School Choice in Finnish Comprehensive Schooling – a Case Study of Educational Strategies in the School

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

School Choice in Finnish Comprehensive Schooling – a Case Study of Educational Strategies in the School School Choice in Finnish Comprehensive Schooling – A Case Study of Educational Strategies in the School Political “Playground” of Vantaa Ulla Gratt In meiner Masterarbeit (2010) untersuchte Finland – “wonderland” of education? ich die Schulwahlstrategien von Eltern in der Stadt Vantaa, Finnland. Im Jahr 1998 wurde Everybody, who has something to do with edu- die Schulwahl zu einem wichtigen bildungspo- cation, has probably heard of the “wonderland” litischen Thema in Finnland. Neue Regelungen of education – Finland. The otherwise not that ermöglichten den Gemeinden, eigenständig über well-known northern country situated between die Organisation der Pflichtschulen zu entschei- Sweden and Russia must have made something den. In Vantaa zielt die lokale Schulpolitik auf right in the 1970s. According to Pekkarinen, Gleichheit und die Verringerung von Unter- Kerr and Uusitalo (2009) the founding of the schieden ab. Vor dem Hintergrund der unter- nine-year-long compulsory comprehensive schiedlichen Ansätze kommt dem Verhalten der school “for all” did indeed improve the social Eltern bei der Schulwahl besondere Bedeutung justice in education. More and more individuals zu. Besonders das Verhältnis zwischen lokaler could reach a higher educational level than the Schulpolitik, den Bildungsstrategien der Eltern earlier generation had reached. As well accor- und der Schulwahl der Eltern ist von Interesse. ding to PISA, everything seems to be just perfect Im Rahmen dieses Artikels wird vor allem das in Finnish educational system. Thema der sozialen Gerechtigkeit in finnischen Gesamtschulen beschrieben. In this article I will present some insights into social justice in Finnish comprehensive schoo- In my master’s thesis (2010) I studied the ling. I might disappoint you a little. The Finnish school choice strategies of parents in Vantaa, comprehensive schooling is not organized in a Finland. In 1998 school choice became a cen- way that there would be no worries about social tral theme in school policy in Finland, as the justice in education. new School Act enabled communities to take over the main organization of comprehensive The biggest reasons for these worries are neo- schooling. Local school policy in Vantaa is liberal school policies, like for example the free directed towards equality and the reduction of school choice policy. Nevertheless, the Finnish disparities. Taking into account these aspects, school system still creates a great image of the behavior of parents in school choice plays social justice in education and many school aut- a big role. Especially the relationship between horities have the will to keep up the scene. local school policy, parents’ educational stra- tegies and school choice is interesting. This In this article I will discuss issues of social justi- article discusses the theme of social justice in ce and school choice in relation to neo-liberal Finnish comprehensive schooling. politics in education. I will bring the idea of the Pädagogische Hochschule Vorarlberg | F&E Edition 18 | 2012 39 free market principle in education from interna- velopment. The state, who was clearly the main tional level to national and down to local level. provider of education, saw the development of the compulsory nine-year-long comprehensive As an example of school choice I will use my own schooling as an important investment. Jaana case study of Vantaa, which I completed in spring Poikolainen (2011, 133) writes in her article 2010 at the University of Helsinki. The city of how one main aim of the school reform was to Vantaa has chosen an “anti-school market” school “get rid of the dualistic schooling system, which choice policy, which differs a lot from the school was seen as unequal”. Lampinen claims that choice policies of the neighbour cities. I will first since the 1980s the Finnish education policy give a brief introduction into the Finnish school has been lacking the ideology of social justice system in general and school choice policies while economical issues in education have been in Finland. Then I will discuss marketization in becoming more and more important. (Lampinen education and point out some ideas about the 1998, 27-30) relationship between marketization, neo-liberal ideology and globalization. Before presenting After the big school reform in the 1970s, an my own study, I will discuss school choice and important turning point in Finnish school policy social justice issues. In the discussion I will try to has been the change in the state’s support of construct some idea about how social justice in individual schools in 1993. Since 1993 schools education can be sustained in the framework of could receive financial support according to the neo-liberal school policies. number of their pupils. The communities could themselves decide how they would distribute the support between different social sectors. Some Finnish school system in a nut shell schools were privileged, others