Re: [xmca] Finland

[Antti Rajala <ajrajala@gmail.com>]

Andy,

Thanks for the interesting questions. I first answer your second question.
I am sure Rauno knows more than me about the history of Finnish education
but I will check what Reijo writes in his book about this topic, and get
back to this.

"Do you think that your observations about the fact that pupils learn about
social action but did not get to practice it, means (1) that Finnish
education suffers from "encapsulation" like schools elsewhere?"

In our article that I linked we make this kind of a deduction. There are
some micro-level studies showing the encapsulated nature of learning in
Finnish schools, and this claim is often repeated by various contemporary
Finnish scholars and policy makers. Yet, I am not aware of any large scale
study about the matter. When the teachers have autonomy in choosing their
teaching methods, it is an empirical question of finding out how they
actually teach.

In fact, I am not arguing that Finnish school system is more encapsulated
than systems of other nations. I am not aware of any study that compares
nations in this respect but my gut feeling is that the strengths of Finnish
school do not lie in the progressiveness of the pedagogy of the teachers.
As Sahlberg and Miettinen point out, the strengths are more at the system
level.  And this is an interesting point, as it seems to me that Finnish
legislation and curricula would and do allow many kinds of pedagogy. Erja
Vitikka analyzed in her dissertation (2009) Finnish national core
curriculum, and found out that the parts describing general aims were much
more progressive in terms of pedagogy than the parts describing subject
matter related aims.

In terms of pedagogy, there is a variety of views among scholars, policy
makers, and practitioners. For example, in the middle of the previous
century, a prominent educational scholar Matti Koskenniemi presented ideas
about taking account of childrens' local environment in pedagogy. In the
past two decades, constructivist ideas about education have become dominant
among teacher educators. Policy makers have invested a lot in projects that
promote "21st century skills". In 2009, I and my colleagues interviewed
actors in eight of these projects that seemed to break out of
encapsulation. Bicycles on the move! project analyzed in the article that I
linked earlier is an example.

But, practice is of course slow to change. Given the autonomy of Finnish
teachers, part of the struggle is carried out at the local school level. In
every school there seems to be both progressive teachers and more
traditional teachers who can practice their teaching according to their
pedagogical views. Moreover, young teachers are regarded as having very
different views from old teachers. In recent years, there are many
progressive developments in many schools.

"... (2) is not important - they're only kids after all, and is overcome in
late adolesence, and (3) is reflected in the nature of Finnish society in
some way?"

In particular, in relation to political action, it is important to note
that in the 1970's and 80's Finnish students were politically very active.
Students had their representatives in school committees and had lots of
power in issues related to their schooling. These student movements were
associated to radical left wing social movements. Eventually, this activity
was run down with powerful influence from the right wing association Support
Foundation for Free Schooling that Jaana mentioned earlier. In 2000's, when
the results of international comparison in students' attitudes to political
action came out, the government launched projects to recover students'
involvement in decision making. For example, student councils were
established in primary schools. However, the student involvement is
apparently not related to core issues of schooling anymore.

- Antti








On Sun, Jul 21, 2013 at 6:46 AM, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net> wrote:

