Arviointi, tieto ja hallinta : Peruskoulun paikallisen arvioinnin genealogia

The study examines the fabrication and mobilization of the local and school level evaluation in the field of comprehensive schooling within the Finnish quality evaluation discourse. Drawing on genealogy, the study runs out of the current notion and understanding in which the evaluation is reasoned as a necessary, natural and normal part of the workings of schools and municipalities as education provider. Finally, the evaluation is considered inevitable in constant improvement, development and governing of education in the context of global economy. The study analyses the descent, fabrication and mobilization of this understanding. It asks: 1) how is the present understanding on local quality evaluation in comprehensive school mobilized and construed within the Finnish discourse, and 2) which kind of discursive principles and rules can be identified as conditions for the construction and fabrication of a present discourse when examined in the dimensions of the knowledge, power and subject. The research data consists of a set of Finnish policy documents, legislation and texts on quality evaluation written by the experts of the evaluation in the field of comprehensive education in the period of 1970–2010. The aim of the study is to bring back forth and uncover the hidden historical horizon of the quality evaluation in education. In answering the first research question, the study provides a dense descriptive analysis on the formation and construction of the field of the statements where the school and municipal self-evaluation becomes fabricated as self-evident. Study identifies three discursive practices – systems of reasoning and doing – within the field of statements mobilizing the present understanding on evaluation. Those are the discursive practices of the 1) school based development, 2) performativity and educational outcomes and 3) customer oriented quality. The second research question is approached by setting the descriptive analysis of discursive practices and layers under examination in the genealogical dimensions of the knowledge, power and subject. First, in the dimension of knowledge, the study identifies an increasing and overarching will to know about education; will to know the all-embracing performance and the quality in all areas of schooling. In the dimension of power, the study identifies the process of normalization of evaluation in education practices during the re-search period. The evaluation becomes construed as a normal daily practice of education inseparable from teaching, schooling and education governance. In the dimension of subjectivity, the study identifies the fabrication of the ethics of inevitability of self-evaluation. Within the discourse, there is no decent place for actors those are unwilling to evaluate or to be evaluated. Finally, the evaluation discourse can be described as a discourse based on evolutionary hope towards the better future – with higher performativity and excellent quality. The discourse wraps and embeds the desire towards the better. However, at the same time, by the discourse itself, it appears evident that the education in its variedness will stay immeasurable by its nature. It also appears that the ethics of inevitability of self-evaluation will necessarily be bounded by the vagueness and subjective nature of the evaluation. Finally, in aspiring towards the normalization of the evaluation and quality work in the direction of universal organization, the school context and specific school knowledge