Finland’s Famous Education System: Unvarnished Insights into Finnish Schooling

Preface and Acknowledgements
Guide to Endnotes
Contents
Editors and Contributors
1 Introduction
	A Sociological and Education Policy Perspective on Finland
	General Background to Finnish Schooling
	Recent Debates Over Finnish Schooling
	The Chapters in This Book
	Notes
Part I Politics, Policy, Teachers and Edu-business
2 Municipal Governance of Comprehensive Education: The Emergence of Local Universalisms
	Decentralised and Diversified Instruments to Govern the Basic Education System
	Population, Regions and the Segregation of Municipalities
	Espoo: Diverse Education Opportunities in Finland’s Metropolitan Area
	Tornio: Simplified School System in a Medium-Sized Regional Town
	Keitele: A Remote Municipality with a Negative Net Migration Rate and Increasingly Sparse School Network
	Conclusion: From Governmental Universalism to Local Models
	Notes
3 Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture in the Light of Its Working Groups
	The Ministry of Education and Culture as an Organisation
	The Social Organisation of the MEC as a Network of Working Groups
	Conclusion: The Myth of the Traditional Monolithic MEC?
	Notes
4 A Progressive Force in Finnish Schooling?: Finland’s Education Union, OAJ, and Its Influence on School-Level Education Policy
	Characterising the Sipilä Government’s Approach to School-Level Policy
	How Did the OAJ Respond?
		The Realisation of Educational Equality in Finland
		Teachers’ Working Conditions
		Some Other Topics Covered by the OAJ
	Conclusion: Characterising OAJ as an Actor in Finnish Education
	Notes
5 Finnish Quality Evaluation Discourse: Swimming Against the Global Tide?
	Quality Evaluation in Finnish Comprehensive Education
	Methodology: Analysing the Origins of the Quality Evaluation Discourse
	The Discursive Practice of School-Based Development
	The Discursive Practice of Performance
	The Discursive Practice of Market-Oriented Quality
	Conclusion: An Unhelpful Mythology?
	Notes
6 Ecological Sustainability and Steering of Finnish Comprehensive Schools
	Steering of Comprehensive Schools Towards Ecological Sustainability in Finland
	Ecological Sustainability in the Finnish National Curriculum
	Teachers and Administrative Steering
	Conclusion: Promoting the Ecological Sustainability at Schools Lacks Concrete Actions on Every Level
	Notes
7 Unmentioned Challenges of Finnish Teacher Education: Decontextualisation, Scientification and the Rhetoric of the Research-Based Agenda
	Another Version of the Finnish Teacher Education Success Story
	Decontextualisation—Teacher Education Without School and Society
	Scientification of Finnish Teacher Education and the Changing Context of University Work
	Conclusion: The Need to Acknowledge the History, Challenges and Tensions of Teacher Education in Finland
	Notes
8 Teachers’ Expectations and Expectations of Teachers: Understanding Teachers’ Societal Role
	Teacher Education in Finland
	Current Educational Trends and Challenges in Finland
	Teachers’ Personal Expectations for the Profession
	Societal Expectations Towards Teachers
	Working with and Around Cultural Ideals of School—a Societally Sensitive Teacher
	Constructing Societal Sensitivity and Critical Professional Agency
	Conclusion: Reconciling and Challenging Societal and Personal Expectations
	Notes
9 Businessing Around Comprehensive Schooling
	How Finland’s Education Export Kicked Off
	Business Enters Comprehensive Schooling
	Our Study of Rationales, Logics and Modes of Operation in Edu-businessing
	Rationales for Expanding the Edu-business: Innovating, Growing, Sharing
	Logics of Action: Shaping Reality, Crafting Solutions
	Modes of Operation: Construction Crises, Industry-Making, and Connecting Interests
	Conclusion: Businessing with Public Schooling in a Small Nation
	Notes
10 Co-operation of Edu-business and Public Schooling: Is the Governance of Education in Finland Shifting from the Public Sector to Networks?
