What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success

[AdHocSolver]

8. Education in the US, like everything else, is based on an assembly line factory model.

Education in the US is thought of as a mass-production enterprise. The student is a mold into which the teacher pours "knowledge".

In reality, real education relies on individual effort of the learner. In other words, the student has to be motivated to learn.

Real learning takes place predominantly during two activities: Play and problem solving.

The best relationship between teacher and student is that of mentor and apprentice.

A majority of school environments in the US are antithetical to a good learning/teaching environment.

No Child Left Behind and its ilk, as well as merit pay schemes, create an underlying hostile environment between teachers and students. The students are under severe pressures to perform in a badly designed environment in which teachers have little control and are judged on the basis of what can only be described as idiotic standards.

In the US, The Powers That Be are afraid of providing real education for the masses, since they have no incentive or intention to bring well-paying high tech jobs back to the US any time soon, if ever.

If there are no well-paying high tech jobs for Americans, The Powers That Be can then point to the "fact" that they can't find any technical people "because" US education is so poor.