Isn’t It Good? Norwegian Wood

On my recent trip to Norway a cruise along the coast delivered a magnificent array of beautiful land and seascapes with fjords and picturesque villages.  Wherever we stopped to go into towns, our way was made easy by people who spoke English.  I felt a little ashamed that they were so proficient and I barely learned a couple of phrases in Norwegian.  Meet the Norwegian educational system, one of the best in the world.

Scandinavia (Norway, Sweden, Denmark and broadly speaking Finland) rank in the  top 10 or 11 in global educational rankings, while the US places around 22.  There are many reasons for this, but if placed within other social and economic contexts, the picture comes into clearer focus.  In recent attempts to rank health care systems the US has come out far behind other developed countries, in one study ranking number 37.  These studies usually base their rankings on equitable access to health care as well as patient expenses, including insurance, and responsive services.  Much criticism has been directed at the methodology of the study, but we have known for a long time that our health care system is not equitable.  That’s where a look at the context of Scandinavia’s health care system is helpful.  It is constructed to provide for everyone regardless of income or social class. Nobody goes bankrupt buying expensive cures.  And healthy children are a crucial part of the success of its educational systems.  Scandinavian children don’t go to school hungry or sick.  Parents don’t have to choose between food and health care.   Kids arrive ready to learn.

Scandinavian children typically start learning English in the third grade and continue through high school.  The main reason for this is that, since these are small countries, they don’t expect other countries to learn their languages.  They study the ones that can help them perform in a global arena and we know that English is becoming a universal language.  They have faced the reality of their place in the world.  In the US some children start learning a second language in grammar school, some in middle school, and others in high school.  There’s no uniformity or push to provide steady instruction over several years.  As a former Spanish language teacher I know a lot about lip service.  “We should learn Spanish (or Chinese or French) since it’s become so important here at home and globally.”  But of course it doesn’t happen.  Lip service with no speech, as it were.

Another area where the safety net in Scandinavia is superlative is in dealing with special needs children.  Many US schools make herculean efforts to teach children with special needs, but in Norway, for instance, a licensed teacher will be dedicated to one child in a classroom in order to help him/her develop his abilities to the utmost.  Extra attention as well as training for parents support the child’s development.  Allowing for county and state variables in the US it’s difficult to count on the support special needs children can expect.

But what about higher education, you say?  It’s true that the US ranks number one in the world.  That’s much to be proud of.  But economic developments now ensure that most graduates, the ones not from well-to-do families, will leave their college or university with massive debt.  In Norway public higher education is tuition-free, even for foreigners!  Of course you have to live somewhere, eat, and perhaps learn Norwegian.  And the country is very expensive.  Our two systems could certainly learn from each other.   US innovation and collaborative learning combined with a Norwegian-style equitabiity could help our higher education system and its graduates take a stronger place  in  US society and in the world.

Does all this mean I want to move to Norway?  Well, I wouldn’t mind spending the summer there.  The cool temperatures make life pleasant there while the South bakes under 100 degree days.  Would I want to spend winter there?  No way!  For the long run (which is getting shorter and shorter)  I choose to stay in my country and hope for a future where everyone enjoys a safe and healthy life.