I have no disagreement with any of this. a great deal of teaching is and ought to be teacher directed. I spent many years at the front of a classroom explaining things. The deepest education however happened when I set in motion a task or assignment or project or student presentation where the students did research and produced their own knowledge. This is BTW what the business community tells the system they need more of. People who can work on their own or with groups doing cooperative learning.

The Finns do watch a great deal of television including cartoons and childrens programs using sub-titles which, of course is whole word oriented and very successful.

There are as Malkin points out many reasons for a country to be #1 in the world but the experts say it is primarily in the creation of a very strong teaching force that is the most educated, (usually 2 Master’s degrees) and trained on Earth. This is what we ought to be aiming at.

Canada will be very soon paying its teachers over $100 000 at the top of the grid. It is time to demand very high levels of education to get in to teacher training institutes and multi-year programs. No tuition of course, like Finland, it should be truly state supported.

The long dark nights bit is interesting. Others have actually said that the Type of Finnish Lutheranism popular in the 19th and early 20th century encouraged the common people to be literate enough to be able to read The Bible. Any of you who have tried know it does not exactly flow so your reading level ought to be good. This may give them a good base and cannot be dismissed lightly but in the 1970s Finlands education results were not particularly good. They were kind of average for Europe.

It is axiomatic in international education studies that education systems rise to the level necessary to make the local economy function and not much further. Finland’s economy in the 1970s was very similar to norther Ontario or BC, a lot of lumbering and some mining.

When it became clear that this economy was “over” as a major employer, the decision was made to radically increase their efforts in education. We should really therefore, be concentrating on Finnish education reform, 1970-2010.

I know you will love this one.

http://www.thelittleeducationreport,com/Itseems.html

Contributors and lurkers here may do well to know that Doug Little isn’t getting as free a ride with his Finnish philosophy over at the Mended blog.

I mention this as a counter to the contention that Mr. Little is supported by “all” educators. He’s not. Read it for yourselves.

Ya, John found one that does not agree plus one from management. That makes two. My views, however, are congruent with the elected leaders of the 4 major federations and there counterparts across Canada. They represent about 450 000 teachers so that makes it Doug 450 000, John 2.

Just more proof that the public education system is as over-rated by the usual suspects as ever…and as disconnected with individual classroom teachers.,

Perhaps teachers would do well to enjoy some choice of their own….like who represents them?

John, this will come as a big shock to you I know but the members DO choose who represents them every year. The members who voice opinions opposite from the federation leadership are the ones who either lost the elections or could not get off their duff to participate.

Given that the “4 major federations” may have priorities more atuned to their membership than the rest of society I’m not sure their endorsement is the be all and end all.  No doubt the heads of the auto companies and auto unions are all keen on government bailouts.  Does it follow, then, that their view is reflective of what the public or an appropriate means of dealing with the auto crisis?

Union leaders, irrespective of whether they their members work on the line at GM or at the local schools, will always put the welfare of their members first.