Charter schools, rigorous standards, merit pay and tougher curriculum – these are the ingredients of American school reform. But Finland, the top-ranked country in the world in math, science and reading, has none of these elements. In fact, their approach to reform is exactly the opposite of the approach in the United States.
Pasi Sahlberg discussed this and other findings in his newly published book, Finnish Lessons: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland? at a lecture in December in the Wyatt Center rotunda on the Peabody Campus.
Sahlberg is director general of CIMO, an organization for international mobility and cooperation under the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture, based in Helsinki. This event was hosted by Peabody International Affairs and the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations.