此篇報導是來自The Wall Street Journal, 2008年2月29日的報導。Yuhsiu的朋友分享給Yuhsiu，Yuhsiu再分享給大家（也歡迎大家資源共享）。其中提到的一些重要概念，我嘗試摘錄並翻譯如下，希望能讓更多人了解芬蘭（北歐）的教育內涵。有興趣者，也可參考天下雜誌今年1月出版的《芬蘭教育：世界第一的秘密》（之後有空，我再來將該書的觀念整理給大家參考）。
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High-school students here rarely get more than a half-hour of homework a night. They have no school uniforms, no honor societies, no valedictorians, no tardy bells and no classes for the gifted. There is little standardized testing, few parents agonize over college and kids don't start school until age 7.
這裡(芬蘭)的高中生每晚要做的功課很少超過半個小時。他們不用穿制服，沒有榮譽學會（類似我們的模範生），[畢業時]沒有優異畢業生致詞代表(valedictorians)，沒有上課鈴(tardy bells)，沒有資優班。考試也很少是標準化的測驗 [註：可反思一下之前爭議的一綱一本/多本]，父母也很少為小孩上大學苦惱，小孩要到7歲才上學。
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Yet by one international measure, Finnish teenagers are among the smartest in the world. They earned some of the top scores by 15-year-old students who were tested in 57 countries. American teens finished among the world's C students even as U.S. educators piled on more homework, standards and rules. Finnish youth, like their U.S. counterparts, also waste hours online. They dye their hair, love sarcasm and listen to rap and heavy metal. But by ninth grade they're way ahead in math, science and reading -- on track to keeping Finns among the world's most productive workers.
然而，透過國際的評估，芬蘭青少年是世界上最聰明的學生。測驗來自57個國家的15歲學生，芬蘭青少年贏得多項頂尖的成績。雖然美國教育者給學生堆了更多的功課、標準及規則，美國青少年的表現卻落在C等。芬蘭年輕人，像美國青少年一樣，也花時間上網。他們染頭髮、喜愛挖苦，也聽饒舌與重金屬音樂。不過，到了9年級，他們在數學、科學與閱讀方面，表現超前——持續追蹤發現芬蘭是世界上最有生產力的員工。
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Trailing 15-year-old Fanny Salo at Norssi gives a glimpse of the no-frills curriculum. Fanny is a bubbly ninth-grader who loves "Gossip Girl" books, the TV show "Desperate Housewives" and digging through the clothing racks at H&M stores with her friends.
尾隨15歲的Fanny讓我們一窺樸實（no-frills）的課程。Fanny是個活潑的九年級生，喜歡＜Gossip Girl＞之類的書籍，＜Desperate Housewives＞的電視節目，也喜歡和朋友們在H&M商店的花車裡翻衣服。
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Fanny earns straight A's, and with no gifted classes she sometimes doodles in her journal while waiting for others to catch up. She often helps lagging classmates. "It's fun to have time to relax a little in the middle of class," Fanny says. Finnish educators believe they get better overall results by concentrating on weaker students rather than by pushing gifted students ahead of everyone else. The idea is that bright students can help average ones without harming their own progress.
Fanny的成績都是A。由於沒有資優班，在等其他同學趕上的同時，她有時就塗鴉自己的journal。她經常幫助學習落後的學生。Fanny說：「在課程中，有時間放鬆是好玩的（她指的應該是幫其他進度落後的同學這件事）。」芬蘭教育者相信：將注意力放在較弱的學生上，而非push資優學生領先其他人，讓他們整體的成果更好。[背後基本的]觀念是聰穎的學生幫助一般學生，無損於他們自己的進步（黑體為我所加）。
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There are fewer disparities in education and income levels among Finns. …
而在芬蘭人的教育與所得水準差異也不大。
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Taking away the competition of getting into the "right schools" allows Finnish children to enjoy a less-pressured childhood. While many U.S. parents worry about enrolling their toddlers in academically oriented preschools, the Finns don't begin school until age 7, a year later than most U.S. first-graders.
除去進入「對的學校」的競爭（黑體為我所加）讓芬蘭小孩享受壓力較小的童年。當許多美國父母擔心小孩是否能進入課業學習導向[暫譯，若有更好的譯詞，歡迎提供]的幼稚園時，芬蘭小孩要到七歲才上學，比所有美國一年級生要晚一年上學。
詳文請見：
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120425355065601997.html
p.s. 1. 文內嵌有一個3分鐘的影片，有提到台灣喔。
2. 若有侵權之處，還請告知，謝謝。
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