The elite of education

What is Finland known for? It is known for Nokia, Angry Birds and a great school system. Our great success in PISA-tests has made many interested about this small, northern country. Our school system is so famous that many educators from many countries have visited Finland, intending to find out our secret. People have also written many articles about education in Finnish schools. In these articles they have listed the reasons for our success and tried to think, how they could use these things in their own school systems. As a Finnish student I have been privileged to take a close look at our praised school system and I can say that all this praising has been well-earned.

I think that teachers’ high education has been the base for our success. All the teachers in Finland have to accomplish master’s degree before they can work as a teacher. This ensures that students get the best teaching they can have. Teachers can also decide what the best way to teach their students is. This gives them free hands to do what they best can and really get to know their students. This is how they have earned their high status. One article said that teachers’ status is comparable to doctors and lawyers. That is true in my case. I have always respected teachers and thought that maybe one day I would become a teacher too.

Another important thing in a working school system is society’s support. Like it said in this article the entire society supports, nourishes and develops its youth. There is a lot of evidence of this. Education is free to everyone. Everything from school meals to transporting is available for everyone. This is possible thanks to our strong social welfare system which supports the idea of equality and education as a human right. I think this is the reason why it’s difficult for other countries to copy our education system. This article explained that quite well.

The most important thing in a working school system is students and their motivation. Even the best education system doesn’t work if students aren’t motivated. In this respect it’s important to make learning and learning environments more interesting, like using different teaching methods and putting colorful paint on the walls. Competition is a generally used way to motivate but this only gives students more stress. School should be a place where you learn equality and not the place where students have to compete against each other.

A working education system is a sum of many factors. It needs highly educated teachers, society’s support and motivated students. Here in Finland these factors have worked successfully. One reason for this might be that Finland has always had a culture of hard work and knowledge. This is a useful quality in international comparison.

School is fun!

I read an article about Finnish students and their attitude toward school. It said that Finnish youths like school a lot less than their peers elsewhere. Even if Finnish school system is one of the best in the world, Finnish teens are not very enthusiastic about school. This article made me wonder if any ordinary teenager really like school, because I think we should question why we spend over six hours a day sitting on the school bench. Of course sitting on the school bench is very important, but still I think that Finnish youth only acts like ordinary teenagers.

But what are the reasons why Finnish teenagers like school even less than other teenagers? There's nothing wrong with the school system, teachers are not that awful and we have shorter schooldays than in many other countries. So what's the problem? Maybe it's the climate. It is so cold and dark and sometimes it might feel overwhelming. That makes us tired and when you're tired, nothing feels interesting. Or maybe it has something to do with the school building. Classrooms with boring white walls aren't the most inspiring learning environment.

It would be interesting to know why teenagers in other countries then like school. Maybe this is the one area that Finland can learn from other countries.

A hungry child doesn't learn

School lunch. Is it awful, unhealthy and tasteless or is it a huge privilege we should be grateful for.? I think it's a huge privilege because not everyone gets a free meal at school, actually only students in Finland and Sweden do. I couldn't manage the whole school day without lunch. And it really isn't that bad, considering how little money they have spent on that. Besides that school lunch is free, it also teaches us manners and Finnish food culture and gives us a break to breathe.

The reason why people judge the school lunch is the small budget. Because the food is paid from our taxes, the budget can't be very high. But even the prisoners in jail get better food with more money than we do. And that's unbelievable. All the results and experience has shown that school lunch is worth paying for, even if students complain how horrible it is. You'd rather eat school lunch than get whipped, right.

Objective or not

Exam weeks are officially over, for now. After getting the exams back some students weren't so happy about their results. I don't know was it only because of the disappointment, but they started to think that teachers might be partial. Like if you have been very active, the teacher will pay more attention to your essay than the one who has been passive. Of course activity will be counted in the final grade, but already in the exam grade? I don't think so. It's hard to imagine that the teacher would change his or her approach when reading the name on the paper. I believe that teachers do have favorites, but they don't give them any releases, hopefully. So what's your opinion, are teachers objective, even here in Finland?

You are what you know

I agree with the title because, first of all, knowledge is what separates us from animals. And secondly, people tend to classify us by what we know. So if you don't know anything, people think you're stupid. But if you're smart, people respect your ideas and knowledge. You can also think like this yourself. You can find yourself either stupid or smart or something in between. This can affect your behavior, your motivation at school and your self-confidence. So knowledge affects what you think about yourself and what everybody else thinks. 

Be prepared

Everybody always thinks that scouting is nothing but tying knots and hiking in the woods. And that is true, but it’s also so much more than that. In scout you learn some very useful skills, such as first-aid, cooking and orienteering. You also learn some not so useful things like how to fit all your equipment into a milk can or how to make glue out of potatoes.

I started scouting when I was six or seven years old so I have been a scout about eleven years. During that time I have got many memories and experiences that I will never forget. My best scout-memories are from different camps. It’s nice to meet lots of scouts from different places so my favorite camp has been our camp in Switzerland. There is a place where scouts from all over the world can meet. There we hiked and climbed on the mountains. The views were incredible. We also got to know what scouting is like in other countries.

Even though there are some differences between scouting here in Finland and in some other country, scouting follows a specific ideology that is the same for everyone. It includes the idea of developing your responsibility, character, self-confidence and readiness. Protecting nature and working in teams where your origin, race or creed has no matter, are also very important goals.

For me scouting has been very rewarding. I have learned skills that will help me later in life. Being a scout has for example developed my social skills, especially how to be a good team member. And I think that is the kind of skill that will take you far.

Scouts on the road

One summer we had a scout camp in Switzerland. We went there by bus. It was a long, long journey so we stopped at a gas station in Germany. We got out of the bus and we were given a litte snack: crispbread with Nutella, because we were in Germany. I remeber this so well because it was so weird and it must have looked weird; a big group of scouts, sitting in front of the gas station, eating crispbread with Nutella. But it was fun and it tasted good.

Image: 'Nutella'