Who Needs Homework?

Who needs Homework?

Well Finland surely doesn’t

And you know what? Their education system is much better than ours according to the ongoing PISA results

OK I guess we are doing quite well compared to America and the UK

And yet…

We follow their way of teaching…

It’s a bit obvious that we follow a very westernised way of teaching, who can blame us? Our culture is basically run by these instances but we really have to think, is it really improving us as a whole?

Lets direct our attention back to Finland and how amazing and booming they are compared to us

Not only are their PISA results outstanding, two out of three students would go to collage, not to mention their graduation rate is at 93% and 99% finish (or Finnish) compulsory basic education (Sahlberg, 2011), compared to Canada which is only 78% and the US 75%

Now why is this?

It because of Dedication

A large number of a student’s willingness to learn comes from the teacher, I personally believe this because a good lecturer or tutor or teacher in general can really change the attitude of a student.

In Finland only the best of the best teachers get to mentor the students, allowing only the top 10% of graduates being accepted into teaching programs, those who also have their masters. Not only that the title of being a teacher is massive, ranking as high as doctors and lawyers.

Respect can really change a man, I mean my friends admitted that they don’t even recognise that teachers are actual people! Earning the powerful titles of “Teacher” can even have you gain more respect from students.

Not only are the teachers in Finland brilliant, they are given the correct environment with students that a teacher needs, have a 1 to 12 ratio of Student teach, unlike in places like New York City it is 1 to 24!

Smaller classes mean more quality time for students, a larger want for group discussion and much easier to monitor students. One of the main problems, in my school at least, was that our classes were too full. My teacher had to teach a class of 30, it’s too much for one to handle!

As for the students they don’t get as much pressure as the kids in Australia have, they are more time to be kids receiving around 75 min a day for recess, plus, as the title reads NO HOMEWORK! (At least until 16).

Not to mention their limited need for standardised testing, allowing the kids to gradually learn at their own pace, instead of pressuring them to remember everything.

Now I’m really questioning why we don’t follow Finland’s way, it’s so obvious that we need to implement some of these ideals because Education is the foundation of everyone’s future. Once schooling improves, so will everything else!

Thankfully UNSW at least has upped the ATAR score needing more dedicated students to get in, students who want to teach, students who want to inspire.

References:

Sahlber, Pasi (2011) Lessons from Finland: Where the country’s education System Rose to the Top in Just a Couple Decades, Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review p.18-24