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There is not just one answer to the question “what makes an education system
better than another”, yes there may be schools across the world that fair better then
others according to academic standards however there is not one set of framework that
can create a superior system. When determining what is better for the education system
of a nation there is many questions that are frequently asked. Some of these questions
are whether or not to give students more or less homework in order to improve
achievement, whether or not to have more time spent in schools studying rather than
having more time off with breaks throughout the school year, to have universally free
school system or to have parents pay into the system, and whether it is more beneficial
to have few or many tests to show achievement? These are only a few questions that
are asked when considering education. The real question we are looking at is: is there a
better system? There are pros and cons for both systems and it is definitely worth the
can look at two very different countries education systems; the United States and
Finland. Both education systems have advantages and disadvantages but is one
Finland
Firstly we can look at the education system of Finland and see what areas of
education they see as priorities. The structure of the schools in Finland are unlike ones
in Canada, the students start school around the age of about 7 however the big
difference is with the higher education. Around the age of 16 they are set with the task
of determining if they want to go further in the academic stream and specialize in field or
they can decide to go into a vocational school for different trades such as welding or
construction. They have to make this difficult choice very early on in their education
however it is very beneficial for the student to specialize in what they are eager to learn
more about and increases motivation in school. Another comparable difference to most
they have three main focuses which entails languages, cores and arts. By the time that
Finnish students graduate they have to have learnt three different languages a mother
tongue language, generally english and swedish/russian ect. The cores that they learn
is courses such as mathematics, sciences, and social studies. Then the last category is
the art portion which entails courses like music and art. This is very different then what
the United States focuses on because the biggest priority is the core classes. Another
Finland even at the post secondary level. This is a very effective way to lessen the
wealth gap because all people in Finland have the opportunity to go to school and get
the job that they want to get. However the drawback to this model is that they have to
pay a lot of taxes in Finland to get this privilege as well as the fact that most professions
are paid the same wage. Another debate is about testing, in Finland students face
several large tests at the end of high school to determine if they can get into a
they do in the United States. Another plus to this education system is that the teachers
talk less then the students do which is a strategy that has been proven to show more
learning taking place for students, in the “Finland Phenomenon” film they said that
teachers talk about 40% of class time were the students speak 60% of the time. Getting
students to speak out and show initiatives like they do in Finland is definitely more rare
in the United States. Another interesting fact about Finland that is hard for Canadians
(and many different countries) to understand is the fact that the students do not get
homework and their summer break consists of 3 months rather than 2 months. These
students spend less time in school then in Canadian schools yet they have more
success with achievement, which is an interesting thing to analyze. These are just some
of the things that makes Finland stand out from other counties. There is a lot of
advantages to this system however at a price which is based on the taxation system, in
this system they value services over economic income diversity and this education
system is analyzed by many countries and sought after to this day; however this system
would not work for every country such as the United States and so it is hard to tell
Secondly the United States have a different approach to their education system.
Their structure differs in the fact that they start school around 4 or 5 years old and then
the differentiation is different from school to school, some schools have elementary/
junior high school until the grade 8 level and then grade 9-12 is high school and other
schools start high school later. There is not much difference between these different
levels except for difficulty; there is no major career choice at the high school level for
these students. The curriculum is very similar to Canada in that they are taught mainly
the core subjects such as mathematics, sciences, language arts, and social studies with
a few option courses that they can also take. “According to the Common Core State
mathematics and English language arts/literacy” and outlines what a student should
know, and be able to do, at the end of each grade.” (K-12 Curriculum and Pupil
Assessment). These guidelines are very specific regarding which grade level that each
student is in. It is also evident that the United States has less academic diversity with
the courses offered and the core subjects are weighted more heavily with importance.