appears to be fading out.Tutkimuksessa analysoin perusopetuksen paikallisen arvioinnin – koulujen ja kuntien itsearvioinnin – muotoutumista suomalaisessa perusopetuksen arviointidiskurssissa. Genealogian tapaan tutkimus on lähtenyt nykyisestä ymmärryksestä – ymmärryksestä, jonka mukaisesti arviointi on välttämätön ja luonnollinen osa koulujen ja koulutuksen järjestäjien toimintaa sekä viime kädessä keskeinen keino hallita ja kehittää koulutusta globaalin kilpailutalouden kontekstissa. Tutkimuksessani analysoin tämän ymmärryksen polveutumista ja muotoutumista. Kysyn, 1) kuinka perusopetuksen paikallinen arviointi on muotoutunut arviointidiskurssissa, ja 2) millaisia kehkeytymisen periaatteita ja säännönmukaisuuksia sekä diskurssia rajaavia ehtoja siinä on havaittavissa tiedon, vallan ja subjektin kiintopisteillä? Tutkimuksen aineistona on joukko julkaistuja koulutuksen ja koulutuksen arvioinnin asiantuntija- ja politiikkatekstejä sekä lainsäädäntöä ajanjaksolta 1970–2010. Tämän historiallis-sosiologisen, genealogiseen tutkimusperinteeseen linkittyvän tutkimuksen pyrkimys on nostaa arvioinnin osalta esiin se, mitä aiemmassa tutkimuksessa on tarkasteltu koulutukselta ja kasvatukselta kadonneena historiallisena horisonttina. Ensimmäisen tutkimuskysymyksen suunnassa tutkimukseni on sen lausumakentän kuvaus, jossa perusopetuksen koulu- ja kuntatasoisesta itsearvioinnista muotoutuu nykyisenkaltainen itsestäänselvyys. Olen analyysissäni nostanut esiin kolme lausumakenttää jäsentävää diskursiivista käytäntöä eli sisäisesti koherenttia järkeilyjen ja käytäntöjen kokonaisuutta, joissa nykyinen arviointia koskeva ymmärrys on tullut tutkimusajanjakson kuluessa muotoutuneeksi. Kutsun niitä koululähtöisen kehittämisen, kokonaistuloksellisuuden ja asiakasperustaisen laadunhallinnan diskursiivisiksi käytännöiksi. Tutkimukseni ensimmäisen kysymyksen viitoittamana analysoin paikalliseen, kuntien ja koulujen itsearviointiin kytkeytyvien lausumien esiintulon pintoja, kehkeytymisen kulkuja, hiipumisia ja vakiintumisia näiden diskursiivisten käytäntöjen raamittamina. Tarkastelen lopulta niiden kerrostumista osaksi nykyistä arviointidiskurssia. Tutkimuksen toiseen kysymykseen vastaten nostan esiin kolme lausumakentällä tiedon, vallan ja subjektin ulottuvuuksilla hahmottuvaa diskurssin kehkeytymisen periaatetta ja säännönmukaisuutta. Tiedon ulottuvuudella hahmottuu koulua ja koulutusta koskevan kokonaistiedontahdon syveneminen ja laventuminen. Vallan ulottuvuudella puolestaan hahmottuu koulutuksen hallinnan arviointivaltaistuminen ja arvioinnin normalisoituminen koulutuksen käytäntöihin. Subjektin ulottuvuudella tutkimusajanjaksolla kyse on itsearvioinnin välttämättömyyden etiikan muotoutumisesta. Näitä kolmea diskurssin säännönmukaisuutta yhteenkietovana periaatteena tutkimuksessani määrittyy entistä paremman toive. Arviointi on suomalaisen perusopetuksen arviointidiskurssissa säännönmukaisesti toivetta aiempaa paremmasta koulusta ja koulutuksesta; esimerkiksi toivetta koulun aiempaa paremmasta pedagogisesta kokonaistoimivuudesta, tuloksellisuudesta ja laadusta. Toive on syvästi kietoutunut ja kääriytynyt nykyiseen perusopetuksen arviointidiskurssiin. Entistä paremman toivetta rajaavat kuitenkin arviointidiskurssin reunoilla vallitseva ymmärrys koulukasvatuksen mittaamattomaksi jäävästä moni-ilmeisyydestä, itsearvioinnin väistämättömästä subjektiivisuudesta ja itsearviointitiedon hataruudesta. Lisäksi laatu- ja arviointivaltaistuva koulutuksen hallinta uhkaa himmentää ja peittää näkyvistä pedagogisen koulutiedon sekä koulukontekstin koulun kontekstin lisäksi

