WEBVTT - Which Country has the Secret to the Smartest Students? 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.080 Guess what, mango, what's that? Well, so I've probably spent 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:05.440 a little more time than I should today just sitting 0:00:05.440 --> 0:00:10.000 here trying to calculate America's gross national happiness gross wife 0:00:10.280 --> 0:00:13.399 our gross national happiness. So it's this index created in 0:00:13.440 --> 0:00:16.400 the nineteen seventies by the King of Bhutan, and he 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:19.760 decided that instead of focusing on his country's gross domestic 0:00:19.800 --> 0:00:23.000 product or GDP, that they should be focused on their 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:25.840 g n H And and so the government began working 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:29.520 on policies to increase gross national happiness. So this is 0:00:29.520 --> 0:00:31.960 a real thing. I'm not kidding. And as part of 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:35.000 the focus, the Boutanese government came up with an education 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:39.360 reform plan called Educating for Gross National Happiness. They were 0:00:39.360 --> 0:00:42.720 trying to provide a more holistic schooling for the country's children, 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:45.120 you know, better in a great schools into their communities 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:48.720 and promote ecological health. I mean it's all good stuff, right, yeah, 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:51.000 And at the very least, it's a very sweet idea, 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:53.320 I agree, but you know, it's fast. They need to 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:56.440 look at how different countries around the world approach education 0:00:56.640 --> 0:00:59.240 and and what they decided to focus on, and how 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:01.600 even some of the operank systems in the world can 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:04.679 approach things so differently, so we'll talk about some of 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:07.119 those today. But don't worry, We're not done talking about 0:01:07.120 --> 0:01:28.759 gross national happiness. So let's get started, right Hey, their 0:01:28.760 --> 0:01:31.760 podcast listeners, welcome to Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:33.560 and as always I'm joined by my good friend man 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:36.200 guest Ticketer and on the other side of that soundproof 0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:38.839 glass doing his best Billy Idle impression as our friend 0:01:38.840 --> 0:01:41.520 and producer Tristan McNeil. It's not a bad one. Actually 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:43.640 looks kind of looks like him. Are you ready to 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:47.560 talk education? Mango? Am I? So? I'm super excited for 0:01:47.600 --> 0:01:49.560 our guests and and we're definitely gonna put one of 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:52.480 our listeners to the test with a ridiculous quiz and 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:54.640 I'm ready to get started, all right. Well, before we 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.440 dive in, we should say that they are obviously challenges 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:00.760 involved when you try to compare educational systems around the world. 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:04.760 Every country has its own values and its own challenges 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:07.919 and of course its own strengths. But we did decide 0:02:07.960 --> 0:02:10.120 to look at data gathered by the o e c D, 0:02:10.320 --> 0:02:14.120 which is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:18.520 and specifically their Program for International Student Assessment, and the 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:21.200 o e c D is this inner governmental organization. It's 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:23.799 made up of thirty five countries, the US being one 0:02:23.840 --> 0:02:27.399 of those, and other places are included like Australia and Mexico, 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:31.520 the United Kingdom, Finland, Japan, Chile, and and several others. 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:34.440 And the organization was founded in the sixties with this 0:02:34.520 --> 0:02:37.840 goal of trying to help economic development around the world. 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:41.120 They also work to think through common problems, but one 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:43.000 of the areas that they look at is the quality 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:46.320 of education around the world. So this Program for International 0:02:46.320 --> 0:02:49.200 Student Assessment is is just one way that they evaluate 0:02:49.280 --> 0:02:52.120 things like the level of education and science and math 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.160 and reading. But you know also what percentage of children 0:02:55.200 --> 0:02:58.280 have access to education. Yeah, and we should also say 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:00.520 that in looking at an assessment like this, we know 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.240 it's not a perfect science and it doesn't really give 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:05.520 us a look at every country in the world. I mean, 0:03:05.639 --> 0:03:08.040 this has been criticized for