Posted on 04/09/2010 5:31:50 PM PDT by Justaham
Last year more than 100 foreign delegations and governments visited Helsinki, hoping to learn the secret of their schools' success.
In 2006, Finland's pupils scored the highest average results in science and reading in the whole of the developed world. In the OECD's exams for 15 year-olds, known as PISA, they also came second in maths, beaten only by teenagers in South Korea.
This isn't a one-off: in previous PISA tests Finland also came out top.
The Finnish philosophy with education is that everyone has something to contribute and those who struggle in certain subjects should not be left behind.
A tactic used in virtually every lesson is the provision of an additional teacher who helps those who struggle in a particular subject. But the pupils are all kept in the same classroom, regardless of their ability in that particular subject.
Finland's Education Minister, Henna Virkkunen is proud of her country's record but her next goal is to target the brightest pupils.
''The Finnish system supports very much those pupils who have learning difficulties but we have to pay more attention also to those pupils who are very talented. Now we have started a pilot project about how to support those pupils who are very gifted in certain areas.''
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
Lack of “diversity” is their strength. I’m not speaking of how much melanin their employees have in their epidermis, nor whether they have outdoor or indoor plumbing...I’m talking about the shared culture, that has in common specific values that are undeniably positive. If everyone in the country/orginization ascribes to a collection of positive values, regardless of melanin or plumbing, then that country/orginization is destined to succeed.
Whoa! That was bizarre. Very unassuming. I think tehy really look down at others in their group (other Finns) who try to stick out.
I recall a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbI93pXXGvk
Start at 3:28. See at 4:08. Kimi Raikkonen being interviewed by a Finnish journalist. This is at the Ferrari factory and the President of Ferrai lands and expects Kimi to drop everything to come see him. Kimi thinks it is rude and tells the Ferrari go-fer to F off and he will get to him.
Very Finnish. Kimi is treating everyone equally - tells his boss he will come when he is done. Love the video. The Finnish journalist loved it.
Your friend must be pretty smart. Finnish is one of the hardest languages in the world to learn.
Unreal. Overweight epic failure. Ouch!
Never got to Finland but did get to Denmark. Great people.
Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Holland used to be the least diverse of the European countries, and if you want to find an example of socialism working to some degree, it is in these little countries. When there is a sameness, small group, and common identity, socialism fits right in. Socialism works in your family, for instance.
Enter the Muslims and they find this vast social welfare state perfect for not working and raising a huge family. One way or another, socialism destroys. Finland has a Muslim population of 0.2%, so it's fairing better than Holland, for instance. Most Finns are hard workers despite socialism, even if they aren't particularly cheery folk (highest suicide rate in Europe, last I heard). I traveled around Europe with a Finn, and I think he smiled once. It was the culture, he told me.
I know. Though the black dude was really, really big, but that does not mean my boss could call him outright “overweight”.
Oh,that was beautiful! I downloaded it. I will check her out.
parsy
its called a positive homogenous demographic and DNA. The average IQ in sub-Saharan Africa is in the 70s....which is about the same as inner city Atlanta....connect the dots.
Yup. He was being paid about $40 million a year by Ferrari and was behind Tiger in pay. He took a year off F1 to do rally racing because this is what Finns love. He should be back in F1 with Red Bull as Vettel’s teammate because they are good friends. They are probably the two best F1 drivers with Alonso just behind them.
She is Finnish. Jennie Dahlgren(?). She likes hoirses but Kimi is allergic to them. He goes back to Finland to hang out with his freinds.
Jennie Dahlman is Finnish (from Turku), but there’s a lot of discussion on the Internet that she’s not pure Finnish. Probably a mixture of something else. But she’s vry attractive, much, much taller than Kimi.
The material with which you have to work makes all the difference.
Smart students = good educational results
It’s as simple as that.
But there are a lot of students who don’t get godo education results. I was watching Forensic Files last night and the murderer who killed two people graduated first in class in the US Navy Seals (both academic and combatant.) Too bad he didn’t use his academic skills to good use.
I’ve spent a couple weeks in Helsinki and found that the Finns get very annoyed when foreigners aren’t familiar with every freakin’ Olympic athelete they have. It’s kind of a national inferiority complex. Helps to read up on Finnish sports figures before you visit.
Whoa, good thing I did not talk about sports when I visited Finland.
Kimi’s hilarious. Somehow I can see why he did not stay at Ferrari. He tells the President of the company to Eff off he is doing an interview. He breaks the car or the electrics shut down for a second during a TV interview. The Finnish TV at one point looked like he was blessing himself.
Hopefully Kimi will come back to F1 next year and he should be teammates with wunderkind Vettel. They are pretty close friends.
They are very obsessive with Winter Sports - cross country, ski jumping, hockey, etc.
Also rally car racing and formula 1.
Hadn't heard of Paavo Nurmi, I take it?
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