This study investigated the process of implementing professional development plans (PDPs) as a tool for teachers' continuing professional learning in Finnish Lapland. The PDP model was developed through two cycles following a design-based research (DBR) approach. The data were collected by interviewing teachers and principals, and then analysed…

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…

Purpose: This paper aims to contribute to discussion around the need for improved models for change in a rapidly changing world. It also aims to provide insights for further discussion around how a Nordic management approach can relate to the need for new change ideas. Since Lewin proposed that change requires unfreezing, moving and refreezing,…

This study examines university strategies from the content perspective. Since the early 1980s, the pressure to adopt strategic management in universities and other higher education institutions has increased because of issues including reduced public funding, pressures and possibilities for internationalization, developments in teaching…

Universities in Europe face a variety of reform initiatives, and university reform can be seen as a wicked problem that should be resolved through collaborative efforts. In Finland, there has been considerable resistance to proposed reforms, with university personnel complaining that they have not been heard. Students, on the other hand, seem…

Higher education institutions educate those who are the most talented and best able to secure the future for the next generation. This study examines an efficient strategy process in higher education and emphasises the importance of sufficient dialogue during the process. The study describes the strategy process of the Turku University of Applied…

This book deals with the relevance of recognition, validation and accreditation (RVA) of non-formal and informal learning in education and training, the workplace and society. It examines RVA's strategic policy objectives and best practice features as well as the challenges faced and ways forward as reported by Member States. Special attention is…

A strong VET system is increasingly seen as essential to overcoming the current economic crisis in Europe. VET is seen as a powerful tool to assist in balancing labour market inefficiencies, increasing youth employment possibilities, and reducing skills mismatch. Its inherent flexibility and closeness to the labour market place VET in a good…

Very little research has been conducted on the teaching of entrepreneurship, in particular in vocational education. Entrepreneurship is included in the national curriculum of many European countries, but there is concern over the competence of its teachers and their training in entrepreneurship (European Commission 2009, 14). This article explores…

An overview is provided of the development of national planning and the centralization of research libraries in four countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. Included in the review are cooperative projects and the actions of government and/or library commissions in each country. Planning at the local level and inter-Scandinavian efforts…

Economic-crime investigation in Finland is in transition from hierarchically organized, sequential collaboration between authorities toward parallel, interorganizational collaboration. This article describes the tools used and developed for managing the new collaborative economic-crime-investigation process. The challenge is to find…

A report is presented of work in syllabus construction and language planning in Finland from the middle of the 1960s to the present. An introductory chapter describes Finland's parallel educational systems, which provide for speakers of the two official languages, Finnish and Swedish, and for instruction in the other national language as well as…

This paper contrasts two planned online university ventures, the Virtual University of Finland and the University of Australia Online. The meaning and operations of these institutions are considered with respect to the virtual teaching and research nexus, cost issues, and their capability to respond to quick changes in knowledge. The issue of…