25.05.2016, Ellimaija Ahonen

What´s up in education?

For last few weeks there has been many interesting posts and articles on air about Finnish education.

Are you empowering people to use their imagination in daily life? The Guardian points out that we spend our childhoods being taught the artificial skill of passing exams. Read more here “Everyone is born creative, but it is educated out of us at school“.

More play, no homework, top results? Documentarist Michael Moore puts it well in 2 minutes.

Back to basics? An eye opening article about the differences between math tests for the 1st graders in the USA and in Finland. The “teacher-proof” curriculas by publishers like Pearson are so easy to follow that even incompetent teachers would find success with it.  “This is clearly offensive to many American teachers.” Curricular programs in Finland are designed to maximize student-learning; succeeding on standardized tests is a non-factor when curriculum is created. Math exercises on the Finnish test were much simpler than the ones on the American test. Is it about reading, counting, learning – or all of them?  Click here to read the whole article.

What is the school of tomorrow like? What is Finland’s secret? A whole-child-centered, research-and-evidence based school system, run by highly professionalized teachers. These are global education best practices, not cultural quirks applicable only to Finland. The Washington Post has a suggestion for anyone who wants to improve children’s education. “Start by coming to Finland”.

We at Learning Scoop have joyful memories of Bright Education for All! INEPS Congress held in April in Tampere, Finland. Our focus is already in autumn but let´s enjoy light, beautiful and fascinating summer first!