Societal Support

The most important thing I took from the readings today was that schools are a reflection of the society as a whole. The things that parents, community members, political leaders and business members deem to be important are held as important things in the school. At my former school there was extensive debate about returning the kindergarten hours back to normal and the cost of doing this, but there was no debate about cutting back sports or other extracurricular programs to save money. This is a problem with the way we think in America. When you ask a kid in America who their hero is, you hear LeBron James or Lady Gaga or some other celebrity. How many kids could even name one of the top scientists or mathematicians working in the US today?

It seemed to me that Finland, Korea and Singapore all supported education not just at the school level but as a way of life. They have allowed all levels of students and families from different backgrounds and socioeconomic (albeit not as diverse as the USA) status to “buy in” to the value of a quality education system. This allows the educators to become free and to truly take charge of the educational setting. They have trained and placed their teachers in a position of respect and admiration and have given support wherever possible both in the form of money and support at home. Children then feel empowered and excited to learn and the higher level thinking can take place.

One other thing that I found interesting was that the papers all talked about how Finland students start school at an older age, but the media reports failed to really mention that students are in a pre-school environment very early on in their development and they learn quickly to socialize and become a part of a successful school environment. This is the foundation that all of us need as human beings. We need to become grounded in social norms of our society. This is what allows for the higher level thinking and learning that is prevalent in successful school systems. What can we do in the United States and in our local schools to encourage this grounding? We are different than most other countries in that we have a huge mix of different backgrounds and all of us have ancestors that trace back to different locations around the globe.