The pic about Finland's education style is all true. Watch the episode called Education of "Inside Man" with Morgan Spurlock on Netflix or Hulu. What most influences these excellent results in Finland, is that teachers are highly trained, with many more years of college, the culture in general has a healthy level of respect and trust, and the kids are treated like kids, not bodily containers of brains that must be filled with facts, assembly line style.
Also, there is almost no curricula testing, they don't waste time and money and stress on that shit. They put all the effort into actually engaging and interactively informing students, training them to expand on their natural desire to figure things out by inculcating critical thinking, exploration, and experimentation as a process whereby to gain knowledge. They learn how to learn effectively, and enjoy school very much.
