Quote:
Originally Posted by DataDoxy
Finland has been ranked as a top performing country for years according to PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment). At a recent conference with world leaders in education, I listened to Pasi Sahlberg talk about why. One reason was because Finland embraces learning through "play".
Recently, Finland has announced that they are dropping "subjects" and instead are embracing "themes". These themes will enable subjects to be integrated into real-world, meaningful and relevant lessons. Kids will learn math through engaging in science and engineering while using new technologies. Arts and humanities will also be integrated. In other words, they are embracing "STEAM" education. This is the integration of science, technology, engineering, arts and math to create learning experiences where kids are engaged in hands-on learning activities that encourage creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and grit.
My question is... How would you feel about schools in Canada taking on the same philosophy? Should we drop subjects and embrace themes? |
Is this kind of like Montessori education?
I think it's a great way to help kids find what they enjoy doing and what they are good at. In school, I used to hate doing canned math problems from a text book, but loved figuring out real world math problems.
I do think they need to keep it regimented though because kids need structure (plus, the real world for 99% of the population revolves around structure). I know a group of kids in Canada that are home schooled and use the discovery model for learning, but I found out through gossip that they are really behind other kids their age. The parents wanted a "Montessori school", but didn't want to pay for it so they are doing like a group homeschooling.