For most people, the point of school is to prepare for adulthood, so students can be successful and happy throughout their lives. However, today, especially in America, education is becoming increasingly competitive which is one of the reasons poor education has declined for most students as they do not walk away with as much knowledge.
Also in America, grades heavily rely on memorization rather than on learning, which leads to failure rather than success in adulthood. Students cannot become prepared for working in the real world if they do not have a proper education. As a result, America is not on the list of top ten education systems in the world.
Take one of the countries on the list, for instance, Finland. Although the Finns are ranked as one of the best education systems in the world, their teachers teach 500 hours less than teachers in the United States per year. Even though they only spend 600 hours teaching per year, they spend most of their other time receiving feedback and developing their courses to be effective for their students, whereas in the United States, teachers teach 1100 hours per year, but because they receive very little feedback, their courses may be ineffective, but they have no idea of it nor how to change their method of teaching.
Also in Finland, there is much respect for the teaching meaning that while we consider doctors, engineers and lawyers important, we disregard teachers as an important profession. However, in Finland, only one out of ten applicants are admitted for teaching programs. That means only the best in the country can become teachers. Rather than giving anyone a teaching job regardless of their qualifications and esteem for the profession, we need to follow them, and only regard people capable of effectively teaching students as teachers.
Finally, education is not only about teaching the material but also getting the students to be interested and to truly listen. Finns believe that while education occurs inside a classroom, it also occurs outside. A third of classes are electives for these students which allows them to explore their interests. By allowing students this freedom, the Finnish educational system promotes a less stressful learning environment and further develops students' learning interests.
The Finnish schooling system is one we, in the United States, should follow. Our high-pressure and high-stress education system is not successful. We need to create a system where the majority of students can enjoy going to school rather than resent it. We have such a diverse culture and some of the best technology in the world, so we should use both of those to create an education system that benefits neither students, parents or teachers, but all three combined can enjoy and benefit from.
