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Why Are Finnish Students Ranked #1 In The World?

Why Are Finnish Students Ranked #1 In The World?

Why Are Finnish Students Ranked #1 In The World?

Achieving Excellence By Focusing On Cooperation

Finland’s experience shows that it is possible to achieve excellence by focusing not on competition, but on cooperation, and not on choice, but on equity.”

In his book Finnish Lessons, Doctor of Educational Sciences Pasi Sahlberg outlines the differences between the machine-press of traditional industrial-age education which most of us have gone under, and the educational system of Finland, which challenges accepted Western norms with great success; Finnish students rank #1 in the world in both mathematics and sciences despite having fewer school hours and no standardized tests.

As Sahlberg writes:

All of the factors that are behind the Finnish success seem to be the opposite of what is taking place in the United States and much of the rest of the world, where competition, test-based accountability, standardization, and privatization seem to dominate.”

Instead of competition, Finland decided on cooperation and mutual help as a matter of policy. Students are rarely tested. Instead, they teach each other in class. Each student gets personal attention until he is on par with the other students. This attitude extends to the teachers and schools as well:

“One of the ways that teachers improve is by learning from other teachers. Schools improve when they learn from other schools. Isolation is the enemy of all improvement.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcC2l8zioIw

Education – A Means To Even Out Social Inequality

And the difference is not purely academic.

Finland is a small nation of 5.2 million people, with scarcely any natural resources. The Finnish government had to find a way to remain competitive within the global economy, while also minimizing social inequality. What it came up with was the education system:

Since the 1980s, the main driver of Finnish education policy has been the idea that every child should have exactly the same opportunity to learn, regardless of family background, income, or geographic location. Education has been seen first and foremost not as a way to produce star performers, but as an instrument to even out social inequality.”

 

Unique Education Emerged From Times Of Crisis

The Finnish success may also shed some new light on the global economic crisis, or as Sahlberg writes:

The Finnish story is particularly interesting because some of the key policies and changes were introduced during the worst economic crisis that Finland has experienced since World War II. It suggests that a crisis can spark the survival spirit that leads to better solutions to acute problems than a ‘normal situation’ would.”

Further Reading:
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An iPad App To Build An Epic Conversation On Humanity’s Future

What Makes Us Human?

An iPad App To Build An Epic Conversation On Humanity’s Future

We humans need a new way to look. We need to see ourselves as one species, and develop a big picture view and a grounded vision to guide us.”

–Anna Stillwell, The Human Project co-founder

That statement was reached after two and a half years of research putting together many issues facing humanity into one big picture, as part of The Human Project.

 

The Human Project – An App For Humanity

The Human Project is a free iPad app in the making, an app, as co-founder Erika Ilves states, “to build an epic conversation on the future of our species” around the big questions:

  • “What do we, as a human race, need to accomplish in the 21st century?
  • Who do we want to become as a species?
  • Where do we want to head next?”

What Makes Us Human?

The Human Project’s project proposal on Kickstarter, after only five days, reached its funding goal of $25,000, and has since expanded its goals. Here’s the project proposal video:

Also, here’s an exciting promo video for The Human Project with Jason Silva:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26jKx74Wc5M

More About The Human Project:
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Let Us All Unite! – Charlie Chaplin’s Speech From The Great Dictator

I’m sorry but I don’t want to be an Emperor, that’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood, for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say “Do not despair”. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die liberty will never perish. Soldiers: don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate, only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers: don’t fight for slavery, fight for liberty. In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written: “The kingdom of God is within man” Not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men; in you, you the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let us use that power, let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future, and old aged security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfill that promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness. Soldiers! In the name of democracy, let us all unite!”

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What Are The Consequences Of Ecological Overspending?

Since The 1970s Human Demand On Nature Is Larger Than Nature’s Renewable Production

Today, we are using 20% more than what nature can regenerate. In other words, it would take a year and more than 2 months to regenerate everything that we use within one year.

This difference is called the ‘ecological deficit,’ the difference of how much more rapidly we are using resources like forests, fish stock, putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, than nature is able to accommodate.”

Mathis Wackernagel, PhD, Executive Director of the Global Footprint Network exemplifies what he calls an “ecological bank statement” in a video presentation, excerpted below, showing how humanity today is using more than what nature can regenerate.

Ecological Bank Statement Shows Humanity’s Using More Than It Has

If we look at this bank statement and say that we’re using more than what we have, is this good news or bad news? I would say it is good news in the sense that it gives us more information. And we still have choice. We can still just not open the bank statement and recycle the envelope, or we can look at it. But if we do spend too much money, we also know what the consequences are, so there is a kind of a feedback loop. In the same way we have to think about nature from a budgeting perspective, and say, ‘what are the consequences of overspending?’”

