Secrets to Finland's Eduction Success

• The difference between the weakest and the strongest students is the smallest in the World.
• Science classes are capped at 16 students so that they may perform practical experiments every class.
• 93 percent of Finns graduate from high school (17.5 percent higher than the U.S.).
• All teachers in Finland must have a masters degree, which is fully subsidized.
• Teachers are selected from the top 10% of graduates.
• Teachers are effectively given the same status as doctors and lawyers.

Entire article here.

Image credit: pilwe.deviantart.com

Education: Mandela's Perspective

Shanghai's Improvement Plan for Schools

Portrait of a Young Global Citizen

By Wayne Russell

Meet Andrew, a 13 year young man. When I first met him he was four turning five. We met in Shanghai, China: He a kindergarten student, I his teacher. Now Andrew is about to enter 8th grade. With the help of technology and a relationship with his parents I have stayed in touch. What motivated me to write this piece is two-fold. One, I am excited to reunite with Andrew and his family this summer (His family still lives in Shanghai). Two, his mother recently posted a short video clip of him playing his ukulele (He also plays the piano and guitar very well).

When I think of Andrew, I think "global citizen." Andrew was born in the United States and then at the age of three he and his family relocated to China. During their stay in Asia, Andrew has also lived in Vietnam for one and a half years. While is Vietnam Andrew became fluent in Vietnamese, a language that has two more tones than Chinese's four. In addition to his Chinese being pretty good, he is currently learning a fourth language, Tagalog. Tagalog is spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines.

One day Andrew will enter the workforce with a number of competitive skills. He will not only speak more than his mother tongue, English, but he will be well experienced in working with people from all around the world (He attends a quasi-international school with classmates from many different countries). Andrew will know how to communicate with people with vastly different cultural and family backgrounds and will be able to work through problems when perspectives are night and day.

Andrew will be a well-prepared and competitive citizen in our ever-expanding global economy. I look forward to following one of our future leaders.

Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.

Cheers!

enCOURAGE change

By Wayne Russell, M.Ed.


CHANGE: a word that can hurt or heal. What I am learning about change, and more specifically change in schools, is that change may be inevitable, but it is never just ABC, 123. Change in schools is a process and not an overnight switch from old to new. I have learned through personal experience that before you can really plan change in a school, you first need to develop TRUSTING relationships that always seek to ENCOURAGE. Teachers must trust that change will not be implemented without whole-hearted support, and that they will be consistently encouraged throughout the process of change.

A few months before our wedding Misty proposed a plan for me to loose some weight.  The way in which she supported me was by encouraging us to share entrees at restaurants, to order water instead of sodas, and to walk together more.  A foundation of trust was built as I learned that she truly supported her proposals. She was more than talk (I ended up loosing 50 pounds within one year).

In a school, you cannot force change. You describe a new way of doing something and then you explain what you will do to support teachers along the journey.  What you will do for them today, tomorrow, next week, and in a few months time.  The appearance of your support may change, but your support never ends. You cannot "take a break" from supporting something you care deeply about. Taking a break from offering support will quickly erode trust.

In terms of encouragement, we all have bad days and bad weeks. I think of my exercise experiences.  My most successful experience was while I was teaching in Shanghai several years ago.  The reason I consistently worked out was largely because my gym partner gave constant encouragement. He encouraged me to not give up and to hang in there. Major life change is not easy, it takes grit, and if you don't have someone offering encouragement throughout the process, meaningful change will most likely be stifled.

Teachers are some of the hardest working people you will meet. They arrive early, they work while eating lunch, they stay late, and they often take work home.  A 60 hour work week is not unheard of in the teaching field. If teachers come to school day after day learning to expect little encouragement for the hard work they are doing, they will soon find another avenue to gain encouragement. Ultimately resulting in their passion for teaching dwindling and a few years later they may decide to switch to a career where their skills and hard work are appreciated and encouraged.

There are so many different educational programs that schools can decide to pursue. A school can literally change programs every month for at least a decade and there will still be more programs available. The  wide array of options reminds me of walking down the cereal isle in a large supermarket.  So many choices, not enough time and money to try them all.  The skillful leader knows how to discern between good and great programs but also realizes that PEOPLE are more important than PROGRAMS.

Ultimately, change takes COURAGE.  It is not for the meek. Go change the world, one child at a time.

Make it a great day or not, the choice is yours.

Somethings Never Change: My Thoughts as a Teenager

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Mindful Eating

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