South Korea: The main focus of their system is primary education.

They make a good start with students,

which carries them through the rest of their educational life. The students are known to go to school seven
days a week.Culturally there is high emphasis placed on education. Parents are very involved and are willing
to spend a lot of money to get their child the education they need. Teachers have to be highly qualified and
are also paid good salaries. It is one of the coveted career choices in South Korea.

Japan/Singapore/Hong Kong: All three systems have a technology-based education structure. They are also
similar to South Korea in the fact that their main focus is also primary education and they spend a good
percentage of their GDP on education. The primary, secondary and higher education levels are exemplary in
their approach and work. The education system has moved instruction further away from the rote
memorization and repetitive tasks on which it had originally focused to deeper conceptual understanding
and problem-based learning. The Singapore’s ministry of education's recent policy of ‘Teach less, learn
more’ is highly popular and has catapulted its education system onto the top rungs in the world.

Finland: Although a top runner in the past, it is losing ground to its Asian counterparts. Regardless, Finland
still figures in the top 10 performing countries in the world. School does not begin for children until they are
7 years old. There is no homework and no standardized testing until they reach high school. They have
shorter school days. All schools follow a national curriculum. Students and teachers spend less time in
schools in comparison to their American counterparts. Finland also provides three years of maternity leave,
subsidized daycare and pre-school for 5-7 year olds where the emphasis is on playing and socializing.

Canada: In the last few years, Canada has been a surprise entry in the top 10 education systems surprising
many. Their system is very simple. They focus on three main parts: literacy, math and high school
graduation. With a clear vision, they have created a transparent system in collaboration with
administrators, teachers and the union to create a curriculum and methodology that is successful. The
system encourages teamwork, quality education, continued teacher training, transparent results and a
culture of sharing best practices. The teacher morale is also high because their pay is acceptable, working
conditions are favorable, facilities are good and there are all kinds of opportunities for teachers to improve
their practice. Most importantly, perhaps, there is discretion for teachers to make their own judgments.
Horace Mann (1796-1859) is a leading educator in American public schools

Horace Mann grew up at a time when education was not easy for those living in poor rural areas of America.
Although his early education was limited, he enrolled at Brown University, studied law, and later achieved a
very successful political career. We can thank Horace Mann for teacher training colleges, free libraries, and
free general education for all children through taxes.

Freidrich Froebel (1782-1852) Pioneer of early childhood education

Friedrich Freubel was a German educator whose philosophy of education influenced people like Horace
Mann and Maria Montessori. Based on the belief that the young child has innate qualities gradually
unfolding in a natural environment, he founded kindergartens where the focus was on freedom of
expression, creativity, social interaction, motor activity and learning through action. Many of these same
principles can be found in our contemporary early childhood programs.

Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) pioneered home schooling

A British citizen, Charlotte Mason's dream was that all children, regardless of social class, should have the
opportunity to get a liberal arts education. She was committed to improving the teaching of children. Given
the importance of parental education in the areas of discipline and child training, the Parent Education
Federation has begun. She believed that children learned better through "living books" than dry textbooks
and through real experiences. Her methods included focusing on the enjoyment of the arts and the study of
great artists and musicians. Many of their educational practices were well suited to home schooling, and
their methods became the basis for many household families.

Jean Piaget (1896-1980) is a pioneer in how children learn

Anyone who studied child psychology studied developmental and educational theories of Piaget's
committees, the Swiss psychologist. After he accelerated how the children began to think, he began to
research and write books about the subject of the child's psychology. When he married and had three
children later, he was provided with enough data to write three other books! His subsequent research and
theories became the basis and basis for our understanding of the child's natural development.

Margaret Bancroft (1854-1912) is a pioneer in special education

Bancroft's memories, imagination, and dedication to her students were invented as extraordinary teachers.
At the age of 25, she embarked on a brave and singular endeavor by opening the first private boarding
school in Haddonfield, New Jersey, for children with developmental delays. She believed that children with
disabilities needed special schools, modified materials and well-trained teachers instead of being sent to
institutions. Bancroft students responded to their love, patience and individual instructions. Under its
influence, the medical profession has begun to wake up on its own responsibility to help correct defects and
disabilities in children. Fans came to train and later became leaders in private education.

Poker T. Washington (1856-1915) is the pioneer of education for African Americans

After being born in slavery and released later, Washington first knew the difference that education can
make in a person's life. When he was young, Washington was appointed to head the Tuskegee Institute,
now called Tuskegee University, which was originally a teacher training college for African Americans. He
was the leader of the college from her childhood until the time of his death. He became a dominant and
influential figure among politicians and the general public and did much to pave the way for civil rights and
the abolition of apartheid in public education. He believed that education was the best opportunity for
African-American society to achieve social equality and a better future.

John Dewey (1859-1952) pioneered progressive education

Was a professor of philosophy and president of the College of Teachers at the University of Chicago