ajk/tiedotteet/v2008/tiedote_004_2008-02-19_en.html >

========= begin excerpt ========

Employment and unemployment in January 2008

- Number of employed persons 100,000 higher than one year earlier
- Employment rate 69.3 per cent
- Unemployment rate 6.8 per cent, 181,000 unemployed
- 68,000 new vacancies at employment offices

According to the Labour Force Survey of Statistics Finland, the number of employed persons in January was 2,480,000, or 100,000 higher than a year earlier. In the private employer sector the number of employed persons went up by 85,000. The number of wage and salary earners was 94,000 higher than one year previously. The number of employed persons went up in the provinces of Southern Finland, Western Finland and Oulu.

In January, the employment rate, that is, the proportion of the employed among persons aged 15 to 64, stood at 69.3 per cent, which was 2.2 percentage points higher than one year before. The employment rate for men went up by 3 percentage points and was 70.7 per cent. The employment rate for women rose by 1.5 percentage points to 67.9 per cent. Adjusted for seasonal and random variation, the trend of the employment rate was 70.7 per cent.

========= end excerpt ==========

[Lydia Leftcoast]

22. Couple of things to remember about Scandinavia

1. If you qualify for university admission, there's no such thing as not being able to afford tuition. Also, European countries are likely to have high-quality vo-tech programs for the non-university students.

2. Their unemployment rate looks higher than ours, but they actually count everybody.

[libbygurl]

23. A Swedish acquaintance of mine said they're taxed at 75% rate -

-- something that would make Americans' heads explode -- but then, look at all the benefits to society.

Interesting about the unemployment rate - I tend to believe theirs to be more accurate, indeed!

[Infidel69]

36. 75% Tax Rate

True, it would seem to make American's heads explode. However, when you look at all the services the government provides for the people of Finland (or any Scandinavian country) it sort of takes on a whole new appearance. I mean most, if not all, of those services would be privatized here in the States. So if you figure in the private cost of health insurance, child care, and a college education for the kids (all things that we have to pay for out of our own pockets in this country). Most of us are probably already losing 75% of our wages to pay for these things. Don't forget that most people in Scandinavia probably don't have a car payment (and by default, no car insurance payment) due to the excellent public transportation system in that part of the world.
Time and time again I read that people here in the USA are saving less and less money, or no money at all. It would seem that we are paying out the nose for a private system that is failing us and which we have very little say in. I mean, the board of directors of Humana Healthcare never ask me for my opinion on how they should make health care more affordable for Americans. The system in Finland, however, which is payed for with taxes and administrated by a government made up of elected representatives is outperforming the heck out of ours (or at least our education system-although I would be willing to bet that their health care and public transportation system probably beats the heck out of ours too.)
I'm sorry if I'm going a bit off topic here. I know that this thread is supposed to be just about education, but it seems that when issues regarding any public service(whether it is public education, public transportation, health care, etc.)are raised, politicians always go back to the "Who's going to pay for this?" question. I believe it was that jack a** Friedman who smugly said, "There is no such thing as a free meal." Everybody is afraid of taxes in the political arena, but until Americans grow the heck up and realize that we are in this together I'm afraid all that we are holding back is our own progress.

[libbygurl]

37. Not off-topic at all! Thank you for your post.

I wholly agree with your comment here. Everything is tied up with everything else - as you so cogently said.

I just don't know if this 'common good' thinking will ever get traction in this society, which has long been brainwashed that the rights of the individual are of primary importance above all, and that the less government there is, the better.

Until people here really LOOK at the finer examples of success in the Scandinavian countries, nothing of any substance will ever change here. The mantra of 'America is no. 1' has just been drummed into our skulls so often and for so long now that it may need a real general breakdown of everything for more people to take a second look at how things are working for us over here. Or not!

In my opinion, everything has already broken down rather massively over here - in education, health care, the national infrastructure, families, society, etc. So much for the corporatist/capitalist model as the answer to everything - that model has gone amuck here - and more so thanks to W/Cheney and company! I just hope fewer other countries will continue to copy that model in their own societies today!