like only in valuating the 0:03:08.080 --> 0:03:11.720 wealthier nations, and that's a valid criticism, but it's one 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:14.640 of the better collections of data available and it is 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:17.079 fascinating to look through. Yeah. So all that to say, 0:03:17.120 --> 0:03:19.000 you'll hear us referring to the O e c D 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:22.079 as we compare countries that are members. And our goal 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:24.520 here is not to say that one country is better 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:27.480 than others. But it really is fascinating how you could 0:03:27.520 --> 0:03:29.880 pick two countries that are near the top of the 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:32.799 student assessment in terms of math and science and reading 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:37.600 scores and realize that they have incredibly different approaches to education. 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:40.280 And that's exactly what we want to do. I mean, 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:42.480 these are these are two countries that you will always 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:44.880 show up on these lists of the best school systems 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:47.880 around the world. But again, these two countries are so 0:03:48.040 --> 0:03:50.880 very different in how they approach education. Yeah, and not 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:54.080 from one another, but also from us. Right, And of 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:57.360 course we're talking about Finland and Japan here, and we'll 0:03:57.400 --> 0:03:59.440 be looking at a few other countries too, but let's 0:03:59.440 --> 0:04:02.600 start with Ease. So Will's assignment was to look into Finland, 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:04.720 and I took Japan. And we should know that we 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:07.760 couldn't have done this episode without the incredible research assistance 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:10.960 from Jocelyn Sears. So well, why don't you talk to 0:04:11.000 --> 0:04:14.200 me about Finland? All right? So it was super interesting 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:17.080 reading about the investment and focus that Finland put into 0:04:17.120 --> 0:04:20.719 their educational system really beginning in the early nineteen sixties, 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:23.240 and this was when parliament there decided that the best 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:26.640 way to really build long term economic success was to 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:31.080 invest in education and specifically in their teachers. So they 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:34.000 made the decision that all teachers needed to be highly trained, 0:04:34.279 --> 0:04:37.960 and by the late nineteen seventies, all teachers were required 0:04:38.000 --> 0:04:41.200 to have a master's degree. And get this, fewer than 0:04:41.320 --> 0:04:45.360 fifteen percent of applicants are even accepted into these master's programs. 0:04:45.440 --> 0:04:49.400 It's that competitive. And according to a fascinating Smithsonian article 0:04:49.440 --> 0:04:52.320 I was looking at the focus on investing in teachers, 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:56.280 it really led to this elevated status for teachers. It 0:04:56.360 --> 0:04:58.880 kind of put them on par with doctors and lawyers, 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:00.960 and not in terms of salary, but because of the 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:04.120 amount of autonomy and respect that they're given. Yeah. And 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:05.960 and so you were telling me that even after they 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:08.720 get into the master's programs, it's still really competitive to 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:12.120 get those teaching jobs. Yeah. So one statistic I saw 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:13.760 from a few years ago is that there are nearly 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:18.240 seven thousand applicants competing for fewer than seven hundred openings 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:21.000 at the primary school level. And you know, most teachers 0:05:21.000 --> 0:05:24.040 now have master's degrees not only in education, but also 0:05:24.080 --> 0:05:27.279 in a specific content area, and there's additional focus on 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:30.960 being prepared to teach their special needs students, which is wild. 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:34.560 But talk to me about autonomy. Well, the government decided 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.920 that once they'd really invested in teacher training after about 0:05:37.960 --> 0:05:39.839 a decade or so, it was it was time to 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:43.080 put decision making in the hands of these teachers. So 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:45.640 prior to the nineties, the curriculum guides in Finland were 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.840 something like seven hundred pages long, which I mean, I 0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.920 guess isn't that surprising since there's obviously a ton involved 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.680 in teaching. But what's more crazy than that is that 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:57.480 if you want to read the core curriculum guidelines for 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:00.520 teaching math today, you can do that in fewer than 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:04.960 ten pages. Yeah, it's because these are really just guiding principles, 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:08.880 and the teachers and local schools they're able to tailor 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:12.279 those guiding principles to meet the needs of their local population. 