Finland’s Educational Success? The Anti-Tiger Mother Approach

Time Magazine has a great article about Finnish schools. Finland educationally ranks in the top of the world, and yet they have a very different approach to education than the highly competitive Asian countries. Rather than a drill heavy approach with long hours that motivates students to learn through high pressure, Finland has invested heavily in training teachers, down-played standardized testing, and sought to raise the standards for all students. Finnish schools trust their highly trained teachers to motivate the students and provide them the freedom to relate to each class and create engaging learning activities. Rather than emphasizing competition between students, they have emphasized mastery for all students. This approach of believing that all students are capable of learning, expecting all students to master the content, and trusting teachers to teach has worked magically for Finland. Finnish schools have shorter hours than most of the world and students are required to do only an hour of homework per day, yet Finnish students rank second in science, third in math, and second in literacy in the world. Finland’s success also points out solutions to the literacy crisis in our own country. As a non-Indo-Eurpoean language, Finnish is considered one of the most difficult languages in the world to master, yet Finland has the second highest literacy rate in the world. Finland is leading the world to a more relational and equally successful way to educate. Hopefully the U.S. will takes its cues from them.