by Sheryl Abshire
Administrative Coordinator of Technology, Calcasieu Parish School System
Lake Charles, LA and Past Chair of CoSN
Flying to another country, another educational system….so close, but yet so far away in terms of educational achievement. While Finland is hailed for academic achievement, Sweden is struggling to regain its position as a leader in world. Authorities in the country struggle to answer why this has occurred, but certainly, there is country-wide interest in improving achievement. In fact, so much so that the Swedish National Agency is now in the process of being reorganized and there is much angst over these significant changes that will occur in order to become more efficient. The Swedish school system is a goal based system with a high degree of local responsibility and a real focus on students’ taking personal responsibility for learning. While technology was once a significant factor in schools, over the years it waned. They are now on a pathway to reenergize the use of technology in schools in an effort to raise their learning status to past achievement and noteworthy recognition in the world community.
Additionally, the country has created an incredible resource used to support multiple language learning in Sweden. This, by the way, is required to be supported in all aspects of the curriculum. I find it interesting that in the United States we struggle with providing support for ESL students, primarily Hispanic speaking students in my part of the country, yet in Sweden they are mandated to provide support for every language. They refer to this mandate as “mother tongue teaching”. The Swedish National Agency has developed a fantastic website that is used by the teachers to support students in mother tongue teaching. http://modersmal.skolutveckling.se/projekt/
Additionally, they have been working with the European Schoolnet on a massive teacher to teacher collaboration project via the web. http://www.etwinning.net
Thousands of European teachers are using the power of broadband Internet connections to connect students in unique and innovative ways with the goal of improving student learning. Teachers and students from the United States may be allowed to participate, but they must be invited to participate by a European school. The massive commitment of resources across countries that vary widely in language, culture and educational policies is but yet, another example of the power of technology to reach across great divides to support students.
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Comments (2)
Sheryl,
Thanks for sharing your insights, this is fascinating stuff. I'm interested in hearing more about the strategies used in Sweden to promote student ownership of learning and your thoughts on how this compares with the U.S. Safe travels!
Mark
Posted by Mark Cosby | November 16, 2007 7:51 PM
Posted on November 16, 2007 19:51
Our educational instidutions are of great importance for every nation. From my research I have seen that both the Finish and Swedish systems produces good results.
I think we can do it even better if we change some basic principles and give more responsiblitiy to they children. One solution could be to let pupils at 7-8 year become teacher of their younger mates. This could enhence to learning process enormously.
My own reseach can be access from: http://www.debatcode.com
Posted by Soren
|
April 10, 2008 5:30 PM
Posted on April 10, 2008 17:30