Why Are Finnish Students Ranked #1 In The World?

Why Are Finnish Students Ranked #1 In The World?

Education, Featured

Achieving Excellence By Focusing On Cooperation Finland’s experience shows that it is possible to achieve excellence by focusing not on competition, but on cooperation, and not on choice, but on equity.” In his book Finnish Lessons, Doctor of Educational Sciences Pasi Sahlberg outlines the differences between the machine-press of traditional industrial-age education which most of us have gone under, and the educational system of Finland, which challenges accepted Western norms with great success; Finnish students rank #1 in the world in both mathematics and sciences despite having fewer school hours and no standardized tests. As Sahlberg writes: All of the factors that are behind the Finnish success seem to be the opposite of what is taking place in the United States and much of the rest of the world, where competition, test-based accountability, standardization, and privatization seem to dominate.” Instead of competition, Finland decided on cooperation and mutual help as a matter of policy. Students are rarely tested. Instead, they teach each other in class. Each student gets personal attention until he is on par with the other students. This attitude extends to the teachers and schools as well: “One of the ways that teachers improve is by learning from other teachers. Schools improve when they learn from other schools. Isolation is the enemy of all improvement.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcC2l8zioIw Education – A Means To Even Out Social Inequality And the difference is not purely academic. Finland is a small nation of 5.2 million people, with scarcely any natural resources. The Finnish government had to find a way to remain competitive within the global economy, while also minimizing social inequality. What it...
An iPad App To Build An Epic Conversation On Humanity’s Future

An iPad App To Build An Epic Conversation On Humanity’s Future

Culture, Featured

We humans need a new way to look. We need to see ourselves as one species, and develop a big picture view and a grounded vision to guide us.” –Anna Stillwell, The Human Project co-founder That statement was reached after two and a half years of research putting together many issues facing humanity into one big picture, as part of The Human Project.   The Human Project – An App For Humanity The Human Project is a free iPad app in the making, an app, as co-founder Erika Ilves states, “to build an epic conversation on the future of our species” around the big questions: “What do we, as a human race, need to accomplish in the 21st century? Who do we want to become as a species? Where do we want to head next?” The Human Project’s project proposal on Kickstarter, after only five days, reached its funding goal of $25,000, and has since expanded its goals. Here’s the project proposal video: Also, here’s an exciting promo video for The Human Project with Jason Silva: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26jKx74Wc5M More About The Human Project: The Human Project Official Website The Human Project on...
Let Us All Unite! – Charlie Chaplin’s Speech From The Great Dictator

Let Us All Unite! – Charlie Chaplin’s Speech From The Great Dictator

Culture, Featured

I’m sorry but I don’t want to be an Emperor, that’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful. But we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood, for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say “Do not despair”. The misery that is now upon us is but...
What Are The Consequences Of Ecological Overspending?

What Are The Consequences Of Ecological Overspending?

Science

Since The 1970s Human Demand On Nature Is Larger Than Nature’s Renewable Production Today, we are using 20% more than what nature can regenerate. In other words, it would take a year and more than 2 months to regenerate everything that we use within one year. This difference is called the ‘ecological deficit,’ the difference of how much more rapidly we are using resources like forests, fish stock, putting carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, than nature is able to accommodate.” Mathis Wackernagel, PhD, Executive Director of the Global Footprint Network exemplifies what he calls an “ecological bank statement” in a video presentation, excerpted below, showing how humanity today is using more than what nature can regenerate. Ecological Bank Statement Shows Humanity’s Using More Than It Has If we look at this bank statement and say that we’re using more than what we have, is this good news or bad news? I would say it is good news in the sense that it gives us more information. And we still have choice. We can still just not open the bank statement and recycle the envelope, or we can look at it. But if we do spend too much money, we also know what the consequences are, so there is a kind of a feedback loop. In the same way we have to think about nature from a budgeting perspective, and say, ‘what are the consequences of overspending?’” Watch The Video [if the video is not embedded below, then you can watch it here] [3 min. 30 sec.]: 06 – Overshoot (Exceeding Ecological Limits) – GLOBAL FOOTPRINT NETWORK from WERI on...
3 Tips For Your Child To Build A Powerful Brain

3 Tips For Your Child To Build A Powerful Brain

Education

The concern with very young children is that, as human beings we have a competitive advantage over the rest of the animal world by the virtue of the fact that we are born with, essentially, a fetal brain. Our brain gets to develop in response to the environment in which it needs to function. So though we are helpless and completely dependent on our parents for survival at birth, we get to build an architecture that is most efficient for dealing with the world we live in. What we know about that is that 3 things seem to be very important to building very powerful brains: Bonding with other human beings: relating to mommy, interacting, developing relationships. Manipulating the physical environment: stacking up blocks or getting a cheerio into your mouth. Open-ended problem solving, creative type of plays: so a blank piece of paper and crayons, or a piece of clay, are very good.” Michael Rich, MD, MPH, Director for the Center of Media and Child Health, in the video below in this post How Young Is Too Young To Watch Television? discusses the highly influential role of media – television, books, movies, video games and music – in children’s development, health and behavior. Watch the video: Image: Child’s Eye by...