Finland, one of the five Nordic countries, has a land area of 338,000 square kilometers, which is less than 1/4 of Xinjiang. However, it is a highly developed country with a GDP far higher than the average level of the EU and a high quality of life. In addition to the developed economy, Finland's education level is also very advanced.
If you want to ask a parent in China, what do you care about most? Many parents may care about what kind of kindergarten their children go to, what kind of extracurricular classes they go to, what kind of primary school they go to, what kind of middle school they go to, what kind of university they go to, and what kind of job they look for. ...
Parents in China are anxious and enthusiastic about letting their children learn their own specialties and cultural knowledge. The whole society is anxious and at a loss about education. We must learn what other children learn, or our children will fall behind.
Finnish parents are most concerned about three things: whether their children have their own hobbies, whether their children have playmates of the same age, and whether their children have enough time for outdoor sports.
Except for clause 1, China's parents certainly have their own hobbies, but the other two clauses are definitely incomprehensible. This stems from the fact that our parents and Finnish parents have different educational goals. Finnish parents' parenting goal is to hope that their children can be the best themselves, while parents are to cultivate their children's interpersonal skills.
Knowing the parenting goals of Finnish parents, we can understand what Finnish parents are most concerned about. Hobbies nourish children's lives, and the place to cultivate interests is also a place to socialize. Having your own childhood playmates is also to cultivate children's social skills. Sufficient outdoor time (≥ 2 hours a day) can make children have a happy childhood, at the same time strengthen their physique and cultivate their perseverance, cooperation, customer service difficulties, problem-solving and other qualities and abilities. Let your nature and talent be brought into full play and become your best self.
Finnish primary and secondary school curriculum has several characteristics. There are many kinds of the first course, a total of 222. Among them, there are carpentry classes, home economics classes, handicrafts classes and so on. This is impossible to provide in schools in China. They even take carpentry as a compulsory course for students above grade seven.
When you understand Finland's educational goals, you will understand why their courses are set like this. Finland's educational goal is to cultivate world citizens who have lifelong learning ability and can learn to understand life.
Schools in China are reducing some dangerous sports. Students' outdoor collective activities can also be organized.
Thinking of education in China, I think why the whole society is anxious and blind about education, because parents don't know what their educational goals are, and the national educational goals are unclear.
Finland, a small Nordic country in my opinion, also moved me by its advanced educational concept.
I used to be very anxious, too. I was wondering whether to give my child a young bridging class, what interest class to give him, and whether to give him an extracurricular tutoring class.
In fact, my own educational goals are not clear. Now I have made clear my educational goal, which is to cultivate a person with lifelong learning ability, a person who can learn, understand life, be responsible and be independent.