Inevitable and constant change is challenging school systems worldwide, and COVID-19 has further intensified the debate on the future. This article examines the possible futures of Finnish comprehensive schools through three scenarios generated by analysing data from a Delphi panel of 30 Finnish experts in the field of education. This study…

In this paper we present statistical analyses of three textbooks used by Swedish teachers to support year one children's learning of mathematics. One, Eldorado, is authored by Swedish teachers, another, Favorit, is a Swedish adaptation of a popular Finnish series and the third, Singma, is a Swedish adaptation of a Singapore series. Data were coded…

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2018 list top 1,000 universities in the world which represent only 5% of the 20,000 higher education institutions of the world. Out of these world countries, Finnish youth were the best young readers in the world according to results from the Programme for International Student Assessment…

The role of the university in society and the economy is evolving. Universities produce knowledge that promotes technological developments, which are, in turn, critical to economic growth and competitiveness in the global economy. Therefore, it is increasingly expected that universities become more entrepreneurial and assume this third mission in…

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the tension between learning and protection in university-industry relationships (UIRs) and, in particular, to identify practices that facilitate ways of coping with this tension. Design/methodology/approach: The empirical work for the study is based on a qualitative comparative case analysis of six…

ISO Colegío in Paraiba, Brazil, implemented Finnish innovation pedagogy from Turku University of Applied Sciences (TUAS) as a pedagogical strategy in their new primary school in early 2020. The implementation started in class teaching but due to the pandemic, it was transferred online, still using the new pedagogical approaches. Experiences by…

Throughout history educational leaders have looked to other countries and have attempted to learn by borrowing useful examples to implement in their own educational systems. As recent comparative policy research shows, processes of policy lending and borrowing have their own socio-historically defined dynamics. In this paper, the authors approach…

The open science literature has focused on ways to increase the openness of research data at universities, while links with industry in the context of open innovation have received less attention. The aim of this article is to increase understanding of how open science can lead to open innovation. The key research questions are the following: How…

Researchers interested in the global flow of educational ideas and programmes have long been interested in the role of so-called "reference societies." The article investigates how top scorers in large-scale assessments are framed as positive or negative reference societies in the education policy-making debate in German mass media and…

In this study, we examined student teachers' learning during their teaching placement period in Finland and South Africa. The setting of the inquiry in both countries was a 'teaching' school, affiliated to a university teacher education programme. The teaching school is also referred to as an educational innovation that was transferred from the…

Background: International achievement studies such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have an increasing influence on education policy worldwide. The use of such data can provide a basis for evidence-based policy-making to initiate educational reform. Finland, a high performer in PISA, is often cited as an example of both…

Globally, governments recognize the importance of creativity and innovation for sustainable socioeconomic development, and many invest resources to develop learning environments that foster these capacities. This paper provides a systematic framework based on Nair's "Innovation Helix" model for studying the factors of a country's…

This paper sheds light on the role of tertiary or higher education in economic development across two successful OECD case studies: Finland and South Korea. A number of key aspects are discussed, from the nature of the social contract between higher education and the economy to the endogenous characteristics of domestic higher education to the…

Start-up companies have been recognized as key drivers of wealth and job creation. Many students now in universities will therefore find their future employment in start-up companies, or will found them. Success in the start-up environment requires a specific set of skills. There is a growing supply of university education for new venture creation…

Regardless of the increased interest in technological innovation in universities, relatively little is known about the technology developed by academic scientists. Long-term analyses of researchers' technological contribution are notably missing. This paper examines university-based technology in Finland during the period 1900-85. The focus is on…