This book offers an original contribution to the area of international research on comparative education policies and the influence of transnational agencies on national school policy and reform. With a focus on grasping what the Nordic model or the Nordic dimension means in school and educational policy, the book explores in depth the school policy contexts of the five Nordic countries Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. It demonstrates how these particular national contexts engage with and contextualize transnational collaboration on issues like school reform, accountability, evidence and what works, and digitalization. The book situates these policy issues over a long period of time while integrating the latest developments and reforms. It demonstrates how context matters. It shows how the often elusive, but pervasive Nordic dimension can only be fully understood by painstaking scrutiny of the five national contexts, their particular trajectories and mutual interactions in formal and informal education.

This book presents a detailed analysis of the educational model in Nordic European countries. It describes the traditional idea of education for all, which can be characterized by the right for every child to have an education of equal quality in a common school for all pupils regardless of social class, abilities, gender, or ethnicity. Against this background, The Nordic Education Model traces the rise of neo-liberal policies that have been enacted by those who believe the School for All ideology does not produce the knowledge and skills that students need to succeed in an increasingly competitive and global marketplace. It examines the conflict between these two ideas and shows how neo-liberal technologies affect the Nordic model in different ways. The authors also show how social technologies are being interpreted in different ways in actual school practices. This process of translating national regulations into internal sense builds on the values in the culture to which they are introduced. In the end, this book reveals that a Nordic model can constitute a delicate balance between traditional values, institutionalized practices, and contemporary, neo-liberal forms of governance and policies. It may be argued from a new institutional perspective that the main structures of the Nordic educational model will sustain as long as the deeply rooted Nordic culture survives in the globalised society.

This book discusses national school policy reforms in a number of key European countries and shows how these are framed in transnational collaborations that meet with national particularities and contestations. It gives an overview of school policy developments that represents the diversity of Europe within a comparative framework. It takes point of departure in the fact that European countries in their school and education policies have been increasingly aligning with each other, mostly via transnational collaborations, the OECD, EU, and the Bologna Process. Even the IEA has been instrumental to motivate alignments by means of influential surveys, knowledge production and methodological development. This alignment in terms of common standards, social technologies, qualification frameworks and so forth have aimed at facilitating mobility of students, workers, business and so forth as well as fostering a European identity among citizens from Europe’s patchwork of small and medium-size countries, representing a patchwork of different languages, cultures and societal contexts. In national recontextualizations, however, alignments have been continuously contested according to the particularities of what has been possible educationally and politically in the different national contexts. Furthermore, the return of national(isms) as well as the rise of edubusiness and digitalization have been increasingly influential. This book thus concludes that increasing transnational alignments have to be observed with meticulous attention to different national contexts that matter greatly.

This edited volume scrutinises the Nordic dimension within education and how this notion affects, frames and sets direction for school and education in policy, practice and educational research. The book interrogates what unites and divides Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden and analyses how the notion of the Nordic dimension has become conceptualised and institutionalised in different educational settings. Comparative studies of national education policies and practice across these five small North European countries – and Scotland as a case beyond – explore how the Nordic dimension relates to national, regional and transnational collaborations. Further, the book queries the degree to which what are typically considered Nordic approaches to social welfare, gender equality, diversity and international outlook have, in actual fact, affected education. Ultimately, the book explores the realities and myths associated with the idea of the Nordic dimension, and in relation to the wider context of integration within the European region. The book will be of interest to researchers, scholars and postgraduate students working in international and comparative education; education policy and politics; teaching and learning; and in European cultural studies.

This open access book is the first account of the whole diversity of teacher education in the Nordic region: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, the Åland Islands and Sápmi (where the Sámi people live). Today, large parts of the world are looking to the Nordic model of social organization, and interest in the Nordic comprehensive school system and teacher education arrangements is no exception. A good education is a key to prosperity and well-being. And the quality of students’ education is undoubtedly linked to the quality of their teachers’ education. While teacher education in the Nordic region is globally admired, it also faces new challenges. The leading scholars writing in this volume discuss the challenges and opportunities that professional environments are facing. By providing solid portraits of each area as well as analyses across the region, this book will be a great resource to students, academics in teacher education and schooling as well as social scientists and policy-makers inside and outside the Nordic region. This is an open access book.

This book discusses principals’ prerequisites and work within the five Nordic countries and focuses on schools as formal institutions that carry out functions delegated to them by the social collective. It includes a discussion about what kind of state policy demonstrates autonomy in Nordic schools, as well as the ways in which school leaders as sense makers in local schools possess and enact policy in a globalized economy and a changing world. The book draws both on a range of theoretical frameworks and educational leadership and policy research to provide multiple comparative perspectives of school leadership in the Nordic countries, the moral purpose of schooling, school governance and power relations, expectations towards school leadership, handling of crises, and cultures of trust. The chapters range from in depth-case studies and policy document analyses to large-scale data sets and literature reviews. All chapters have multiple messages for practitioners, policy makers and researchers as they seek to engage with school leadership as a core activity in times of societal changes. As democratic welfare states, the five Nordic countries have many similarities, but also differences which makes it interesting to understand more about various ways to strive towards democracy and well-educated citizens.

This book addresses governing by numbers and human capital policy in higher education by asking how higher education is quantified, how the quantitative information is used in educational governance, and how the information is perceived by students, teachers, managers, and policymakers, and affects decision-making. It also thematically discusses how human capital theory affects the quantification practices and, thereby, their effects. Based on these analyses, the book asks whether governing by numbers and human capital in education policy are necessarily neoliberal practices, and thus questions the theory of global convergence in educational governance. The book provides a thorough analysis of the quantification of graduate outcomes based on the philosophical framework of Agential Realism, thus offering a novel analytical approach to the study of data and indicators in educational governance. The book draws on a comprehensive ethnographic case study from Danish higher education, and relates the findings from this case study to empirical cases in other countries and international research in the field. The book brings together literature from various fields, including political science, accounting, education, and sociology of quantification, in order to provide a comprehensive account of how quantification practices affect education.

This edited volume explores the idea that educational success in Scandinavian countries can be attributed to the inherent connectedness of teacher ethics and teaching quality, providing inspiration to teachers and school systems outside Scandinavia. Acknowledging that Scandinavian school systems are known for mirroring the welfare systems and democratic societies with respect for both institutions and individuals, this book explores new educational demands, possibilities, and research developments taking place in Scandinavian countries such as Denmark, Norway, and Sweden that place the education system, and teachers’ professional development and identities, under pressure. Chapters address teacher ethics and quality in relation to topics such as the dialogical teacher, democratic teaching, parental collaboration, and the ethics of classroom management to inform non-Scandinavian, international school systems and teacher education initiatives. Discussing current developments in the Scandinavian school systems and the emerging educational ideas and practices within them, this book will appeal to scholars, researchers, and postgraduate students studying teachers and teacher education, moral and values education, and teacher identities more broadly. It will also be useful to policymakers and teacher educators involved with teachers’ professional development more broadly.

This open access book explores how policy makers draw on national, regional and international expertise in issuing school reform within five Nordic countries. In an era of international comparison, policy makers are expected to review best practices, learn from experiences from elsewhere, and apply international standards propelled by international organizations. Do they do so? What counts, for them, as evidence and expertise? The chapters draw methodologically on bibliometric data, network analysis, document analysis and expert interviews. They show compellingly how governments use “evidence” strategically and selectively for agenda setting and policy decisions. This book will be of interest and value to scholars of education policy, specifically within the Nordic region, and international and comparative education.