An overhaul of a national education system is a major and potentially risky undertaking for any country. Introducing fundamental reforms is costly and not always guaranteed to succeed. In this edition of Learning World Maha Barada looks at two examples of sweeping changes to national curricula that authorities believe are on course to yield significant benefits.
Finland: school of skills
For many years Finland has been top-of-the-class in the field of education, with its schools system achieving excellent scores in international rankings. But teaching methods are constantly evolving and the latest approach involves putting emphasis more on skills than hte range of subjects. We see how this philosophy of ‘phenomenon-based learning’ is being put into practice at one comprehensive school in Helsinki; how the students use what they learn is considered more valuable than simply acquiring knowledge.
More than memorising
For 60 years Japanese education
has been about rote learning and