	Blurring of Sectoral Boundaries Between Public and Private Through Partnerships and Networks
	Studying the Perspective of Edu-business Actors on Their Co-operation with the Public Sector in Finland
	Forms of Co-operation Between Edu-business Actors and the Public Sector
		The Finnish National Agency for Education as a Central Channel for Interaction
	Edu-business Actors’ Aspirations for Future Collaboration with the Public Sector
	Conclusion: Will the Public Sector Continue to Strengthen the Role of Edu-business and End up Re-configuring Their Own Role?
	Notes
Part II Equity, Inequality and the Challenges of Diversity, Language and Inclusion
11 “Three Bedrooms and a Nice School”—Residential Choices, School Choices and Vicious Circles of Segregation in the Education Landscape of Finnish Cities
	Macro-level Patterns of Segregation
		Pupil Flows and Growing School Segregation
		Residential Mobility and Schools as Drivers of Neighbourhood Segregation
	Micro-level Patterns of Segregation
	Conclusion: Segregation Reshaping the Universalist Landscape of Education
	Notes
12 Pupil Selection and Enrolment in Comprehensive Schools in Urban Finland
	The Needed Capitals of Families and Enrolment in Schools
	Pupil Enrolment and Selection in 12 Biggest Cities of Finland
		Policies to Allocate Pupils to Local Schools
		Emphasised Teaching with Selection
		Admission Criteria
	Conclusion: Mechanisms of Selection and the Myth of Uniformity in Comprehensive Schools
	Notes
13 Everyday Life in Schools in Disadvantaged Areas
	Reproduction of Inequality in Education, Place Attachment and Ordinariness
	Ethnographic Interviews in Five Schools in Metropolitan Helsinki
	Ordinary Schools in Ordinary Neighbourhoods
	Local Challenges Recognised: Social Problems, Racism and Socioeconomic Differences
	Conclusion: Particularity of School Contexts in Young Peoples\' Everyday Lives
	Notes
14 Divided Cities—Divided Schools? School Segregation and the Role of Needs-Based Resource Allocation in Finland
	Cumulative Decline in Helsinki’s Neighbourhoods and Schools
	Increasing School Segregation and Growing Educational Gaps in Helsinki
	Needs-Based Funding in a Universalist Welfare State? School Segregation and Targeted Funding Schemes in Helsinki
	Challenges of the Current Needs-Based Funding Scheme
	Conclusion: Finland’s Universalist System Requires Targeted Support to Combat the Effects of Segregation
	Notes
15 The Significance of Socioeconomic Background for the Educational Dispositions and Aspirations of Finnish School Leavers
	Education Systems and Equality
	The Connection Between Students’ Socioeconomic Background and Their Educational Dispositions and Aspirations
	Our Study on the Educational Dispositions and Aspirations of School Leavers in Turku Sub-region
	Conclusion: Low Aspirations of High-Ability Students as a Challenge of the Education System
	Notes
16 Controversies and Challenges in the History of Gender Discourses in Education in Finland
	Long-Term Persistence of Gendered Patterns
	History of Gender Equality Work in Education
	Feminist Research in Education, an Ally of Gender Equality Work
	The ‘Boy Discourse’ in Education
	Conclusion: Looking to the Future of Interlinked Gender Discourses
	Notes
17 Rainbow Paradise? Sexualities and Gender Diversity in Finnish Schools
	Recent Advancements in Finnish Legislation and Educational Policy Documents
	Heteronormative Institutional Practices and Teaching
	Experiences of Non-heterosexual, Trans and Intersex Youth
	Heteronormative Violence in Schools
	LGBTI Organisations’ Educational Work
	The COVID-19 Pandemic as a Challenge for LGBTI Youth
	Conclusion: Actions Needed to Interrupt Heteronormativy in Schools
	Notes
18 Racism in Finnish School Textbooks: Developments and Discussions
	Exceptionalism, Immobility and Structural Aspects—Racism in Finnish Education
	Research About Finnish School Textbooks: Strengthening the Hegemony of the West
		From Colonial Advice to Cancelling Caricatures
	Conclusion: The Need for Anti-racist Teaching and Texts
	Notes
19 Saami Language Online Education Outside the Saami Homeland—New Pathways to Social Justice
	Maintaining and Revitalising Saami Languages During the Post-assimilationist Era
	Saami Language Online Classes Outside the Saami Homeland: Practices and Experiences
