“From a historical and sociological perspective the Finnish case is not merely a linear success story, but is part of a controversial and paradoxical struggle towards Utopia: towards egalitarian schooling.”

The Finnish Education Mystery: Historical and sociological essays on schooling in Finland

By Hannu Simola

Finnish education has been a focus of global interest since its first PISA success in 2001. After years of superficial celebration, astonishment and educational tourism, the focus has recently shifted to what is possibly the most interesting element of this Finnish success story: that Finnish schools have been effectively applying methods that go against the flow of global education policy with no testing, no inspection, no hard evaluation, no detailed national curriculum, no accountability and no hard competition. From a historical and sociological perspective the Finnish case is not merely a linear success story, but is part of a controversial and paradoxical struggle towards Utopia: towards egalitarian schooling.

Bringing together a collection of essays by Hannu Simola and his colleagues, this book analyses the key dimensions of schooling in Finland to provide a critical, analytical and uncompromising picture of the Finnish education system. Going beyond the story of success, the book reveals the complexities of educational change, but also identifies opportunities and alternatives for smart political action in complex and trans-national societies.

Including a selection of key chapters on Finnish education policy and governance, teacher education and classroom cultures, the book will be of interest to researchers, academics and postgraduate students in comparative education, teacher education, educational policy and educational reform.

http://www.routledge.com/books/details/9780415812580/

Open lecture: Consequences of differentiated policies and teaching practices in the Swedish school system
by JustEd visiting fellow Joanna Giota, associate professor, University of Gothenburg
Wednesday, 5th November 2014 at 12:15–14:00
Room: Athena 168 (Siltavuorenpenger 3 A)

The lecture will highlight results from a research review (Giota, 2013) commissioned by the Swedish Research Council of Education in cooperation with The Swedish National Agency for Education. The review aimed to investigate the idea of individualization in the Swedish curricula from 1919 till today and how individualization has been practiced in the Swedish compulsory school during 2000–2010. The results show that individualization is not a simple working method in school, but a view which refers to the idea that school shall be a place for all students and that school shall value and treat every student equally in spite of differences in the students’ knowledge development and achievements. Individualization is also the basic idea of building a democratic society and what school is for. It appears however that difficulties in school are still seen as being caused mainly by student characteristics rather than shortcomings of the school and teaching practices as well as factors at the macro level. Some student groups do not receive equal opportunities to learn and flourish in school and run the risk of becoming socially excluded and marginalized in a here-and-now and future perspective.

Joanna Giota is associate professor in education at the Department of education and special education at the University of Gothenburg. Her main research interests are on children’s and adolescents’ own purposes for going to school and thereby how different types of motivation are related to their learning and achievements over time, self-beliefs and well-being, future study choices, family background and gender. How factors at different levels interact and promote students’ personal growth or lead to social exclusion and marginalization are also of her main interests. Giota’s studies are based on longitudinal and nationally representative data.

Everyone is welcome to attend. No registration required.

Reference: Giota, J., (2013) Individualiserad undervisning i skolan – En Forskningsöversikt [Individualization in school – A research review], Vetenskapsrådets rapportserie 3:2013, Stockholm: Vetenskapsrådet.

Open lecture 18 November 2014 at 10−12
University of Helsinki, Siltavuorenpenger 3A, room 302

Elizabeth Adams St. Pierre: Practices for the ‘New’ in the New Post Qualitative Inquiry

The lecture is part of the workshop Encountering Post-Qualitative Inquiry with Elizabeth Adams St. Pierre organized by the doctoral programme SEDUCE and the research centre AGORA for the study of Social Justice & Equality in education.

Abstract of the lecture

What St. Pierre calls conventional humanist qualitative methodology typically begins with methodology and methods of data collection (interviewing and observation) that privilege the humanist Cartesian cogito. However, this methodology is based on a humanist onto-epistemology that is unintelligible in post humanist, new empirical, new material, and post qualitative inquiry in which the human is not a unique, separate individual that exists ahead of the world but is entangled with everything else. St. Pierre argues that beginning with that methodology prevents us from making the ontological turn and doing anything “new”.  She recommends, instead, that we leave qualitative methodology behind and begin with theory(ies) and concept(s) and that enable different “conceptual practices” that may or may not include qualitative methods.  “Practices for the new” St. Pierre recommends for doing this new work are (1) leaving qualitative methodology behind, (2) studying theory, (3) beginning research with theories and concepts instead of methodology, and (4) trusting yourself and getting to work.  In this work, method comes not at the beginning of a study to shut it down before it begins, but at the end, too late, when we think back about what we did and why and what we might have done instead and will try next time.

Elizabeth Adams St. Pierre is Professor in the Educational Theory and Practice Department and Affiliated Professor of both the Interdisciplinary Qualitative Research Program and the Women’s Studies Institute at the University of Georgia, USA. Her work focuses on theories of language and the subject from critical theories and poststructural theories and what she has called post qualitative inquiry or post inquiry —what might come after conventional humanist qualitative research methodology.  She is especially interested in the new empiricisms/new materialisms enabled by the ontological turn.  She has recently edited several issues of journals on this topic:  International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education (theme: post qualitative inquiry), Qualitative Inquiry (theme: qualitative data analysis after coding), and Cultural Studies-Critical Methodologies (in process, theme: the new empiricisms/new materialisms).

KSP-seminaari 27.–28.11.2014

to 27.11.2014, Minerva K213 (Siltavuorenpenger 5 A)

klo 12.30–13.15
Koulutus investointina tulevaisuuden hyvinvointiin
professori Risto Rinne, Turun yliopisto

klo 13.15–14.00
Koulutussosiologia ja -politiikka: mahdollisen sosiologiaa ja beyond-politiikkaa?
professori Hannu Simola, Helsingin yliopisto

pe 28.11.2014, Minerva K113 (Siltavuorenpenger 5 A)

klo 9.15–10.45
Koulutuksen ohjaus – Näkökulmia ja kehitysnäkymiä
VTT Kari Nyyssölä, opetusneuvos, Opetushallitus

klo 13.15–14.45
Teoria ja metodit tutkija-kehittäjän työvälineenä
KTM Mari Simola

Luennot ovat kaikille avoimia eikä niille tarvitse erikseen ilmoittautua.

Athena lectures* -luentosarjassa syksyllä 2014:

To 6.11. klo 10–12 (Siltavuorenpenger 3 A, 347)

• Hannu Simola, KUPOLI: Dynamics in Educational Family Strategies in Finnish Comprehensive Schooling
• Sirkku Kupiainen, Koulutuksen arviointikeskus: Kommenttipuheenvuoro

To 4.12. klo 10–12 (Siltavuorenpenger 3 A, 347)

• Hannu Simola, KUPOLI: Dynamics in Classroom Cultures in Finnish Comprehensive Schooling
• Mari-Pauliina Vainikainen, Koulutuksen arviointikeskus: Peer group influences on development of motivational attitudes in Finnish primary school

*Note: This event is part of the “Assessment and Education Policy” seminar. Talks and related discussions are presented in English on request.

Tilaisuudet ovat avoimia kaikille aiheesta kiinnostuneille./ Everyone is welcome to attend. No registration required.