Watch The Video [if the video is not embedded below, then you can watch it here] [3 min. 30 sec.]:

06 – Overshoot (Exceeding Ecological Limits) – GLOBAL FOOTPRINT NETWORK from WERI on Vimeo.

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Is A 20 Hour Work Week The Solution To Unemployment?

Are we just living to work, and working to earn, and earning to consume?”

Anna Coote, analyst and writer, member of the New Economics Foundation (NEF)

The Problem

Britain is struggling to shrug off the credit crisis:

  • Overworked parents are stricken with guilt about barely seeing their offspring,
  • Carbon dioxide is belching into the atmosphere from Britain’s offices and homes,
  • The UK has the longest working week of any major European economy,
  • There’s a great disequilibrium between people who have got too much paid work, and those who have got too little or none.”

A Solution Proposed By The New Economics Foundation

If everyone worked fewer hours – say, 20 or so a week – there would be:

  • More jobs to go around,
  • Employees could spend more time with their families, and
  • Energy-hungry excess consumption would be curbed.”

What Do You Think?

Is, as the NEF proposes, “work-sharing” and a “government legislated maximum working week” the solution to unemployment?

Source for all the above quotations: The Guardian: Cut The Working Week To A Maximum Of 20 Hours, Urge Top Economists

Image: “Tough Times” by Renee Silverman

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3 Tips For Your Child To Build A Powerful Brain

The concern with very young children is that, as human beings we have a competitive advantage over the rest of the animal world by the virtue of the fact that we are born with, essentially, a fetal brain.

Our brain gets to develop in response to the environment in which it needs to function. So though we are helpless and completely dependent on our parents for survival at birth, we get to build an architecture that is most efficient for dealing with the world we live in.

What we know about that is that 3 things seem to be very important to building very powerful brains:

Bonding with other human beings: relating to mommy, interacting, developing relationships.
Manipulating the physical environment: stacking up blocks or getting a cheerio into your mouth.

Open-ended problem solving, creative type of plays: so a blank piece of paper and crayons, or a piece of clay, are very good.”

Michael Rich, MD, MPH, Director for the Center of Media and Child Health, in the video below in this post How Young Is Too Young To Watch Television? discusses the highly influential role of media – television, books, movies, video games and music – in children’s development, health and behavior.

Watch the video:

Image: Child’s Eye by apdk

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5 Things To Do Everyday To Be Happier

You can do an experiment where you give two groups of people a hundred dollars in the morning. You tell one of them to spend it on themselves, and one on other people. You measure their happiness at the end of the day. Those who spent on other people are much happier than those who spent it on themselves.”

— Nic Marks

Founder of the Center for Well-Being, an independent think tank at the New Economics Foundation, in London, Marks is particularly keen to promote a balance between sustainable development and quality of life. To investigate this, he devised the Happy Planet Index, a global index of human well-being and environmental impact.

The results made headlines: People in the world’s wealthiest countries, who consume the most of the planet’s resources, don’t come out on top in terms of well-being. Which raises the question: What purpose does unfettered economic growth serve?

5 Things To Do Everyday To Be Happier

According to Marks’ analysis of well being and happiness, what are the 5 things you should do every day to be happier?

1. Connect
Connect with the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbors. At home, work, school or in your local community. Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them. Building these connections will support and enrich you every day.

2. Be Active…
Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity you enjoy and one that suits your level of mobility and fitness.

3. Take Notice
Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savor the moment, whether you are walking to work, eating lunch or talking to friends. Be aware of the world around you and what you are feeling. Reflecting on your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you.

4. Keep Learning…
Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favorite food. Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident as well as being fun.

5. Give…
Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you.

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Social Scientist Philip Zimbardo: Factors Other Than Character Determine Behavior [TED Talk]

As a child growing up in a tough neighborhood in the South Bronx (an inner city ghetto of New York), social psychologist Philip Zimbardo learned at an early age that

the line between good and evil (which privileged people like to think is fixed and impermeable – with them on the good side and others on the bad side); I knew that line was movable and permeable.”

In this TED video [23 minutes] Zimbardo presents three factors which can determine the likelihood of evil acts from healthy, normal well-intentioned people:

Bad Apples, A Bad Barrel Or Bad Barrel-Makers?

The 3 factors influencing the transformation of human character towards evil can be summarized as:

• Dispositional: Inside the person. This is the factor most often considered by culture, religions and government as the cause of behavior.

• Situational: Outside the person. This is the factor pointing to the influence of a person’s immediate surroundings, typically one in which a person’s normal, habitual behavior is not possible.

