Search results for "Finnish education"
showing 10 items of 19 documents
Teacher agency within the Finnish CLIL context : tensions and resources
2017
Recent discussion indicates that the initial enthusiasm of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) teachers can be undermined by the demands of foreign-language mediated education. However, there is a lack of research on the resources and tensions that respectively support or limit the professional agency of CLIL teachers. By means of semi-structured interviews with fourteen participants, this study seeks to better understand how teacher agency is experienced by CLIL teachers working in Finnish primary schools. To examine tensions and resources in CLIL teachers’ work lives, a holistic and dynamic theoretical conceptualization of teacher agency is suggested, paying particular attenti…
Teacher development through language-related innovation in a decentralised educational system
2021
This study explores how early childhood education and basic education teachers develop and develop innovations within the decentralised educational system of Finland. The comprehensive dataset of 20 field interviews provides a range of insights into teachers’ goals, principles, inspirations and experiences when working with a variety of language-based innovations across Finland. The ecological perspective employed in the study highlights the complex relationships between the different ecosystems of education. With the particular focus on the educator-exosystem relationship, the findings indicate how Finnish teachers respond to the expectation to continuously develop and innovate as key chan…
Implications of Overlapping Difficulties in Mathematics and Reading on Self-Concept and Academic Achievement
2016
In this study, the relationship between adolescents’ difficulty in mathematics and reading and the influence on academic self-concept and school grades was examined. The participants (N = 585; 299 girls, 286 boys) were one age group of ninth-graders whose mathematics and reading skills were assessed at the end of comprehensive school at age 16 years. Five student profile groups were found using cluster analysis: best achievers, normal achievers (NA), the reading difficulty (RD) group, the mathematical difficulty (MD) group, and the learning difficulty (LD) group. Post-hoc tests revealed that the RD group and the LD group had a higher academic self-concept than the MD group. In school grades…
Finnish teachers as civic educators : From vision to action
2020
In this article, we examine Finnish class teachers as citizenship educators. Over the last ten years, the autonomous position of the Finnish teacher has become a symbol of the world-famous education system, and this study aims to illustrate how this freedom comes true in the framework of teacher as a citizenship educator. A prior study shows that teachers mostly share the same universal values, emphasizing altruism rather than individualism. Socially, teachers are more focused on maintaining the status quo and continuity of society than changing it radically. This article aims to answer the question how teachers define their role between society and individual learners and how they prioriti…
Finnish Quality Evaluation Discourse : Swimming Against the Global Tide?
2023
AbstractThis chapter discusses Finnish quality evaluation in comprehensive education, recognising that it frequently differs from that used by the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) in most countries. Instead of high-stakes testing of pupil achievement, monitoring or school inspection, Finnish quality evaluation (QE) rests mainly on sample-based national testing and self-evaluations conducted in schools and municipalities. The argument presented here is that, although reform of the Finnish education system has often taken a different path from other countries, at the level of discourse, the Finnish system is increasingly caught between the more usual approach to QE and the Finnish vari…
Language Education for Everyone? Busting Access Myths
2023
AbstractFinland has, rather successfully, promoted an image of itself as a model of educational excellence and linguistic equity. This chapter problematises this image by analysing Finnish language education policies at the comprehensive school level. For our analysis we use a three-fold understanding of access as; (a) having the opportunity to participate in language education (getting in); (b) participating in education that is meaningful and effective for the pupil (getting it); and (c) receiving credentials that are societally legitimate and valuable assets (getting out). We elaborate on each aspect of access by debunking three myths for the Finnish context that: (a) Multilingualism is …
Ecological Sustainability and Steering of Finnish Comprehensive Schools
2023
AbstractWith the climate catastrophe and biodiversity loss, our globe is facing enormous challenges: the basis of life on Earth is in danger. Eco-anxiety and global eco-social crises are also driving education to search for solutions to build a sustainable future, for instance the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development views education as a key instrument for change. One of the key promises of the Finnish Ministry of Education is to commit to sustainable development, and the Finnish National Forum for Skills Anticipation states that important future skills should include knowledge of sustainable development. In national reports on how to carry out Agenda 2030, Finland has hig…
Negotiated, Given and Self-Made Paths : Immigrant Origin Girls and Post-compulsory Educational Transition in Finland
2023
AbstractAlthough Finland still has a relatively low proportion of students with a migrant background, it has not been able to ensure that immigrants and their descendants have equal educational opportunities. Education could enhance integration but migrant backgrounds have a persistent impact. In this chapter, our focus is on post-comprehensive educational decision-making processes of immigrant origin adolescent girls, with the viewpoint of the multifaceted intertwinement of gender and ethnicity. We conceptualise the educational decisions as negotiations that adolescents have to have with their families, teachers, counsellors and peers. Within these negotiations, the negotiating parties try…
Municipal Governance of Comprehensive Education : The emergence of local universalisms
2023
The governance of Finland’s comprehensive school system has histori- cally evolved from centralised governance into a blend of national and local (munic- ipal) decision-making authority. The two-fold model of governance was launched in the 1970s according to the planning economy logic, where the national educa- tion policies were enacted and regulated through strict and detailed legislation, a redistributive and ‘earmarked’ state subsidy system and a uniform national core curriculum. At an ideological level, comprehensive reform was tied firmly to the principle of equal opportunities. However, changes in administrative thinking since the 1990s have created a new balance between governmental…
A new child-centered approach to the organization of extra-curricular activities in Finnish schools
2017
Extracurricular activities are currently included in Finnish school legislation, but their organization is fragmented. History: Club activities at school led by teachers have been arranged since 1947 on extra pay, but their amount and content have depended on available funding and often on teachers’ willingness to lead club activities. Schools have also had a possibility to use cultural or sport operators. However, system has preferred teacher-led club activities. A dramatic change occurred in the early 1990s when economic recession reduced extra funding for schools and day care. Consequently, club activities after school hours were reduced to less than half, and afternoon care services wit…