Governance decentralisation in education: Finnish innovation in education

Abstract

This paper introduces a Finnish education innovation known as decentralisation in education. The innovation is described based on education policy documents, research papers and two short interviews with national and municipality experts in curriculum design. In a decentralised education system local providers of education (municipalities) and teachers play important roles in the preparation of local curriculum and learning environments, including the use of digital learning tools and environments. Education providers localise the national aims and content and describe how education is organised. Classroom-based assessment is another characteristic of decentralisation. Three preconditions are required for a decentralised education system to be effective: 1) common, national level, long-term strategic aims and must be established and local level plans, such as curriculum and an equity plan, must be developed and the implemented, 2) quality work, student assessment, continuous improvement of learning environments and practices implemented at the local level and 3) professional teachers must collaborate and engage in broad planning and assess their teaching abilities and their students' learning outcomes. Keywords.-Education policy, digital strategy, curriculum, quality assuramce, assessment ResumenEste documento introduce a la innovación educativa finlandesa conocida como "descentralización educativa". Esta innovación en primer lugar se describe sobre la base de documentos de política educativa, documentos de investigación y dos breves entrevistas con expertos nacionales y municipales en el diseño curricular.1 This material is based upon work supported by the Finnish Academy (no. 298323 and 294228) 2 Nota del Editor.-El presente artículo se considera acogido a dos tipos de contribuciones de las consignados en las normas editoriales (http://www.um.es/ead/red/normasRED.htm#_Toc417848548):"La política o la investigación" e "innovación o innovaciones en curso". Además la innovación propuesta es aplicable en distintos entornos de aprendizaje, en particular a los entornos apoyados con la tecnología como el propio autor reconoce cuando dice en la página 8: Governance decentralisation in education: Finnish innovation in education. Jari Lavonen.Página 2 de 22En un sistema educativo descentralizado, los proveedores locales de educación (los municipios) y los maestros desempeñan un papel importante en la preparación de planes de estudio y entornos de aprendizaje locales, incluido el uso de herramientas y entornos de aprendizaje digital. Los proveedores de educación localizan los objetivos y contenidos nacionales y describen cómo se organiza la educación. La evaluación basada en el aula es otra característica de la descentralización. Para que un sistema de educación descentralizada sea eficaz, se requieren tres condiciones previas: 1) que haya a nivel nacional, a nivel nacional, objetivos estratégicos a largo plazo y establezcan planes a nivel local, tales como un plan de estudios y un plan de equidad; 2) Que existan ...

Multiliteracies in local curricula: conceptual contextualizations of transversal competence in the finnish curricular framework

“…Even though the Core Curriculum offers guidelines for the preparation of local curriculum to a certain extent, local education providers have extensive autonomy, and the preparation process of the local curriculum can take various forms, depending on the context. For example, the stakeholders taking part in the preparation process can vary, and in addition to educational professionals, parents and local non-profit organisations can also take part (Lavonen, 2017). To paraphrase Mølstad (2015), the Core Curriculum forms a strong foundation on which municipalities and schools can develop their work, affording them the flexibility to decide on important common ground that various local curricula can be built on.…”

“…More precisely, in this paper, we study how the concept of multiliteracy, a transversal competence, is contextualized in Finnish local curricula. High degree of autonomy of educational providers in the local level (Lavonen, 2017) and multiliteracy as a new concept in the Finnish educational context, with only little research done so far (Kupiainen, 2016), provide an interesting basis for an examination of how novel competency-based additions to the Core Curriculum are contextualized at local level. In the Finnish educational framework, each municipality is required to refine the Core Curriculum to meet the specific needs and affordances of the particular context (NBoE, 2014).…”

Communication is Vital

“…Although technology has opened doors to many learning opportunities, the mere application of technology itself is not found to be fruitful. A recent study showed that teachers, especially in Finland, do not see the value and benefits of using digital tools (Lavonen, 2017 ). This shows that the use of digital tools alone may not reap positive outcomes.…”

“…This shows that the use of digital tools alone may not reap positive outcomes. There is a need to understand the good practices that should come hand in hand with the integration of technical tools in lessons (Lavonen, 2017 ). Moreover, language learning is dependent on human factors or individual differences (see Chap.…”

Disciplinary contextualisation of transversal competence in Finnish local curricula: the case of multiliteracy, mathematics, and social studies

“…To understand the contextualisation of multiliteracy from a broader perspective, we focus on the local curricula across Finland. The local curricula provide favourable opportunity to understand contextualisation since Finnish teachers and local education providers have high levels of autonomy and the local curriculum is not just a tool to implement the national core curriculum but is also a pedagogical tool for the development of education (Lavonen, 2017;Mølstad, 2015). The following research questions have guided the research process:…”