The other night, while watching the news, NBC ran yet another story comparing US schools to Finnish schools. Because they're so great and all... and I'm not going to disagree with that. Those video clips looked darned good to me!
The segment started with a sound bite from, the now infamous, Gov. Chris Christie complaining that since teachers hadn't "produced the product" wanted, they should be fired. Of course, the segment on NBC ended with a colorful graphic showing how US teachers are mostly stupid and Finnish teachers are all from the top of their classes; at least I'm pretty sure that was the intended message. We suck, they're great!
It also, however, mentioned some things that I've yet to hear anyone mention as a great new idea... like, THREE teachers per classroom! Two teach, one walks around helping those who need. Please note that the segment stated three TEACHERS - not aids, not volunteers. Imagine, three teachers in your own room? I'd never have to give the "treat the sub with respect, stop gossiping, yes, of course your homework is meant to be done at home" speech. It also mentioned heavy parent involvement and culture of expectation of learning from everyone. I'll bet that one went right over the heads of many viewers - personal/familial responsibility?!? Balderdash!
I also noticed in the piece that all those teachers seemed to move pretty freely around the classroom - it appeared there were fewer that 30 students in the room. Again, a stunning idea. I know that they can have a class of 70 in Senegal, but is that really the goal? Some people seem to think it is, if their taxed pennies are going to pay for it.
And, given the state of clothing the students wore, it was either a very nice day or the heating system actually worked! All the windows were in one piece and I did notice that the ceiling was completely white. No holes, no water stains and no spit wads either.
And they spend less per student. How is that possible? Three teachers per classroom? More classrooms (actual classrooms, not closets or half the gym)? Regular maintenance? I'll bet there is even toilet paper in ALL the bathrooms! How do they pay for all those extras?
Maybe we should try figuring out how come their teachers get paid a good salary and there are more of them, instead of wasting time pretending to hunt down the fabled "bad teacher". (You know, the one that everyone knows about, but no one thinks teaches at their kid's school...)
The segment started with a sound bite from, the now infamous, Gov. Chris Christie complaining that since teachers hadn't "produced the product" wanted, they should be fired. Of course, the segment on NBC ended with a colorful graphic showing how US teachers are mostly stupid and Finnish teachers are all from the top of their classes; at least I'm pretty sure that was the intended message. We suck, they're great!
It also, however, mentioned some things that I've yet to hear anyone mention as a great new idea... like, THREE teachers per classroom! Two teach, one walks around helping those who need. Please note that the segment stated three TEACHERS - not aids, not volunteers. Imagine, three teachers in your own room? I'd never have to give the "treat the sub with respect, stop gossiping, yes, of course your homework is meant to be done at home" speech. It also mentioned heavy parent involvement and culture of expectation of learning from everyone. I'll bet that one went right over the heads of many viewers - personal/familial responsibility?!? Balderdash!
I also noticed in the piece that all those teachers seemed to move pretty freely around the classroom - it appeared there were fewer that 30 students in the room. Again, a stunning idea. I know that they can have a class of 70 in Senegal, but is that really the goal? Some people seem to think it is, if their taxed pennies are going to pay for it.
And, given the state of clothing the students wore, it was either a very nice day or the heating system actually worked! All the windows were in one piece and I did notice that the ceiling was completely white. No holes, no water stains and no spit wads either.
And they spend less per student. How is that possible? Three teachers per classroom? More classrooms (actual classrooms, not closets or half the gym)? Regular maintenance? I'll bet there is even toilet paper in ALL the bathrooms! How do they pay for all those extras?
Maybe we should try figuring out how come their teachers get paid a good salary and there are more of them, instead of wasting time pretending to hunt down the fabled "bad teacher". (You know, the one that everyone knows about, but no one thinks teaches at their kid's school...)
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