Choosing the Ideal Educational Model: Lessons from the Education Systems of the U.S., Finland, Estonia and Singapore

Abstract

John Goodlad’s monumental study, “A Place Called School”, conducted over four years in more than 800 American schools, remains one of the most valuable analyses of modern education. Goodlad highlights structural imbalances, the decline in the quality of teaching, and inequities in access to knowledge, while also offering an optimistic vision for the renewal of schooling. His principles—student-centered education, personalized teacher attention, cooperation, democratized access to learning, and the cultivation of independent thinking—remain fundamental to any genuine reform. Building on this perspective, a comparative analysis of three high-performing educational systems—Finland, Estonia, and Singapore—shows that success is not the result of chance but of coherent policies consistently implemented over many years. Whether referring to equal opportunities, deep digitalization, school autonomy, investment in teachers, or curricular flexibility aligned with societal realities, these models demonstrate that educational reform is possible and effective where vision and continuity exist. In this context, it is entirely appropriate for Romania to study and adapt elements from internationally successful education systems. Intelligent borrowing—understood as critical, contextualized, and adapted adoption—represents a realistic and necessary path for rebuilding Romanian education and offering all students genuine opportunities for success in a rapidly changing society.