Finland's Cause
A glimpse into the Finnish education system has given me an insight about education policy. Al Jazeera covered Finland's media literacy campaign in 2024, and through this video I learned about the country's history. Finland gained independence from Russia in 1917, went through a Finlandization period thereafter (characterized by suppression by the larger political power), and has been since invested in closely monitoring wars that Russia gets involved in, including its recent invasion of Ukraine. So, responsible for maintaining sovereignty for just over 5 and a half million people, the Finnish government has invested in widespread media literacy campaigns that operate within public education and seek to make Finns literate in noticing misinformation and deep fakes online. It is notable that there is such a strong reason for the Finnish government to care about the ability of their citizens to make sense of the news they read. There's a legitimate motivation on part of the state to train its young people to distinguish fact from fiction.
When Finnish children learn about "trolls," they have a unique opportunity to learn about why someone would want to spread false information in their particular context; classroom discussions may turn interdisciplinary and Finns may come to understand that this 'why' could be bigger than just getting followers. The Finnish population ranks among the most media literate in the world. They are not easily tricked, and it's because this part of their education is so tended to. Themselves at risk, the Finnish government feels duty towards the skills of their people as they relate to national safety. This is a special political situation to which the legislative and educational realities of other countries may be compared and better understood in light of. And, one may wonder about the success to be had in replicating educational campaigns in places that lack the underlying motivation inspiring such efforts in the first place.
Taoism in Taiwan
In a comparative study of inquiry in science education across 6 different non-European countries, author Hsiao-Lin Tuan describes the cultural influences at play in Taiwan, namely a tradition of Taoism. Taiwan has approached science education from a place of tension between the Taoist harmony-with-nature lens and the Western interrogation-of-nature prerogative. The Taiwanese government attempted reform in 1999 but struggled to affect science instruction beyond surface levels. Though there was space made for inquiry in casual settings-- having been brought out of the formal lab-- the entrenched conflict between mindsets could not be resolved.
Though I cannot claim to have experienced such a meaningful tension, I empathize with the trap of doing inquiry to check a box. Taiwan's reality illustrates in large form the task of science educators globally. Teachers must guide students towards a genuine embodiment of a particular mode of relating to the world; the act of confronting nature is an intimate one, whether traditional culture makes it more difficult or not.
That being said, learning science, even from a Western point of view, requires an incredible amount of noticing. A mechanistic task (pointed inquiry) may be supported by comfort with the experiential one (being with your surroundings.) Thus, the Taoist framing brings something valuable to the table that science educators ought not skip over: Before you analyze, categorize, or attempt to influence some phenomenon, consider the connection to be had with it. Being present allows additional senses to support comprehension or eventual study. Friendship with nature awards students background knowledge without needing to purposeful pine for it. The supposed countercultural message that Taoism brings may not be so at odds with our standards-driven evironment after all. Or if it is, it may regardless support the development of the whole learner.
Mount Laojun - sacred site for Taoists Self-Teaching
In Sugata Mitra's 2013 TED talk "Build a School in the Cloud," he describes what he considers to be the future of learning--- the SOLE, or self-organized learning environment. SOLE's have 3 components: broadband (internet access), collaboration (among peers), and encouragement (by an otherwise out-of-the-way mentor.) With these in place, Mitra claims that students can teach themselves. He explains that he's done plenty of research in order to say this confidently, that yes, learning happens on its own. Towards the end of the talk, Mitra adds an aditional requirement to this model, a curriculum of big questions.
My inclinations towards the idea that learning can occur without a teacher are earnestly mixed. On one hand, the way a teacher facilitates learning traditionally flawed. They fail easily, either by talking too much, not requiring students to do enough work independent of their assistance, or otherwise offering support which is lackluster. There's also the neuroscience angle: We don't learn well with stress present and teachers tend to create a lot of it. It's been known to me that students are capable of a lot by on their own, it's true, but they still need direction, access to resources, and a push, if nothing else. The SOLE appears at first glance to be able to provide. What I primarily take away from Mitra's work is a confirmation that adults need not make themselves an imposition in educational spaces. I also wonder, personally, if there is a way to return children back to their seemingly natural/universal state of curiosity and creativity that Mitra describes. My own students often show up burnt out by a system that has for years molded them into dependency. If you have long been a part of a school designed to foster your growth only along certain lines, what will it take to bring you back to a place of wonder and risk-taking, and can whatever it is be provided solely within the school itself?
