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Finland – The Late-Comer That Became the Envy of Its Nordic School Competitors

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What Works in Nordic School Policies?

Part of the book series: Educational Governance Research ((EGTU,volume 15))

Abstract

Finland has lived a centuries long history under the rule of Sweden. In 1809 the country was transferred from the rule of Sweden to become a grand duchy of Russian empire. In 1917 Finland became an independent nation between the west and the east. Although Finland is currently strongly devoted to the west, this has not always been the case, and the country has to take into account carefully its historical, cultural, geopolitical and economic roots as well as the long Eastern border of 1340 kilometers with Russia.

Finland has several political, economic, cultural and educational features that are similar to the other four Nordic countries. Defining examples are the so-called Nordic welfare model linked to the Keynesian economic model, the participation and equality of opportunities as well as the principle of equality of education to everyone independently of her or his social, ethnic, gender and regional origin.

But Finland is also the late-comer in the Nordic family. It became industrialized and urbanized much later than its Nordic neighbors and remained an agrarian country until rather recently. In summary, Finland has changed quite late but also quite fast. In recent years Finland has become one of the best educational achievers among OECD countries as well as also among Nordic counties. One of the reasons may be Finnish educational politics. So, what happened?

In this chapter I describe and research in historical and comparative terms the social and educational paths and developments in Finland, their ups and downs and why Finland and its history looks like it looks.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Many studies related to supra-national/global influences on national educational policies have recently been carried out within CELE, university of Turku (e.g. Kallo, 2009; Kallo & Rinne, 2006; Niukko, 2006a, 2006b; Rinne, 1999; Rinne, 2001; Rinne, Kivirauma, & Hirvenoja, 2001a, 2001b; Rinne & Ozga, 2011; Seppänen, 2006; Simola, Rinne, & Kivirauma, 1999), but in the framework of this article it is not possible to concentrate on those in detail.

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    Risto Rinne

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    John Benedicto Krejsler

  2. Danish School of Education, Aarhus University, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Lejf Moos

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Rinne, R. (2021). Finland – The Late-Comer That Became the Envy of Its Nordic School Competitors. In: Krejsler, J.B., Moos, L. (eds) What Works in Nordic School Policies?. Educational Governance Research, vol 15. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66629-3_3

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