Choosing a Finnish international school : parental values, background, and capital in school choice

Neoliberal globalization has significantly influenced education policy in Finland, introducing school choice trends into a historically equity-focused educational landscape. This research seeks to explore how families at a Municipal International School (MIS) are impacted by the local implementations of the global neoliberal order. I examine this interplay based on Finland’s history of egalitarian education but also complicate these findings with the added dimensions of choice for international families in Finland.

The first chapters provide historical context, discussing the rise of neoliberalism globally and the connection between neoliberal values and neocolonial enterprise in Finland. I examine the development of Finnish educational policy supporting the ‘school for all’ and the introduction of neoliberal school choice policies. I employ a theoretical framework to reveal mechanisms through which parents enact school choice.

This study draws on interviews with eight parents who have chosen to enroll their children in a MIS in Finland. Data is analyzed through content analysis to explore how Finnish school choice policy and curriculum play out at the family level. Findings reveal that these families experienced school choice as a means of distinction, a strategy for navigating their migrant status, and a way to cultivate cosmopolitan and linguistic capital. Their experiences of internationality at an international school are mediated by the interplay of education policy, curriculum, and teacher engagement. International families avoid some of the negative effects of being migrants (in the case that they are migrants), and all families cultivate cosmopolitan and linguistic capital via school choice. Even though parents actively participated in school choice, they also reported feeling disempowered by institutional constraints.

This research illustrates mechanisms through which school choice in Finland increases social differentiation and segregation. Parents’ experiences at MIS are affected by their values, back-grounds and the types of capital they hold. By examining how families at MIS navigate an evolving and unique school choice landscape, I elaborate the individual experience of neoliberal globalization on education policy in Finland.