received only few and Finnish school choice policies resources. This shift in the Finnish educational policy was the starting point for the competition In Finland, like in many other countries, was the between schools (Ahonen 2003, 180-181). In development of institutional schooling based on small communities, small schools needed to be the idea to educate “the vulgar” and to create a shut down and in bigger cities schools started to tight national identity (Lampinen 1998). Before look for ways of recruiting more pupils. At this the big school reform in the 1970s, the Finnish point, in 1993, school choice wasn’t free. Pupils school system looked pretty similar to the Aus- would enter the school to which school authori- trian one. Everybody started their school career ties allocated them. The closest school principle in folk school (kansakoulu) which took four was determining the school choice. years. After that there were two options: 5-year- long grammar school (oppikoulu) or additional Later, in the year 1998 the new Basic Education two years in folk school plus two years in a civic Act made school choice possible – a commu- school (kansalaiskoulu). The only way to high- nity could open the school catchment areas, er education at universities would go through which have been in place since 1898. The old grammar school. A pupil could visit an upper principle of the closest school was challenged. secondary school (lukio) only after finishing When speaking about school choice in Finland, the grammar school. Successful studies in an there are two main points in the school career upper secondary school would lead to a place at to take into account. School choice is actual university. School choice was very simple in that when attending the first grade (the year the time and had a very tight relation to social class child turns seven) and between the sixth and and resources of the family – sometimes already seventh grade. Even if the school type stays the the place of living was determining the school same for nine years, many school institutions choice. According to Osmo Lampinen (1998) the are built like this that pupils have to change two leading ideologies behind the big school re- the school building between their sixth and se- form in 1970s were equality and economical de- venth grade. Also the teacher system is a little 40 Pädagogische Hochschule Vorarlberg | F&E Edition 18 | 2012 different on the upper level of comprehensive the enterprising individual (p. 409). Globalisati- schooling than on the lower level because the on, whether it is cultural, economical or politi- class teacher system ends with the sixth grade. cal, doesn't follow the same lines in every coun- The upper grades are taught by subject te- try. Ozga and Lingard (1997) use the concept achers. There are often several schools for the of vernacular globalisation, when describing first six grades, but only one school for grades different countries implementing best practices. seven to nine in rural areas. Lampinen (1998, To add here, not only countries implement new 78) sees the education act reform in 1998 as policies differently, but also communities might a climax point of decentralization. To most make their own local decisions. Of the many Finnish towns and cities this meant nothing, conceptualizations of globalisation, the one because there is only one school to choose – from Taylor, Rizvi, Lingard and Henry (1997) especially on the upper level of comprehensive seems to be the most useful one. According to school. However, in bigger cities with several Taylor et al. globalisation is all those processes, schools also in upper level of comprehensive which build supranational connections in vario- school, the Basic Education Act allowed to open us ways – for example economically, culturally the school catchment areas into one big school or politically. Education has become more and market. more globalised. For example universities follow same degree systems and there is a lot of mo- In the following part I will discuss school choice bility between countries in education, like the more widely. What is the ideology behind it? study exchange program Erasmus. What has globalization and neo-liberalism to do with school choice? I will now try to conceptualize neo-liberalism. In neo-liberalism, it is assumed that a human being naturally behaves out of self-interest A wider perspective of school choice (Apple 2001, 414). To put it very simple, and marketization in comprehensive according to Therese Quinn (2009) neo-liberal schooling: Globalization in education ideology is about privatizing everything, free and neo-liberal principles markets, individualism, competition, intellectu- al property, choice, innovation and flexibility. Jenny Ozga and Bob Lingard (1997, 65) argue What does neo-liberalism then mean on the that the effects of globalisation in education are national or local level? Marketization of schools almost always described in the form of neo-libe- can clearly be seen as an attempt to implement ralism. Fazal Rizvi and Laura Engel (2009) write economic frames and neo-liberal ideology to that globalisation can be interpreted different- the educational field.
Recommended publications
  • School Choice
    Updated 3/17/2018 by C.Noggle LWV-VA Standards and Approval Criteria for (non-Public) School Choice Options School Choice Options in Virginia: Charter, Vouchers, Tuition Tax Credits, Virtual [Funding and Operation Parameters for K-12 Options] [Also See Appendix D.] Yes No Comment/Explain/Concern 1 Is this Position Updating the LWV-VA Position on K-12 update needed? Education is needed, and needed promptly. Changes and additions are proposed to expand the Education Position to address Charter Schools, funding of private schools with tuition tax credits, funding of private schools and students with vouchers, and the recent establishment of online learning programs. 2 Should these 5 Principles be adopted? Principle #1 Public schools should prevail as the highest priority for school choice in Virginia. Principle #2 Public schools sustain democracy by being open to all children. Principle #3: Public schools serve the public and prepare citizens to maintain our government. Principle #4: A Public school system allows the public to vote on school governance and school policy. Principle #5: Public schools allow the exchange of ideas and participation in decision-making. Ergo, Public money should go to Public Schools, not to Private Schools I. Charter and Virtual Please see the complete Matrix for discussion of Schools. NOTE: All Charter Schools. Virginia Charter Schools ARE Public Schools. 3 II. All School Choice Should these parameters, standards and policies Option Requirements be adopted? Page 1 of 6 3/17/2018 A. Fair and legal funding [No Public funds shall go to sectarian schools.] 1. Require Separation of church and state (See U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • SCHOOL CHOICE in FINLAND Part of a Research Project 'School Choice in Finland' Led by Hannu Vartiainen, Financed by Academy of Finland
    Mikko Salonen HECER, University of Helsinki [email protected] SCHOOL CHOICE IN FINLAND Part of a research project 'School choice in Finland' led by Hannu Vartiainen, financed by Academy of Finland INTRODUCTION Right now there are large scale reforms that Education in Finland * are going to take place on fall 2013 for the In Finland every year approximately 60 000 Academic Vocational Typical ages secondary schools and fall 2014 for the degrees degrees students take part in a national system universities. Previously the school selection doctor where new students are allocated to mechanism for the univerisities was not master polytechnic + 2-3 secondary schools. The allocation is done centralized. Our goal is to study how the bachelor polytechnic + 3-4 based on student preferences and criteria of current system works (for secondary upper 18-19 each school. The students can apply to no secondary vocational schools, universities and polytechnics) and school 17-18 more than five different schools. Yearly school (voluntary) estimate its welfare losses compared to an (voluntary) 16-17 approximately 4 000 to 5 000 students are alternative mechanism. After the school 15-16 not admitted to any school. Of those reform we plan to estimate it's welfare 14-15 students who are admitted to a vocational effects as well. 13-14 upper secondary school 25% drop out 12-13 during the first year. Student drop out rate We have data on admittance to comprehensive school polytechnic universities for the newly (compulsory) 11-12 for general upper secondary school is 10 %. 10-11 These young people who have dropped out graduated secondary school applicants and on secondary school selection.
    [Show full text]
  • How the School-Choice Paradigm Subverts Equal Education for Students with Disabilities Amanda S
    Maryland Law Review Volume 78 | Issue 3 Article 3 Limited Choices: How the School-Choice Paradigm Subverts Equal Education for Students with Disabilities Amanda S. Sen Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mlr Part of the Disability Law Commons, Education Law Commons, and the Fourteenth Amendment Commons Recommended Citation 78 Md. L. Rev. 470 (2019) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Academic Journals at DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maryland Law Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LIMITED CHOICES: HOW THE SCHOOL-CHOICE PARADIGM SUBVERTS EQUAL EDUCATION FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES AMANDA S. SEN∗ ABSTRACT While there is no absolute right to education in the Constitution of the United States, legislation and litigation have created and elucidated specific rights of children to, at a minimum, equal op- portunity in education. For students with disabilities, the right to equality in educational opportunity can be found in both federal statutes and under the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Rapidly developing education policy currently promotes increas- ing options for parents to use federal and state funds to send their children to schools other than their neighborhood public schools (“school choice”). However, the specific rights of students with disabilities have been largely overlooked. This Article will explain the ways in which school-choice laws and the rights of students with disabilities overlap and interact, expose gaps that leave stu- dents with disabilities vulnerable, and suggest actions that legisla- tors and litigators can take to mitigate that vulnerability and en- sure equal opportunity in education.
    [Show full text]
  • School Parents Are More Likely Than Charter and Private School Parents to Be Satisfied with the Communication Around Reopening from Schools
    EdChoice GEN POP NATIONAL POLLING PRESENTATION September 2020 EDCHOICE SEPTEMBER Most parents are at least somewhat comfortable sending their children to school, but POLLING PRESENTATION they still prefer virtual learning. Parents generally feel prepared to facilitate virtual learning, especially parents of younger students. Public school parents are more likely than charter and private school parents to be satisfied with the communication around reopening from schools. A slight majority of parents have either joined a learning pod or are looking to form one. Those with younger children, higher incomes, and living in urban areas are more likely to be participating in one. Those that are interested or participating in pods think they will help students stay up to speed and provide a safe environment for socialization. While, those against learning pods think they are unsafe, unnecessary, or too expensive. Over half of school parents are at least somewhat likely to seek out tutoring for their child/children outside of school hours this year. Parents that are very likely to seek out tutoring for their child/children have younger children, higher incomes and are living in urban Key Points areas. 4 School parents' favorability of homeschooling has remained high since the coronavirus outbreak began in March. While many students switched from home school to other school types for this upcoming school year, homeschooling still saw an increase in enrollment. Americans school type preferences have shifted since the outbreak to be more in favor of homeschooling when given the option, especially if cost and transportation are not factors. 5 Americans remain more likely to support school choice policies, including charter schools, once given information, especially non-parents and independents.
