Above is a lecture by Sir Ken Robinson about the current educational model, it's origins, and why it appears to be failing in the modern day. Here's an animation that hits a lot of his major points for those that don't have 55 minutes to spare: Our current system is very heavily rooted in standardization and conformity - "There's only one answer, and it's at the end of the book. But don't look. And don't copy, because that's cheating." And this increased standarization and marginialization of educational fields into "economically useful" (math, science, language arts, history) and "economically useless" (music, art, dancing, theater) - arts are almost always the first to get cut from schools, are they not? - is leading to a number of things. A college education no longer guarentees a job, children are increasingly medicated and seperated, and there is an intersting study discussed in this lecture. Do you really believe in our current education system? I hated school for the majority of it. The only times I really enjoyed it were in my early years, the two years I spent in a gifted & talented school (Estus was there with me, he recalls these years), and the year in a half I spent in an alternative school that took a non-standard approach. And really this video gives me understanding. I always wanted to do things in the arts - drawing, sculpting, making music, dancing, telling stories - things that are considered "economically useless" for the most part. I had several people try to discourage me and finding classes relevant to those most of subjects was always difficult. Only a small handful of people really tried to encourage me. And for the longest time, I never really believed I could do what I want to do - basically, all the years I was medicated for ADHD. Once I stopped using the medication to "focus" and "calm down" - I felt I could do whatever the fuck I wanted - I didn't have to listen to the nay-sayers. It was around that time I stopped seeing the point - I even considered dropping out. I eventually stuck with it and I feel better about myself for finishing school. But I still don't really see the point. I think our current system is falling on it's face - and I think Sir Ken Robinson is right on the money for why. What about you?
Better idea: Copy Finland's system of education EXACTLY. Don't change ANYTHING because that will fuck it up. (Not that US education can get any worse)
Yes. That does provide the data that shows that it is the best. It does nothing to explain HOW it got there. WHY is it the best? WHAT is it that they are doing that everyone else is apparently not?
Thank you. For the record - the forum environment that I am accustomed to is one where, and I quote from that board's rules: "All theories and ideas must be supported by facts and elaborated with reasons. The burden of proof is on YOUR side to support the theory, not on ours to debunk it." Moving on, does anyone else have something say to this? Based on the information provided by these fine fellows, Finland's approach basically is going in the exact opposite direction of our approach - which is where we want to go, I think.
No its not. Finland has a population of 5 million; if you're gonna compare the countries look at everything they have to offer, not just education.
Again, just don't look at just one thing. For example, Canada has more money to throw around, a better geopolitical position and future in relation to the resources it possesses in comparison to Finland.
C&D has a point in that we are talking about education specifically here. Finland has apparently made a system that works there. The question is - how to make it work elsewhere.
Copy. It. Exactly. I can completely see a half assed attempt that changes a bunch of shit then complains when it doesn't work.
The question then becomes Is. It. Feasible? Is it possible for a country with a large population, a very diverse range of lifestyles within it's own borders, and let's not forget our fucking gigantic debt (due in part, no doubt, to our massive spending in education and other areas with negilible positive results) to emulate the system perfectly as implemented by the Finnish? I'd like to believe it is, but I can't really be sure about that. And if it's not feasible to copy it perfectly down to the last detail - how can it be made to work with negilible changes to the system? If that can't be done, would there be another system we could build that rejects our current model for a better one?
Large population means jack shit for feasibility. That's the same bullshit argument people use against UHC. THE US IS SIMILAR IN SIZE TO EUROPE. If Europe can do it, SO CAN WE. Make us the size of Russia and you might start having a point. What does a "very diverse range of lifestyles" supposed to mean? If someone is ruining their child's education, beat the shit out of them with federal law. As for debt, it's nearly meaningless. And that's BEFORE counting that the Finish system costs LESS money.
Another thing to consider is the possiblity of changes to other systems in this country - would it be feasible to alter them to allow Finland's model to fit in? How drastic would the changes have to be?
There would need to be a federal education system. As it is, 49 states are getting fucked. And the 50th at the top is still getting fucked compared to the rest of the world.
The US is similar is size to Europe. Finland is not Europe, Finland is a part of Europe. Finland is a little over 3% the size of the United States - and barely 2% of the population. To bring Russia in, as you mentioned - the Us is about 57% the size of Russia, and has 3 times the population. In terms of size, we are about 19 times larger than Finland than Russia is larger than us. With the debt - you have to take in to account that we are already trillions of dollars in debt with a government that wants to spend more and more. It will be difficult to get them to drop 99% of the spending we do with education - and even then, would we be able to make a federal system that would have many more schools than what exist in Finland exist on the exact same budget?
So Finland is even LESS dense than the US. It should be super easy then. Yes, we're going to bulldoze all the schools we already have and build new ones. All it would be is a change in teaching styles, money allocation, and yes, a few schools would need to be shifted around, or built.
Don't we have a Dept of Education who should be making nation wide standards so we don't suck balls and compare to Second world countries? Sorry Mexico but until you get your shit together you're not at the big boy table.
I'm mostly referring to C&D's Federal Education system. Most people want to actually eliminate them as they don't actually do anything but make shit worse and take up several billion a year.
