Finland may not be a model to follow. Academic achievement has been falling, although from a high level, and closing gaps is not a good thing if it is accomplished by hindering the brightest
Agreed.
In her blog (
linked upthread), the traveling teacher mentioned
"I wonder if this “everyone is doing okay, so lets not worry about it” mentality is going to be a problem for Finland in the future." Viewing
Finland using the free, online, interactive tool
2016 Index of Economic Freedom, we see a drop in Finland's government spending from 2010-2012 which seems to correlate with the drop in PISA scores mentioned in the
linked article from The Guardian. While correlation does not imply causation, the greater freedom in the USA fuels self-reliance, internal locus of control, motivation, and competition... which can drive both achievement and excellence.
Comparing the United States (ranked 11th) and Finland (ranked 24th) using the
2016 Index of Economic Freedom tool to
graph a comparison, we see in detail the greater freedoms in the US as compared with Finland.
With greater freedom comes greater risk and reward.
