There's a terrific article this month by LynNell Hancock at The Smithsonian Magazine about Finland's eduactional system. What works? Interacting with kids, all kids; and yes, not obsessing about tests. I joked with a friend: "Yes, and think about how "Green Friendly" this is: by not obsessing about tests they save a lot of paper!"
Jokes aside, education that's human centered and seeks to value individual students reflects Paolo Freire's critical distinction between imagination and conformity as outcomes. Freire:
"Education either functions as an instrument which is used to facilitate integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world."
The practice of freedom is participatory as both the Finns and Freire have shown.
S.K.
Planet of the Blind 