Let's do Finland!

This module about Reporting and Feedback helps me a lot in understanding what is rubrics, feedback, and grading is all about. It helps me understand the importance of those three essential things in the assessment process. However, this blog entry will not focus on my learnings about the module but a continuation of my insights about the failure of the educational system in our country- and I know we have this model same as in the United States. (because we get the culture of education during American colonization)

In all the readings that I've read, (although I already know this fact) this fact struck me most-  Finland, as considered to have the best educational system in the world, appreciated and dreamt by the US Professors, particularly in the famous Harvard University, to benchmark the same system and junk the culture of their standardised- grade valued system in the US.

The system in Finland focuses on the experiences and learnings of their beloved students, not particular with the standardised test nor the grades. This kind of system helps students understood the essence of life and prepare them in the reality that they will be facing in the future. It moulds the skills of every individual and creates an atmosphere of learning not relying on their teachers but explore the learning through their experiences in the classroom activities prepared by their teachers.

Our current system tells us to value much of the grades than our knowledge. Evident most of our students and even me when I am still a student that we are so afraid of failing, having mistakes, and getting zeroes in our quizzes.

According to the study of Younge et al (1996), most of the educational failures lead to suicide. This culture of grade-minded must be stopped. It is okay to fail. It is okay to commit mistakes. It is okay to get zeroes in our examinations. Nobody is perfect and we are not living in a utopian world.

However, it is important to establish an educational system close to being perfect similar to Finland. As an educator, it is not possible to do the same thing. Aside from not having standardised tests and focusing on the skills and experiences of the students, they also have FREE education to all.

Yes! it is possible for some countries to have this kind of system. It is possible to debunk the current system and change it to a more effective and comfortable one. Indeed nothing is impossible.

We must challenge our system. Challenge our government as the forefront of the policies of the state to organize and benchmark the system to Finland. Challenge our education agencies such as the Department of Education, and the Commission on Higher Education. And lastly, a challenge for all of us in the academe especially my fellow educators. We can change the system slowly and in our own little way in the classroom. Providing a system of assessment and learning process that doesn't value grades but learning, a system that seeks for justice that education is our right and not privilege, and a system that focus on the reality than memorizing the things out of fantasy.

If Finland can do it, why can't we?