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This why the question of whether this will follow into tertiary ed is so crucial - at the level of high school what you learn is pretty general. I chucked out most of what I learned in high school, when I went to uni. For e.g, we learn at the uni level that what we were taught in high school chem actually isn't right but a throwback to simpler models that don't actually explain physical phenomena well. It's taught in high schools because it's development-appropriate and a good basis to build on for further understanding. So I don't know that the specialisation/expert question applies here.I like it, because it gives students freedom to study what they want but otoh it might make things more complicated for the teachers; you can't be an expert in math, physics, history, geography all at once. I'm afraid this might make it less cohesive, though the intent is opposite. But it's an interesting idea.
Agreed, and from my understanding the reason why Finland can have a goal of full implementation by 2020 is because their system already de-emphasises grading. I'm not too familiar with how they do tertiary ed admissions, it would be good to hear from someone who knows.It does seem it would be harder to mark and keep consistent standards.
Yep Finnish teachers all have the equivalent of a masters, they're required to by law. From what I've read they're also given a lot of respect and autonomy in how to design their curriculum and run their classes and grades are specifically de-emphasized. Which is very strange to hear for someone raised in Asia.I agree finding teachers to effectively teach in this manner could be the challenge, but otoh it could just be a bias I have here in the states, where teaching (pre college, that is) isn't the thing the smartest of people go into and the career that is really respected and valued (like it was historically). Whereas I am guessing it is a totally different story in Finland.
Here, all teachers must have a Bachelor's but increasingly the shift is towards masters and up, particularly for grade 10-12. Right now, approx. 60% at that level have a masters. My friends in public teaching are leaving/have left for the private sector though - they say everything is about grades, they have to deal with too much administrative nonsense, and complain about having zero autonomy.
My cousin who does the international baccalaureate also tells me that this sounds similar-ish to that. They still have subjects for IB but it's more integrated and project-based. This is the first that I've heard of it becoming a school system though.Technically this isn't new. Montessori schools have been doing this for quite a long time.