> Antti, a couple of questions:
> (1) Do you agree with Rauno Huttenen's points about Finland's education
> system being the outcome of the struggle of social movements? (Note Luc
> Boltanski's study of the outcome of the Paris 1968 movements, where he
> showed that such outcomes can be perverse!)
> (2) Do you think that your observations about the fact that pupils learn
> about social action but did not get to practice it, means (1) that Finnish
> education suffers from "encapsulation" like schools elsewhere? (2) is not
> important - they're only kids after all, and is overcome in late
> adolesence, (3) is reflected in the nature of Finnish society in some way?
>
> Andy
>
> Antti Rajala wrote:
>
>> Hello,
>>
>> I have not read Finnish Lessons but reading the Guardian article, I can
>> align with Pasi Sahlberg in the points he makes in the article about the
>> success and equity of Finnish comprehensive school.
>>
>> Yet, one weakness in Finnish comprehensive school is a strong emphasis on
>> epistemic aspects of learning, at the expense of ontological and
>> socio-emotional aspects. I and my colleagues have pointed this out, as
>> follows (see,
>> http://www.academia.edu/**1214948/Expanding_the_**
>> Chronotopes_of_Schooling_for_**Promotion_of_Students_Agency<http://www.academia.edu/1214948/Expanding_the_Chronotopes_of_Schooling_for_Promotion_of_Students_Agency>
>> )
>>
>> ”…One indication of this lack of agentic experiences is that, despite the
>> successes of the Finnish education system in international assessments
>> (OECD, 2010), a recent survey reported that a third of Finnish secondary
>> school students did not know how to take part in decision-making at school
>> and, when they did take part, their opinions were not taken into account
>> in
>> school development (School Health Promotion Study, 2011). Furthermore, in
>> international comparisons, Finnish students are ranked highly in societal
>> knowledge and competence, but they are not taking part in politics or
>> public affairs in general (Schulz, Ainley, Fraillon, Kerr, and Losito,
>> 2010)…”
>>
>> In line with this critique, a recent political debate in Finnish media
>> concerns the high number of drop outs that do not continue schooling after
>> the compulsory nine years. Recently, our minister of education proposed
>> that as a resolution, compulsory schooling should be extended with one
>> year.
>>
>> As Jaana pointed out, there are social and political forces that threaten
>> the equitability of the system. For example, in recent years media has
>> reported that instead of putting their children to the nearest school
>> (”lähikoulu” in Finnish), which has been very common, parents have
>> increasingly started to avoid schools with a large proportion of immigrant
>> students.
>> Nonetheless, despite these critiques I am a strong advocate of Finnish
>> educational policy, in particular, with respect to educational equity.
>> Jaana, I am aware that parents’ educational background still designates
>> children’s educational future in Finland, to a large extent. But is there
>> a
>> comparative study that tells us what is the situation in other countries
>> and what are the similarities and difference to the Finnish situation?
>>
>> I also think that there is no easy way of replicating the ”best practices”
>> in other countries since educational outcomes are very much a consequence
>> of larger socio-cultural-historical influences. Reijo Miettinen has
>> recently published a book that discusses this topic in a thorough way:
>>
>> Miettinen, Reijo (2013). Innovation, human capabilities and democracy.
>> Towards an enabling welfare state. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
>>
>> Overall, the book analyzes and discusses innovation policies and welfare
>> in
>> more general terms, and proposes a new concept of enabling welfare state.
>> As an example, Miettinen conducts a CHAT analysis of Finnish comprehensive
>> school and its special education system in the light of the PISA
>> success. Partly overlapping with Sahlberg, Miettinen discusses several
>> inter-related explanations.
>>
>> 1) The Finnish language and population
>> 2) The political history of Finland
>> 3) The late economic transformation of the country and the need to
>> integrate of the population
>> 4) The popularity and esteem enjoyed by the teaching profession as well as
>> the university-level education of teachers
>> 5) The decentralized, trust-based governance of the comprehensive school
>> system
>> 6) Special education systems based on the early recognition of learning
>> difficulties and the immediate provision of support for them
>>
>> Then, Miettinen goes on to analyse the historical emergence and
>> development
>> of the Finnish comprehensive school. For example, he shows how a system of
>> streaming students into separate tracks developed into a crisis which was
>> resolved by replacing the streaming system with a student care and special
>> education system. Initially, in the streaming system the students were
>> grouped into two or three levels in mathematics, the second national
>> language (Swedish) and foreign languages in grades 5-9.
>>
>> After this Miettinen discusses how a supporting system emerged to support
