Captured: Finland's Buildings

Wow, how awesome are these photos - EdWeek just published an article about how Finland is using innovative school architecture.  Just check out this cafeteria!

It reminds me of the phrase "there's no 'problem child' that can't be 'fixed' with good food, music, and sunlight" by Bill Strickland.

There are a lot more photos if you read the article here 
or download the pdf here.

Rambling: Meeting with a Mother

I'm sitting at Panera, fresh from a job interview.  I saw a posting on a local website from a mother who is looking for a tutor for her 2 boys for two months in August.  They will be in 1st and 4th grade.  I was excited about the possibility and curious to see if they were behind in class and their mother wanted to remediate them a bit, or if she simply wanted them to get a head start heading back into a school year.

It turns out that she has actually hired a full-time tutor for ALL summer, who simply can't cover those two weeks in August.  Her boys are successful in school and in fact, bored because they are not challenged.  They also attend Kumon (private tutoring company) regularly during the school year AND over the summer.  Whew!  A far cry from being behind and wanting to spend a couple weeks catching up.

It got me thinking about the effects of how parents intervene in their childrens' schooling.  These parents clearly have high expectations for their childrens' education and when it wasn't going as well as possible (aka, not being challenged), they did something about it.  They make it such a high priority that they're willing to post a job ad, interview, hire, and pay someone for those 2 weeks, rather than simply take 8 days off of learning.  That is dedication.

I wonder what inner-city education would be like if private tutors were a common feature of family life.  I was reminded of the book Home Advantage, which details how families' socioeconomic standings affect their ability to navigate (and fund) the education system.  I was also reminded of a conversation with a Peruvian friend who is concerned that American education isn't as rigorous as countries abroad.

Basically, today was an interesting window into how culture, standing, expectations, and perceptions of the parents' role all affect student achievement.

Printed: Your Fault

"The annals of international health contain many stories of adequately financed programs that failed because 'noncompliant' patients didn't take all their medicines.  Farmer said, 'The only noncompliant people are the physicians.  If the patient doesn't get better, it's your own fault.  Fit it.'" - Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, pg. 36

High five for treating people as people, Dr. Paul Farmer of Partners in Health in Haiti.  I never realized before how many parallels there are between the health field and the education field, especially internationally.  If your student isn't learning, it's likely your fault.  Fix it.

Printed: Finland's Secret

So we all know that Finland's education system rocks.  What I didn't know is this:

"What may come as a surprise is that Finland has neither engaged in researching its own, distinctive reform measures, nor generated change knowledge to steer education policy implementation. Instead, Finnish researchers have relied on the theories and insights of their international peers... Education ideas from the United States have played an especially significant role... Finnish authorities have likewise made significant use of ideas from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; the European Commission; and the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. In short, the Finns have been open to learning from other education systems."  - EdWeek

Learning from others who are doing the same thing next door.  Genius!  

Equally as genius: "Second, formulation and implementation of education policies have been built upon close cooperation with education authorities, municipalities that govern the schools, and—through Finland's Trade Union of Education—teachers."  Teachers?  Who work with kids?  Informing policy about kids?!?  It's so crazy it just might work!

Another gem: "The key driver of education-development policy in Finland has been providing equal and positive learning opportunities for all children and securing their well-being, including their nutrition, health, safety, and overall happiness... They have not endorsed student testing and school ranking as the path to improvement..."

It's not rocket science, people.