The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) wanted to find out the philisophies of Scandinavian countries, whose students have outperformed students from other countries in a recent test of math and science skills. They learned that educators in Finland, Sweden, and Denmark believe that teacher autonomy, project-based learning, and nationwide broadband Internet access are keys to their success. I read about this in April 2008 issue of eSchool News.
These three countries have vastly different philosophies from the USA. They do NOT have standardized testing, competitive grading, and top-down accountability. They also have pre-school programs between ages 4 and 7 that stress self-reflection and social behavior, not academic content. The pre-school programs help students take responsibility for their own learning. Additionally, the countries have social programs that provide families with support; poverty and extreme wealth do not exist.
Interesting, isn't it?
I always find it amazing that American educators will go and research Scandinavian countries to figure out why they are using common sense, instead of "tradition" to guide their schools into the 21st Century.
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