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:16.680 So this whole structure is pretty decentralized. Then, oh, definite. 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:20.200 So that's definitely all fascinating. But here's what I might 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:22.960 find even more interesting, and it's that when we were 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:25.400 looking at the stats on school hours and time spent 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:28.000 with the teachers. It seems like kids in Finland are 0:06:28.040 --> 0:06:30.479 spending far less time with their teachers than kids in 0:06:30.520 --> 0:06:33.120 most other countries. Well that's right, but but let's back 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:35.440 up a little bit and start from the beginning. So, 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:38.640 so kids actually don't start school there until they're seven 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:42.200 years old, and before that, Finland does provide this heavily 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:46.200 subsidized daycare, you know, opportunity for all of its children. 0:06:46.279 --> 0:06:50.000 But in these preschools, they aren't really focused on teaching 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:52.920 things like math and reading. The focus is much more 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:56.560 on play, I mean lots and lots of creative play 0:06:56.600 --> 0:06:59.800 and outdoor play. And then the parental leaf policy and 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:03.200 Inland is so generous, allowing parents to stay home until 0:07:03.200 --> 0:07:06.279 their kids reach three, and so their rates of enrollment 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.680 in early childhood education are are actually pretty low. And 0:07:09.720 --> 0:07:12.440 even after three, there are fewer kids in preschool at 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:15.520 ages three and four than any other country in the 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:18.600 O e c D. That's really interesting. But what about 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:20.880 once they get to primary school. Well, here's where our 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:23.240 kids are going to be incredibly jealous. So for the 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:25.720 first few years of school, the school day is only 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:30.360 four hours long and seventy five minutes of that is recess, 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:33.480 seventy five minutes of recess, so I'm certain my son 0:07:33.520 --> 0:07:36.160 doesn't see anywhere near that much. No, I was looking. 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:38.480 I think the average time allocated the recess in the 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:40.560 US is is less than half an hour. I think 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:43.320 it's like twenty seven minutes. But you know, in Finland 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:46.080 it's mandated that they have fifteen minutes of recess for 0:07:46.160 --> 0:07:49.600 every hour of instruction, and even beyond that, the schools 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:52.800 also incorporates so much more time for arts and crafts 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:56.760 and just very active hands on learning. So forget about 0:07:56.760 --> 0:07:59.040 my kids being jealous, like I'm jealous. I get it, 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:01.560 I get but I'm guessing the days get longer as 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:03.440 the kids get a little older. Yeah, but you know, 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:06.760 even by ninth grade, school days are just six hours long. 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:09.680 So if you total the amount of time finished kids 0:08:09.680 --> 0:08:12.520 spend at school over their nine years of basic education, 0:08:13.040 --> 0:08:16.400 it's about sis which I know that sounds like a lot, 0:08:16.440 --> 0:08:18.880 but that's more than a thousand hours less than the 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.800 O E C D average. So one of the things 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:23.960 I read about Finland and that I'll talk about a 0:08:23.960 --> 0:08:26.160 little when we look at Japan is the psychology of 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:29.520 removing shoes when coming into the classroom. Well, I thought 0:08:29.520 --> 0:08:31.440 this was interesting too, And and of course in a 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:33.360 place like Finland where it's very cold in the winter, 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:36.080 there's a practical purpose for taking your shoes off, you know, 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:39.120 to prevent bringing in snow and mud. But like you said, 0:08:39.120 --> 0:08:42.840 there's also a psychological impact that's been seen in multiple studies. 