    [Show full text]
  • SCHOOL CHOICE State Summary Indiana
    SCHOOL CHOICE State Summary Indiana OVERVIEW Charters: Indiana is one of 43 states, including the District of Columbia, that permit charter schools. Indiana’s charter law was enacted in 2001. INdIANA’S ChARTeRS There are currently 75 charters in the state, enrolling an estimated 34,347 students . Year of Charter Law – 2001 NAPCS Ranking of Charter Law – 2 of 43 Indiana does not place caps on charter school growth, but there are Total Charters – 75 restrictions on virtual charter school enrollment. State law permits new charter start-ups, traditional public to charter conversions, and virtual charter schools . The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) ranks Indiana’s charter law as among the strongest nationwide (2 nd out of 43 states). Vouchers or Other State Assistance for Private School Choice: Indiana offers three private school choice programs: • The Private School/Homeschool Deduction offers a tax deduction worth up to $1,000 to parents with a child enrolled in a private school or who is homeschooled. The deduction may cover approved educational expenses. • The Choice Scholarship Program offers a voucher to middle- and low-income families to attend a nonpublic school of their choice. • The School Scholarship Tax Credit program allows individuals and corporations to claim a 50 percent tax credit for contributions to approved scholarship granting organizations. Students are eligible to receive scholarships if their family income is within 200 percent of the free or reduced-price lunch threshold. State Laws on Other Forms of School Choice: Indiana is home to a voluntary open enrollment program through which students may request transfers to other schools or districts.
    [Show full text]
  • PRIVATE SCHOOL CHOICE Myths V. Reality
    PRIVATE SCHOOL CHOICE Myths v. Reality There are many myths and misconceptions about private school choice programs. Despite the rhetoric, parents continue to demand school options and choose these programs to provide high- quality educational opportunities for their children. Today, almost half a million students are enrolled in voucher, tax credit scholarship, and education savings account (ESA) programs nationwide. Below we address some common “myths” about these school choice programs. MYTH #1: Private school choice programs drain money from public schools. REALITY: Private school choice programs save our government millions of dollars each year. When a student attends a non-public school using a voucher, ESA, or tax credit scholarship, state and federal governments usually do not have to pay a public school to provide an education for that student. And the cost to educate a child in a traditional district school is almost always greater than the public funding provided for each child in a school choice program. So it’s no wonder that tax credit scholarship programs, for example, end up saving each participating state anywhere from $13-$120 million annually.i MYTH #2: Private school choice programs violate the separation between church and state. REALITY: The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that appropriately-designed private school choice programs are fully constitutional.ii And numerous state courts have upheld the constitutionality of voucher, tax credit scholarship, and ESA programs.iii MYTH #3: Students don’t benefit from private school choice. REALITY: Seventeen empirical studies examined academic outcomes for private school choice participants using random assignment, the “gold standard” of social science.
    [Show full text]
  • School Choice and State Constitutions School Choice and State Constitutions
    School Choice and State Constitutions School Choice and State Constitutions April 2007 A joint publication of The Institute for Justice and The American Legislative Exchange Council Institute for ustice J 901 N. Glebe Road, Suite 900 1129 20th Street NW, Suite 500 Arlington, VA 22203 Washington, DC 20036 (703) 682-9320 (202) 466-3800 www.IJ.org www.alec.org reference guide School Choice and State Constitutions A Guide to Designing School Choice Programs A joint publication of The Institute for Justice and American Legislative Exchange Council April 2007 table of contents Foreword 1 Introduction 2 How to Use This Report 7 State Summaries Alabama 10 Alaska 11 Arizona 12 Arkansas 14 California 15 Colorado 17 Connecticut 19 Delaware 21 Florida 22 Georgia 24 Hawaii 26 Idaho 27 Illinois 29 Indiana 31 Iowa 33 Kansas 34 Kentucky 35 Louisiana 38 table of contents Maine 39 Maryland 41 Massachusetts 42 Michigan 44 Minnesota 46 Mississippi 48 Missouri 49 Montana 52 Nebraska 53 Nevada 55 New Hampshire 56 New Jersey 57 New Mexico 58 New York 60 North Carolina 62 North Dakota 64 Ohio 65 Oklahoma 67 Oregon 69 Pennsylvania 70 Rhode Island 72 South Carolina 73 South Dakota 75 Tennessee 77 Texas 78 Utah 79 Vermont 81 Virginia 82 Washington 84 West Virginia 87 Wisconsin 88 Wyoming 91 Model Legislation 93 Glossary 95 Additional Resources 97 About the Author 99 Acknowledgments 100 About IJ 101 About ALEC 102 foreword Whenever school choice legislation is considered, the stakes are enormous. Children, parents, teachers and taxpayers all stand to benefit dramatically from well-designed programs.