On the surface and below : a genealogical look at the waves of evaluation in early childhood education and care

The rise of evaluation and data in education and education policy is a trend manifesting across a wide variety of policy contexts, holding in its grip national and global policies, with impacts that reach the level of individual children, teachers, and their subjectivities. Earlier research has mainly focused on the phenomenon in neoliberal contexts. This article presents a case study of Finnish early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy discourse built on a tradition of social democratic political rationality and egalitarian values. By utilizing Evert Vedung’s metaphor of evaluation waves, we examine how the evaluation trend has influenced the Finnish ECEC policy, which has traditionally been skeptical toward the assessment of individual children’s learning and skills and the production and use of data for accountability purposes. In the genealogical reading of ECEC curricula and policy documents from 2002–2021 as data, we identify three discursive practices–partnership, pedagogization, and evidence wave–that have socio-historically contributed to the formation of the present conception of evaluation in the Finnish ECEC policy discourse. Our genealogical reading also reveals a movement toward international trends–evaluating the individual child’s skills–especially through the evidence wave.Peer reviewe

Quality and Evaluation in Finnish Schools

The quality of education has been a central matter of global debate in the new millennium. The global trend supports test-based accountability models and increasing national data collection as techniques for supporting and increasing quality in education. In contrast, a central feature of the Finnish education system runs counter to the global trend: it does not have strong top-down quality control mechanisms. Historical development of the Finnish model has a strong continuity, which has stood up against the global quality and evaluation policy flows. The evolution of the Finnish “model” dates back centuries. The foundations of the Finnish quality system can be traced to participation in international comparative learning studies developing national capacity, the inspection of folk education supporting the tradition of nationally coordinated external evaluation, and the local supervision of folk schools through school boards emphasizing local provision and the quality control of evaluation. These developments culminated during the 1990s with the radical deregulation and decentralization of education governance. The current model is partly unarticulated. However, it is clearly distinguishable: in comprehensive schools (primary and lower secondary), ensuring quality is entrusted to education providers and schools. They are expected to conduct self-evaluation regularly. There are no national standardized tests, and sample-based testing for development purposes forms the core of evaluation data. Only the main evaluation results are published, making school rankings impossible. Yet there is a large variation in how the quality of education is approached and evaluated in Finland’s more than 300 municipalities. Significantly, the central government has no direct means to control the quality of local education. Its impact is indirect through aims to foster and promote the quality evaluation culture in schools and municipalities. Furthermore, international cooperation and participation in international large-scale assessments have been unable to politicize the national education development discourse. This somewhat uncoordinated yet economical and teacher-friendly quality system raises interesting questions for further research: is this only a Finnish peculiarity developed in a specific historical context, or does it make possible critical theoretical and societal conclusions that question the dominant global test-based quality trends? The buffering of international accountability-based testing and swimming against the global quality evaluation flow is built on (a) the compartmentalization of international tests; (b) the fact that national coordination began to see a deregulated system as a necessity and virtue, and was long fragmented in different evaluation functions; and (c) the important role the local level has played historically in upholding and evaluating the quality of education.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Inkluusiokeskustelu Helsingin Sanomissa 2009–2019 – diskursiivista kamppailua kaikkien koulusta

Artikkelissa tutkimme inkluusiosta käytyä päivälehtikeskustelua 2009–2019. Lähestymme keskustelua osana yhteisestä koulusta käytyä diskursiivista kamppailua. Tutkimme kamppailua analysoimalla inkluusion käsitteellistä muotoutumista, positioita, joista käsin kamppailuun on päässyt osallistumaan, millaisia argumentteja siinä on hyödynnetty sekä millaisiin kategorioihin oppilaita on asetettu Helsingin sanomien artikkeliteksteissä (n=187). Näin vastaamme tutkimuskysymyksiin: miten kamppailua yhteisestä koulusta on käyty julkisessa inkluusiokeskustelussa ja ketä varten kamppailussa rakentuva yhteinen koulu on? Tutkimus osoittaa, että inkluusiota lähestytään käytännöllisenä kysymyksenä, ja sen eettis-filosofinen lähtökohta jää vaimennetuksi, jolloin inkluusiota vastustavista sävyistä on muodostunut keskustelun valtavirta. Samalla kamppailun huomion kohteeksi asettuu erityisoppilaaksi ja maahanmuuttotaustaiseksi kategorisoitu oppilasyksilö, jonka läsnäolo yhteisessä koulussa käsitteellistyy haastavaksi.Peer reviewe

Inkluusiokeskustelu Helsingin Sanomissa 2009–2019 – diskursiivista kamppailua kaikkien koulusta