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:45.679 So the thinking is that students feel more relaxed than 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:48.880 at home, that it helps them focus and even improves 0:08:48.920 --> 0:08:51.760 their behavior. And it was interesting to read about studies 0:08:51.760 --> 0:08:54.160 in other countries where it's more common to wear shoes 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:57.199 indoors and to see the impact of testing on shoe removal. 0:08:57.240 --> 0:08:59.800 And so one experiment in Spain, where it's the norm 0:08:59.840 --> 0:09:04.040 to wear shoes indoors, found that behavior and performance improved 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:07.520 with the shoe removal test. That's pretty neat. So back 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:09.920 to the time spent on school and studying, we haven't 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:12.760 talked about homework. Are the kids in Finland making up 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:15.160 for less time in school spent by doing more homework? 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:17.760 Not even close, to be honest with I mean, in fact, 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:21.040 kids in Finland spend less time doing homework than any 0:09:21.080 --> 0:09:23.520 other kids in the O E. C. D SO study 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:25.720 from two thousand and twelve found that the average fifteen 0:09:25.760 --> 0:09:28.400 year old spent about two hundred minutes per week on 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.640 after school study. That's almost a hundred minutes lower than 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:35.199 the next lowest, which was the Czech Republic. My son 0:09:35.320 --> 0:09:37.400 hits homework so much, I'm sure he's gonna be packing 0:09:37.400 --> 0:09:40.680 his bag exactly. So what else do we want to 0:09:40.679 --> 0:09:43.760 know about the education in Finland? All? Right? Well, a 0:09:43.760 --> 0:09:45.480 few things, a few other notes I had here, but 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:47.080 but one big one I actually should have noted this 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:49.800 earlier is that a big part of the reformed education 0:09:49.840 --> 0:09:53.680 policy in Finland is focused on equality and education or 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:56.840 equal access I guess. And so there's a strong belief 0:09:56.880 --> 0:10:00.640 that every child, regardless of their family's income, or their background, 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:05.760 or their status or location, should have the same educational opportunity. 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:09.400 They really see, education is this way to combat social inequality, 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:11.880 and as a result of this, the gap between the 0:10:11.920 --> 0:10:15.680 weakest and the strongest students is the smallest in the world. 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:18.240 And there are a couple other things I wanted to mention. 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:20.920 What else here? Um? Oh yeah, Actually, there aren't any 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:26.240 standardized test in Finland, which is like school paradise, I know. 0:10:26.800 --> 0:10:30.120 So instead teachers work to assess the students independently as 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:32.959 they progress, so this gets back to the highly trained 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:36.959 teacher thing, and every student receives free school lunches as 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:40.480 well as access to medical and dental care. Uh University 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:43.360 tuition is free now. As for the future, their latest 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:47.600 curriculum updates focus on something called phenomenon based teaching, which 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.640 is this effort to focus less on individual subjects and 0:10:50.720 --> 0:10:54.720 more on this interdisciplinary approach. So the teachers collaborate more, 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:57.240 you know, to make this work, and it'll be interesting 0:10:57.240 --> 0:10:59.080 to see what this means for Finland in the future. 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:02.320 And all of this is completely fascinating to me. One 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.040 other note, though, I do think we should keep in 0:11:04.080 --> 0:11:07.160 mind that there are only about five million people in Finland, 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:09.840 so it's a very small country compared to some of 0:11:09.840 --> 0:11:12.720 the other massive countries around the world, and even compared 0:11:12.760 --> 0:11:15.240 to Japan, which I know we'll talk about next. So 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:17.400 this is not to say that everything that works in 0:11:17.440 --> 0:11:20.840 Finland will work everywhere else, but it's still really interesting 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:23.920 to see what they've accomplished. Definitely, Well, I'm ready to 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:25.719 talk about your fan but first, why don't we take 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:30.960 a quick break. So Mango, a couple of weeks ago, 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:34.680 you may Remember, we responded to several listener requests, and 0:11:34.760 --> 0:11:36.680 we we told our listeners that we were going to 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:38.120 give some of them a chance to be on the 