    [Show full text]
  • The Role of Special Education in School Choice
    This PDF is a selection from a published volume from the National Bureau of Economic Research Volume Title: The Economics of School Choice Volume Author/Editor: Caroline M. Hoxby, editor Volume Publisher: University of Chicago Press Volume ISBN: 0-226-35533-0 Volume URL: http://www.nber.org/books/hox03-1 Conference Date: February 22-24, 2001 Publication Date: January 2003 Title: The Role of Special Education in School Choice Author: Julie Berry Cullen, Steven G. Rivkin URL: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c10086 3 The Role of Special Education in School Choice Julie Berry Cullen and Steven G. Rivkin 3.1 Introduction There are differing views of the impact of school choice programs on the distribution of student opportunity. Proponents claim that all students, both those who take advantage of choice and those who remain in their neighborhood schools, will benefit as schools improve in response to com- petitive pressures. Others fear that only the more advantaged and informed students will opt out to better schools, leaving the more disadvantaged stu- dents isolated in the worst schools with declining resources. Among the students who may be left behind are special needs students. Students with disabilities are more costly to educate and may therefore en- counter explicit or implicit barriers to attending choice schools. Also, high concentrations of special needs students may be a deterrent to other stu- dents deciding on schooling options. These considerations may lead some schools to adopt policies that discourage students with special needs from attending, thereby limiting the choices available to these students. Such concerns about the relative access and participation of students with dis- abilities overlap with concerns about low-income and minority students, al- though the degree of legal protection differs.
    [Show full text]
  • Accountability in Private School Choice Programs
    IMPROVING SCHOOL CHOICE IN THE STATES December 2014 BY JOSH CUNNINGHAM Accountability in While many legislatures continue to debate whether private school choice is appropriate in their state, 23 states, the District of Columbia and a school district in Colorado have already determined they want Private School to provide support to public school students seeking a private school education. In many of these states, legislators are looking for academic accountability policies that ensure students are receiving a high quality Choice Programs education without stifling school innovation and autonomy that form the cornerstone of an effective school choice program. There are differing opinions on how best to hold private school choice programs accountable. Some believe private schools participat- ing in these programs should be held to the same academic accountabil- © 2014 1 NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF STATE LEGISLATURES ity standards as public schools because they are all competing for the the price of the private school tuition a student chooses -- whichever is same students and resources. Others believe that uniform government less. Students who receive the voucher are entitled to the full amount standards will force all schools, public and private, to teach the same permitted by the law. Private schools must meet minimum standards material rather than allow private schools to provide an array of alterna- established by legislatures in order to accept voucher students. Legis- tive learning environments that offer innovative teaching philosophies
    [Show full text]
  • Edchoice As Amicus Curiae Supporting Petitioners ————
    No. 20-1088 IN THE Supreme Court of the United States ———— DAVID and AMY CARSON, as parents and next friends of O.C., and TROY and ANGELA NELSON, as parents and next friends of A.N. and R.N., Petitioners, v. A. PENDER MAKIN, in her official capacity as Commissioner of the Maine Department of Education, Respondent. ———— On Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit ———— BRIEF OF EDCHOICE AS AMICUS CURIAE SUPPORTING PETITIONERS ———— RUSSELL MENYHART LESLIE HINER TAFT STETTINIUS & Counsel of Record HOLLISTER LLP EDCHOICE One Indiana Square 111 Monument Circle Suite 3500 Suite 2650 Indianapolis, IN 46204 Indianapolis, IN 46204 (317) 713-3500 (317) 681-0745 [email protected] [email protected] Counsel for EdChoice March 11, 2021 WILSON-EPES PRINTING CO., INC. – (202) 789-0096 – WASHINGTON, D. C. 20002 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF AUTHORITIES ................................ iii INTEREST OF AMICUS CURIAE ..................... 1 SUMMARY .......................................................... 1 ARGUMENT ........................................................ 6 I. The Unconstitutional Underpinning of Maine’s Town Tuitioning Prohibition Against Sectarian Schools is Unmasked by Its History ............................................ 6 A. Dispute Over Which Bible to Read in Public Schools Was Fueled by Religious Bigotry 20 Years Before Maine Adopted Town Tuitioning ........ 6 B. Father John Bapst Was Tarred and Feathered for Protecting the Students’ Freedom of Religion ............ 10 C. Different Century, Same Unconstitu- tional Discrimination .......................... 12 II. Without Intervention, Inequalities Between States Allowing Religious Options in Student-Aid Programs and Those Prohib- iting Them Will Be Magnified .................. 16 III. Substantial Social Science Research Reveals Why Students Seek School Choice and Why Educational Services Provided by Religious Entities Matter....