	Structure and Process: Current Practices and Future Prospects
		Practical Arrangements
		Pedagogical Practices
		Future Prospects
	Inclusion: Participating in Saami Language Distance Education
	Conclusion: The Need for Future Measures for Saami Language Education in Finland
	Notes
20 Education of Pupils with Migrant Backgrounds: A Systemic Failure in the Finnish System?
	Pupils with Migrant Background
	Symptoms of a Failing System: Educational Outcomes, Bullying and Wellbeing in Lower Secondary School
	Where Is the Failure?
	Conclusion: Turning the Gaze from Individuals to School and Society
	Notes
21 Negotiated, Given and Self-Made Paths: Immigrant Origin Girls and Post-compulsory Educational Transition in Finland
	Our Stories of Three Adolescent Girls
	Jenifer: The Tug-of-War of Opportunities and Challenges
	Sahra: Expectations, Demands and Support
	Khadra: (Not)Belonging?
	Conclusion: Paths to the Future?
	Notes
22 Language Education for Everyone? Busting Access Myths
	Recycling Ideologies and discourses—A Historical Overview
	Language Education in Finnish Comprehensive School
	Access is More Than “Getting in”
	Debunking Myths of Language Education
		Debunking Myth 1: Multilingualism is Valued in Language Education Policy
		Debunking Myth 2: Finnish Curriculum and Schools Promote Multilingual Education
		Debunking Myth 3: The Education System Offers Equal Possibilities to All Students, Regardless of Their First Language
	Conclusion: Towards Political Action in Language Education
	Notes
23 Rethinking Finland’s Official Bilingualism in Education
	Framing the Preconditions for Finnish-Swedish Bilingualism in Education
	Governance of Bilingualism and Language Separation in Co-located Schools
	Bilingualism as Profit in the Debates Around the Nordic School in Helsinki
	Conclusion: A Critical Focus on Bilingualism as an Inclusive Resource
	Notes
24 Religions and Worldviews as “The Problem” in Finnish Schools
	Worldviews in Finnish Basic Education
	Accommodating Worldview Plurality in School Culture
	Instruction on Worldviews
	Empirical Examples of Negotiating Worldview Diversity in Finnish Schools: The Case of Muslims
	Negotiating Worldview Diversity in Integrative Worldview Education
	Conclusion: From Seeing Worldviews as Problems Towards Harnessing Their Critical Potential
	Notes
25 Inclusion in Finland: Myths and Realities
	A Brief History and the Development of Unhelpful Myths About Inclusive Education in Finland
		Myth 1: Finland Holds the World Record for the Number of Students Receiving Special Education
		Myth 2: Special Education Students Have Overwhelmed General Education Classrooms
		Myth 3: There is Only One Future for Inclusive Education in Finland
	Conclusion: Towards Unified National Guidelines of Inclusive Education
	Notes
26 Exclusively Included? Finland’s Inclusion Success Story and Hidden Dual System of Mainstream and Special Needs Education
	Suitable Pathways and Educational Choice-Making for Students with Special Educational Needs
		Towards General or Vocational Pathways?
		Differentiation Within Vocational Education
	Identification and Belonging Within Distinctive Educational Cultures and Practices
		Moving Across the Divide: Failing Students or Failing Practices?
		Stigmatising or Normalising Support Needs
	Conclusion: The Misplaced Focus of the Finnish Special Education Success Story
	Notes
27 Student Disengagement in Finnish Comprehensive Schooling
	Three Dimensions of Disengagement
	Prevalence and Correlates of Disengagement
	The Stability of Disengagement and Its Significance for the Future
	Conclusion: Fueling Engagement Through Early Identification of Disengagement and Tailored Interventions to Support Individual Needs
	Appendix
	Notes
Part III Epilogue
28 The Foundations of Critical Studies in Education in Finland
	The Roundtable Discussion with Finnish Emeriti Professors of Critical Studies in Education
	From the Editors, a Closing ‘Thank You’
	Notes