Breaking the Rules in Finland
based on How Finland broke every rule - and created a top school system by William Doyle
The first thing that I said when I first read this article was "Wow! I want to visit an Elementary School in Finland." I found this article to be highly intriguing, I couldn't stop reading it once I started. This article completely opened my eyes to thinking about teaching in a different way. I didn't imagine that there was actually a school system who didn't rely on assessments for results and success, but rather look to "personalized learning."
Something that really caught my attention was when William Doyle (2016), mentions that "Instead of control, competition, stress, standardized testing,
screen-based schools and loosened teacher qualifications, try warmth,
collaboration, and highly professionalized, teacher-led encouragement
and assessment." I found this to be mind-blowing considering that American teaching is all about standardized testing and teacher qualifications. I agree strongly when this article emphasized the fact that teachers should be encouragement figures for the students and that most of the activity done in school should be student-centered.
Something else that I loved reading was when Doyle stated that in Finland, "teachers are not strait-jacketed by bureaucrats, scripts or excessive
regulations, but have the freedom to innovate and experiment as teams of
trusted professionals." (2016). In my eyes, teachers are not puppets and their effectiveness as a teacher should not be based primarily on what their students score on state tests or assessments. When I was younger, I know from first hand experience (visiting my mother in her classroom) that all of a teacher's lessons did not need to be written out in scripts and the teachers were able to choose their own manipulatives, tools, and their own ways to teach the curriculum. I believe that teachers should be free to teach a curriculum their own way rather than being told how to teach it through the New York State Common Core Modules.
I also liked how Doyle (2016), brought up that "Finland has launched an expensive, high-risk national push toward
universal digitalization and tabletization of childhood education..." I find this to be very useful with how technology is constantly advancing with time. Today's society is part of the reason why I had chosen to be an Informational Technology in Education major because I have come to realize that technology is not going anywhere, but straight into the everyday lives of future generations. By digitizing an educational setting, a new door could be opened for the students to understanding concepts and topics.
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| This is what I think about what I hear digitizing education. This is the reality of our future and as a future educator, we need to prepared and knowledgeable about educational technology tactics that we can incorporate into our lesson plans for our students success. |
Kimberly, I really enjoyed reading your response to the article we read. I feel that you really understood the reading and took it to heart. Oddly enough I felt the same things as I read the article. For example, you mention in the very first sentence "I want to visit an elementary school in Finland," I could not agree more. I think that Finland has gotten it hand down, what education should be. I also like that you commented in second and third paragraphs with direct quotes. I feel that it was helpful for you to include these quotes because it let the reader know exactly what you were referring to. I loved that you included that American teaching is really political and not about the students or the teachers. I think that teaching is a very creative field and a lot of teaches do not necessarily get to explore those freedoms because they are so stressed about testing. I am also an Information Technology major, and this article kind of related to our use of technology in the classroom. Obviously Finland has already discovered what America has yet to realize. Great job Kim!
ReplyDeleteBryanna,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your input on my response. I appreciate everything that you have commented on and I am thrilled to hear that you agree with me on the general aspects of what education should truly be. It's interesting to hear that you have the same opinions as me. I think it would be very mind-blowing to visit an Elementary School in Finland. I don't think that I would ever want to leave! I wonder if there are possible internships out in Finland that teachers from the United States can be participants. I want to find out. Would you go on an internship to Finland? What would you want to do while you are there if you did?
Kim, If I could go on an internship to Finland to participate in their internship. I think that would be a lovely experience. I also think that teachers in America could gain a lot of insight from the teachers in Finland. I think that is how American teaching could start changing their system: by learning from the countries in the world that have the best educational systems. What do you think? If i had the opportunity to visit Finland to learn/work in the educational system, I would want to observe for a week or two, It would be important for me to learn their schedules and the way to do things. This is very imperative to learning because obviously teaching in Finland is different than America so I would have to understand America's downfall in education. Next, I would want to start teaching, similar to America's "Student Teaching." I would want to work with the teachers and students in Finland and maybe find downfalls from the students perspectives and also from the teachers perspectives. I would love to learn about what they think about their own teaching skills. Overall, I think that this would be a great internship.
ReplyDeleteBryanna,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with how America could start changing their teaching habits and techniques by observing how other countries teach. I think it would be a great opportunity not only for America as a country, but for the people who live in America. Teachers all have their own philosophies of teaching and with how things are today, the teachers have to tuck their philosophies away and emphasize the new way of teaching through the Common Core. As a future educator in the United States, I think that we could very well learn a thing or two from visiting other countries and being exposed to different ways of teaching. I can only imagine what education could become if the United States incoporated a variety of teaching philosophies and methods into their classrooms. It could open a new door for children and teachers all about the United States, do you agree?