Heikki Silvennoinen

Changing relations between education and work: on the mechanisms and outcomes of the educational system

This article analyses the mechanisms of a state-organized educational system as it functions between households and the labour market, regulating the passage of age cohorts from the home via school to the labour market. One question is what outcomes the educational system actually produces and what mechanisms are at work in the distribution of educational advantage. In terms of disadvantage, the paper assesses solutions for overcoming the skill gap and entrapment problems of post-industrial society by means of education. In addition to describing how the educational system worked in the conditions of a mature Nordic welfare state and an industrial society based on paid work, feasible ways of reorganizing education in the changing work conditions of an increasingly crisis-ridden post-industrial society are also sought.

Families, School Choice, and Democratic Iterations on the Right to Education and Freedom of Education in Finnish Municipalities

This article analyzes the ways in which the right to education and freedom of education are expressed in local school choice policies in Finland. We aim to discover the elements that form democratic iterations on the right to education and freedom of education by contrasting their manifestations in three local institutional spaces for parental school choice. We focus on different levels of structures and agents including national legislation, local spaces for school choice, municipal demographics, and the impact of socioeconomic status and institutional space for school choice on parental attitudes.

The Hierarchy of Academic Education, Gender and Social Background

Abstract The training of specialists to carry out research and development work is regarded as essential for a competitive economy. At the same time, education is an important form of cultural capital and investment target. The subjects studied were graduates who gained a degree in Finland in 1985. It is examined how home background and gender influence selection especially for researcher training. Academic success is not distributed randomly among the population, but depends on the cultural capital acquired at home and the readiness to invest in the academic market. Among licentiates and PhDs there are markedly fewer from working‐class backgrounds and more from white‐collar families than on any other level of higher education. Offspring of highly educated families graduate younger than others and are placed in better‐paid jobs. Higher education is not only “a pillar of the economy” but also an essential element in cultural and social reproduction. Researcher training should be seen as a part of a process...

Parental Involvement in Finnish Day Care--What Do Early Childhood Educators Say?.

ABSTRACT Research conducted in recent decades shows that parental involvement (PI) plays a significant role in the academic achievement and the healthy development of children. Gaining a better understanding of early childhood educators’ views and the reasons for insufficient practices is important for improving PI. This mixed-method research investigates the views on PI held by early childhood educators in Finland. A representative sample of 287 educators from Helsinki completed a questionnaire which provided quantitative data and qualitative material. The results show that Finnish early childhood educators have positive attitudes towards PI and its various types in general. Learning at home is the most popular type of PI. The participants state that difficulties in PI are often caused by poor parental motivation and a lack of time on the part of both educators and parents.

Assessing the basic skills of the highly educated in 21 OECD countries: an international benchmark study of graduates’ proficiency in literacy and numeracy using the PIAAC 2012 data

ABSTRACT This study compares the literacy and numeracy proficiencies of higher education (HE) degree holders in 21 OECD countries based on primary analysis of the national data sets collected via the OECD’s Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) 2012 study. The differences in the graduates’ average literacy and numeracy proficiencies amongst the OECD countries are substantial. Depending on the country, a smaller or greater proportion of a young highly educated age group does not have sufficient skills in literacy or numeracy to cope with many of the everyday tasks requiring the use of that skill. The PIAAC study challenges existing evaluation practices of the effectiveness of HE in fostering individual skills and puts into perspective the attempts to lift national average skill levels by increasing the HE sector’s intake.

Lääkäri-potilas -suhteen harjoittelua – lääkäriopiskelijoiden tulkinnat potilastapauksesta koulutuksen eri vaiheissa

Tassa laadullisessa pitkittaistutkimuksessa analysoidaan, miten laakariopiskelijat rakentavat laakari-potilas suhdetta ja tulkitsevat samaa potilastapausta koulutuksen eri vaiheissa. Tutkimus on osa LeMEx (Learning Medical Expertise) -tutkimusprojektia, jonka aineisto kerattiin vuosina 2006–2012. Tutkimuksessa seurattiin samoja laakariopiskelijoita koko heidan koulutuksensa ajan. Tutkimusaineisto muodostui vuonna 2006 opintonsa aloittaneiden laakariopiskelijoiden (N = 137) kirjallisista vastauksista. Tutkimusaineisto kerattiin kyselylomakkeella, jossa opiskelijaa pyydettiin pohtimaan potilastapauskuvausta. Vastaukset analysoitiin induktiivisella sisallonanalyysilla. Koulutuksen myota laakariopiskelijoiden vuorovaikutustaidot ammatillistuvat ja suhtautumistapa potilaaseen ja omaiseen muuttuu laadultaan. Koulutuksen lopussa laakariopiskelijoidenempaattisuus vahenee ja omaista kohtaan valittyy eniten negatiivisia ilmauksia. Vastaavasti tuolloin laakariopiskelijat osaavat huolehtia yhteistyon jatkosta ja pyrkivat paasemaan yhteisymmarrykseen potilaan kanssa.

In the margins of training and learning

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the distribution of learning and training opportunities in the Finnish workforce. It will concentrate on the sectors of the workforce that lack these opportunities. Design/methodology/approach The Working Conditions Barometer (WCB) data from 2008, 2009 and 2010 are used (N = 3,326) in this investigation. The focus of the study is to examine those employees whose learning and training opportunities fail to match the positive visions of the current “super professional hype”. The problems associated with the workforce training margin are considered as a part of the so-called work process debate. Findings Findings suggest that age, gender, type of industry and socioeconomic status have an independent influence on an individual’s presence in the training margin: women, older employees, employees in manufacturing and the private service sector and manual workers have a greater risk than others do. The relative differences between the social classes are still prevalent: incapacity and marginalization are primarily working class problems. Practical implications The workers should collectively demand certain benefits more forcefully, even when working under fixed-term contracts. Employers should be pressured to organise development opportunities and training for the fixed-term employees, including the type of training that not only benefits an employee in that one company but also the employees’ working life in general. Employers should be persuaded to organise the type of training that improves the chances of a fixed-term or otherwise powerless employee to find a new, perhaps better and more secure job. Originality/value Because the percentage of response to the WCB is exceptionally high, 80 per cent on average, the information obtained from the random sample can be generalised to represent all of the working wage earners in Finland and in a European context as well.