School autonomy, leadership and student achievement: Reflections from Finland

Toni Saarivirta, Kristiina Kumpulainen

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

    Abstract

    Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide national information on school autonomy, leadership and student achievements in Finland.

    Design/methodology/approach - The paper is a literature review on Finnish studies focusing on school autonomy, leadership and student achievement. The studies have been reviewed on the basis of a content analysis.

    Findings - There exists a shortage of studies connecting school leadership to student achievements. School leadership in Finland has been investigated in previous research, especially from the perspective of shared or pedagogical leadership, but vast majority of the studies have focused on teachers and educational staff, not directly on students. An evident reason for this is inaccessible information on school-based data and the nature of education being a "public good", which is supposed to meet the same standards across the country.

    Originality/value - This review will provide the international audience a deeper understanding in the school autonomy and leadership development in Finland.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalInternational Journal of Educational Management
    Volume30
    Issue number7
    Pages (from-to)1268-1278
    Number of pages11
    ISSN0951-354X
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2016
    MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

    Fields of Science

    • 516 Educational sciences
    • school leadership
    • school autonomy

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