Dynamics in Education Politics

Dynamics in Education Politics Dynamics in Education Politics: Understanding and Explaining the Finnish Case intro- duces a new theoretical framework characterised as Comparative Analytics of Dynamics in Education Politics (CADEP). Albeit the topicality of comparative research is obvious in the current era of global large-scale assessment, with its concomitant media visibility and political effects, comparative education is still suffering from certain methodological deficits and is in need of robust theo- risation. Focusing on relational dynamics between policy threads, actors and institutions in education politics CADEP seriously considers the phenomena of complexity, contingency and trans-nationality in late-modern societies. In this book CADEP is applied and validated in analysing the “Finnish Edu- cational Miracle” that has been attracting attention in the educational world ever since they rocketed to fame following the PISA studies during the 2000s. This book will open up opportunities for mutual understanding and learning rather than just celebrating the exceptional circumstances or sustainable leadership. Areas covered include: • Analytics of dynamics in education politics • Dynamics of policy making and governance • Dynamics of educational family strategies • Dynamics of classroom culture. It is vital for humankind to be able to learn from each other’s successes and failures, and this applies in education too. This book is thus a valuable read for anyone interested in the education system and wanting to shape the learning environment. Hannu Simola, PhD, is Professor in Sociology and Politics of Education, at the Universities of Turku and Helsinki. His research interests are currently focused on socioanalysis of teacherhood, contextual analytics of educational innovations and local educational ethos. His most recent book is The Finnish Education Mystery (Routledge 2015). Jaakko Kauko, PhD, MSocSc, is Associate Professor in Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Tampere. His research is situated in the fields of politics of education and comparative education. He is interested in the questions of power, contingency, and complexity. Janne Varjo, PhD, is Lecturer at the Institute of Behavioural Sciences, and more particularly within the Research Unit focusing on the Sociology and Pol- itics of Education, at the University of Helsinki. His research interests include sociology of education, history of education and administration, economy and planning of education. Mira Kalalahti, Dr SocSc, MA, is Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Research Unit Focusing on the Sociology and Politics of Education at the Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki. Her research interests involve the sociology of education, especially questions concerning the equality of educational opportunities and educational transitions. Fritjof Sahlström, PhD, is Professor in Education at Åbo Akademi University in Vasa. His research has focused on the organization of interaction in educational settings, on developing ways of documenting and analysing classroom interaction relying on conversation analysis, and on the relationships between interaction, participation and social reproduction. Dynamics in Education Politics Understanding and explaining the Finnish case Hannu Simola, Jaakko Kauko, Janne Varjo, Mira Kalalahti and Fritjof Sahlström First published 2017 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2017 Hannu Simola, Jaakko Kauko, Janne Varjo, Mira Kalalahti and Fritjof Sahlström The right of Hannu Simola, Jaakko Kauko, Janne Varjo, Mira Kalalahti and Fritjof Sahlström to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. The Open Access version of this book, available at www. taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Simola, Hannu. Title: Dynamics in education politics : understanding and explaining the Finnish case / Hannu Simola [and four others]. Description: New York NY : Routledge, 2017. Identifiers: LCCN 2016044691 | ISBN 9780415812573 (hardback) | ISBN 9780203068793 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Education and state—Finland. | Education—Finland. Classification: LCC LC93.F5 S56 2017 | DDC 379.4897—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016044691 ISBN: 978-0-415-81257-3 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-06879-3 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents List of figures vii List of tables viii Acknowledgements ix Introduction 1 1 Comparative analytics in the dynamics of education politics 4 Comparative education as a contested terrain 4 A proposal for a more systematic, flexible and vivid approach: CADEP 16 2 Orienting to the Finnish case 21 A history of political situations 21 A history of political possibilities 23 A history of politicking 27 3 Dynamics in policymaking 33 Late but enduring structures reflecting a belief in schooling 34 Middle-class liberalist equity meets factory- and farmland-based equality 39 Equality enhanced by the recession and PISA 43 Conclusion: buffering and embedded egalitarianism 47 4 Dynamics in governance 49 From strict centralisation towards New Public Management and decentralisation 49 Punctuated trust 54 Non-materialised QAE 58 Conclusion: redistributing but punctuated trust 67 vi Contents 5 Dynamics in families’ educational strategies 69 Leaving the Peruskoulu monolith behind 69 Contradictory school choice 75 Local politicking for soft school choice 82 Conclusion: diverging but civic parenthood 87 6 Dynamics in classroom cultures 90 From Herbart-Zillerian and social pedagogy to Peruskoulu didactics 90 Individualised Peruskoulu pedagogies since 1970 93 A hybrid of tradition and progress 98 Conclusion: consolidating but paternalistic progressivism 111 7 The dynamics of Finnish basic-education politics: From understanding to explanation 113 Dynamics in policymaking 114 Dynamics in governance 116 Dynamics in families’ educational strategies 118 Dynamics in classroom cultures 119 Comparison? 120 From understanding discursive dynamics to explaining success and decline 122 Actors? 124 Futures? 127 References 132 Index 155 Figures 2.1 Public trust in institutions 26 2.2 Changes in agricultural employment among the working population in the Nordic countries, 1880–1970 28 2.3 Changes in industrial and service employment among the working population in the Nordic countries, 1880–1970 28 2.4 The timing and rapidity of the changes in occupational structure in three Nordic countries: the period during which the agrarian labour force decreased proportionately from 50 to 15 per cent 29 2.5 Public employment in the Nordic countries, 1970–1985 29 2.6 Growth of the work force in the public sector in the Nordic countries, 1963–1987 30 3.1 The expansion of schooling in Finland 35 3.2 Two Nordic population cohorts aged 55–64 with at least an upper-secondary education 35 3.3 Percentage of days in office of Secretaries of State for Education in the post-war era, 1944–2015 44 Tables 1.1 The effects of a power mechanism (m) 15 1.2 A framework for the analysis of dynamics in politics 18 6.1 Comparisons of teaching in grade 8 of comprehensive school, 1973 and 1995 99 6.2 Engagement with school: “My school is a place where. .” 108 6.3 Disciplinary climate: “How often do these things happen in your ‘test language’ lessons?” 108 6.4 Teacher support: “How often do these things happen in your ‘test language’ lessons?” 109 7.1 Four constitutive discursive principles in our three- dimensional analytical framework 114 7.2 Explanations of the Finnish success and decline in basic- schooling politics 123 Acknowledgements We are deeply grateful to two Finnish institutions that have made possible this book, which is a conclusion of our studies in education politics since the late 1990s. During these years, the Academy of Finland financed seven major studies that created the empirical basis for this book. The Department of Education, nowadays the Institute of Behavioural Sciences, at the University of Helsinki has provided an inspiring and encouraging working environment for us. We are also in gratitude to the people who are and have been working at the intellectual home base for this book: Research Unit Focusing on Sociology and Politics of Education (KUPOLI). All of you have somehow contributed to this book during our joint years. Thank you! This kind of concluding book tends easily to be postponed and needs some final spur to get materialised. This stimulus came from a rare cooperation between sociologists and psychologists, between KUPOLI and the Centre for Educational Assessment, located just next door upstairs in Athena building in Downtown Campus of the University of Helsinki. A few years ago, our shared interest to education politics encour- aged us to establish the Athena Lecture Series as a forum for transdisciplinary discussions on research results and ideas. Most of the chapters of this book have been presented and discussed in those

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