>> special education teachers in their work of dealing with diversity of
>> students. He argues that the foundations of professional expertise of the
>> special education teachers were provided in the development of diagnostic
>> tools, remedial materials and pedagogical solutions. These
>> instrumentalities in turn crucially rely on the development of
>> multiorganizational field of special education and the forms of
>> interactive
>> learning among various organizations supporting the work of special
>> education teachers.
>>
>> This analysis shows the interdependency of the explanations 5) and 6)
>> above. Miettinen argues that the richness of distributed agency and
>> initiative to form new associations within the field is possible because
>> of
>> the autonomy of the agents in the field. A strict national control would
>> have directed the efforts of the field in predetermined directions and
>> would not have stimulated the emergence of new associations, experiments,
>> sets of tools and complementary expertise within the field. Thus, the
>> change to the decentralized, trust-based governance of the comprehensive
>> school system stimulated the initiative and interaction between various
>> actors.
>>
>> Antti
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 7:48 PM, Andrew Babson <ababson@umich.edu> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>>> Re teachers: on pp. 94-95 on *Finnish Lessons, *Sahlberg says that
>>> Finnish
>>> teacher ed. does a good job of approaching the Deweyan ideal of
>>> teacher-as-researcher. By obtaining both a content-area and educational
>>> research master's degree, teachers are given the knowledge and
>>> meaning-making habits they need to make autonomous decisions about
>>> curriculum and pedagogy. They are also encouraged to cooperate with their
>>> fellow teachers, which fosters support.  But with Jaana's post, I should
>>> underline that I am merely describing what is written in *Finnish
>>> Lessons*.
>>>
>>> Jaana, thank you for your comments and descriptions of Finnish
>>> educational-political history, and reminding us of inevitable
>>> imperfections. It's good to know that it neither came easy, nor is it
>>> destined to continue on cruise control; it either happened overnight nor
>>> emerged without real struggle. Rauno's background on the role of the
>>> Agrarian Party was helpful for understanding this too, and Sahlberg does
>>> go
>>> into a good bit of detail on this.
>>>
>>> I guess my big question is whether Sahlberg is misrepresenting the
>>> reality
>>> of Finnish education to such an extent that no excitement or hope is
>>> warranted? He wouldn't be the first writer to gild the lily for the sake
>>> of
>>> generating buzz. I think the popularity of the book comes from a need we
>>> have here for some good news about public education. Public school is
>>> actually under attack here in Philadelphia, as it is in Chicago, Detroit
>>> and elsewhere. Not-so-crypto-privatization is apace through the growth of
>>> charter schools. Any good model of public education is valuable for us if
>>> we want to fight against these trends. I have a hard time seeing how key
>>> improvements to the Finnish system over the past 30 or so years are not
>>> far
>>> superior to the NCLB-inspired waves of "reform" over the past decade or
>>> so.
>>>
>>> That said, we don't need a fairy tale. There were plenty of critiques to
>>> make about Sahlberg's book on its own (my students offered plenty). But I
>>> would like to use the book again alongside some published critiques.
>>> Suggestions welcome!
>>>
>>> Thanks again,
>>>
>>> Andrew
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 7:45 AM, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> The Guardian article:
>>>>
>>>>
>>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/****education/2013/jul/01/**<http://www.guardian.co.uk/**education/2013/jul/01/**>
>>>
>>>
>>>> education-michael-gove-****finland-gcse<
>>>>
>>>>
>>> http://www.guardian.co.uk/**education/2013/jul/01/**
>>> education-michael-gove-**finland-gcse<http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jul/01/education-michael-gove-finland-gcse>
>>> >is
>>> very interesting in fact! Jaana, Antti, Jaakko, and the other Finns on
>>>
>>>
>>>> this list. What do you make of the analysis given in this article?
>>>>
>>>> Andy
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Jaana Pirkkalainen wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> Hi,
>>>>>
>>>>> this is a comment on this topic. It seems a bit odd and strangely funny
>>>>> to read this discussion on Finnish educational system. That's beacause
>>>>> I
>>>>> myself have lived through the development (or non-development) of it,
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> first
>>>
>>>
>>>> as a child and then as a mother.Not that much has happend since my
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> school
>>>
>>>
>>>> years in the 1960's and -70's comparing the exeperience of my son's path
>>>>> and struggling some ten years back.
>>>>>
>>>>> Firstly one should distinguishe the political struggle for the change
>>>>> of
