Less
is more. At least according to a blog post about the Finnish educational
philosophy. Written by a teacher who spent time in Finland, this post reveals
truths about education in general that every educator should consider, starting
with the idea that less is more.
This
idea resonates with me because I see it played out daily at my school. A school
which targets at-risk teens, we focus on individual attention and developing
relationships with students via a block schedule. I have students during a
three-hour period for 28-31 days. Often I’ll have the same students for
multiple blocks in a row, allowing me to get to know the learning style of the
students as well as understand how they process information and their strengths
and weaknesses in learning.
With
the individualized attention and fewer teachers, students end up learning more
despite the school having a small staff.
In fact, many have commented on how this is the first time they feel
they’ve learned something in school.
Finnish
students spend less time in school and start later. A school day for them
begins at 9 or 9:30 and ends at 2:30. What? Can that be? It can be. Research
supports a later start to the school day yet school districts continue to have
early morning starts.
Another
less the Finnish students encounter is less homework. The belief is that work
should be able to be done during the school day. Here, again, is another similarity
between my school and the Scandinavian ones. My school is designed for students
not to have homework. It should all be done in school.
There
are more similarities between the alternative school at which I teach and those
in Finland, which I find encouraging. Alternative education has got it right.
At least at my school. Maybe we should reconsider some of the things we do in the States where more is not always better. Maybe we should look into refining our expectations. Maybe we should reevaluate how schools run. Because sometimes, less really is more.