Category: Uncategorized
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Finnish Style Lesson: Subject Selection/Careers
Subject Selection Lesson One lesson I have been taking has proved to be popular with students, many coming back the next day and enthusiastically speaking about the conversations it led to with their parents. Finnish schools have careers counselors who regularly meet with even young students. Helping the student discover their passions and giving meaning…
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The Gift of Failure
The excerpt below, from The Atlantic (and Jessica Lahey’s book, ‘The Gift of Failure‘) is an excellent example of how the narrow focus of the ‘High Impact Teaching Strategies’ which have become all-pervasive in Australian (and American schools it appears) schools is robbing students of the joy of learning and replacing it with a fear,…
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Myths of Finnish Education (Mythconceptions) Pt.1
MYTHS OF FINNISH EDUCATION (MYTHCONCEPTIONS!) Pt.1 Since the release of the Testing 3,2,1 book it has been interesting to obtain feedback from Australian educators. One thing that quickly became obvious is that there are many misunderstandings about exactly what education in Finland involves. So I thought I might address a few of these. Here is…
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Geelong Teachers Says NAPLAN Overhaul Not Enough to Improve
Geelong teacher Michael Lawrence says NAPLAN overhaul not enough to improve student outcomes Australia’s NAPLAN test is set to be in for a major overhaul, but its changes offer “little hope” for improvements, a veteran Geelong educator says. Australia’s NAPLAN test is set for a major overhaul, but its changes offer “little hope” for improvements,…
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Why is the Finnish System so Successful?
Perhaps the most common question I get when my work with Finnish education is mentioned is, ‘Why is their system so successful?’ The answer to this is a combination of many factors, but I have come to believe that the most important of these is that the Finnish education system has concentrated on the ‘Why?’…
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Myths of Finnish Education: Progressive?
Myths of Finnish Education Pt.III PROGRESSIVE? One of the most common responses I hear when talking about the Finnish education system is the use of the term ‘progressive education’. In a recent discussion with an educator in Finland, he told me that the term progressive is never used in Finland. Surely, he argued, all…
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Parents and Finnish Education: A Myth
This was a myth I was not aware of until a school administrator actually said to me, “I think the parents might have something to say about that” when I was speaking about the flaws in standardized curriculum and testing as used in the Australian system. During the last few years I introduced as many…
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The Finnish perspective has arrived: PD sessions commence in Australia
He’s the author of Testing 1, 2,3: What Australian education can learn from Finland, and this month teacher, writer and tragic Midnight Oil fan Michael Lawrence joined other educators in Orange, NSW, to take teachers through a one-day session of a Finnish perspective to education. The personal development session, which is the first of its type…
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‘Why are we still doing what we do when all evidence indicates that it does not work?’ from Education Review
In the shadows of last year’s teacher strike in New South Wales, a number of people asked me how the Finnish education system would deal with the issues causing dissatisfaction for Australian teachers. It is an excellent question. It is rare for a teacher to leave the profession in Finland. Indeed, teaching is one of…
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Back for 2024
Pleased to announce I will be continuing my push to bring education in Australia and elsewhere into the 21st century.
Michael Lawrence and Dr. Fabio D'Agostin | Creating Schools... 