Early years education: Sweden versus the UK Part 3 (of 3)
If someone tried to implement the Swedish preschool model in the UK or USA, how would you respond – praise them as a pioneer or accuse them of being an anarchist? Yet a typical, bog-standard Swedish preschool produces confident, happy children who, despite their comparitively low literacy levels are so eager to learn that by the time they are 10 years old, they have overtaken their British counterparts and go on to excel both in higher education and in their careers. Contrast that with UK and US school children. How happy, confident and eager to learn are they? Our children are the ones who suffer most from the burden of sats, who are constrained most by the demands of the national curriculum. They have to face long, boring days in woefully underfunded schools. Teachers and support staff do their best and know what’s needed but they cannot win this fight alone. We all need to join in demanding radical change. The film’s narrator asks, “Can we afford to invest as much as the Swedes do in preschool education?” It’s your tax money and your vote. Let them know what you think. Visit www.teachers.tv and register (for free) to download a higher quality version of this film and to see other excellent films about education.
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Tagged with: Children • democracy • Education • kindergarten • Motala • nursery • Preschool • public • sats • Services. • spending • tax
Filed under: Distance Education
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Haha I wrote that when I was just turning 17, so it looked weird how if first said 16 and then 17
Thanks for your insights Mikael! It’s all relative isn’t it? If you experience what passes for preschool education in the UK, the Swedish system IS utopian! But Sweden itself is no utopia.
For improving maths, maybe we need to look to Finland and see what they do? I’ve seen at first hand the shockingly bad maths abilities of many Swedish 16+ students. I suspect the solution to that problem lies outside the scope of this film (i.e. in primary & secondary maths education).
This makes me nauseated.
The program segment prints a false picture of some utopia that doesn’t exist.
Yes, it’s true that the school system has been well-funded and it’s true that we don’t place prestige on tests etc. in the early years.
It is also true that performance, especially in math, has gone down consistently. This is true for most western countries.
While I share many values portrayed in this video, they do not equal better education.
Im so glad im not from the UK or USA!
free movement is not a one way street and most of the labours that come from east europe comes for jobs that noone wants to do and they rarely stay.
Does that are unemployed could use this mayor opertunity to go to norway for some time to work where they have the opposite problem from sweden.
It’s more because you have half a brain you would think that…
Sweden, the nation of least corruption, most literacy, best knowledge of English in the non-English speaking world, most well developed social security in the world.
However, immigration and political neglect of immigration, school and crime is tearing up the people’s home of the Kingdom of Sweden.
I’m in Britain. I did my first formal exam when I was 7.
This is amazing. The style is so needed in the UK and throughout the world.
Kudos to Sweden!
above post @whathittthefan. Obviuos to anyone with half a brain but non the less.
I have pets that are smarter than you.
@notblondeswede: It’s true, but the media won’t tell you that. Sure, just a small part of the immigrants are doing these things, but a small part is to much.
very impressive. it is so hard for this standard of preschool to be in singapore. the government does subsidize but not much for schools to provide swedish standards.
the main concern is costs.
The thing in Sweden is that only because pree-schools don’t teach these things, does’nt mean we don’t learn. When the children knows the basics, letters and numbers, and still has the motivation to learn more, then you have easy-tought young students when they gets to the age of about six ore seven.
As cind of an answer to kiwikiwifinland, I was an exchangestudent in Germany some years ago. In the school I visited, the children who made that test were only ten. We almost did’nt belive them!
As an early childhood specialist, I believe that the Swedish approach is the best for children, long term and short term. Another equally brilliant method is the Reggio Emilia schools in Italy in which the “creative child within’ develops and is nourished.
That’s false.
Don’t go spread those lies. I’m 16 and have grown up all over SWeden and I’m 17, I know more about it than you do
I’m Dutch. I don’t want my children to be educated the way I was. My primary school decided that my secondary school had to be a low-level school because I was stupid and I would never get far. I had to fight myself to the top, and I made it.. but I will never put my children through it.. NEVER! how can you make 12 year olds do a test that will decide the rest of their lives?
Now I am in Finland, where children are educated equally untill the age of 16.
anyway, GO SWEDEN!! =D
yep, but it wasent like that before, it all started at 2000, when alot of immigrants started to come, ruin everything we built up… it stills holds on quite good, but i dont know if we will be able to regain other old prime again.
Massimmigration to sweden consists mainly of illiterates, criminals, muslims and welfare cases, almost all of them claim refugee status without having any. Over a million is now unemployed plus a million swedes unemployed. That have destroyed the society, most schools have daily crimes, robberys, riots etc. 4000 swedish schools have burned the recent few years. Immigrant burn down all kind of buildings and created ghettos everywhere. Sweden is now a total chaos with European crime records.
You’re right about the EU. Nobody votes for the politicians in Brussels. The EU has no benefits for anybody expect for the big businesses that want cheap workers. There is no point in the EU. It will NEVER be reformed. It should be devolved and consigned to history.
No, the real problem is greedy people – after all, we all want cheap goods and there are very few who ask questions.
Even your argument about restricting immigration was appealing to greed because it was emphasising the economic consequences.
And as for the EU, well it is an excuse, you’re right. It’s an excuse for our govts to implement free market policies without consulting the people who elected them. The EU is totally undemocratic. Unless it’s radically reformed, we should leave.
The EU is just an excuse. The real problem is greedy corporations that want cheap labour.
“…a 3rd world country of corporate princes and the impoverished.” (CyberW.)
GB’s “Gini coefficient” (inequality measure) grew from 25 in 1979 to 34 in 1990, where it remains because the UK continues to follow Thatcher’s free market policies.
Maggie was great in many ways but not economically. Her ’80s revival was built on the financial service industry – enough said!
Poland, on the other hand has real industry – outsourced from UK & Sweden.
On exiting the EU – you’re spot on my friend!
Also you shouldn’t blame Thatcher for was is happenning in the UK. She created a strong economy. Immigration is the cause of low wages and lack of jobs.
I wasn’t talking about the UK I was talking about Sweden. I thought you were Swedish.