leadership in education (finland vs uk)

Leadership in Education: A Comparison between

Finland and the UK

Group 2 Salomé Delay-Goyet 10086908 Veronika Bugaychuk 9221074 Xinghao Qu 9470771 Iulia Cucos 9473230

1 BMAN31051 International and Comparative Public Management

Outline ●  General Background : Leadership in Education

●  Reforms in Finland VS The UK

●  Educational Reforms - NPM vs NPG

●  The UK/Finland Case: Divergence or

Convergence? ●  Conclusion


General background: Leadership in Education •  Working and guiding:

Teachers + Students + Parents = A common educational goal = Better educational system

•  Many countries are struggling to transform their: - educational systems - roles and expectations for school leaders

•  Effective school leadership is a key to education reforms and improve education outcomes


School Leadership and Management in the UK

•  Some efforts to improve low performing schools: -Promoting the systemic view of school leadership - Providing schools with tools for improving leadership

•  System leaders are head-teachers who care about and work for other schools as their own

•  Goal is - “every school is a good school”

•  Many schools and principles are working together, many new strategies have been developed:

- Find the best practice within the system and transfer it to other schools - Heads working as mentor leaders within networks of schools for guiding


School Leadership for Systemic Improvement in Finland ●  Finland is a society with high taxation and relatively modest income

differentials

●  Good working conditions, resources and rewards to attract high quality teachers

●  Study is not about test preparation, it’s a broad and lifelong thing to do

●  Caring for students is vital.

●  No strong hierarchy system in school, create a shared leadership and happy environment. 5 BMAN31051 International and Comparative Public Management

Reform in Finland VS the UK → OECD launched in 2005 the ISL programme (“Improving School Leadership”) to provided 22 countries with information through visits and reports (PISA tests)

Finland: The Ministry of Education, the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities and the National Board of Education have set up measures to effectively improve leadership in schools (Andrew Hargreaves, Gàbor Halàsz, Beatriz Pont (December 2007))

The UK: Department for Education (the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document; National College for School Leadership) (Braconier, 2012)


Initial Issues in the Education Sector

Finland (Ministry of Education (2007:14)) The UK (Braconier, 2012 )

2006: GDP is growing up (+3,9%) and the country needs more workers (+1,6% of employed people) The population is ageing: decrease of the working population & increase of workers who’ll leave the labour market by 2030 (decrease 7-15 years age group & increase 65 years and older group) Global iza t ion impacts (EU membersh ip) - Diversification in terms of language & culture and more expectations regarding school attainment (fierce competition) A change in education: pupils have more a discontinued training, which affects leadership

International test scores suggest that educational outcomes have not improved for a long time. Educational outcomes and human capital formation are among the most important drivers of economic growth and contribute to human well-being The challenges of poverty and inequality Education Reform Act (1988) that allowed all schools to be taken out of the direct financial control of Local Authorities Children of high-income parents tend to achieve better in the education system than their peers.


General Purpose and Main Forecast Achievements

Finland (Andrew Hargreaves, Gàbor Halàsz, Beatriz Pont (December 2007))

The UK (Braconier, 2012)

Getting a systemic improvement of the Finnish leadership process :

-  improve schooling for local children in a new environment

-  align schools and municipalities to think systematically to promote a common schooling vision and a united school system

-  allocate leadership in innovative ways

Improving leadership abilities of workers in the educational system:

-  maintain school by local authority -  introduce self-learning -  better school personnel -  the National Curriculum -  decrease unemployment


Implementation of the Reform

Finland (Andrew Hargreaves, Gàbor Halàsz, Beatriz Pont (December 2007))

The UK (Braconier, 2012)

Local municipalities implement different approaches to school leadership distribution and cooperation:

-  Responsibility of principals (responsible for their own school and district as well)

-  Shared management, supervision, evaluation and development of education planning among principals

-  Teachers valorisation: high salaries, strict training, freedom of education

Example : Tampere, Finland

Increase in the resources available for schools Leadership programs → new and improved leaders The NCSL (National College for School Leadership):

1)  Strengths 2)  Areas for improvements 3)  “Head for the Future”

9 BMAN 31051 International and Comparative Public Management

The Reform Process Finland (www.tradingeconomics.com) The UK (Braconier, 2012)

The largest item of expenditures is health and social costs: Finland had to balance financial investment between health and social, and education. Public spending in education was measured at 6.81% of GDP in 2009 against 5.8% by the end of 2007 (World Bank) The reform aimed at strengthening the municipal structure and balancing the tasks between the state and municipalities

There has been a significant increase in resources in schools since 1997 (increased from 4.6% in 2000-01 to 5.4% in 2004-05 in real terms, and is forecast to reach 5.6% in 2007-08) Introducing new local authorities in order to make budgeting more specific, therefore more efficient.


Effectiveness Over the Long Term

Finland The UK (Braconier, 2012)

The lowest repetition and dropout rates Valorisation of teachers: afford higher salaries (a teacher in Finland is earning between 10% and 20% more than in France) Turned into the most egalitarian system with the smallest gap between the best and worst pupils Finland is still ranked among the best school systems in the world (12st in 2012) Capacity of the system to get good outcomes over the long term

Increased the absence of the students One fifth of school leaders were judged by Ofsted to be ‘unsatisfactory’ “Teaching for the test” ‘New Relationship with Schools’ Devolving resource allocation Increased productivity and employment is very unevenly distributed


Educational Reforms - NPM vs NPG

Hands on management - Heads are mentor leaders within networks of schools - Implementation and monitoring shared with local authorities - Schools as units of accountability

Explicit standards - School leaders have defined roles - Trained teachers are constantly supervised - Clear targets and data collection Greater emphasis on output controls - National inspections system and annual performance levels Benchmarking based on grades and rewarding schemes


