CONTRASTING THE SOUTH AFRICAN EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM TO FINLANDS EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM
INTRODUCTION
Education is one of the most important pillars of any country or society. It is therefore of utmost importance that all countries should have a very good educational system. In recent years the Finnish Education System has become known as one of the best education systems in the world having constantly been pitted at the top of the list of best performing systems globally in recent international tests (cf. Sahlberg, 2011; TIMSS & PIRLS, 2011) and I am therefore of the opinion that South Africa can learn from the successes of the Finnish Education System. In this essay I will be looking at the differences and the similarities between the Finnish and
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Therefore contextual factors will have a major influence on an educational system in any country. If we look at the context of education in South Africa and Finland we see that these two countries are worlds apart. According to Maidment (2017,), “Finland is a well-developed country with a thriving economy and have very few of the issues that South Africa has to deal with while South Africa has an array of issues to deal with beyond their education system”. So not only do the two countries have two different economies but poverty, social ills, the different cultures of different people groups as well as the different language barriers plays mayor roles in the education system in South Africa. In South Africa the language of teaching and learning is in their home language only up to grade 3. From grade 4 upwards the language of teaching and learning is either in English or in Afrikaans. Finland on the other hand has a much lower crime rate than South Africa and they have only one language of teaching and …show more content…
Meals are also free and are fully subsidised by the government. In South Africa on the other hand there are only certain schools that offer free education and at most schools learners have to pay school fees which a lot of parents in South Africa cannot afford and therefore a lot of learners cannot afford to attend these schools. So in a certain sense certain income groups are excluded from schools in which you have to pay school fees. In South Africa there also private schools with astronomical high school fees which only the elite can afford. The learners who attend these private schools will therefore have a big educational advantage over learners in public schools because in these private schools you have a small number of learners in each class and they have access to the best facilities and technology. In public schools on the other hand there are big numbers of learners in one class, learners have little access to facilities and technology and discipline has spiralled out of control. In Finland however “Theoretically, all Finnish elementary and junior high schools are equal and provide the same level of education for all students. The fact that everyone regardless of their income is granted this education, is the reason why statistically, the Finnish school system is above others in international studies — the emphasis is on good results with large
Which means that wealthy communities can invest more in their school than poor do because they produce more money and pay more taxes. Which lead to a problem, how poor community can be raised and have the same opportunities that white people have access. African have always been in a low status of education and social status because they have been always discriminating, without a good help in education. One proof of inequality can be clearly seen in an investigation in 1857 “Investigating committee that the New York Board of Education spent $16 per White child and only one cent per Black child for school
The greatest country in the world still has problems evenly distributing education to its youth. The articles I have read for this unit have a common theme regarding our education system. The authors illustrate to the reader about the struggles in America concerning how we obtain and education. Oppression, politics, racism, and socioeconomic status are a few examples of what is wrong with our country and its means of delivering a fair education to all Americans.
This assignment has discussed two examples of curricula and it has been concluded that the Finnish curriculum is more suited to preparing individuals to life in the modern society. It has been stated that Finnish schools are ‘the schools of civilisation in an information society’ (Sarajala, 2001b) and therefore, they arguably educate and prepare young adults more sufficiently than the schools of England, who simply provide basic foundations for future development after education.
Education, according to Dictionnary.com is “the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university”. However, education is taught differently everywhere. The educational system of each country is created based on their own cultures, traditions, and historical background. Each county, perhaps, have their own way to teach and manage their educational systems. Unlike some countries. “The US has most diversified education system in the world, with public and private schools at all levels flourishing alongside each other” (Hampshire, 2006) Even though the U.S. display some similarities such as a diverse population of students in classes and a great emphasize on education and education and academic success, they however differ dramatically in teaching methods, student aids, teacher evaluation system, and resources. Though not so far apart on the map, the education system in Haiti and the educational system in the United states are extremely opposite when it comes to organization, technology, and finance.
Something I have always known since I was a little kid is that the educational system in this country is a complete fraud. American schools claim to live by the ideal of No Child Left Behind, but millions of students get cast aside each and every year. In schools these days, it is obvious which students are the elite—those that are raised up and motivated to go to college—and the ordinary student— those that are somewhat ignored throughout their schooling and are lucky if they even earn a GED. As a recent graduate of high school, and a product of this country’s educational system, I have had the opportunity to develop my own opinions regarding the myth of education in our society. Based upon my observations going through the school system, and the various arguments posed by several authors in “Rereading America”, I strongly believe that schooling in this society caters solely to students in the elite category while ostracizing students that do not live up to the elitist ideal.
