《真实的芬兰教训》前言（张铁光教授、剑桥大学博士，上海金苹果学校国际部名誉校长）

2017年10月19日，英国国家学校标准部长Nick Gibb做了《基于知识教育的重要性》的讲话，特别强调了知识丰富课程的重要性，这是对英国2010年以芬兰教育为蓝本进行的学校教育改革的反思和批判。

 

英国教育再次强调“知识”的重要性是建立在科学理性思考的基础上，教育市场化改革研究中心（CMRE）研究主任Gabriel Sahlgren于2015年4月发布的《真实的芬兰教训》对芬兰教育的实际情况做了客观理性的分析。伦敦经济学院社会政策教授，Julian Le Grand专门为《真实的芬兰教训》写了序言，他强调在没有充分了解相关国家政治、经济和历史的情况下对国际政策进行比较是困难的。

 

通过对英国政府教育改革过程的研究，我们可以学到很多的东西。教育需要变革以应对未来的挑战，而教育变革的指导思想应该建立在对人类学习的科学理性分析的基础之上。

 

——张铁光教授、剑桥博士，上海金苹果学校国际部名誉校长

 

 

《真实的芬兰教训》前言

 

在过去的十年左右，芬兰的教育体系一直是世界上许多教育专家和政策制定者的榜样。这个声誉源于该国在本世纪初在国际测试中的出色表现。在连续的PISA研究，芬兰实现了识字、算术和科学的最高位置，甚至能与东亚虎的整体性能相匹敌。因此，芬兰教育模式在短短几年内就从默默无闻走向举世闻名。

 

也许最值得注意的是，芬兰似乎能够在不诉诸东亚标志的严厉教育模式情况下取得优异的成绩。同样，它也似乎拒绝了许多在其斯堪的纳维亚邻国、英国和其他地方进行的市场和问责改革。所有这些，使芬兰成为世界各地教育政策主要趋势反对者的特别有吸引力的模式。

 

然而，在过去的几年里，该国的表现已经开始动摇，无论是绝对的还是相对的。对芬兰成功的传统解释的拥护者们似乎忽视了正在进行的衰退，或者提出了一些试图挽救他们原来看法的特别论点。

 

然而，伴随芬兰教育“奇迹” 传统解释的主要问题是它们起源于“最佳实践”的想法，强调高表现国家的目前安排作为关键因素，没有对这些是否是因果联系表现的充分考虑。因此，从这种方法得出的政策教训并非特别可靠，实际上可能弊大于利。

 

因此，虽然许多人利用芬兰的经验来支持他们自己关于某些教育可取性的理论，但它的兴衰从来没有被严格地系统地分析过。在对芬兰现象精湛的探索中，Gabriel Heller Sahlgren对这种情况做了补救。他驳斥了许多标准的解释，并令人信服地表明如何通过详细审查芬兰的历史和文化对正面和负面的结果做出更好的解释。他的研究是一个客观的教训，既是在没有充分了解相关国家政治、经济和历史的情况下对国际政策进行比较是多么困难。这不仅是对那些对芬兰经验感兴趣的人，而且对任何关心教育和学校改革的人来说都是必读的。

 

Julian Le Grand是伦敦经济学院社会政策的Richard Titmuss教授

 

Real Finnish Lessons: FOREWORD

 

The true story of an education superpower

GABRIEL HELLER SAHLGREN

WITH A FOREWORD BY PROFESSOR JULIAN LE GRAND

 

For the last decade or so, Finland’s education system has been a poster child for many education experts and policymakers throughout the world. This reputation stems from the country’s outstanding performance in international tests in the early part of this century. In consecutive PISA studies, Finland achieved top positions in literacy, numeracy, and science, rivalling even the East Asian tigers in overall performance. Consequently, the Finnish education model went from obscurity to world famous within only a few years.

 

Perhaps most remarkable was the fact that Finland was seemingly able to achieve the excellent results without resorting to the draconian education model that has been the trademark of East Asia. Similarly, it also appeared to have spurned many of the market and accountability reforms undertaken in its Scandinavian neighbours, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.  All this made Finland an especially attractive model for opponents of some of the major trends in education policy worldwide.

 

However, the country’s performance has begun to falter in the last couple of years – in both absolute and relative terms. Proponents of the traditional explanations for the Finnish success appear either to ignore the on-going decline or to come up with ad hoc arguments in an attempt to save their original ones.

 

Yet the main problem with the traditional explanations of the Finnish education “miracle” was that they originated from the idea of  “best practice”, an approach that highlights current arrangements in high-performing countries as the key determinant without adequate consideration of whether these are causally linked to  performance. Consequently, the policy lessons drawn from this approach are not particularly reliable and might in fact do more harm than good.

 

So, while many have used Finland’s experience to support their own pet theories on the desirability of certain  types of education, its rise and decline have never been systematically analysed in a rigorous fashion. In this masterly exploration of the Finnish phenomenon, Gabriel Heller Sahlgren remedies this situation. He refutes many of the standard explanations, and shows convincingly how the outcomes, both positive and negative, are better explained by a detailed examination of Finland’s history and educational culture.  His research is an object lesson in how difficult it is to make international comparisons of policy without a full understanding of the politics, economics, and history of the countries concerned. It is a must read, not only for those interested in the Finnish experience, but for anybody concerned with education and school reform in general.

 

Julian Le Grand is Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy at the London School of Economics.