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Conference Agenda

Overview and details of the sessions of this conference. Please select a date or location to show only sessions at that day or location. Please select a single session for detailed view (with abstracts and downloads if available).

Daily Overview

Session

23 SES 01 A: Local education policies

Time:

Tuesday, 18/Aug/2026:

13:30 - 15:00

Session Chair: Ina Ihalainen

Location: Tampere Hall - Small auditorium | Tampere Hall | 2 Fl.

cap: 488

Paper Session

Presentations

23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Paper

Argumentation and Principles of Justice in the Local Provision of Basic Education

Kiia Tyni

University of Helsinki, Finland

Presenting Author: Tyni, Kiia

Since the 1980s, municipal autonomy in the provision of basic education has increased in Finland as state control has decreased (Kalalahti & Varjo, 2023). Concurrently, demographic change and urbanization have contributed to increasing divergence among municipalities in terms of demographic composition, economic conditions, and the availability of resources (FM, 2020). In addition to Finland, these have led to school closures in many European countries (see Kłoczko-Gajewska, 2020; Åberg-Bengtsson, 2009). Since municipalities are the main providers of basic education in Finland, they also bear the main responsibility for promoting social justice in basic education (Pynnönen et al., 2022). This raises the question of how the decentralised promotion of equity manifests in the local provision of basic education. Thus, the main premise of this research is that national education policies have implicit aims for social justice, which have a varying impact on the provision of basic education when enacted in diverse local circumstances.
The provision of basic education and the questions of social justice it entails are traditionally regarded as a matter of national policy. Earlier academic research has often focused on specific phenomena such as school choice, school segregation, and inclusion, as important cases of justice (e.g., Bernelius & Kosunen, 2023; Kettunen & Prokkola, 2021), but local (municipal) level justification for policies of provision of basic education has been understudied. Previous studies show that notions of justice have varied throughout the history of education policy, and that there are also local variations (see Kalalahti & Varjo, 2023; Paananen et al., 2023). Instead, limited attention has been paid to municipalities as providers of basic education and the spatial aspect of justice (see Kalalahti & Varjo, 2023; Ball et al., 2012; Soja, 2010). This research addresses this research gap.
Recognising basic education as one of the fundamental institutions that shape societal equity (Rawls, 1999), this study analyses justifications in the local provision of basic education. Enacting national policies is a multi-level and context-dependent process in which local actors make active choices of how policy is enacted in the local context (Ball et al., 2012). Further, the local circumstances play a meaningful role in the enactment of policies and in the provision of basic education. Considering Massey’s (2005) conceptualisation of space, the theoretical premise of this research is that, in addition to local actors’ active choices, local education policy can be viewed as spaces, shaped by interrelations of time, space, and social relations, and not only by geography, demography, or other statistical features. Continuing from this, I recognise that justice is shaped in space and always has a spatial dimension (Soja, 2010). This creates an understanding that the decision-making processes, thus argumentation, and justification it entails, originate both from local circumstances and the national policy frameworks, influencing the formation of local principles of justice.
Previous research (Tyni et al., in review) indicated that the main questions in the provision of basic education came together in the discussion of municipal school system (e.g. schools’ location, class size, teacher recruitment, school transportation). Thus, the question of municipal school system serves as an exemplary site for the argumentation and justification in the context of the provision of basic education. In this study, the aim is to achieve an understanding by utilising Toulmin’s model of argumentation (Toulmin, 2008) of how the argumentation is constructed for certain decisions or courses of action. The research questions are: How are national and local rationales invoked in local arguments concerning the municipal school system, and how does this argumentation articulate principles of justice?

Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used
Understanding how municipalities’ educational experts justify the provision of basic education and the municipal school system is crucial since such justifications reveal the normative assumptions that quietly shape educational governance, thus educational equity. Rather than approaching municipal education policies as a process of implementation, this research focuses on the normative dimensions of local argumentation.
In this study, Toulmin’s (2008) model of argumentation is used to structure speech that argues for choices and decisions made, as well as local interpretations, concerning the municipal school system. According to Toulmin (2008), arguments are not composed only of premises and conclusions. Evaluating arguments includes various kinds of questions, such as what the claim is, on what basis the claim is made, and what justifies the transition from justification to claim. This justification, which Toulmin calls ‘warrant’, functions as a bridge between data and the claim and is often implicit. (Toulmin, 2008.) The focus of this study is to analyse local and national rationales used in arguments concerning the municipal school system. This draws us back to the question of increased municipal autonomy and how the primary responsibility for educational equity lies on the shoulders of municipal actors.
The primary data consists of expert interviews collected in six municipalities in Finland. The core data comprises local basic educational experts’ interviews (n = 13). Interviews were conducted individually and in groups involving key actors in the provision of municipal educational administration (n = 31), such as heads of municipal educational department, principals, teachers, and guidance counsellors. The multi-level data (i.e., school-level actors and local educational authorities) provides comprehensive information for the research, as the same framework was used in all interviews.

Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings
The analysis indicates how municipal experts combine locally specific circumstances and national legislation and guidelines in their argumentation when justifying the choices made in relation to the municipal school system. Preliminary findings suggest that the argumentation often relies on local specific factors, such as long distances, demographic change, and the municipality's financial situation, while these claims are typically supported by reference to national legislation and guidelines, such as regulations on the duration of school travel. By applying Toulmin's model, the analysis identifies how claims, warrants, and backing interrelate and what kind of rebuttals are presented. More broadly, the study enhances understanding of how principles of justice shape the questions of social justice in the provision of basic education.
The research also contributes to a broader European discussion on how decentralised education systems balance local circumstances with national objectives for equal education. These findings reinforce previous research, which has shown that school closures have been justified by economic factors (see Åberg-Bengtsson, 2009). Likewise, the economic situation as well as the decreasing number of children in many municipalities emerged as a central issue in a recent study on the current state of basic education in diverging municipalities in Finland (see Kalalahti et al., 2025). In addition, Bagley and Fargas-Malet (2025) argue in their recent study focusing on rural areas that other aspects should also be considered: school closures raise concerns about the sustainability of communities and local equity. Taken together, this study offers insights relevant across Europe, where many countries with decentralised education systems must continually balance locally specific circumstances with national policy frameworks.
References
Bagley, C., & Fargas-Malet, M. (2025). “30: Hollowing out Communities: Small Rural Schools in Northern Ireland and the Threat of Closure”. In Handbook on Rural and Remote Education. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi-org.libproxy.helsinki.fi/10.4337/9781035307722.00040
Ball, S. J., Maguire, M., & Braun, A. (2012). How Schools do Policy: Policy Enactments in Secondary Schools. Routledge.
Bernelius V. & Kosunen S. (2023). “Three Bedrooms and a Nice School”—Residential Choices, School Choices and Vicious Circles of Segregation in the Education Landscape of Finnish Cities. In Thrupp, M., Seppänen, P., Kauko, J., Kosunen, S. (Eds.) Finland’s Famous Education System. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8241-5_11
FM. (2020). Municipalities at a Turning Point? Information on the Situation of Municipalities in 2020. Ministry of Finance.
Kalalahti, M. & Varjo, J. (2023). Municipal Governance of Comprehensive Education: The Emergence of Local Universalisms. In Thrupp, M., Seppänen, P., Kauko, J., Kosunen, S. (Eds.) Finland’s Famous Education System. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8241-5_2
Kalalahti, M., Minkkinen, L., Saarinen, T., Tyni, K., Vaara, E., Ala-Vähälä, T., Häkkinen, P., Jänkälä, J.-P., Pitkänen, H., Pöysä-Tarhonen, J. & Tarnanen, M. (2025). Perusopetuksen tilannekuva erilaistuvissa kunnissa: Manner-Suomen kuntien tarkastelu. Jyväskylän yliopisto. https://doi.org/10.17011/ktl-rt/16
Kettunen, M., & Prokkola, E.-K. (2021). Differential Inclusion Through Education: Reforms and Spatial Justice in Finnish Education Policy. Environment and Planning C: Politics and Space, 40(1), 50-68. https://doi.org/10.1177/23996544211001383
Kłoczko-Gajewska, A. (2020). Long-Term Impact of Closing Rural Schools on Local Social Capital: A Multiple-Case Study From Poland. European Countryside, 12(4). 598–617. https://doi.org/10.2478/euco-2020-0031
Massey, D. B. (2005). For Space. SAGE Publications, Limited.
Paananen, M., Kauko, J., & Volmari, S. (2023). Education Policy in Finland: Varying Approaches for Addressing Injustices. In E. Pekkola, J.-E. Johanson, & M. Mykkänen (Eds.), Finnish Public Administration: Nordic Public Space and Agency, 231–248. Governance and Public Management. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34862-4_14
Pynnönen, L., Kallo, J. & Silvennoinen, H. (2022). Tasa-arvoa, yhdenvertaisuutta ja oikeuksia edistävä peruskoulu? Oikeudelliset normit osana koulutuksellisen oikeudenmukaisuuden uudelleenmäärittelyä. Kasvatus 53 (4), 391–407. https://doi.org/10.33348/kvt.122496
Rawls, J. (1999). A Theory of Justice: Revised Edition. Harvard University Press.
Soja E. W. (2010). Seeking Spatial Justice. University of Minnesota Press.
Toulmin, S. (2008). The Uses of Argument. Cambridge University Press.
Tyni, K., Kalalahti, M. & Saarinen, T. (in review). The Question of the Provision of Basic Education in Rural Municipalities. Kasvatus & Aika.
Åberg-Bengtsson, L. (2009). The Smaller the Better? A Review of Research on Small Rural Schools in Sweden. International Journal of Educational Research, 48(2), 100–108. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2009.02.007

