Sociomusicology: Finland’s Fantastic Schools

7/18/08

Finland’s Fantastic Schools

The educational system of Finland surely has many strengths, but it is difficult to know what to make of some of the astonishing reports about Finnish schools that have been appearing in the international mass media in recent months.

Some reports seem to be based upon a questionable combination of second hand information with test scores and outdated financial figures, and some others merely regurgitate what has already been said in previous news articles. Still, it seems clear that something remarkable is happening in Finnish education. The typical Finn's language skills and knowledge of science, humanities and the arts is very impressive. There is a great emphasis on creativity here, and there seem to be relatively few social problems due to egalitarian public systems, although rates of alcoholism and suicide may be slightly higher than other nations. Rigorous, comparative research is needed so convincing findings can be attained regarding the successes of this national system. The following articles provide some background on this topic:

http://www.helsinki.fi/news/archive/7-2008/3-09-32-47.html

http://online.wsj.com/public/article_print/SB120425355065601997.html

http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=41557

One author in the United States has suggested that much can be learned from Finnish schools, including how problems in American schools might best be solved:
http://www.federalwaynews.net/articles/2008/06/25/interact/columnists/column01.txt

Here is an interesting blog post by Finnish researcher Teemu Leinonen on the topic of comparisons between schools in the United States and Finland:
http://flosse.dicole.org/?item=comparing-schools-in-finland-and-in-the-united-states

I intend to conduct some thorough research into this question while living in Helsinki, and will certainly share my findings in future publications.

Below are some links to various articles on music education in Finland:

Finnish Music Education
http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=25821

Overview of Music Education in Finland
http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/overview+of+music+education+in+finland

Positive Effects of Music Education in Finland
http://www.artistshousemusic.org/videos/the+positive+effects+of+music+education+in+finland

1 comment:

Unknown said...: Those are Russian kids.; May 23, 2009 at 7:22 AM

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Welcome to Sociomusicology

For over 15 years (since 2007), this website has offered musings on contemporary society and its music by David G. Hebert, PhD. He is a sociomusicologist specializing in global music education who has held academic positions with universities on five continents. Dr. Hebert is now a tenured full Professor with Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Bergen. There he leads the Grieg Academy Music Education (GAME) research group and manages the multinational government-funded Nordic Network for Music Education, which organizes annual intensive Master courses and exchange of teachers and students across eight countries. He is also an Affiliated Professor with University of the Faroe Islands and an Honorary Professor in China with the Education University of Hong Kong.

Professor Hebert's research applies an international-comparative perspective to issues of pluralism, identity, and cultural relevance in music education, as well as processes by which new music traditions emerge and change - both sonically and socially - as they are adopted into institutions. Born in the 1970s, he is among the most widely-published and globally-active music scholars of his generation (h-index:20; i10-index:30), with professional activities in an average of 8 countries per year across the past decade (2008-2020).