Artikkelissa tutkimme inkluusiosta käytyä päivälehtikeskustelua 2009–2019. Lähestymme keskustelua osana yhteisestä koulusta käytyä diskursiivista kamppailua. Tutkimme kamppailua analysoimalla inkluusion käsitteellistä muotoutumista, positioita, joista käsin kamppailuun on päässyt osallistumaan, millaisia argumentteja siinä on hyödynnetty sekä millaisiin kategorioihin oppilaita on asetettu Helsingin sanomien artikkeliteksteissä (n=187). Näin vastaamme tutkimuskysymyksiin: miten kamppailua yhteisestä koulusta on käyty julkisessa inkluusiokeskustelussa ja ketä varten kamppailussa rakentuva yhteinen koulu on? Tutkimus osoittaa, että inkluusiota lähestytään käytännöllisenä kysymyksenä, ja sen eettis-filosofinen lähtökohta jää vaimennetuksi, jolloin inkluusiota vastustavista sävyistä on muodostunut keskustelun valtavirta. Samalla kamppailun huomion kohteeksi asettuu erityisoppilaaksi ja maahanmuuttotaustaiseksi kategorisoitu oppilasyksilö, jonka läsnäolo yhteisessä koulussa käsitteellistyy haastavaksi.Peer reviewe

Executing circular economy strategies in practice in Finland. Results and experiences from Circwaste project

A Europe-wide circular economy policy was launched in 2014 when the European Commission published the first strategic policy programme for circular economy. It was compiled to provide very comprehensive impacts and dimensions of sustainable development: sustainable growth and a climate neutral, resource efficient and competitive economy. The targets of a circular economy are that the value of products, materials and resources is maintained in the economy for as long as possible, economic growth is decoupled from resource use, generation of waste and environmental loads are minimised, and pressure on the Earth’s resources and biodiversity is minimised. The European Union is supporting the sustainability transition with research and development funding. In Finland, Circwaste – Towards Circular Economy is one of the biggest development projects accelerating the transition to a circular economy. During the period 2016–2020, the project has produced monitoring data on the development of circular economy and the sustainability of waste management, highlighted the circular economy concept, promoted stakeholder collaboration, supported strategic national processes, strengthened know-how and mainstreamed and concretised circular economy thinking. This interim report presents all the relevant results so far. It is crucial that data is produced from different angles on implementing the circular economy. More information is needed both to support decision making and on connections between and reflections on different factors. The key figures for Finland show quite clear coupling of the use of natural resources, waste amounts and economic growth. The circular material use rate is ca. 7%, which can be considered quite modest. Quantitative national targets for decreasing the use of natural resources are needed. Instead of country comparisons, the focus should be on trends in order to learn from the past and to identify the policy instruments needed to achieve the level aspired to. One of the key findings is the need for regional indicators and data for decisionmaking. The work done within Circwaste is the first effort towards a systematic monitoring scheme for monitoring circular economy regionally. The study showed that the production of regional waste data is challenging, that the estimated recycling rates have not increased adequately to reach the EU targets and that there could therefore be a need for municipallevel recycling targets. The transition to a circular economy also causes fundamental social changes in society. In the project, new indicators were developed for measuring social impacts: circular economy employment, education and employment for vulnerable groups, publicly shared resources, accessibility of recycling services and sustainable vehicle fuels. The first baseline data show advances towards the circular economy: the accessibility of waste management services has improved, the Finnish educational system has been able to respond quickly to the need for circular economy education, circular economy activities have potential for the employment of vulnerable groups and economic activities related to recycling, repair and reuse have grown. The regions and municipalities emerge as key actors in facilitating a socially just transition towards a circular economy. The study on innovative material processing technologies gathered data on technologies for elemental recycling, especially for plastic waste but also for making new fibres from textiles waste. Financial issues are key to the survival of these technologies and there is a need for governmental financial support. Public procurers can be considered key players in the circular economy, creating demand for more sustainable products and services. Implementing circular economy in municipalities requires commitment, financial planning, interaction with regional actors and inclusion of circular economy in financial rules. The construction sector is a major consumer of natural resources, but the municipalities can make construction more sustainable through public procurements and planning. As buyers, they can require the use of recycled raw materials and soils in construction projects. Obligations for ecological compensation and goals of no net loss of biodiversity would decrease the pressure on natural resources. To support municipalities in their work, a national organisation for providing municipal auditing, development, education and business support services could be established. Employing circular economy experts in each municipality to work as crossadministrative coordinators could enhance the transition. The project has created a lot of political, theoretical and practical content on the concept and field of circular economy. The next steps are to further develop and widen, as well as deepen, the results and to provide national support in searching for answers and solutions for decreasing the use of natural resources, achieving the MSW recycling targets and creating a more sustainable society

