Finland vs US Education System
- May 19
- 4 min read
I've been thinking about the US education system and how it can get better. Historically, the US has not been known for its highly ranked education. I found a documentary on Apple TV called The Finland Phenomenon. Interestingly, Finland is renowned for their education system so this documentary dives into why their education is so excellent. This documentary was made in 2011, but it doesn't look like much has changed since then.
In the very beginning of the documentary, the Finland teacher makes it very clear that all children receive the same education irrespective of socioeconomic background. It's the same quality for everyone. They also discuss the fact that the people of Finland realize the importance and value of a child's education. Education is free of charge including snacks and lunch.
Finland is known for not having standardized tests. The teaching is focused on children learning how to think. For example, the students in Finland learn about entrepreneurship, independent thinking, and innovation. There seems to be more hands on projects in Finland, pushing them to use creativity and think on their own. For example, they show a high school class that has an assignment to stay at their school over night for 24 hours and they work in teams to create a business plan for a new product. This teaches them teamwork and innovation.
The other key point is that being a teacher is considered an esteemed job and requires rigorous schooling and training. Teaching is a job that requires a masters degree in Finland. There are multiple teacher trainers that observe the teacher and they come together to provide feedback and discuss lesson plans. Thus, there seems to be a lot of discussion between teachers on the best way for the children to learn. The Finnish teachers said that there is trust in their education system, so people aren't critical of the teachers. This is because there is so much rigor to become a teacher.
One of the initial points they discuss is the fact that the children are more relaxed in their classes. There is an emphasis on discussion and making learning fun. The documentary said that the children call their teachers by their first name so it's less formal. The children also have the same teacher multiple years in a row, which creates a better relationship and the teacher better understands the child's style of learning.
The documentary provides a couple interesting facts:
The average American teacher spends about 1,100 hours/year in the classroom. In Finland the average is 600.
Per student, Americans spend an average of $8700/year. Finland spends only $7500.
Finland has a per capita Gross National Income of $45,680. US is $47,240.
Newsweek ranks Finland 1 in education. US is ranked 26.
By their 5th year, almost 50% of America's teachers will have chosen to leave the profession. In Finland, the majority of teachers will continue until retirement.
Finland is among the 5 least corrupt countries in the world. The US ranks 23rd just ahead of Uruguay.
Since this documentary was created in 2011, I was curious to check more recent results. PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) is used to rank the education systems around the world. The OECD organization tests 15-year-olds across the world on Math, Science, and Reading every three years. The last PISA results were shared in 2022. Below are the scores and world ranking for the US and Finland (reference here). The US actually did fairly well in Reading but we are lagging in Math and Science.
The US scores are the following (score/world ranking):
Math 464, 34th
Reading 503, 9th
Science 499, 16th
In Finland the scores and ranking are below:
Math 484, 20th
Reading 490, 14th
Science is 510, 9th
The US still has a big issue with equality in education. Specifically, the PISA results provide the following information: in the US, socio-economically advantaged students outperformed disadvantaged students by 102 score points in mathematics. While in Finland, socio-economically advantaged students outperformed disadvantaged students by 83 score points. The average across countries is 93 points. (reference here).
In regards to corruption, the US is still known as a country with corruption issues. The least corrupt countries in the 2025 ranking are 1 Denmark, 2 Finland, and 3 Singapore. The US is ranked 29th in corruption (reference here). This site tracks corrupt behavior by country leadership, and says the following, "We define corruption as the abuse of entrusted power for private gain".
One point that the documentary didn't bring up is time spent outdoors. I believe that children should be getting more time in nature and outside. "Spending time in nature enhances educational outcomes by improving children’s academic performance, focus, behavior and love of learning (reference here). I envision future schools for children surrounded by gardens, parks, and trees. I picture children learning about gardening outside, putting their hands in the dirt planting seeds, and learning about butterflies and insects outside. Based on observing my own kids, they love nature, bugs, and learning about animals outside.
To summarize, even though Finland is a much smaller country and is less diverse, I think we should look at Finland's educational structure as a helpful model for the US. I found it interesting that they don't use testing as much, and the children seemed more relaxed and happier. It was also brought up multiple times that Finland values education for children, they know how important it is. As for the US, equality is still a major hurdle we need to address.
What can we do individually? We can talk about this more and elect political officials that discuss the value of education for children. We need leaders that are willing to admit to our shortcomings so that we can work towards something better. It's not just about the leaders though. Until we all open our eyes and see the issues of our reality, we can't build something better.
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