[Joe Chi Minh]

41. Only under despots and oligarchies are taxes deleterious. In a civilised

society that levies it fairly on income, it could not be more progressive. Pulling together for the common weal. "He who had much, did not have too much, and he who had little, did not have to little", I believe, is how scripture puts it. And I think the Holy Spirit would add today, "...but you all have a wonderful national infrastructure, both social and material."

[libbygurl]

47. Methinks the American populace have been so deeply brainwashed about the evil of taxes...

...so that a lot react negatively to the mere mention of it. And yet, we see how further advanced, progressive, humane and compassionate the societies are in Europe in comparison to current US society. The Neanderthal thinkers amongst the Republicans, especially, continue to use this as a scare tactic in political campaigns.

[Joe Chi Minh]

48. Absolutely right.. The whole matter of taxation has been used as a red herring.

In civilised societies, such as exist in Continental Europe, taxes are levied in proprtion to income.

In the US and the UK, on the other hand, the masses pay far, far more than they should, while the very rich and Big Business pays far, far too little. Yet on the MSM, you only hear talk of taxation - people being taxed, when that is totally and utterly meaningless without reference to both fair levels of taxation in relation to income AND the positive uses that will be made of it.

In the UK, thanks to 27+ years of right-wing government, that criminal obfuscation by the authorities and their tame MSM is compounded by its egregious misuse to needlessly create additional tiers of management in the hospitals and the health service, generally, to hire foreign workers in it at every level, after training British people, then left unemployed.

Road tax is used to fund all sorts of other government requirements, while the roads, particularly in Scotland, are neglected. Parking charges reach further and further out of town, to augment the coffers of local council empire-builders and, ironically, to enhance the pensions of the councillers and more senior public service workers. I think I read the other day that 40% of Council Tax (a flat tax) went to fund these pensions; and this, at the very time that pensions in the private are facing a crisis.

Incidentally, it seems to me that these governments prefer to increase the workforce they employ and who will be more beholden to them at election time, rather than to resuscitate industry and less compliant workforces. Blair had promised to do away with the quangos set up by the Tories - instead of which, they have massively increased their number. I don't expect Brown to remedy the situation any time soon.

[Diclotican]

51. Infidel69

Infidel69

I have to arrest you om some minor wrongdoing when it come to scandinavian country and how it works

For the most part Car are expensive, much more than in US. Even in Sweden where they are building Volvo it is kind of expensive to pay for a brand new car. And even that our salary system does the trick, if you want a brand new car, you have to save up, get help from parents, or go to the bank and ask for a loan..

And we do, for the most part have a car insurance.. I have a old Toyota Corolla, but have to pay more than the dam car is wort in insurance every year.. I could have had a 2 week Holiday in the sun only for the insurance payment alone... If I travel little out of season..

And I don't believe that in Sweden you pay 75 pro sent to taxes.. My guess is that it is more in the 30-36% line.. For ordinary people with ordinary yearly salary then. For they who are working their ass off, you may experience the 50 line or more.. But for the most part it is in the line of 30 to 36% of what you earn every month...

But we do not have to privately cost our health insurance, child care and so on.. SO I guess even with the high taxes we would survive for a long time.. Many are talking about that our system are not sustainable and that it is broke.. But even with all our faults, it is still by far preferable to the other extreme who are if you cut it down "you are on your own". If you are sick, you die, or live to fight another day.. If you are poor, you would be poor, and be treated like that.. If you are rich, on the other hand you would live as kings...

And to be honest, I would say that paying my taxes, and get almost free health care is preferable to have to fend for my self.. Have been hospitalized a couple of times, and have always given good treatment, and free medication... Have a problem with my foot, and sometimes it goes bad, then I call the doctor, visit the doctor (she is a excellent doctor by the way) pay a little sum to get the cost to what she have used.. Then of to pay for the medicine I need.. And it have never cost me mutch... And I have allergy, and asma also, So it goes some medicine there too...

I believe if american, was to know that it exist a system where you can get almost free health care they would object to what exist in US.. But as long as the americans are told that their system are the best of the best, and that we on the outside have to like your, to be successfully.. Then you would never get a free health care system anytime soon.. Yes it cost to have a system as we in Scandinavia have, but it is worth it, every time.

