Finland education expert discusses New Zealand schools

Email
Print

Teacher rankings a bad idea, says expert

3News NZ

Mr Sahlberg says ranking schools is a bad idea

Mr Sahlberg says ranking schools is a bad idea

Finland is one of the top-ranked countries in the world when it comes to education.

Visiting education expert Pasi Sahlberg says they have achieved that status by choosing a different path to the one New Zealand is heading down right now.

“If you look at the international evidence, not only from Finland but from all the high-performing education systems, they have not tried to improve and develop their education systems by introducing charters,” says Mr Sahlberg.

According to Mr Sahlberg, introducing ranking systems is also a bad idea.

“Whenever teachers in schools are put in competition against one another it will reduce the co-operation and sharing of ideas that again seems to be a critical element in all these high-performing countries,” he says.

Watch the video for Firstline’s full interview with Pasi Sahlberg

Post a Comment

Before commenting, please take the time to read our moderation guide


(Won't be published)



Comments

9/10/2012 12:40:56 p.m.

Melanie wrote:

I saw Pasi speak last week and I found his words inspirational and true to how children learn best. It was a constrast to listening to Hekia Parata the day before, who's speech I could poke holes in everything she said. Since National came in they have done the opposite to everything Pasi tells us that Finland does. The sad thing is that once upon a time Finland used to look to New Zealand for inspiration. Now NZ is infected with GERM we are too busy fighting to protect our quality public education system from a govt determined to impose right wing idealogy which as caused the US, UK and Australia to slip in world rankings of eduacation.

5/10/2012 3:14:28 p.m.

helen time wrote:

lets have the same for cabinet ministers and the prime minister , they preach at you to be self relient and to be accountable , yet they themselves are niether they are never accountable for their for what they do . and the onlt thing we can do is wate 3 years what a joke . they shoulkd be on preformance based pay .because you see these are the hypocrites who load others with burdens they would not carry themselves and would not lift a finger to lighten others .

5/10/2012 4:30:37 a.m.

Kelvin wrote:

It is unfortunate that many of the policies promoted by the government 'sound plausible'. However in education many things are counter intuitive. Finland recently met the challenge of a slight drop in achievement (can't recall which curriculum area) by reducing the amount of direct teaching time, releasing students to study and work more broadly on more practical activities!! Counter intuitive.

4/10/2012 1:24:05 p.m.

alison wrote:

If only this govt would listen. Oh how great our education system could be. Anyone know if Parata will read this?

4/10/2012 12:59:32 p.m.

Alison wrote:

There seems to be a concerted effort by this government to conform to the US way of doing things. Their way doesn't even work for them. Let's go back to making our own decisions.

4/10/2012 10:55:05 a.m.

mrman wrote:

Oh did he remind us that University Education In Finland is totally free? I have a Finnish friend studying there at the moment. Most Finnish people are super intelligent and very well educated. Average gross income for Finnish people is €56,100 or $88,361NZD per annum.

4/10/2012 9:37:46 a.m.

Peter Calvert wrote:

Good common sense

4/10/2012 9:33:52 a.m.

Kelvin wrote:

Of all the experts in the world Pasi Sahlberg is one we should be listening to very carefully. Finland is an outstanding example of how to take a failing educational system and make it the best in the world. His book 'Finnish Lessons' is a very worthwhile read. If read in conjunction with 'The spirit Level' we have a very clear formula and direction for taking NZ to the very top of world achievement. We must always remember that education is not a capitalistic business. It is inherently collaborative and co-operative. To try to drive it through competition will produce the opposite results. This is a well proven principle. Interestingly 'The Spirit Level' also demonstrates that business works better in a collaborative environment.