School bus

Anybody in for a good laugh? Via Jim.

The Huffington Post: My Crush on Finland: A Country That Values Its Teachers

So as much as I tried to dismiss Finland for its differences, one factor just kept standing out: the quality of the teaching force. Teaching is a very sought-after profession, allowing for the selection of some of the best students to become teachers with most teachers being chosen from the top 10 percent of their college classes. It's both competitive and prestigious with only a small percentage of candidates being accepted to study as teachers. Teachers are respected, trusted and honored. And guess what else? Teaching is popular.

I really don't know whether to laugh or cry. On a wider note, it's funny how European countries are politicized in American politics. But seriously? Sought-after? You mean that in a country with massive academic unemployment, teaching jobs are sought after. Wow! We must really like teaching!

Excellent logic. Also, as Jim pointed out, if we really valued our teachers that much, you'd think we'd pay them.

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On another note, Finnish people are funny in several ways. It's a general rule of Finnish public transport that when a passenger gets on a bus or train, they will do their utmost to avoid sitting next to another person. Earlier this week, someone sent a photo to MTV3 proving that we don't fear personal contact just on the bus. Here's a bunch of Finns waiting for a bus in Kulosaari, Helsinki:

Now THAT'S the kind of country this is!

Better grades through level grinding

How about a different way of grading courses? I found an interesting article from technoccult (via Hacker News) that referenced an article in escapist magazine that mentioned australian itnews as its source which had interviewed Lee Sheldon (forefather of Hari Seldon, I hope).

Our grades could be based on how much coursework we complete - as inviduals and as teams. Each completed excercise could give us couple hundred experience points that would go towards better grades in differential geometry, computational alchemy or fnordian excuses (or whatever we happen to be studying). 

My google-fu was weak - I did not find anything of note about this idea from Indiana University web page - just link to Sheldons profile. His webpage is somewhat more informative, but just not about this idea.  

Lithuania to ban discussing homosexuality

At amnesty.org

The Lithuanian parliament has voted in favour of a measure that would prohibit the discussion of homosexuality in schools and ban any reference to it in public information that can be viewed by children. The Seimas voted by an overwhelming majority on Tuesday to move forward to a final vote on an amendment to the "Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information".

I love the name of that law.

Once again, a legistlature wants to protect the vulnerable from information. I mean, it says so right there in the title. Aren't the Lithuanian people fortunate to have a parliament that protects them from harmful information?