Diclotican

Sorry my bad English, not my native language

ps, our collective transport can be little to be asked for. I can be much better and we always complain over it.. And many drive their car, when they could have used the train or bus.. But that it what is is...

[bulloney]

44. Our unemployment numbers are so bogus.

They are only based on claims filed for unemployment benefits. So, if you've exhausted your benefits, or if you've found a lower-paying job that disqualifies you for benefits, you aren't included in those numbers.

They don't take into account the people who lost their high-payment jobs and have turned to holding several minimum wage-type jobs to hold the fort.

[Forrest Greene]

25. I'd Like To Recommend A Book

...titled "The Sibling Society," by poet Robert Bly, of Men's Movement fame.

It has nothing to do with drum circles out in the woods or stealing sheep, nor is it poetry. The premise is that our culture, particularly in the U.S., seeks to infantilize us all, to make us all, emotionally & mentally, siblings -- no parents, no children. This serves to distract & numb us away from the genuine lives playing our various roles as human beings -- child, youth, adult, & elder -- that are our birthrights.

It would seem to have a lot do with the issues we're discussing here.

[libbygurl]

31. That's a very interesting perspective. Never saw it that way before, but...

...it does make some sense, observing the way the social, cultural, economic and political scenes have played out (unappealingly) of late.

[Sentath]

53. That sounds ALOT like the observations in 'Stiffed'

http://www.amazon.com/Stiffed-Betrayal-American-Susan-Faludi/dp/068812299X

Several years old by now, so I can imagine its about time for some more digested and theoretical works to start popping up.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

28. Today's Wall Street Journal has an article on the same topic

(Can't link it because the WSJ website is for subscribers only--I got this from the paper version, which was lying around in a coffee shop.)

Ironic, since the WSJ is one of the biggest bashers of teachers' unions and public schools. Yet even the WSJ article refers to Finland's teachers as heavily unionized and mentions that there are no strict rules about student behavior. They don't mention that these schools are NOT privatized.

[libbygurl]

34. Ha. Their answer is always to privatise everything, isn't it?

Yep, just add the profit-making motive to every damn activity - that makes them so much better. Blackwater, anyone?

[Doctor_J]

29. NCLB has worked exactly as intended

Neil Bush is rich, along with school privatizers. Those were the two intentions of the plan.

[libbygurl]

30. What the hell - kick.

US system of education problems here not getting much traction this season.

Thanks to all who've read and commented!

[LiberalEsto]

35. Our schools have been corporatized

The mission of American schools is to pump out obedient corporate servants/consumers. NCLB was designed to fulfill this mission.

Genuine education is the last thing the corporations want for our children -- because it would enable them to think. And thinking is a no-no.

[libbygurl]

38. A pernicious trend that's infecting every segment of society, culture.

Whither the once-respected excellence and innovation of the USA?

[EstimatedProphet]

50. It started long before NCLB

[libbygurl]

39. Kick!

[zytime]

43. As a former teacher...

Finland sounds like heaven...maybe I'll move there if McCain wins:)

[libbygurl]

45. LOL!

But seriously, the Scandinavian system - heavily socialised, a seeming nightmare to irrationally tax-phobic Americans - must be doing something, or many things, right. Just look at the results!

[groovedaddy]

52. It's the poverty, stupid!

From Wikipedia:
"Finland is eleventh on the United Nations' Human Development Index<4> and ranked as the sixth happiest nation in the world.<5> According to the World Audit Democracy profile, Finland is the freest nation in the world in terms of civil liberties, freedom of the press, low corruption levels and high levels of political rights."

Children who live in the stress of poverty have a very difficult time learning.

[The Traveler]

54. An obvious objective of the conservative movement

is the systematic degradation if not outright destruction of the public school system.

On Edit ...

This makes it difficult to establish here the kind of enlightened educational system achieved by the Finns. It is not that Americans are stupid ... they have merely been trained to believe it is OK to let someone else do their thinking for them.

[depakid]

55. Personal development vs. vocational training

That's about the long and short of it....

[libbygurl]

56. That sums it all up so succinctly! Overall, material profits trump personal evolution. nt