Theoretical aspects of school education reform in the Republic of Finland

Abstract

The article attempts to theoretically investigate the theoretical aspects of school education reform in the Republic of Finland. According to the results of research, the stages of reforming school education in Finland are analyzed. The relationship between the needs of society to solve economic and social problems and the improvement of the education sector and the features of legal regulation of educational changes in the political and administrative environment of Finland are revealed. The relevance of the study is due to the fact that the education sector of the Republic of Finland has a high rating among the indicators of international education quality assessment systems such as PISA, PIRLS and TIMSS, which is closely related to the modernization of school education for six decades. Finnish education is characterized by quality, accessibility and innovation. Particular attention is paid to the correlation of education reform with the economic development of Finland. The stages of economic development of the country in the postwar period are presented, in particular: increasing the level of opportunities in education simultaneously with the transition from agrarian to industrial society; reforming public secondary education along with the growth of the services sector and raising the level of technology in Scandinavian society; improving the quality of basic education and improving higher education at the same time as globalizing the country. The transformation of the concept of “equality” of school education from the quantitative basis to the quality of education is revealed. Attention is paid to the main drivers in the modernization of education in the context of flexible economic change. Emphasis was placed on the fact that the leading role in economic recovery was: strong social cohesion, strong security system and educational system. Organizational and content changes, features of structural innovations in the field of education are characterized The stages of reforming Finnish school education, which are reflected in many works, in particular in the works of Pasi Sahlberg, are analyzed. Emphasis is placed on the need for consistent and flexible actions to modernize the theoretical and methodological foundations of the education sector, improve the effectiveness of structures and management in education.