At the forefront of many educator’s minds is the issue of helping students of all socioeconomic backgrounds achieve at the highest levels possible. Evidence suggests that low socioeconomic status, or poverty, is a lack of resources such as family support system, religious faith, financial security, and access to community support resources. Therefore, when a country, such as Finland, is able to overcome the socioeconomic barrier to achievement, the education world should take notice.
Finland’s educational system truly functions as a system. It is an interrelated network of support for children that addresses all aspects of each individual. In Finland, access to education, daycare, nutrition, and medical care is a fundamental right of each child. The country places value on looking at each student in a holistic light, and making sure that emotional, social, medical, and cognitive needs are met at an early age. This is viewed as an investment in the future productivity of the country.
Equity is a large piece of the educational puzzle in Finland. All students are given the same high-quality materials, curriculum, and access to technology. This begins in earliest childhood, because all children are offered optional child care at no cost to families. This care is considered to be a fundamental right, and is used by approximately 98 percent of families. This early-start preschool levels the playing field for students, and identifies learning disabilities early on, which increases the odds of overcoming them. Additionally, each student in Finland schools receives an Individual Educational Plan, or IEP. This means that each student’s needs are analyzed and accommodated. Equity in Finland requires the efforts of the welfare state as well as the efforts of the school system, and a network of support underlies the whole.
Standardized testing is not the norm in Finland. Educational leaders there do not believe that testing is the answer to higher student achievement. Fewer instructional days are spent preparing students for high-stakes tests and teaching testing strategies. Instead, the focus is on creating the best possible learning environments using top-notch content designed to meet the end goals of instruction.
These traits of education in Finland stand in sharp contrast to the public school system in place in the United States. The holistic view employed in Finland is not observed in America. Student’s emotional, nutritional, and social needs are not included in the objectives of the school system. In some cases, teachers go beyond the call of duty to attempt stop-gap measures to alleviate cases of student need, but these efforts are not systematic or consistent for all students.
The equity in education that makes Finland schools shine is absent in the United States. Schools across the country are not equally equipped, equally staffed, or equally measured. Campuses in a district may be unequally equipped, especially where technology is concerned. Highly-qualified teachers may not be equally distributed in all schools, and parent support waxes and wanes across districts. Students who do not meet the criteria for special education, but struggle in class, may slip between the cracks of the system. Not all young children in the United States have equal access to quality childcare, meaning some children start kindergarten ahead of their peers. Medical care is not equally available to all United States children, so that some children who need vision care, hearing care, and occupational therapy do without those needed services.
Standardized testing contributes to a sense of competition in the United States, but this competition does not necessarily promote excellence in student growth. Instructional days may be devoted to test preparation and test-taking strategies, rather than individual student growth and guidance. Policy-makers rely heavily on student test scores, and teachers feel anxiety over the outcome of tests that do not entirely reflect grade-level standards.
Since student reading skills in Finland do not appear to be affected by socioeconomic status, the United States should consider mirroring some of Finland’s practices.
No comments:
Post a Comment