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:41.439 show and play some of our ridiculous quizzes. All they 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:43.400 had to do was either send us an email or 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:48.199 call into our Fact hotline four pt Genius to tell 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:50.760 us why they should be on the show. And that's 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:54.720 seven Fact hot Line. It is still right, Manga. I 0:11:54.720 --> 0:11:57.520 was just gonna say that's good. I just wanted to 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:00.199 check because I've heard of a lot of fact hot 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:03.120 lines or other hotlines not going so I'm glad we're 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:08.640 maintaining that. So so anyway, our guest today responded and 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:12.040 and was the only person who wrote in or who 0:12:12.120 --> 0:12:15.480 called in, and who was both a zombie on the 0:12:15.559 --> 0:12:18.360 Las Vegas Strip and a production of Evil Dead the 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:22.080 Musical and a mechanical bull operator. I think was the 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:24.000 only person that called it. We've got so many great 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:27.600 calls and so many great emails, but Sam Murphy was 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:30.280 the only person that called in with both of those qualifications, 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:33.199 as well as being a science teacher at the elementary level, 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.240 which is why we decided to have Sam on the 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:40.440 show today. So Sam Murphy. Welcome to part time genius. Hi. So, 0:12:40.720 --> 0:12:44.440 I'm assuming growing up you you always knew that you 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:46.760 wanted to be both a zombie on the Las Vegas 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:51.120 trip and a mechanical bull operators. That is that accurate? No, absolutely, 0:12:51.320 --> 0:12:53.679 you know. And like when I was looking for college programs, 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:55.839 I looked for something I could double major in both 0:12:55.920 --> 0:13:00.840 of those things. It was very important to me. That's terrific. Well, 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:03.800 I had a question specifically about the bull operating side 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:06.880 of it. I actually two questions. What one, what's a 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:10.439 respectable time to stay on a bull for? And too? 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:15.679 Have you have you ever seen anyone right a sober? Okay? Um? 0:13:15.720 --> 0:13:19.240 So the official time in rodeo is eight seconds and 0:13:19.280 --> 0:13:22.040 then you're officially being scored from that point on. So 0:13:22.120 --> 0:13:24.360 if you can stay on mechanical bowl for eight seconds, 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:29.000 having never rode before, you're doing great. That's fantastic. Um. 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:32.520 And I'm sure. Yeah, during the day there are a 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:37.280 couple of times where people were mostly sober. It's people 0:13:37.280 --> 0:13:40.520 on the laws biggest trip. Yeah, imagine that's true. Just 0:13:40.559 --> 0:13:43.400 to clarify, if you have not made it eight seconds, 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:45.560 you're not even to the point of being judged yet. 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.240 Is that what you're saying in rodeo. Yeah, you have 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:51.120 to go eight seconds and then they'll start scoring you. 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:52.960 So I mean, like when I was a bull operator, 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:55.800 I'd go pretty easy for the first like four so 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:59.280 people could feel good about themselves. Got it, and you 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.640 crank it up? I understand. Okay, Now that's pretty awesome. 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.200 And you're also a comedian and an actor in Las 0:14:05.280 --> 0:14:07.439 Vegas as well as a science teacher. I mean, I 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:09.000 don't know how you find the time to do all 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:10.520 of this, but but tell us what you teach at 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:13.200 the elementary level. UM. Yeah, so it's a really really 0:14:13.240 --> 0:14:16.400 great third party company. UM. And we teach science, and 0:14:16.440 --> 0:14:18.960 we sort of teach like the highlight reels of science. 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:22.280 So we dropped dry ice into things and see what happens, 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:24.520 and we make them slime and we send that home 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:26.920 with them. UM. So it's really really cool to be 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:31.400 this fun, bright part of kids days when they're really 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:34.200 bogged down with tests and making sure that they hit 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:37.560 certain requirements in certain marks, and we say, go play. 