[A study of the Finnish grades K-3: A Model for Improvement]

by

Acknowledgement

Iwould take this opening to thank my study supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this study would not have been possible.

DECLARATION

I, [type your full first titles and last name here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis comprise my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not before been submitted for academic written test towards any qualification. Furthermore, it comprises my own opinions and not inevitably those of the University.

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Abstract

This dissertation is based on the topic of “A study of the Finnish grades K-3: A model for improvement” The first chapter provides an introduction to the topic including the purpose and significance of the study. The second chapter presents a review of relevant literature, highlighting the previous research carried out in this field. The third chapter covers the methodology for this study, followed by the analysis of findings and discussion in the fourth chapter. The fifth chapter concludes the dissertation, providing implications and useful recommendations for further research.

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT4

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION6

Background6

Problem Statement8

Purpose of the Study9

Aims and Objectives10

Significance of Study11

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW12

Alonger-run perspective on learning in Finland21

Trends in schooling and skills21

The Latest PISA Results23

Possible Reasons for Finnish Success24

Favourable family backdrop characteristics is part of the story25

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY35

Research Method35

Research Questions35

Instrumentation36

Questionnaires37

Data Collection39

Data, information and knowledge40

K-3 model41

Portfolios47

CHAPTER 4: FACTS AND FIGURES INVESTIGATION AND DISCUSSION52

Development of a model56

Data analysis57

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION60

Implications and Limitations61

Recommendations and Conclusions62

REFERENCES68

APPENDIX76

Chapter 1: Introduction

Background

Successive Finnish governments have attempted to reorganize the public sector by inserting a more powerful component of financial enterprise. K-3 education has not been immune to this ideological propulsion and this has been clear-cut with successive governments' policies directed at inserting market principles into the sector. It is argued that persons who are used to exercising choices about which services they use and where they spend their cash are no longer satisfied to be the “passive recipients” of anything kind of services the state presents (Wright and Ngan, 2004). What is applicable to parents usually should furthermore, from this viewpoint, be applicable to students.

The notion of the student as life-blood of schools is not new. Crawford (1991) first utilized the saying 16 years before, some 10 years before Finnish students became liable for the fee of “up-front” tuition fees. Other investigators have proceeded to use the saying (Hill, 1995). However, it is argued that this supplier/student connection is not as clear slash as that of some other service connections, granted that students are furthermore “partners” in the learning process (Yorke, 1999). As if to validate the rank of the student as a student although, representing the Finnish Government, the Basic Education Funding Council for Finland (HEFCE) has presented a National Student Survey.

This review, directed at last year students, hunts for their outlooks on a number of facets of teaching, assessment and support supplied by their schools and courses and supposess that students are, inter alia, life-blood of schools of the Basic Education Institution (BEI) at which they are ...