    [Show full text]
  • Families and the Social Space of School Choice in Urban
    267 SONJA KOSUNEN FAMILIES AND THE SOCIAL SPACE OF SCHOOL CHOICE IN URBAN FINLAND FINLAND URBAN IN CHOICE SCHOOL OF SPACE SOCIAL THE AND FAMILIES KOSUNEN SONJA 267 Publisher UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI INSTITUTE OF BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES Institute of Behavioural Sciences P.O. Box 9 FI-00014 University of Helsinki Distribution Unigrafia [email protected] shop.unigrafia.fi Unigrafia, Helsinki ISBN 978-951-51-0321-5 (pbk) ISBN 978-951-51-0322-2 (pdf) ISSN-L 1798-8322 ISSN 1798-8322 FAMILIES AND THE SOCIAL SPACE OF SCHOOL CHOICE IN URBAN FINLAND UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI FACULTY OF BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES SONJA KOSUNEN University of Helsinki, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Studies in Educational Sciences 267 Sonja Kosunen FAMILIES AND THE SOCIAL SPACE OF SCHOOL CHOICE IN URBAN FINLAND Academic dissertation to be publicly discussed, by due permission of the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences at the University of Helsinki in Auditorium 1 at Metsätalo (Unioninkatu 40) on the 15th of January, 2016 at 12 o’clock. Helsinki 2016 Custos Professor Gunilla Holm, University of Helsinki Supervisors Professor Hannu Simola, University of Helsinki Docent Piia Seppänen, University of Turku Docent Janne Varjo, University of Helsinki Pre-examiners Professor Christian Maroy, Université de Montréal Professor Leena Koski, University of Eastern Finland Opponent Professor Carol Vincent, Institute of Education, University College London Cover Illustration Aapo Huhta & Marjut Maristo, performing: Children of Viikki Teacher Training School of the University of Helsinki. Figures 3–7 Lauri Borén This dissertation was complied as a part of research project Parents and School Choice – Family Strategies, Segregation and School Policies in Chilean and Finnish Basic Schooling (PASC).
    [Show full text]
  • 10 Principles of School Choice 1
    LEGISLATIVE PRINCIPLES SERIES Ten Principles NUMBER 1 of One in a series of School Choice brief guides to the most important public policy issues of the day, written especially for elected officials and other opinion BY JOSEPH L. BAST leaders. AND HERBERT J. WALBERG Series Preface The purpose of this series of small books, called Legislative Principles, is two-fold: To compile and express concisely legislative principles based upon research evidence too voluminous for most legislators, policy analysts, and interested citizens to read; and to complement the news reporting in Heartland’s four monthly public policy newspapers, School Reform News, Budget & Tax News, Health Care News, and Environment & Climate News. Each booklet in this series presents a set of principles central to the debates about a major public policy issue. Each principle, in turn, is carefully documented to enable readers to find the original sources, many of which are on The Heartland Institute’s Web site (www.heartland.org). An electronic version of this booklet, also posted on Heartland’s Web site, has links to the URLs of many of the sources cited below. Heartland’s public policy newspapers, by design, focus on news and contain factual accounts about current events, policies, and legislation. The small books in the Legislative Principles series, on the other hand, set forth enduring principles that are likely to remain valid and relevant in the next decade. They can help busy legislators rapidly prepare themselves to propose and discuss new legislation in areas they may not ordinarily follow closely. We hope the series forms a mini-library for elected officials, their staff, and all concerned citizens.
    [Show full text]