U. S. Education Reformers' Cartoon Version of Finland's Teacher Education System
Friedman's "Teaching for America" (as in Teach for America) in the Times on Nov. 20 highlights the schizophrenia of the corporate ed reformers' approach to having their cake, eating their cake, and not paying their cake all at the same time. As the media mouthpiece for Gates, Broad, Walmart, and Arne Duncan, Friedman encapsulates in his little op-ed an approach to reform based on syrupy rhetoric, arrogance, ignorance, and deception.
If Friedman knows anything about Finland's education system or their teacher education process, it doesn't show. The closest he comes to advocating an American model based on what the Finns have done can be found in his advocacy for recruiting the best and the brightest into teaching. And that's where similarity with the Finns ends. The Finns do not take their best and brightest, indoctrinate them for 5 weeks, and dump them into
If Friedman knows anything about Finland's education system or their teacher education process, it doesn't show. The closest he comes to advocating an American model based on what the Finns have done can be found in his advocacy for recruiting the best and the brightest into teaching. And that's where similarity with the Finns ends. The Finns do not take their best and brightest, indoctrinate them for 5 weeks, and dump them into