Disaggregation - Devolution and decentralization -Reforms divided between central government, local authorities and governors in schools - Teacher Training Agency Competition - Functioning educational quasi market Discipline in resource use - Targeting particular areas than further investment

The UK - NPM

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Performance improvement -  Principle of vision developed participatory

than imposed, use of balanced scorecard -  Intensive cooperation all the time -  Performance and quality issues addressed at

professional entry

Efficiency by investment -  Investing in good working condition and

resources -  Valorisation of teachers -  Professional development

Evidence based -  National Boards provides a “steering system”

Joined up approach -  Shared management, supervision, evaluation and

development

Multi - level governance -  Aligning schools and municipalities to promote a

common vision

-  Strengthen municipal structure and balancing tasks with state

Leadership - Leadership divided to municipal authority and schools - State steers but not prescribe - Freedom of way of teaching , job is highly regarded

Finland - NPG

BMAN31051 International and Comparative Public Management

The UK/Finland Case: Divergence or Convergence ?

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The UK Finland

TALK Increase performance of low performing schools, push schools beyond their borders

Promote shared management and respond to declining school enrolments

DECISION Educational reforms focusing on collaboration and leadership

PRACTICE Formal and informal roles for leaders Creation of standards

Increased focus on testing Decision power for local authorities

Increased user choice and flexible market

Outlier of positive deviance, emphasis on the role of teachers in leadership

Financial, legislative and curricular steering system No systems competitive choice or ranking

Slow schooling No hierarchical relation

RESULTS High fragmentation of programmes Strong reliance on admission based on residency

Struggles in retaining talent Poorly functioning deprivation funding systems and

unequal educational outcomes

Creation of long standing tradition of “Society of experts” No big gap between teachers and principals

Raising standards and maximization of local freedom Increased pressures on the Finnish educational system and

principals’ responsibilities


Summary ü  Leadership viewed as key to large scale education reform and improved educational outcomes.

ü  Both countries focus on the importance of collaboration and share of knowledge, but while UK lays the responsibility of principals, Finland sees teachers as the main actors in the change.

ü  Unlike the UK which was suffering from internal concerns calling into question the system, Finland was dealing with external and inevitable issues.

ü  The Finnish state got a vision of leadership as a whole while the UK wanted to implement leadership among workers (more targeted public decisions.)

ü  Both countries relied on financial resources and used local authorities as a solution.

ü  Effectiveness over the long term has turned out to be better in Finland.


Conclusion: Did it Work Out ? The Finnish Miracle: A Success Coming From Inner Factors and External Actions

Finland is a good example of systemic leadership and an example in terms of sustainable leadership in education. Before being sustainable in leadership, the country has managed to be sustainable in education first.

The country has adapted its public management to its culture and population and has got an improvement of the leadership process as a whole.

A fall in rankings that may be explained by globalization impacts, but the country still remains among the best ones in education sector.

However, the Finnish success does not simply lies in reforms but is deeply related to the Finnish culture. Such internal influence might have biased the reform outcomes in a certain way


The UK

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The overall impact of the reforms in the UK can be seen not as a failure but as an achievement for some schools. English education is famous for its innovative approaches and good relationships between the teachers and students. Also, National curriculum assessments provides equal judgement of the students HOWEVER... It is argued that pupils can only do the exam and in reality are not as skillful as they are supposed to be. Localisation of the funds → more inequality.


Two Countries With Different Outcomes

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Unlike the UK, Finland enjoys a culture conducive to get positive outcomes regarding leadership at school or concerning education reform as a whole. This maybe can bring into question OECD results if we consider culture as a substantial factor. Both countries decided to use financial actions as public decisions but weren’t facing the same challenges at the very beginning. They wanted to act locally as well (local authorities, local schools). Finland didn’t only decide to set up a leadership programme, but also chose to act on people: this systemic vision wasn’t part of the British public decisions, which highlights the influence of the NPM in the UK. The UK got a practical and modern way of thinking, effectiveness and cost-oriented. With the NPG influence, Finland focuses on the relationship with the external environment and inter-organizational relations (igi-global.com) and connected contemporary innovation and traditional connectivity → marry the past and the future. The difference in terms of inspiration also explains the divergence: Finland is more conducive to draw on Scandinavian model whereas the UK already drawn on countries like Canada or the USA.


THANK YOU!

Questions for discussion


References Andrew Hargreaves, Gàbor Halàsz, Beatriz Pont (December 2007), School leadership for systemic improvement in Finland, A case study report for the OECD activity, Improving school leadership Braconier, H. (2012), “Reforming Education in England”, OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 939, OECD Publishing. (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/5k9gsh772h9q-en) Ministry of Education (2007:14), Improving School Leadership, Finland, Country Background Report, Publications of the Ministry of Education, Finland (available at http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/38529249.pdf) Oecd.org. (2008). Improving School Leadership - Home - OECD. [online] Available at: http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/improvingschoolleadership-home.htm [Accessed 8 Nov. 2016]. Rob Higham, David Hopkins, Elpida Ahtaridou (August 2007), Improving School Leadership: Country Background Report for England, London Centre for Leadership in Learning, Institute of Education, University of London (available at http://www.oecd.org/edu/school/39279379.pdf)


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Stephan Huber, R., Hunter, M. and Beatriz, P. (2007). School leadership for systemic improvement in England. [online] Available at: https://www.oecd.org/edu/school/40673692.pdf [Accessed 8 Nov. 2016]. Tradingeconomics.com. (2009). PUBLIC SPENDING ON EDUCATION - TOTAL (% OF GDP) IN FINLAND. [online] Available at: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/finland/public-spending-on-education-total-percent-of-gdp-wb-data.html [Accessed 8 Nov. 2016].


leadership in education (finland vs uk)

Leadership & Management