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.120 Oh that's awesome, that's awesome. Well, well we have a 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.280 quiz ready for you today, Mango. What quiz are we 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:46.520 putting Sam up to? Uh, well, it was going to 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:49.440 be called the Great School Quiz, but I've upgraded it 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:52.800 to the pretty Great School Quiz. Al Right, Well, it's 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:56.040 five questions and they're pretty straightforward questions, but they're fun. 0:14:56.080 --> 0:14:59.320 One Sammy ready to play? I'm so ready? All right, 0:14:59.400 --> 0:15:03.240 here we go. Question number one. What band wrote confusing 0:15:03.320 --> 0:15:05.720 lyrics to the song I Am the Walrus when they 0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:08.280 heard that high school students were being forced to study 0:15:08.320 --> 0:15:14.440 and analyze their songs in class. That's right, one for one, alright. 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.920 Question number two, what popular condiment was banned in French 0:15:17.960 --> 0:15:21.240 school cafeterias in two thousand eleven on the grounds that 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:26.800 it posed a threat to the national cuisine. Yeah, that's right, 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:30.800 well done too for two. That sounded like a little 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:32.400 bit of a guest, But I'm glad you trusted your 0:15:32.400 --> 0:15:34.760 got on that one. Okay. I just feel like French 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:40.920 people would be like ruining alright. Question number three. What 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:44.320 nineteen seventies and eighties animated music series got its start 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:47.760 when an ad executive realized that his kid couldn't remember 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:52.200 the multiplication tables but had no problem recalling rock lyrics. 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:57.720 M Holograss not a bad guest of the answer, to 0:15:57.720 --> 0:16:03.440 this one, Mango. Yeah, what am I talking? Yeah that's right, 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:05.680 Schoolhouse Rock. But we'll give that to you. Yeah, I 0:16:05.680 --> 0:16:07.880 think we're giving Sam credit for that one. Alright. Question 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:12.480 number four. What Cuban dictator declared nineteen sixty one the 0:16:12.600 --> 0:16:16.600 Year of Education and sent literacy brigades to the countryside 0:16:16.640 --> 0:16:22.160 to build schools and teach people to read. Yeah, that's right. 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:24.480 And and by the end of that year, literacy had 0:16:24.520 --> 0:16:29.920 jumped from sixty to nine. Alright, so you're four for four. 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:31.800 Let's see how Sam can do on the last one 0:16:31.840 --> 0:16:36.160 and two thousand, fifteen students in Chicago launched a unique fundraiser. 0:16:36.520 --> 0:16:38.920 They got the school to play the song Baby by 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:42.880 this Canadian artist between classes, and students could pay money 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:46.320 to get it to stop. What artists are we talking about? 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:52.840 Justin Bieber. The campaign was so effective that it raised 0:16:52.880 --> 0:16:56.359 over a thousand dollars in less than three days. Wow. 0:16:56.800 --> 0:17:00.400 So I think Sam has gone an astonishing five for five. 0:17:00.440 --> 0:17:03.000 So what is Sam je today? Mango? Yes, I'm when 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.960 amazing five for five? And not only is Sam one 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:08.400 a handwred note to their mom or boss, but also 0:17:08.480 --> 0:17:11.800 a copy of Stray shopping Carts of North America, which 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:17.520 is a field guide to abandon shopping carts. Thank you, 0:17:17.560 --> 0:17:41.679 I'm so excited. Thank you so much for having me. 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:55.680 You guys, welcome back to Part time Genius. Now, before 0:17:55.720 --> 0:17:58.400 the break, we talked about Finland, and I wish all 0:17:58.400 --> 0:18:00.360 our kids the best as they relocate it to take 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:03.880 advantage of their shorter school days and lack of standardized testing. 0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:06.639 But now it's time to talk about another country that 0:18:06.760 --> 0:18:08.720 also appears near the top of these O e c 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:11.320 D rankings. And again this is based on scores in 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:14.240 math and science and reading, but it's a country with 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:18.560 a very very different approach, and that's Japan. So Mango, 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:21.639 the mic is yours. Thanks for warming up for me. 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:23.720 So I want to go back to a point you 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:26.480 made earlier about the fact that every country is different 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.160 and that each culture has its own priorities and their 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:33.000 own interests. So even though Finland and Fancy very high 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:36.320 scores on the assessment, they really do have different approaches. 