Dialogue

Joseph (Me): Hello everyone! Thank you for meeting me for lunch today.

Sahlberg: Thank you for having us at your fine house.

Joseph: I invited you all here today to look at the U.S. educational system and the

Finland education system. I know each of you have done much research regarding the two.

Sahlberg: My name is Pasi Sahlberg, and yes I have studied the Finnish way of

education for a while now.

Gokce: Hello thank you for inviting me all the way from Turkey. My name is Asiye

Toker Gokce. I have also studied the Finland education system in comparison

to other European systems. I think it would be interesting to do what you are

doing and compare it with the United States also.

OECD: I am here representing the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and

Development. I have traveled all the way from Paris to attend this meeting. I have extensively studied the Finland system’s history from when it was started until now. I know almost anything you would like to know about the system and how it operates. I also brought these tables with me if you would like to look at them. The Finnish Ministry of Education gave them to me.

Gokce: Good job OECD! I also brought charts for Mr. Spinetto that I drew up myself.

I do not think they are as good as yours though.

Joseph: Thank you both for that. Who do I have here to represent the United States?

Randolf: Pleased to meet your acquaintance. My name is Kelli Randolf. I have

studied the No Child Left Behind Act created be the Bush administration. I would like to share my findings with the rest of you.

White House: Greetings every one. I am here representing the White House. We

have recently created an act to help fix the issues of the NCLB. The program is called the “Race to the Top” and is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. We hope to see many changes with it.

Randolf: Yes I have heard of that but I am very knowledgeable about what exactly

you are doing with it.

White House: Well what we plan to do is give $4 billion to 19 states to turn around

the lowest performing schools.

Randolf: That seems like a good plan to help with the budget issues. Since the NCLB

act we have had to cut many programs because of budgeting.

Joseph: How is budget in Finland?

OECD: Well Joseph, Finland has a very stable economy. Because of this we have

stable budgeting to the schools. The Ministry of Education and Culture gets about 47% of all the Ministries. This is a very high number and totals to about $900 million.

Joseph: Wow that is a lot!

White House: It is easier for you though because you don’t have a military to

support.

Sahlberg: That is true, but there are other indicators that make us the number

one. One of the main reasons I believe we are number one in the world is because of our teaching force. To be a teacher past 1^st grade in Finland you must have a master’s degree in education. To teach preschool or kindergarten you must have a bachelor’s degree.

Randolf: Wow! In the United States all you have to have is 2 years of college in some

places.    

Joseph: That is very interesting.

Gokce: Another factor that I have observed is how the teachers have taught in

Finland compared to other education systems I have reviewed. Their goal is to teach children at a young age to carry a sense of responsibility, independence, creativity, peaceful relations with people and to be compatible with the Finnish society. Doing this also setts a good relationship between school and parents.

Sahlberg: I have seen that in my studies too. Teachers are teaching their students to

be creative. There are no standardized tests in Finland, which restrict the teacher’s way of teaching.

Randolf: When you mentioned independence and creativity Mr. Gokce and Ms.

Sahlberg, it makes me think about our standardized tests, and how they could be killing independence. Teachers are starting to care less about their work in the U.S. because of it. We are also cutting programs left and right that institute creativity, such as art and theater.

White House: That’s why we have just started to focus more on the schools

monetary issue. Right now our economy has been just too poor and we need to focus on the issues in the schools.

Randolf: I would also like to comment on the part Mr Gokce said about having a

good relationship between school and parents. In my research on the NCLB Act I found that some parents liked the act, but lots criticized it. The parents here claim that their children are not learning, they are being “taught to the tests.” The government has also been cutting lots of “nonessential” subjects to save money, which pisses off the parents too.

Joseph: Well you said that some like it. What do they like about it?

Randolf: They like that they can pull their kids out of failing schools and put them in

better ones through the act.

Joseph: Well thank you everyone for coming! I got some good information today. All

of you have safe travels home.

Everyone: Thank you for having us!