>>>>> doubleschooling system during the 1960's and -70's. And then the
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> struggle
>>>
>>>
>>>> tangled with teachers education.
>>>>>
>>>>> Until 1968 Finland had a doubleschooling system. Children entered
>>>>> school
>>>>> at the age of seven (as still is the case) and went trhough for next
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> four
>>>
>>>
>>>> grades together in "kansakoulu" (meaning some what like nationschool).
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> Then
>>>
>>>
>>>> there was the split to either grammar school (in Finnish oppikoulu)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> which
>>>
>>>
>>>> were mostly private schools, with few exceptions (state schools) and to
>>>>> "kansalaiskoulu" (no English translation for that, meaning citizens
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> school)
>>>
>>>
>>>> which was a continuum of "kansakoulu" for next four years.
>>>>>
>>>>> Grammar school was private school leading to higher education, and
>>>>> "kansalaiskoulu" was towards vocational education. So working class
>>>>> children went to "kansalaiskoulu" and then straight to work or
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> vocational
>>>
>>>
>>>> education to become joiners, auto mechanics, waitresses and so on. And
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> the
>>>
>>>
>>>> upper and middle class children went to grammar schools, then to high
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> scool
>>>
>>>
>>>> and then to universites or second grade vocational schools and became
>>>>> nurses, engineers and so on.
>>>>>
>>>>> 1968 law of Primary school was established and in 1972 started the
>>>>> implementation of the law.
>>>>>
>>>>> But it was not the good will of the teachers, or professors of
>>>>> education
>>>>> that made it happen. It was a strong leftist struggle for equal rights
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> for
>>>
>>>
>>>> every kid to educate themselves, and also still the postwar situation of
>>>>> the nation in some sense too. (Everybody of course knows Finland's
>>>>> brother-in arms- relation with the Third Reich and the defeat in 1944
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> and
>>>
>>>
>>>> then peace treaty with the Soviet Union)
>>>>>
>>>>> The opposition for the primary school act was harsh, and the teachers
>>>>> education was tangled with that backlash. The business elite, some
>>>>> professors of education and right wing politicians set up a foundation
>>>>> called Support Foundation for Free Schooling (Vapaan koulutuksen
>>>>> tukisäätiö), which had its primary reestablish private schools, testing
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> and
>>>
>>>
>>>> assesment. They did this by influencing the teachers education system.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> The
>>>
>>>
>>>> Foundation ceased operating in 1991. By then they had been able to
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> change
>>>
>>>
>>>> the course of the development of Finnish educational system at least in
>>>>> three levels. Firstly they were able to intervene the selection of the
>>>>> students for teacher education in universities, secondly they had a
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> strong
>>>
>>>
>>>> hold of the educational departments and thirdly they managed to take
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> over
>>>
>>>
>>>> most of the educational admiministration.
>>>>>
>>>>> This is a very short and brief overview of post-war Finland, the main
>>>>> poin being that Finnish sosciety is still or again struggling the same
>>>>> issues as back then. The romanticizing "branding" of Finland or its
>>>>> educational system is *not* -- for many parts -- true today.Or has ever
>>>>> been.
>>>>>
>>>>> Socioeconomical status and residential area are linked the overall well
>>>>> being of children as they are all over the world. But what is quite
>>>>> incompatible with the goals and intentions for the Primary School Act
>>>>> in
>>>>> 1968 -- parents education still designate their childrens educational
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> and
>>>
>>>
>>>> vocational path.
>>>>>
>>>>> So Finland with its educational system is not a dream land. Sorry to
>>>>> disappoint you folks, the struggle goes on!
>>>>>
>>>>> - Jaana
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> ------------------------------****----------------------------**--**
>>>> ------------
>>>> *Andy Blunden*
>>>> Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
>>>> Book: http://www.brill.nl/concepts
>>>> http://marxists.academia.edu/****AndyBlunden<http://marxists.academia.edu/**AndyBlunden>
>>>> <
>>>>
>>>>
>>> http://marxists.academia.edu/**AndyBlunden<http://marxists.academia.edu/AndyBlunden>
>>> >
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
> --
> ------------------------------**------------------------------**
> ------------
>
> *Andy Blunden*
> Home Page: http://home.mira.net/~andy/
> Book: http://www.brill.nl/concepts
> http://marxists.academia.edu/**AndyBlunden<http://marxists.academia.edu/AndyBlunden>
>
>
>