Educational Policy, Governance, and Leadership

Abstract

This chapter investigates the educational policy and governance, and also leadership in educational contexts in Finland from the 1950s into today’s on-going reforms. The investigation continues the debates of several Finnish researchers on past Finnish educational policy and administration. In addition, it follows the recent research on how school keeping has evolved into the present educational leadership in Finland. This research also presented the general definition for Finnish educational leadership applied in this chapter. As to the description and definition of educational policy and governance, the handling will follow research on the development of Finnish educational policy and governance in the Finnish complex and dynamic operational environment during the 2000s. Finally, the chapter investigates how Finland appears to be directing and developing its educational policy, governance, and leadership into the future. This includes the analysis of the Finnish government Education Policy Account 2021, which maps Finnish educational policy, governance, and leadership into 2040, and of other relevant topical education policy documents. With the analysis, we present both future aspirations and educational policy mechanisms, efforts, and experimentation to reach the aspired education policy goals.