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:38.960 And I actually wanted to start by talking about values first. 0:18:39.359 --> 0:18:41.639 So so things beyond I guess the learning of the 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:44.840 core subjects m definitely and and we'll get to that 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:47.280 stuff too, But first I want to emphasize how much 0:18:47.320 --> 0:18:51.399 focused Japanese culture puts on developing independence and the sense 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:55.040 of social responsibility, all at a very young age. So 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:57.919 one way to illustrate the importance of independence before we 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:00.760 talk about what happens at school is how kids get 0:19:00.840 --> 0:19:03.800 to school. I've I've read about this a little bit before, 0:19:03.840 --> 0:19:05.400 and and and that's the fact. I guess that most 0:19:05.440 --> 0:19:08.080 kids in Japan walk to school, Right, that's true, but 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:10.800 that's not all. So most of them, as as young 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:13.639 as like six years old, will walk to school alone 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:16.080 or at least not with their parents. Like many of 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:18.760 them walk as a group. But usually this big ends 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:21.600 around first grade. And for most schools, if kids are 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:25.320 within walking distance, they're required to walk. The walking distance 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:28.160 can be considered more than four to five kilometers, so 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:30.960 the average walk for an elementary school kid can be 0:19:31.119 --> 0:19:34.840 up to thirty to sixty minutes. Yeah. There's a sociologist 0:19:34.880 --> 0:19:39.399 in Tokyo whose name Terru Clavell, and she put it 0:19:39.440 --> 0:19:43.320 this way quote, it's a culturally indoctrinated understanding that children 0:19:43.359 --> 0:19:45.600 are supposed to be independent by the time they start 0:19:45.640 --> 0:19:49.480 grade school. Really, so that's age six. And she goes 0:19:49.520 --> 0:19:52.080 on to refer to a statement in Japanese that translates 0:19:52.200 --> 0:19:56.240 quote to the adored child send him on journeys. Alright, So, 0:19:56.240 --> 0:19:58.560 so you've got six year olds walking up to an 0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:02.199 hour with no adults supervision. Well, in most areas, the 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:05.000 PTA finds these retirees in the area and asked them 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:08.120 to come outside and you know, supervise the walkers, and 0:20:08.359 --> 0:20:11.560 they have designated safe zone houses if any kids need 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:14.520 any sort of help. Well, if anything, I would have 0:20:14.600 --> 0:20:18.000 to imagine this emphasis on walking would play at least 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:20.000 a little bit of a role in Japan having lower 0:20:20.080 --> 0:20:22.879 rates of childhood obesity. Oh, it definitely does, all right. 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:24.800 So so you were saying that there's also this focus 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.720 on social responsibility, and this is something I feel like 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:29.480 I have seen a little bit about. Does this have 0:20:29.640 --> 0:20:30.920 something to do with the fact that I've heard a 0:20:31.000 --> 0:20:34.760 few times that they're no no janitors in Japanese schools? Yeah, 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:36.480 so you know, I'd heard that a lot too, And 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:39.360 that's not exactly true about the no janitors things. So 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:41.879 most schools do have them, but they focus on the 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:45.960 more complicated repairs and in most cases also cleaned the bathrooms. 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:50.359 But yeah, that's the basic idea. So there's something called tokatsu, 0:20:50.440 --> 0:20:53.960 and it's these are non cognitive activities that are used 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:57.479 to develop the sense of social responsibility. And these include 0:20:57.560 --> 0:21:01.080 the daily chores. The children are responsible for cleaning the classroom, 0:21:01.200 --> 0:21:04.560 cleaning common areas, stuff like that, and this starts at 0:21:04.600 --> 0:21:07.280 first grade, and students are required to bring their own 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:09.879 washcloths to help out with the cleaning. They'll clean for 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:12.359 about twenty minutes a day, and in one report I 0:21:12.400 --> 0:21:15.680 saw during this time the school might play cheerful, marching 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:18.400 music and it's all over the sound system. But it's 0:21:18.440 --> 0:21:22.159 to keep everyone energized at home. Yeah, And and to 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:24.720 be clear, this is not seen as any sort of punishment. 0:21:25.000 --> 0:21:27.600 I mean, it's it's much more about this moral education 0:21:27.760 --> 0:21:31.520 and learning to be responsible in a group. And as 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:33.600