Author: Simola Hannu Rinne Risto Varjo Janne Pitkanen Hannele Kauko Jaakko
Publisher: Routledge Ltd
ISSN: 1464-5106
Source: Journal of Education Policy, Vol.24, Iss.2, 2009-03, pp. : 163-178
Disclaimer: Any content in publications that violate the sovereignty, the constitution or regulations of the PRC is not accepted or approved by CNPIEC.
Abstract
This article traces quality assurance and evaluation (QAE) developments in Finnish compulsory schooling. The central question is this: Is there a Finnish model of QAE? We conclude that it may be a rhetorical overstatement to speak about a specific Finnish 'Model' of QAE in a strong sense. However, neither is it valid to conclude that what happens in Finnish QAE merely reflects the unintended effects of radical decentralisation. The Finnish consensus on certain issues in QAE could be characterised as silent, and based on antipathy rather than on conscious and articulated principles. Finnish hostility towards ranking, combined with a bureaucratic tradition and a developmental approach to QAE strengthened by radical municipal autonomy, has constructed two national and local embedded policies that have been rather effective in resisting a trans-national policy of testing and ranking. It is significant, however, that both represent a combination of conscious, unintended and contingent factors.