When African Americans were brought to the United States they were taken away from the lives they knew, the culture they knew, and the educational system they knew. African American slaves were not allowed to learn how to read or write, but some secretly learned by using the Bible. After the abolition of slavery there were many slaves who taught other slaves how to read, and freed African Americans who did so as well. In 1837 the first Institute for Colored Youth was created. African American students can now attend whatever schools they desire. In 2015 we now have 105 historically black colleges and universities, according to the UNCF. These historically black colleges and universities were created to educate Black Americans. Although there
In this paper, it will be looking at the culture and education practices of Finland, Canada, and China. Education varies from country to country as well as does one's culture, lifestyle of the people who live there. In doing so will review their culture and the role of their education policies that are used to motivate schools and teachers to improve student learning along with how their culture plays into learning. Furthermore, children should be taught with respect to their culture. However, we can also learn from one another. In addition, we have similar and different educational practices from one another. Such as when it comes to the Finnish, Canadians, to the Chinese as, we all learn in different environments because of our culture. Furthermore, and most importantly, thus educational practices vary from culture to culture. For instance, these counties are considered some of the best when it comes to education, Finland, Canada, China and it is because of their educational practices along with their culture government.
In ascertaining the differences and similarities between European and Western neighbours in how education serves its purpose, this essay will address various areas that concern the historical, political and social perspectives of primary schooling between both Danish and its English counterparts with reference to key issues such as relevant areas of concern. Thus highlighting matters such as the difference in starting ages; varied approaches to the curriculum and assessments in how both countries address its education, it is therefore significant in evaluating the backgrounds in both the Danish and English primary schools. This essay will emphasise how influential factors in education has developed in light of the twenty-first century, evaluating ideology which has directed both primary schools aims and outcomes that exemplifies the difficult outlook of education and learning viewed by its pupils as well as the teachers. Furthermore, highlighting and providing evidence for the importance of understanding the socio-cultural context and how learning takes place to meet the requirements and reinforce analysis on educational modifications in comparing educational systems and their outcome and effectiveness, this essay endeavours to provide knowledge, in comparing both countries’ primary schooling.
Even though the Brown v. Board of Education was 62 years ago, African Americans are still fighting to have an equal education opportunity. “But many schools are as segregated today as they were before the ruling, and black children throughout the United States are performing at the bottom of the American educational system” (Jackson 1). Nevertheless, it took decades of hard work and struggle by numerous African Americans for a better education system. Education is the key to success, it gives people the knowledge that they need to strive and become more intelligent thinkers, which leads to more opportunities for them in the job industry. Ever since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned discrimination of any kind, African Americans have every right to have this equal educational opportunity like everyone else. But yet, they were stopped in their tracks by disapproving Americans, who confined the succession of African Americans in the education system. Now that we are in the 21st century, there’s still negligence on black’s education. The black community do not have equal education opportunities because of the lack of funding, poverty experienced by the children in the neighborhoods and society’s views of the black community.
The education system has been a controversial issue among educators. Requirements of school do not let student choose what they want to study for their future. It’s a big issue to force student study specific curriculums, which don’t help them improve, and what they like to create something. Educators choose a general system for education to all students which based on general knowledge. Intelligent or genius students have to be in that system of education, which doesn’t let them improve their creativity. Educators attempt to change that system to make it better, but their changing was not that great to be an example for the world. Also, did that change qualify education system to compete other systems or not? In some examples and reasons have been made me agree with some of points from Gatto’s and Edmunson’s and disagree them.
The South African educational system has been through many changes dealing with cultural, political, and social issues. There has always been a concern about equal academic opportunities for all the races within South Africa. Where most of the black South African students are given the disadvantage and the White students have the advantages. It wasn’t until 1994 when things took a slight turn for black students in South Africa. That year marked the end of the apartheid. Theoretically non-white students were now offered the same education as Whites. Although in South Africa there are still some areas that the government should offer more beneficial teaching and learning for all of the non-white students. These challenges the South African education systems have been through and are now in the process will further influence an equal opportunity for black South African students. The question this research paper asks is, about how does education vary for black and white students in South Africa, after apartheid ended? There are still economic, political, and racial difficulties for non-white individuals.
Dei S., Schooling and Difference in Africa: Democratic Challenges in a Contemporary context. Toronto, University of Toronto Press: 2006. Print.
Mir, S. (2011), Education woes: Shortage of teachers a threat to public schools, Tribune, 3 April.
In this essay I am going to talk about Hamm’s conception of education which is broken down into three general uses of education, the Sociological use (E1), Institutional use (E2) and the General enlightenment use (E3). I will also critically discuss the three uses of education providing a distinct and compatible argument and also bring it to the South African schooling system.
In conclusion, in Finland,the teachers teach students with the aim of helping them learn,not pass tests.