If you were to tell
me my children would be leaving the American model of Education and I had three
models to choose from; being Singapore, Taiwan, and Finland, I would choose the
Finnish model of education. The Finnish
model is most like ours and stems from a system I grew up in. To me the model we saw on the video and in
our reading remind me of my education experience in elementary school, in the
late 80’s early 90’s. This is an
educational experience I would want my children to have.
The aspects of
Finland’s education model I would value the most are as follows: they still remember children are children and
give them time to be such, and they value outside play and creativity. The government is requiring schools to
provide teacher education and collaboration among other teachers. In my district we are given collaboration
time on two Wednesdays every month when our students go home at 2 o’clock. This sounds great, but it does have a flaw. Since
I am the only history person I get the lucky privilege of collaborating and
learning with myself. It would be of
such value for me to be able to collaborate and learn with anyone. Even the math department! As a young teacher what I would have given to
have a mentor like they do in Finland. That experienced teacher would guide me
with ideas and constructive criticism making the transition to being a teacher
smoother. Moreover, I would choose this model because of the way they pull out children
with learning disabilities and help them one-on-one.
The reasons Singapore
and Taiwan would be last on my list: 1) I am a strong supporter the fact
children must be children. They need to
play and learn while being able to move.
Sitting in a desk from sun up to sun down is age and child appropriate. 2) Cram classes, in these two countries, have
their purpose, but aren’t something I would want my children to participate in. There is a reason these countries have high
suicide rates among teens. 3) In these countries class sizes are typically
large and they are not teaching all children equally. If you have a learning disability you will
test out of school early with little options. That is if they even let you into
school.
In the end, I am glad
my children will go to an American school where they will bring pride and honor
to their school and family. How they will
accomplish this is unknown and will not be based upon test scores. Someday they
will leave my home, I hope and pray, being well rounded in the arts, having imagination,
and an education. They may not score the
highest on math and science tests, but they will be positive members of society
who can benefit the world in their own way.
I empathize with you Jessica, and your yearning for the opportunity to collaborate! Teaching in a small school is challenging in this way. Even if schools in America devoted the kind of resources to meaningful professional development in the way that Finland has, I don't know if it would solve the problem for the Pomeroys or Kendricks of the United States. For me, that collaboration has had to happen online. Search for teachers who maintain a blog about their practice and ask them questions. Many of them are willing to share EVERYTHING they do. It has had a tremendous impact on me and allowed me to have educational conversations that would have been otherwise impossible.
ReplyDeleteJessica,
ReplyDeleteI related to what you had to say that kids need to be kids. I too, when I have kids won't base their character and value on test scores. Learning to be a good person whom contributes to society and tries to be the best they can matters way more than a test score. It sounds like your school is big on collaboration, but you are right, why don't they have you collaborate with other teachers whom teach other subjects? As a special education teacher there are times that I get to collaborate with the general education teachers and that is very beneficial.