Fascinated With Finnish Education

If you've been paying attention at all to education news over the last several years, you surely will have noticed that Finland keeps coming up in discussions about education reform. Finland first caught my attention some time ago because its educational system drew rave reviews from a few articles in a number or publications. The more I read, the more fascinated I became.

How is it that this nation with a population not much larger than the city in which I live has propelled itself to the top of OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) nations whose students sit for the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) exam every three years? How is it that this seemingly random nation consistently has outperformed students in Korea, Japan, Singapore and other places well-known for intensely rigorous educational systems?

All the articles I read touted teacher recruitment and teacher training (teacher programs at universities are very competitive and all teachers must have a master's degree, for example). While I realized that was a step in the right direction, I knew that couldn't be the only variable that set Finland apart. I scoured the internet for more articles and read them voraciously. Then I discovered two more items that really filled in the gaps for me and, quite frankly, inspired me.

What are those two items? I've recently finished (I so wanted to type "Finnished" but I figured that would be too corny) an excellent, recently published book and I've watched (multiple times) an inspiring video, both of which are intimate looks at the Finnish educational system. What happens in Finland is markedly different from what we do in the United States. In my next post, I'll share the info about the book and the DVD, and I'll give some bullet points about what Finland does that has landed Finnish schools in the international spotlight.

One of the Coolest Community-Building Projects Ever

If only there were a way to build community at your high school, to show your high school to the world in a positive light, to advertise all the cool things happening at your high school, and to mix in some major creativity at the same time...

Stratford High School in Houston, Texas, has done just that with this incredible Lip Dub video. I could write pages about all the reasons this project is priceless. Instead, I'll ask you to take five minutes and watch this video. I love this video for so many reasons. What Stratford did here isn't original (YouTube and Vimeo are full of high school one-take Lip Dub projects) but it's the best I've ever seen. Kudos to Stratford for pulling this off!

In a word: awesome.

Is your mind racing with ideas yet? It should be.

Online Conference Announcement: Eye On School Success

Eye on Education has just announced an exciting online conference featuring speakers including Barbara Blackburn, Larry Ferlazzo, Pam Salazar, Nancy Sulla, Todd Whitaker and Sally Zepeda, some of whom I've written about here in the past. The conference, called Eye On School Success, will be held March 20 – March 21, 2012. The conference program is divided into three tracks: The Leadership Institute, Student Motivation, and Common Core Made Easy. Participants can personalize their Online Conference experience by attending any of the 11 sessions. Below please find details about the online conference. The complete schedule can be found here and the presenter list can be found here.

Eye on Education consistently provides top-notch educational resources, so I highly recommend this conference for educational leaders from schools of any size, any level, public or private. You can bet this conference will be time well spent.

Conference Name: Eye On School Success

Date: March 20 – 21, 2012

Live Times: 3:00 PM EST

On Demand Availability: Until June 30, 2012

Brief description: Eye On School Success offers ready-to-go, field-tested strategies, presented in engaging style by noted experts. During the conference you and your colleagues will gain solutions to common challenges and learn about best practices affecting a broad range of topics shared by educators across the spectrum of schools.

Registration: www.eyeoneducation/register

https://www.eyeoneducation.com/Online-Resources/Online-Conferences/Eye-On-School-Success

Preach it! Teach it!

One of my brightest young teachers shared a powerful quote with me this morning that seems to me pretty germane to educational leadership. "When we make a declarative statement, we can only do four things with it: we can restate it, explain it, prove it, or apply it." This quote, from Haddon W. Robinson's Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, got him thinking and it's had me thinking all morning. I believe this statement has tremendous value not only for teachers but also for administrators and other educational leaders. I challenge you to approach the upcoming week with this idea framing each and every one of your declarative statements in the classroom, in the halls, in your office, in the workroom, or wherever you make a difference in the field of education.

Take Harvard Business Review With You Every Day

One of the tools I have found invaluable and inspiring during the time I've spent as an administrator is the Harvard Business Review. Though not written for educators, the high-quality articles about management, leadership, innovation and more, have been regular reading of mine for some time. I recently discovered a few new ways to enjoy and benefit from HBR - HBR apps for my iPhone.

The first app is a somewhat random app called HBR Stats. This cool little app provides "facts and figures offering a quick, sometimes quirky perspective on our world and the business that happens in it."

The second app is HBR Tips. This app "offers quick, practical management tips and ideas."

These nifty apps provide countless anecdotes and useful bits of information. I highly recommend them. Additionally, if you are in educational leadership, I recommend adding the Harvard Business Review to your weekly or monthly reading regimen. You might also want to browse the list of HBR book titles for additional reading.