Background: This is a descriptive study of children's participation plans in early childhood education (ECE) settings in Finland. The study adopted a multidimensional approach to find out how practices of children's participation were conceived in pedagogical plans made by ECE staff, representing a focus that is rare in the existing body of…

Teachers with strong professional agency (TPA) in the classroom make efforts to constantly learn and develop their teaching practices. The aim of the present study is to identify teachers' different TPA development profiles and their association with experiencing burnout symptoms and abilities to use proactive strategies in regulating well-being.…

Purpose: One key aspect of European curriculum reforms is to empower students with the skills needed to engage actively in the pluralistic and multicultural global society of the 21st century. This study aims to examine the extent of multicultural education within the national core curricula of three European countries: Hungary, Finland and…

The national core curriculum plays an important role in the Finnish education system as the backbone for teaching and learning. Municipalities as local education providers are obliged to organize education by developing their own curricula in relation to the core curriculum. In this article, we look at how local curricula are developed and…

The aim of this study was to explore knowledge in the context of creating a shared curriculum between research-intensive and vocationally oriented universities of applied sciences. Curriculum knowledge was explored from the accounts of 26 teachers from four institutions in Finland. Shared curriculum initiatives created an environment in which…

Sustainable school development is suggested to result in both meaningful learning and enhanced well-being for those involved in the reform work. The aim of the study was to gain a better understanding of the relations between the strategies utilised in school development work, school impact of the reform and burdening in the context of curriculum…

Countries consider curriculum reform as an important and necessary measure to make schools enter the 21st century and respond to a fast-changing world. In recent years, many OECD countries have engaged in curriculum reform as a way to equip children with the knowledge, skills and competences needed for tomorrow. However, how to initiate such…

The purpose of this study was to examine the utilization of the opportunities offered by teacher and school autonomy in entrepreneurship education with companies involved. The research question was: How do schools and teachers use their autonomy in the implementation of entrepreneurship education? This research question was complemented by two…

Background: Although the contexts, structures and administrations of early childhood education (ECE) may differ internationally, effective pedagogical leadership remains an essential component in supporting young children's development and learning. This paper reports on a comparative study which considered ECE in two different settings, Finland…

In tandem learning, a model for two-way language learning originally developed for non-formal education, language is learned through interaction between two native speakers with different first languages learning each other's languages in cooperation. A high level of authentic learning characterises this model. The original tandem learning model…

This article reviews Education for Sustainability (EfS) in the secondary sector across a range of countries. Drawing on journal articles, book chapters and official reports, it identifies some of the more successful approaches to implementing EfS within the secondary sector. The authors first discuss the importance of educating for sustainability…

Purpose: This study aims to develop a pedagogy which would help a school become a workplace for learning and professional development. Essentially, this objective addresses the following critical question. How can a school become an attractive workplace where learning and professional development of teachers positively contribute to better…

Purpose: Teaching in English-medium education (EME) requires mastery of content and ability to teach in a multilingual setting, but also pedagogical expertise and didactic agility. However, there is an apparent lack of proper training of EME teachers, who are typically experts of their field, but not necessarily equipped to design and implement…

Purpose: Shared understandings of curriculum reform within and between the levels of the educational system are suggested to be crucial for the reform to take root. The purpose of this paper is to explore variation in perceived curriculum coherence and school impact among state- and district-level stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach: The…

This chapter reconstructs the making and implementation of the new national curriculum in Finland (2012-2016). This research draws on non-affirmative theory of education and discursive institutionalism. The curriculum making process is perceived as a non-hierarchical educational leadership process where the National Board of Education (NBE)…