Finland, the land of Confucius
When Taiwanese freelance writer Yolanda Chen told her friends she was moving to Finland with her diplomat husband, most of her acquantances knew nothing about Finland. Chen's father-in-law remembered that musical education was of first-class quality in Finland. Yolanda Chen had written a lot about education, in which she took an interest on account of her two daughters. "But I have to admit that I couldn't have imagined a Finnish school," Chen says.
Now Chen has lived six years in Finland. The Finnish school was a positive culture shock for her. As a consequence of that, she had a book entitled Cherish Every Child published in Taiwan last July. The book is written in Mandarin Chinese. It was a big success in Taiwan and may become required reading at some Taiwanese universities.
"Finland has been top of the PISA (= Programme for International Student Achievement) appraisals for so long that many people are interested in your educational system," Chen explains. According to Chen, mathematical school subjects are emphasized in Asian schools to the detriment of other subjects. "Moreover, we spend an enormous lot of time to achieve our results, which are partly due to extra lessons in the evenings paid for by the parents." She says Taiwan was No. 1 in the last PISA appraisal, but Finland was second. "And you need much less time devoted to maths teaching to achieve that position."
"I used to think that it's the intellectually talented children that count, which is how schools work in Taiwan." Chen thinks her book was a success because it proves that there is a country somewhere in the north where every child is precious. "In Taiwan we have the same rigid timetable for all children while in Finland much depends on what subjects the child is taking, and the child is also to some extent responsible for his schedule. Children are treated as responsible individuals; they themselves know why they are doing something and when they are doing it."
Chen thinks this makes children take an interest in school. Chen spent a week in Lapland (= northernmost Finland) for her book. "The resources the schools have are the same throughout the country. The geographical location of the school makes no difference." She says this is an inconceivable idea in Taiwan. A friend of Chen's had burst into tears while reading the book. "I cried many times myself when I wrote the book," she says.
"There are wise adages that Confucius supposedly said thousands of years ago in our society. According to them, everybody has a place and we shouldn't condemn others and all children should be taught regardless of their background. I just couldn't imagine in my wildest dreams that there actually is a place where Confucius's tenets have been embraced."
Helsingin Sanomat, 28 December 2008
My comment: A small country can't afford to educate only the smart and wealthy. It must provide education free of charge for everybody.
CB