The United States pride themselves on the fact that they are the country of opportunity,
they attempt to create equality across the country. Although a disadvantage to this
system is that typically the poor stay poor and the rich get richer, because the world of
opportunity only affects the people that can pay for their education. This is one big
difference between Finland and the United States because Finland is more of a socialist
country so they share their wealth and everyone can be educated and then the United
States is almost the complete opposite where they are a capitalist country so there is
opportunity but only if you can afford it. The United States education system is mainly
focused on teacher lecturing process and the students learn from the teacher mainly;
not like in finland where the students learn from the teacher and each other. The
students get quite a bit of homework and they get 2 months for summer vacation rather
than 3 like in Finland. The main advantages to this particular system is that if you work
hard and have the money for it you can become very wealthy and if you enjoy your job
then you would have a very good quality of life. Disadvantages is the portion of the
people in the United States that can not afford the education stay where they are in the
hierarchy of the system. This system can be more preferable to some people, however
There is not many similarities between these two education systems because the
cultures are very different and the economic dynamic of the country are different too,
however there is a couple of things that are parallels between the two systems. The first
thing is that regardless of being in Finland and the United States the academic stream
in the education system is highly sought after. In the United States the main stream is
based on the academic aspect leading to students pursuing academic based jobs and
generally higher paying jobs as well. As for Finland there is equal chance for students to
either stream and both streams are very prestigious although the amount of students
that go into the vocational route is about 35% (from the “Finland Phenomenon”). Both
systems also promote the idea of opportunity, the United States promote opportunity
however the system provides opportunities only for the part of the population that can
actually afford it and through this system the idea is if they work hard then the sky's the
limit, as for Finland the opportunity is actually for everyone because the education
system is free to all students because the country is more socialist. Lastly the age that
these students start school is around the same age about 5-7 which means that both
countries possibly could share the same view that in early childhood development it is
beneficial to spend this time with the parents before they are sent to school. All
education systems have similarities that are necessary for the countries to flourish and
through these similarities they set up a necessary backbone to support each system.
However these similarities are not of much interest when comparing if one education
There is no right way to set up an education system because all cultures are
different and there are different economic models that pay a lot into how an education
system is made up. Although there are different statistics that can show the benefits of
one single education system although it is very difficult to fully compare systems
because of things such as culture and economic models. In the “Finland Phenomenon”
film it was stated that the United Nations ranked Finland's education system as the best
in the world. Another article states that “Ninety-three percent of Finns graduate from
academic or vocational high schools, 17.5 percentage points higher than the United
States, and 66 percent go on to higher education, the highest rate in the European
Union. Yet Finland spends about 30 percent less per student than the United States.”
(Why are Finland Schools Successful?). These statistics are pretty solid evidence that
the Finland school system are succeeding however this system would not work for
every school system in the world. One of the biggest reasons this system is hard to
compare to the United States is that the United States is a capitalist country and Finland
determine a set framework that all school systems should abide by to be the best that
they can possibly be. As for the students it is a lot easier on them in the Finland system
because they do not have any major tests until the end of graduation to then get
accepted into a post-secondary system, as well as the course load that the students go
through is a lot less strenuous than the United States system which leads to increased
motivation for learning and a great deal of trust in the entire system. The teachers are
very trusting of the students to get their work done when they need too and this makes
the system flow nicer. One of the only reasons that this system works in Finland is
because of the trust factor. Even though there is not one system that will work for
everyone I personally see a lot more benefits in Finland’s education system then in the
United States education system, stress is less for the students, they get to learn what
they want to learn earlier in their education, there is trust between the students and the
teachers, everyone has equal opportunity to get an education and find a career they
want to pursue. Although there is a lot of factors that come into play with these
education systems so there is truly not one set framework that would work for all
education systems.
Conclusion
In conclusion there are advantages to both systems and there are disadvantages
too and not every education system would work in every country. Finland has a system
that is very sought after and many people try to take ideas from the system to improve
their systems which is a great strategy for strengthening your own education system.
There is not one proper education system however, just constant re-evaluation and
trying new things. Building upon our own education systems is what is going to
strengthen education as a whole. This is the main goal overall is to better our education,
teaching our students the skills and giving them the knowledge that they need in order
to be successful in our societies. Education is our power in the world so we have to use
it wisely.
Citations from in class: