By: Anu Partanen
Published: The Atlantic; Dec 29, 2011; http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/
Level of difficulty:
***
BEFORE YOU READ
· 5 Reasons Why Finland Is A Global Education Leader https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfmFIEh2QjU
ADD THE SUBTITLE
Read the text and add the following subtitles to the
text. The subtitles are in the order they appear in the text but you will need
to decide how many paragraphs fall under each heading.
·
Introduction
·
From
Nokia to quality of life and innovation
·
High
scores but less homework
·
Sahlberg
drops a bombshell
·
Who
is this man?
·
To
test or not to test?
·
A
radical approach to teaching
·
From
equity to success
·
Do
size and homogeneity matter?
·
Cooperation
plus equality equals success
QUESTIONS
1.
Look
at the last sentence of paragraph one. What is the point that seems to be
missed?
2.
The
fact that Finnish students are achieving some of the highest scores in the
world has resulted in …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
3.
The
fact that Finland is ranked at the top of the PISA list along with South Korea,
Singapore and China is perhaps surprising because the former three stress ………………………………
and the latter doesn’t.
4.
What
truly surprising fact did Sahlberg mention during his visit to Dwight school?
5.
In
what two ways is Dwight different from Finnish schools?
6.
The
writer says “Yet no one in the room commented on Sahlberg’s statement. I found
this surprising. Sahlberg himself did not.” Why wasn’t he surprised?
7.
The
assessment of Finnish students is based on
……………………………………………………………….
8.
Which
pillars of the American education system don't exist in the Finnish one?
9.
Why
don’t the above qualities exist in the Finnish one?
10.
The
purpose of the Finnish education system
in meeting all the physical and psychological needs of the students is
the desire to ………………………………………………………………………………….
11.
What
does “This point” in the phrase “This point is almost always ignored” refer to?
12.
Sahlberg
believes that Americans can benefit from the Finnish model despite their size
and homogeneity because …………………………………………………………………………………………………….
13.
The
purpose of including the Norway example is to prove that ……………………………………………
14.
Both
Finland and America are motivated by the desire to ……………………………………….. in their
efforts to improve their educational systems.
15.
What
is the implied take home point of the story about the first moon landing?
16.
According
to the writer, America can be more competitive globally with ………………………………
WRITING TASK
Write an essay on the following
topic: Is an attitude of succeed at all costs damaging our education system?
Before you do so, access the following article “Teachers: Will We Ever Learn?” by
Jal Mehta:
This article will provide you with
information about the American system, which is better known. Annotate the text
to get a more comprehensive view of the issue. Then write your essay.
WHAT AMERICA KEEPS IGNORING ABOUT FINLAND’S SCHOOL SUCCESS KEY AND
TEACHER’S NOTES
This wonderful text and its related link underscore an important dilemma
in educational policy and should therefore have universal appeal. Finland’s
example is a wonderful ray of hope indicating that everything we have ever
dreamt of as teachers is possible. The writing task, which brings in another
related text sent by my friend and colleague Füsun Savcı, presents the other
side of the coin giving you a superb all round picture on which an essay could
be based. In my view, this task should be preceded or followed by “Exams in
South Korea”, which is about a related issue and also on this blog.
SUBTITLES KEY
·
Introduction: paragraph 1
·
From Nokia to quality of life and
education:
paragraph 2
·
High scores but less homework:
paragraphs 3, 4 and 5
·
Sahlberg drops a bomb shell: from *** to Sahlberg himself did
not.
·
Who is this man?: From” Sahlberg knows” to “now, in
addition to his other duties…”
·
To test or not to test?: from “ his point of view” to “ a
range of different schools”
·
A radical approach to teaching: from “as for accountability”
to ***
·
From equity to success:
from *** to ***
·
Do size and homogeneity matter?: From *** to foreign born residents in Finland
·
Cooperation plus equity equals
excellence: From
“What’s more…”
QUESTIONS KEY
1.
The
fact that the Scandinavian country is an education superpower because it values
equality more than excellence
2.
Finland’s
national education system receiving particular praise.
3.
Long
hours of exhaustive cramming and rote memorization
4.
The
fact that there are no private schools in Finland
5.
The
fact that Dwight is a private institution; the fact that Dwight is run for profit
6.
The
answers Finland provides seem to run counter to just about everything America’s school reformers are trying to do
7.
Individualized
grading by the teachers
8.
Standardized
tests, private schools, accountability and competition
9.
Because
the goal of the program America instituted
wasn’t equity
10.
To
even out social inequality
11.
Finland
was producing academic excellence through its particular policy focus on equity
12.
The
number of foreign born residents in Finland doubled during the decade leading
up to 2010 and the country didn’t lose its edge in education.
13.
Educational
policy is probably more important to the success of a country’s school system
than the nation’s size or ethnic makeup.
14.
Be
competitive / preserve their competitiveness
15.
Dreams
can come true
16.
More
equity at home
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