Not to mention the parents. Without the direct and keen involvement of the parents children will not be able to learn and will not even develop the desire to learn. So many of these situations revolve around a “culture” or broad and deep collective attitude about the value of something, in this case, education. If the community isn’t supportive of it, if the parents do not direct the children in it, then the children will very rarely break out of that cycle and develop a passion for it.

Hi!

I’m from Finland, and an English major at a university here, and I just wanted to say that parents do not help their kids with their homework here on a daily bases, and I do mean not even first graders. On a side note, my mother is a teacher.

I cannot remember ever sitting down for the purpose of doing my homework with my parents from start to finish. Parents only help if you ask them to, and then you can sit down together to see what the problem is, and these occasions may be months apart. My point is that kids do learn without the “direct and keen involvement of the parents” the idea that they do not, is actually part of the American culture, not something written in stone.

From the first grade onwards, I was accountable for my learning, it was something I did. My parents never saw to it that my homework was correct, unless I asked about something. I did the work and the teacher checked it or we cheked it in class, and then I found out if I did well or not.

Hi Finland,

I must say first that since you are one who is obviously a product of the Finnish educational system and is currently experiencing success, you have automatic credibility as far as I’m concerned. I have been a high school teacher in the United States, California to be more exact, for 23 years, and a parent to four children for a lot longer than that.
I has always firmly believed that parental involvement in the education of their children was a vital and necessary aspect of a successful educational experience. but you have made me reconsider my beliefs on what it means to be “involved” in your children’s education.
Thanks for the new perspective.

In regard to the comments of Finland and Adriann: What is it then about Finland, either the way that the schools are or the way the society is, that makes it so, that the students are motivated to produce on their own? I’d really like to know.