Parenting Magazine’s Mom Congress 2012 and Finnish Education
by Gwyn Ridenhour/gwynridenhour.wordpress.com
Last week I had the privilege of attending Parenting Magazine’s Mom Congress 2012 conference in Washington, DC as the delegate from North Dakota. Parenting selected one delegate from each state, flew us in, hosted and fed us, and introduced us to some of the most dedicated and intelligent folks in the country who are working to make a positive difference in their communities’ education practices. I am honored to have been a part.
Lots of amazing people were there, including education correspondent for NBC Rehema Ellis, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, White House chef Sam Kass (he spoke on nutrition), and CEOs and founders of several fabulous national and international programs that support the education and well-being of children. Salman Khan produced and shared a video introduction to his work specifically for this conference. It was full and amazing, and I was refreshed to see how many positive efforts were going around me every day.
The speaker who I found most fascinating, was Anu Partanen (in photo at right), a journalist and author of “What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland’s School Success.” If you haven’t read this article, it’s worth taking the time. Finland is outpacing the US in education success, and their model is quite different from our own. Many of
Last week I had the privilege of attending Parenting Magazine’s Mom Congress 2012 conference in Washington, DC as the delegate from North Dakota. Parenting selected one delegate from each state, flew us in, hosted and fed us, and introduced us to some of the most dedicated and intelligent folks in the country who are working to make a positive difference in their communities’ education practices. I am honored to have been a part.Lots of amazing people were there, including education correspondent for NBC Rehema Ellis, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, White House chef Sam Kass (he spoke on nutrition), and CEOs and founders of several fabulous national and international programs that support the education and well-being of children. Salman Khan produced and shared a video introduction to his work specifically for this conference. It was full and amazing, and I was refreshed to see how many positive efforts were going around me every day.
The speaker who I found most fascinating, was Anu Partanen (in photo at right), a journalist and author of “What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland’s School Success.” If you haven’t read this article, it’s worth taking the time. Finland is outpacing the US in education success, and their model is quite different from our own. Many of