This book examines governance reforms in higher education in six European countries: Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, the Netherlands, and Portugal. It focuses in particular on the governance of the systems and institutions in these countries. The book shows that each of the national reform processes has been characterised by its own specific…

Studies show that changes in teacher education around the world occur slowly and are difficult to implement. This study aims to contribute to the discussion on the major resources for and obstacles to developing teacher education and finding novel solutions to overcome the obstacles. Resources and obstacles were investigated in the context of…

Managerialism and neoliberal changes and demands influence the work and family lives of academics differently in different positions and contexts. In this article, I explore how Finnish academics on short fixed-term contracts have been treated, and how they interpret recent changes and their effects on their work and private lives. I ask how the…

In this study, the spatial structure of primary schools and alternative organizational frameworks are studied in a number of rural municipalities in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The aim of the study is to investigate how the spatial structure of schools has changed between the years 2008 and 2013 in these municipalities, what…

The need to promote gender equality within and through education has been on the agenda in Europe for decades. Similarly, Finland has also evidenced a history of hundreds of projects and reports that have repeated the same aims, ideas and practical innovations for promoting equality, challenging educational segregation and providing girl-friendly…

Despite all intentions in the course of the Bologna Process and decades of investment into improving the social dimension, results in many national and international studies show that inequity remains stubbornly persistent, and that inequity based on socio-economic status, parental education, gender, country-of-origin, rural background and more…

Music education research today continues in well-worn paths. While it may be productive in quantity, it is not clear the degree to which it informs current music teacher education or has produced advances in teaching practice. Indeed, as some critics of university-based teacher education research have argued (e.g., Boyer 1990; Schwandt 2005), such…

This paper examines geographical education for children under 13 years of age in Finland in the present situation, in which geography is taught as part of "Environmental and Natural Studies", the school subject integrating biology, geography, environmental studies, civics, physics and chemistry. In the content analysis of school…

Three parties in the present Finnish educational debate are identified: those who argue that the government lacks a clear comprehensive view of educational policy; those who defend the results of social democratic policy; and those who argue for economic competitiveness as the main goal of education. (MLW)

The Education Working Paper Series is produced by the Education Unit at the World Bank (HDNED). It provides an avenue for World Bank staff to publish and disseminate preliminary education findings to encourage discussion and exchange ideas within the World Bank and among the broader development community. Many factors have contributed to Finland's…

Purpose: This study considers the recently established higher vocational education reforms with Swedish advanced vocational education (AVE) and Finnish polytechnics in terms of organisational structure, the design of workplace learning, and furthermore, what kind of practical implications these new models of learning at work have resulted in.…

After Finland's elementary and secondary system was totally reformed in the 1970s, it was determined that the education of elementary and secondary teachers also needed to change. Four new teacher education goals were proposed: (1) developing scientific humanism, (2) creativity, (3) socialization, and (4) a holistic view of individuals. The new…

Graduate students and faculty from within and outside of the University of Pittsburgh community were among the presenters at this colloquium on educational change and challenge. The papers include: Academic Freedom, Anti-Communism, and the McCarthy Era (Steve Aby); The Finnish Contribution to the American Workers' Education Movement (Richard J.…