Genealogy of the Ethics of Teacher Self-Evaluation : From Adherence to Norms to Self-Discipline through Self-Evaluation

Quality evaluation (QE) has assumed major importance in governing education. QE is acknowledged as a self-evident and necessary method of improving quality in education across education systems. Along with the quality ‘evaluation wave’, schools and teachers have not only become objects of evaluation, but have also been subjected to increasing demands to self-evaluate. Using genealogical methodology, this chapter analyses the emergence and formation of the politics of school and teacher self-evaluation and also the power and subjectivities invoked through it in the case of Finnish comprehensive education. The research material includes curricular, legislative and education policy texts and national guidelines and textbooks on school and teacher self-evaluation in the period 1970–2014. The chapter demonstrates how, along with these changes in policy, the ethics of the necessity for self-evaluation in Finnish basic education emerges. It shows how teachers and schools traditionally strictly governed by rules and norms and subjectified as obedient to norms have since the early 1980s transformed into the self-developing and self-evaluative teacher and school. Becoming entangled with the long histories of teachers as reflectors on their own work, these changes enabled the formation of self-evaluation as a normal and self-evident everyday practice of teachers and schools to evolve, and along with this, the related ethics of the necessity for self-evaluation to emerge. This ethics is closely entangled with and supports the governing of education through quality evaluation.peerReviewe

The Politics of Pupil Self-evaluation : A case of Finnish assessment policy discourse

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Yhteishakujärjestelmän toimivuus Kainuussa : mielipidekysely hakijoille ja opinto-ohjaajille

Yhteishaku on järjestelmä, jota Suomen ammatilliset oppilaitokset käyttävät valitessaan uusia oppilaita. Hakija voi hakea useampaan eri oppilaitokseen, mihin päin Suomen tahansa, täyttämällä vain yhden hakulomakkeen. Tämä järjestelmä on ollut Suomessa käytössä jo yli 20 vuotta. Opetushallitus vastaa yhteishaun valtakunnallisesta toteuttamisesta ja lääninhallitukset vastaavat yhteishaun käytännön toteutuksesta alueellaan. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoitus oli selvittää, onko yhteishaku hakijoiden ja opinto-ohjaajien mielestä toimiva järjestelmä. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli myös pyrkiä hankkimaan tietoa yhteishaun alueellisesta ja valtakunnallisesta kehittämistarpeesta sekä saamaan ehdotuksia siihen, miten Oulun lääninhallituksen yhteishakupalveluja voitaisiin kehittää. Tämä tutkimus toteuttiin keväällä 1999. Kysely lähetettiin 366 hakijalle ja 60 opinto-ohjaajalle. Vastausprosentti oli 37. Tutkimus osoitti, että yhteishaku on toimiva ja tarpeellinen järjestelmä. Korvaavaa järjestelmää ei kaivattu. Tiedottaminen ja koulutusoppaiden rakenne ja sisältö olivat asioita, joihin tulee niin valtakunnallisesti kuin alueellisestikin kiinnittää erityistä huomiota.The joint application system is a national procedure that Finnish education institutions use when selecting new students. This means that a student can apply for admission to several different schools by filling out only one application form. This system has been in use in Finland for over 20 years now. The National Board of Education is responsible for the national procedures connected with the joint application system and the State Provincial Offices are responsible for the practical implementation in their own area. The purpose of this reseach was to find out, if the joint application system is a functional system as regards the applicants and the student councellors. One of the aims was to get some information about the local and national development needs and also to get some proposals, how the State Provincial Office of Oulu can improve their joint application services. The reseach was made in spring 1999. The questionaire was sent to 366 applicants and to 60 student councellors. The answering percentage was 37. The reseach showed, that the joint application system is a functional and necessary system. The opinion of the interviewees showed that no replacement system is necessary. Special attention should be paid, however, to publicity and the structure and contents of the guidance books both on national and regional level