• Systemic: The power structure that creates and sustains the situation.

Since the inquisition we’ve been dealing with problems at the level of the individual and it doesn’t work.”

He recommends a paradigm shift of focus

away from the medical model which focuses only on the individual, towards a public health model that recognizes situational and systemic vectors of disease.”

 

Promoting Heroism As The Antidote To Evil

Zimbardo suggests the following:

• Promote the heroic imagination of kids in our educational system.

We want kids to think, ‘I’m a hero in waiting,’ waiting for the right situation to come along to act heroically.”

• Motivate people to overcome the natural tendency towards passive inaction in social situations [as demonstrated in the Bystander Experiment].

• Teach children to think and act socio-centricly, rather than ego-centricly.

• Unlike childhood heroes such as Superman and Wonder Woman who have special powers, children need to be told that heroes can come from everyday people.

Source: Zimbardo quotes, cartoon and video from YouTube/Philip Zimbardo: Why Ordinary People… 

Source: Popeye word cloud courtesy Terry McCombs

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Crash Course In The 3 Interconnected E’s: Economy, Energy, Environment

The future is going to be about moving from an ‘I’ to a ‘we’ culture … back to a bygone era, where neighbors weren’t just nice to each other, but relied on each other. As an informed person, it is now your responsibility to help others as best you can.”

Chris Martensen, PhD, a post-doctorate neurotoxicologist-turned-economist, presents a 45 minute Crash Course on the economic crisis & describes the changes humanity faces.

In the course, Martenson presents an analysis of economy, energy, and the environment (the 3 E’s, as he calls them) and the ways in which they are interlinked.

He specifically outlines a “substantial mismatch between an economic model that must grow and a physical world of peaking oil and depleting resources,” and explains why the problems presented cannot be solved individually, but only by macro-cultural change.

What Role Do You Want To Play?

… in this dramatic turning point in our species’ history?

Shall your life be filled with fear or a resolute sense of purpose?

The only way these challenges can become insurmountable is if we let them, by ignoring them for too long.”

–Chris Martensen introducing his Crash Course

The 3 Interconnected E’s & The Problems They Pose

Economy:

…the banking system must continually expand – not necessarily because it is the right (or wrong) thing to do, but, rather, simply because that is how it was designed …the extremely wealthy are saving incredible amounts of money, while at the lower ends the savings rate is deeply negative. Why is this important? Because as the Greek philosopher Plutarch once stated, ‘An imbalance between rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics.'”

Energy:

Energy is the lifeblood of any economy. But when an economy is based on an exponential debt-based money system, and that is based on exponentially increasing energy supplies, the supply of that energy therefore deserves our very highest attention…. Peak Oil is simply a fact. World production of conventional crude has been flat for the past four years, even as prices have increased by 140%.”

Environment:

Multiple essential resources are being depleted at ever faster rates. Our money system requires continual economic growth, but energy depletion will run headlong into dwindling resource returns to limit future growth options …So the question is this: What happens when a human-contrived money system that must expand, by its very design, runs headlong into the physical limits of a spherical planet?”

Watch Chris Martensen’s 45 Minute Crash Course (UK Version)

       

 

 

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Meaningful Labor Explained By Prof. Dan Ariely

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “labor” as:

a : expenditure of physical or mental effort especially when difficult or compulsory.
b (1) :human activity that provides the goods or services in an economy
(2) : the services performed by workers for wages as distinguished from those rendered by entrepreneurs for profits.”

But, says Prof. of Behavioral Economics, Dan Ariely,

On an intuitive level most of us understand the deep interconnection between identity and labor… ‘What do you do?’ has become as common a component of an introduction as the anachronistic ‘How do you do?’ once was—suggesting that our jobs are an integral part of our identity, not merely a way to make money…”

Here is Ariely describing the psychology behind how we view labor:

Like Rats In A Maze?

As mentioned in a previous post, behavioral economics differs from standard economics because it doesn’t assume that people are strictly rational. Ariely describes this difference in the perception of labor:

… the basic economic model of labor generally treats working men and women as rats in a maze… all the rat (person) wants to do is to get to the food with as little effort as possible. But if work also gives us meaning, what does this tell us about why people want to work?”

Blogging As An Example

In his book, The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic at Work and at Home, Ariely looks into what motivates so many people to write blogs:

… blogs have two features that distinguish them from other forms of writing.  First, they provide the hope or the illusion that someone else will read one’s writing… Blogs also provide readers with the ability to leave their reactions and comments–gratifying for both the blogger, who now has a verifiable audience, and the reader-cum-writer. Most blogs have very low readership… but even writing for one person, compared to writing for nobody, seems to be enough to compel millions of people to blog.”