Parents and the Nordic Model of Education in the Finish National Curricula for Basic Education

• In Event: The Nordic Model of Education and Home-School Relations

Abstract

In Finland, the role of parents in the education of their children has often been discussed in the past and today. In recent legislation on education, such as the curricula of basic education, co-operation between parents and schools is emphasized. (Finnish National Agency for Education 2016). Schools should act as the initiators of the cooperation but parents are considered to bear the main responsibility on their children’s socialization and education (cf. Böök & Perälä-Littunen 2015).

The Nordic welfare state is possible because of the trust between citizens (Bjørnskov, 2016). Trust in teachers’ professionalism has been one of the main features in Finnish educational system. Thus, teachers are quite independent at their work and can decide how to in practice organize cooperation with parents (Sormunen et al, 2018; Tirri, 2014). In a study focusing on teacher-students’ views on home-school cooperation, the interviewed expressed worries over their possibilities of cooperation but also concluded that they are professionals (Perälä-Littunen & Böök, 2019, cf. Baeck, 2010).

According to the previous literature, in addition to trust, democracy, equality, and participation are features espoused in the Nordic model of education (e.g. Imsen, Blossig, & Moos, 2017). The presentation is based on a review of the existing literature and an analysis of the Finnish curricula on basic education, 2014. The focus is on looking into the ways features of the Nordic model of education can be seen in the curricula. Features reflecting trust, equality and parents’ participation were searched for. For instance, trust appeared in the curricula in relation to trusting other people and developing students’ trust in their abilities.

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Author

• Satu Perälä-Littunen, University of Jyväskylä