Differences between the Finnish and American education systems - Essay Example

Every country aims to educate its citizens and mostly equip its young generation with skills necessary to handle the challenges of 21st century. Finland has succeeded in devising a better and quality education system ranked the best in the world in all aspects. In contrast USA education system despite the vast resources invested to it is ranked lower compared to Finnish education system. There are variety of similarities and differences in both countries’ education systems. Compared to Finland which has an all inclusive educational system, USA has no country-wide regulations being imposed on schools since individual states as opposed to the Federal Government are responsible for regulating schools and the construction of schools curriculum.

This means individual schools make their own curriculum which translates to an inconsistent education system in the country. This case is also evident in the pre-school institutions where there is no standard subject to be taught. This is in contrast to Finland where there are nationalized education system policies and testing. In addition, children unlike in USA don’t begin school until they reach an age of seven years. However, years before seven are mostly spent in quality pre- school where they are taught social skills which aims to build their self esteem and confidence.

Furthermore, teaching profession is the most respected employment position in Finland. Education system is set up such that teachers earn people’s respect every day by the way they are centrally managed in the country to the highest standard in the world. Furthermore, they are respected due to the level of knowledge and authority which bestowed on to them. Teachers are very well trained as they have to have master’s degree and again have to go through a thorough 3-4 years training program before they are qualified to teach.

In contrast to America whereby in several charter schools it is not mandatory for their instructors to pass state licensing exams, to start teaching.  This has been one of the main factors which have maintained both teacher competence and school quality being the best.  In addition, there are no public or private schools; every school teaches children the same per pupil irrespective of the economic status or level of IQ. This is the reason why there is little or no gap between the best and least performing schools in Finland unlike USA where there is no uniformity and the difference between these two extremes schools is high.

Due to the high standards of quality and professionalism in Finnish education system, an education system based on trust evolved, where teachers are entrusted wholly to do their job. This is where parents are sure that their children are obtaining the best education possible. The teachers formulate all decisions in regard to how their class will be conducted. They also determine educational references to be used and the mode of presentation. It also important to note a difference in the mode of presentation whereby in USA teachers use technology as an aid while teaching as opposed to Finland where it is an integral part of the education.

Also there are regular evaluation checks which are conducted and feedbacks from teacher students which serve to iron out weakness in the mode of education and act as a means of sharing best teaching practices. Finnish students spend much more time in education tasks like projects compared to American students who are more into entertainment. Moreover, students are essentially given little homework to do. Teachers compared to their counterparts in USA work about 40% less class hours. This brings about another contributive factor of Finnish education system; being that a happier, friendlier and more effective school environment is more effective-small is enough, with a smaller amount teaching hours and little homework.

In addition, the number of students per class is small compared to that of USA. This leads to more contented teachers and children. This Despite the above differences there are a couple of similarities in both education systems. Both education systems are funded by the government. The students in Finnish schools are also facing the challenge of being distracted by social networking technology, friendships and music like their counterparts in USA. Moreover, all the education systems are destined to prepare citizens with the skills and knowledge necessary to compete in the global career market place.

Furthermore, students in both countries technology is used to teach and classroom settings and content are the same. In conclusion, Finns have clearly illustrated that any country, irrespective of its size or composition, there is much wisdom in minimizing testing and instead focusing on investing in broader curricula, smaller classes, and better training, pay, and treatment of teachers.