Teachers' perceptions of equity in Finnish primary schools

Abstract

The goal of this master’s thesis was to find out how teachers in Finland perceive equity being promoted in schools as well as what types of challenges they may face when promoting equity. By equity, this thesis refers to the Finnish term “yhdenvertaisuus”.

While equity and equality are often used together, there are differences between the two terms. Specifically in education, equity often refers to supporting students’ individual needs, while equality means treating everyone the same. There is a strong emphasis on equity in Finnish legislation and educational policies. Still, very little exists on the practical implementations, especially from teachers’ points of view. Challenges identified in the Finnish education include a lack of clear definitions, differences between schools, gender gaps and the effect of socio-economic background.

The study was conducted as a qualitative survey study with elements of qualitative case study. The survey was responded to by 29 classroom teachers from Finland. The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

The results of the study show that teachers feel fairly satisfied with how equity is being promoted in Finnish schools. However, according to teachers’ perceptions there are large gaps between schools. Although there were similarities in what teachers considered as ways of promoting equity, there was no universal practice. Many teachers see teaching arrangements, school environment, students’ treatment, openness and resources as ways of promoting equity. Challenges mentioned included individual teachers’ responsibility, attitudes and prejudice as well as the lack of resources

Despite inequities having been identified in Finnish education, teachers used general language. Many discussed diversity and supporting all students’ needs without making specifications. Additionally, teachers expressed worries of the increasing differences between schools. They acknowledged that the extent to which promotion of equity depends on the schools. As a fix, many expressed a hope for more unity in the Finnish educational system.