There is no homework in Finland. It sounds to good to be true but, just this week, Finland made the Wall Street 24/7 list of the Top 10 Most Educated Countries.But, how does one measure education? According to the article which I will link below, the WS 24/7 "Reviewed the 10 countries with the highest proportions of residents aged 25 to 64 with a tertiary education in 2011. ". The list goes as follows:
10. Australia (they got shmancy new programs for international students)
9. Finland (I wish I spoke Finnish)
8. New Zealand (fun fact: sheep outnumber people 4 to 1)
7. United Kingdom (popular with international students and girls who love British accents)
6. S. Korea(because K-POP isn't everything)
5. 'Murica! (yet, ironically, our 16-24 year old display some of the lowest mathematical proficiency)
4. Israel (like Korea, they have mandatory military service so many college kids are older)
3. Japan(they have it all: thinnest developed country, double the U.S. literacy and highest grad. rates)
2. Canada (I believe we should all try and be like Canada cause they're cool)
1. Russia (they have always been big on education, especially since Communism rejects religion, but now there are rumors of corruption. I still love Putin's pop song though.)
So that's the list. I have to say, I'm not surprised by how our results came out. The reading and literacy issue I know must be true because a few years ago I babysat this little 4 year old boy and not once did I see him touch a book. All he wanted to do was watch TV on his computer and play on his little kid iPad.
Here's the article: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/most-educated-countries-world-102232490.html
2 comments:
Education in America could certainly be improved. I think that many teachers in America stick to "the script", giving a one size fits all lecture to a class who stares back with blank faces and takes notes. These teachers then test the children, and within a month much of the information that the students have purged onto a piece of paper will be forgotten. While this, for the most part, hasn't been my experience at New Trier, it is the experience that some of my dance friends (who are enrolled in public schools in the city) describe. I think many American schools need to emphasize the importance of LEARNING not MEMORIZING. And that students should be working WITH the teachers and each other, by collaborating and corroborating, in order to learn new things
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