School? FUN?! – An Estonian’s View
On a recent visit to Estonia, I was talking to someone about myself, what I did for a living, etc. I mentioned Finnish schools as being highly regarded. She immediately scoffed at the comment. ‘School is really bad in Finland’, she said in perfect English. ‘The teachers can’t say anything about the children’s behaviour, the children are even allowed to chew gum! And, the teachers have to turn lessons into games and make them fun, otherwise the children don’t learn.’ I didn’t really know what to say in return, I like games!
*EDIT* – I’m not suggesting that this is the view of all Estonians!
July 4th, 2008 at 6:14 am
Hi
What can I say – that must’ve been a really ignorant Estonian. Finnish education is regarded as one of the best in the world. I have nothing bad to say, especially considering the fact that more than 90% of the Finnish students actually LIKE going to school, while the same per cent here is about 2%. Yes, there actually have been such surveys. Not that we would have bad schools – no, our students get really good education, but the system itself is not humane and the students are more like workanimals. Work, work, work, a huge test, a huge test, work, work, work.
Grts
July 4th, 2008 at 7:31 am
Thanks for your comment, it’s good to get a balanced view! I have been to Estonia a few times and I’m spending most of my summer holidays there (it seems that you get the better deal when it comes to school holidays). In my limited experience of Estonian schools it appears that, although most of the country is bang up to date, the education system is still a bit old fashioned. Of course, I haven’t done extensive research so I may be completely wrong, but it seems that Estonian teachers are under paid and under valued, as careers that are perceived as more cutting edge are given preference. People often forget that nearly every ‘high-flyer’ went to school for quite a big proportion of their life!