If The Purpose Of Life Is To Score Well On A Test..

If the purpose of life is to score well on a test
graphic © eminentlyquotable.com | photo – Publicdomainpictures.net

“If the purpose of life is to score well on a test, we’ve lost sight of the real reason for learning.”

Lately, Finland has been getting a lot of attention because of its unorthodox yet highly effective educational system. It’s consistently one of the highest performing developed countries on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), beating big countries like USA! Interestingly, Finland’s surprising success is not attributed to heaps of homework or regular testing. It’s actually the opposite.

Unlike USA that requires students in third through eighth grade to take annual standardized tests, Finland has what they call the National Matriculation Examination, which is taken only at the end of high school. More interestingly, their examination doesn’t shy away from complex, real life questions such as “In what sense are happiness, good life and well-being ethical concepts?” And of course, it’s graded by teachers, not computers!

Finnish educators believe that less testing equals more learning. Without the unnecessary pressure of high stakes tests, students are motivated to learn intrinsically. It’s for this reason that test-based accountability has its critics saying that “a heavy reliance on testing distorts instruction and undermines authentic learning.” More and more people are concerned that using tests as motivation for students may devalue learning and discourage those who are falling behind.

Schools should be more than a venue for testing skills and knowledge. Andreas Schleicher, Divison Head and coordinator of the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment, insightfully remarked, “The test of truth in life is not whether we can remember what we learned in school, but whether we are prepared for change.”

😳 What Tinnitus Does To Your Brain Cells (And How To Stop It)

After 47 years of studies and countless brain scans done on more than 2,400 tinnitus patients, scientists at the MIT Institute found that in a shocking 96% of cases, tinnitus was actually shrinking their brain cells.

As it turns out, tinnitus and brain health are strongly linked.

Even more interesting: The reason why top army officials are not deaf after decades of hearing machine guns, bombs going off and helicopter noises…

Is because they are using something called "the wire method", a simple protocol inspired by a classified surgery on deaf people from the 1950s...

★ How To Get Rid Of Nail Fungus:

★ Does Your Salad Contain This Vegetable?

★ Top 10 Most Valuable Medicinal Herbs:

beneficial oral bacteria