What Berwyn Can Learn From Helsinki

I read with great interest this article about the Finnish Education Model. Since Students from Finland consistently rank on top of all the world, officials from other countries look to duplicate some of their successful practices:

1) Invest in teachers. Finland provides an additional teacher in classrooms to assist struggling students while they remain in the classroom. The practice of co-teaching with a focus on the struggling students is becoming more common here in the United States and, indeed, in Berwyn. However, the Finnish Education Minister, Henna Virkkunen is now turning her attention to those students who are gifted. The District 100 DACEE Gifted and Accelerated Committee is recommending a "Gifted Coach" in each building and a curriculum and approach for all children that supports differentiation for the gifted. This benefits the whole class through inclusion/co-teaching rather than separate instruction.

2) Fewer transitions. Finnish students remain in the same school through elementary and secondary years and their teachers follow them for several years. The frequent tranisition in our American system can be very disruptive to the learning process. Berwyn CARES researched the possibility of a unit district, which though it would not be a totally consistent building, students would benefit from better articulation between their elementary schools and high schools. It is also possible to share a charter between districts in IL. What would a charter school for grades 6-12 shared between D98, D100 and Morton West high school look like?

3. Late start? Finnish students do NOT begin formal schooling until age 7. While I do not think this model would be effective in the United States or Berwyn because of other factors that differ between the cultures, I do think this Finnish model supports play based learning in early years over academic rigor. Should kindergarteners be sitting in their desks, struggling to write their alphabet and sound out words or should they be communicating, creating and playing to build a foundation of language that will make the eventual leap to literacy much easier at age 7 or 8? Might we in the states analyze this practice in Finland and modify it to fit our very different needs?

4. Culture of Educational Excellence. Here's the biggie! In Finland, teachers are highly valued and the career is a prestigious one. Parents are involved and regularly communicate with teachers. Consider this quote from the article:

"Finnish parents obviously claim some credit for the impressive school results. There is a culture of reading with the kids at home and families have regular contact with their children's teachers."

The parental involvement is not the rigid, militant approach of the Chinese parent (who read about the Tiger Mother?), but a relaxed and natural acceptance of education as a PART of their culture. How can we duplicate that? Berwyn school officials all identify parental involvement as one of their #1 priorities. School board candidates mention it as a part of their campaign platforms. District 98 lists a presentation on their school board meeting agenda THIS WEDNESDAY titled "District Parent Partnership Program".

Citizens! We should be paying attention to some of the solutions to the parental involvement problem our schools and candidates are proposing. Be a part of those solutions (if you are reading this blog, it is assumed you value education!). How can we promote a culture of educational excellence in ALL of Berwyn?