Posted on 04/25/2015 6:27:38 AM PDT by Republicanprofessor
I didn’t see any mention of a teacher union in Finland or how long it takes to fire a bad teacher or of racial quotas.
Finland is a small and and very homogeneous country with common shared values. That is the foundation of the trust that he mentions at the end and that he claims to be the basis of its success.
Lots of formerly commie countries near the top of the WHO list. I think it’s fair to point out that Russia, for instance, has been renowned for heavy drinking for some centuries now.
Ethnicity is not the determining factor regarding trust - rather it is values.
Only to the extent that different ethnic groups have different values, does ethnicity become a factor.
Values are our core beliefs - it’s what we follow whether someone is watching or not. If all I know about you is your values I would know more or less how you would act in various situations - which constitutes the basis of trust.
Sorry, while you are correct in theory, in practice you’re not.
If I know you and your values, I could not care less about your race or ethnicity.
I don’t know random people on the street, so I’m forced to make judgments about their value system based on the groups to which they visibly belong.
All relevant studies indicate that as ethnic diversity increases, trust goes down, for the simple reason that those ethnic groups have diverse value systems.
For instance, most groups around the world, have an in-group based value system. It applies to others in their group, but not to others outside the group. It’s not “wrong” to lie, cheat or kill outsiders, though it may be wise not to do so if it will create problems for you.
Western Civ, AFAIK, is the only culture built on the notion of universal values, however poorly implemented that value system has been.
It should be noted this value system has seeped out into many other cultures, again however poorly implemented.
The only thing that will save US education is to get government out of it at all levels, but that will not happen. People love their subsidized daycare.
What? I have to write my name? Why can’t you just scan da name in?
Finland lacks diversity, which is the primary predictor of failure.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.