"What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?"

One day in class, we were given an article entitled “What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?” After our class discussion and reading through this article, I started to question some of the teaching methods we use here in the United States. Here in our country there is so much pressure on kids to do so well in so many aspects of their lives. Kids are expected to do well in music, sports, class, and sustain meaningful relationships with their friends. Along with these expectations comes the pressure that parents put on their children. Every parent seems to want their child to be the best, and if students are not living up to those expectations, parents get mad and the students get punished. However, what if all of that was taken away. According to the article, schools in Finland do not have sports teams, marching bands, or prom. The emphasis of schools is “back to basics.” Within the school society, adults do not hover over the students, but rather the kids are given lessons that fit them. In addition, the only rules are basically that there cannot be any iPods, cell phones, or hats within the classroom. Other than that, there are not rules and students call their teachers by their first names. The atmosphere seems to be extremely relaxed compared to what we are used to here in the states. I remember in high school on the first day of class, the entire class periods would be going over rules and expectations. Perhaps we are placing too many restrictions upon our students, and maybe we need to give them more freedom in schools. Finally, the last major component of Finnish schools is how important reading is. From reading the article, it seems as though students actually enjoy reading. They incorporate it into all aspects of life, even including libraries in malls. I think this would be a huge change for our culture in the United States, but perhaps some of these changes could have positive impacts on our school systems.

The article "What Makes Finnish Kids So Smart?" can be found at:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB120425355065601997-7Bp8YFw7Yy1n9bdKtVyP7KBAcJA_20080330.html