Session Information
23 SES 12 A, Interpreting and Enacting Reform: Local Actor Participation
Paper Session
Contribution
As a continuum to a nationwide ongoing Finnish education reform, that was based on the new educational policy introduced in the Special Education Strategy launched in 2007, the National Board of Education provided funding for regional networks of educational developing that were aimed to be composed of a group of municipalities and one university. The intention of these regional development networks was to focus more on the local questions and variation of solutions which had arisen during the implementation phase of the educational reform. And in addition, the idea was to share information and innovations, related to the new education policy, at the local level.
As a consequence to this administrative aim the Metropolitan Development Network [MDN] was established in 2010. MDN consists of four municipalities, Helsinki (ca. 580 000 inhabitants), Espoo (ca. 240 000), Vantaa (ca. 200 000), Kauniainen (ca. 8600), and the Centre for Educational Assessment [the Centre] at University of Helsinki. Thus, MDN was formed of the partners from the Centre, the multi-layer municipal administrative-level and the school-level. The municipal administrators were both officers and coordinators. The school-level consisted of chosen group of comprehensive schools (n=21), pilot-schools, from each municipality. Each of the pilot-schools had two or three representatives attending in-service training arranged for school-level actors within the network.
This ongoing network research considers the developmental processes of MDN and in particular the ties that develop through different levels of communication within the network. The following questions are in focus: What is the meaning of a network as a local improvement initiative from the aspect of the nationwide reform? Which actors, within the network, form the core of the network? What kind of resources the actors of the network are taking advantage of? And whose interests will be primarily secured in the end? In addition, this study considers the impact that OECD and EU have on the Finnish education policy.
The main theoretical framework is based on various network paradigms (e.g. Barabàsi 2002; Borgatti 2003; Castells 2010; Marsden & Lin 1982). The ties will be examined from different aspects, i.e. from the aspects of an individual, a group and a society (e.g. Burt 1992; Coleman 1990; Putnam 1984; Ball 2006). And as the network is understood as a specific local continuum to the nationwide educational reform the MDN will be considered from the change theoretical aspect as well (e.g. Fullan 2009; Hargreaves & Fink 2006).
The Finnish educational reform and the regional development network of education are, in the ideal-level, related to the present European education policy as a means to promote inclusion and to improve the overall quality of education both in the national and local level. For example, there are guidelines that recommend creating and supporting partnerships between policy makers and schools to ensure that established goals and quality criterions are better met (e.g. European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education 2009).
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Ball, S.J. 2006. Education Policy and Social Class. The Selected Works of Stephen J.Ball. Ball. Routledge. Oxon. Barabási, A.L.2002. Linkit. Verkostojen uusi teoria. (transl. Pietiläinen, K.) Terra Cognita. Helsinki. Borgatti, S.P. & Foster, P.C. 2003. The Network Paradign in Organisational Research.Review and Typology. Journal of Management. 29(6). 991-1013. Burt, R. 1992. Structural Holes. The Social Structure of Competietion. Harvard University Press. Cambridge. Castells, M. 2010. The Rise of The Network Society. 2nd ed. Wiley-Blackwell. West Sussex. Coleman, J. 1990. Foundations of Social Theory. Harvard University Press. Cambridge. The European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. 2009. Key Principles of Promoting Quality in Inclusive Education – Recommendations for Policy Makers, Odense, Denmark: The European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education. Fullan, M. 2009. (ed.) The Challenge of Change. Start School Improvement Now! Corwin. Thousand Oaks. Hargreaves, A. & Fink, D. 2006. Sustainable Leadership. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco. Marsden, P.D. & Lin, N. (eds.) 1982. Social Structure and Network Analyses. SAGE. Beverly Hills. London & New Delhi. Putnam, R. 1984. Hanging Together: Conflict and Cooperation in the Seven- Hour Summits. Harvard University Press. Cambridge, Mass.
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