Purposeful Policy and Practice for Equity and Quality – A Finnish Case

Abstract

The chapter describes how equity and quality are closely connected in the Finnish educational system. The Finnish system aims to support learners to become active agents in their daily lives and in society as a whole. Values related to life-long learning are important at all levels of the educational system. In order to connect equity and life-long learning, the educational system needs to be very flexible and learners must be able to continue schooling at any stage of their lives. The article also introduces the major tools for keeping up the quality in the system. The national decision has been to use all evaluation for improvements, not ranking. This enhancement-led principle is connected with local responsibility to design school-based curricula and implementation of the national core curricula. There is no national achievement testing. Local educational providers are responsible for the quality of teaching. The key issue is high quality teachers whose teacher education prepares them to work as reflective professionals. The article also reflects on the major challenges of the Finnish system for the future.