23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Paper

From Policy to Practice: Educational leaders’ enacting Children’s Rights in Local School Contexts

Andreas Bergh¹, Emma Arneback², Mattias Nylund³

1: Örebro University, Sweden; 2: Gothenburg University, Sweden; 3: Gothenburg University, Sweden

Presenting Author: Bergh, Andreas

Since January 1, 2020, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has been incorporated into Swedish law (SFS 2018:1197). Prior to this decision, legal experts warned of unpredictability and an expected increase in court cases. Five years later, research indicates that national authorities have struggled to implement the law (Arneback, Bergh & Lerwall, 2023), resulting in limited support for local authorities and schools, which must navigate its ambiguous provisions largely on their own.

The purpose with this paper is to present a study of how the new CRC Act is enacted at local meso levels of the Swedish education system, and to discuss implications for the relations between children, school staff and parents. To fulfil this purpose, curriculum theory provides the overriding theoretical framework as it enables analysis of how different interpretations of rights are interpreted and take shape within and between different educational levels (Englund, Forsberg & Sundberg, 2012). As a complement, the concepts of recontextualization, classification and voice (Bernstein, 2000) enable analysis of how the CRC Act, as a policy text produced at national level, is interpreted and enacted in local school contexts. Three research questions operationalize the purpose (see below).

In the study, the Swedish decision to incorporate the CRC is understood as a case of juridification. This concept, juridification, refers in a broader sense to a situation or an issue taking on a legal or a changed legal character (Brännström, 2009). Although education systems have long been regulated through law (Lundgren, 1977), and educational research has a long tradition of critically examining policy and education politics, the legislation itself has rarely been subjected to critical scrutiny (Murphy, 2022). Instead, it has often been treated as a natural and unquestioned extension of political decision-making.

The so far limited research that have studied juridification of and in education has demonstrated both quantitative and qualitative changes in how legal means are employed in the governance of education (cf. Andenæs & Møller, 2016; Marques & Moradel-Vásquez, 2025). To some extent sociological perspectives from the 1980s provide important foundations for understanding these developments (Habermas, 1987; Teubner, 1987), but changed empirical situations in the specific context of education call for further theoretical and empirical development.

The project that this study is part of has in previous studies demonstrated how juridification reflects broader changes of the welfare state: it provides new means to differentiate responsibility between education, politics and law (Bergh & Forsberg, 2024), and is driven by separate yet related different societal trends such as marketization, accountability and human rights (Bergh, Murphy & Nylund, 2025). The project has also shown that juridification is a multifaceted phenomenon, where its various expressions are interpreted and enacted by actors at different levels of the education system (Arneback et al, 2023). By focusing on local levels of the education system, this study positions itself at the intersection of three research fields: the sociology of education concerning ‘voice’ and inequality, (2) the sociology of law and research on the juridification of education and (3) perspectives of children’s rights in education (cf Nylund, Arneback & Bergh, under review).

The Swedish case and the chosen approach provide an important example of juridification with strong European and international relevance. Although the impact on new legislations has been partly acknowledged in educational research, further theoretical and empirical studies are needed. In particular, this case provides insights into the role of local context across different socioeconomic and ethnic settings and invites further research on the relationship between education, politics, and legal frameworks.

Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used
In previous studies where the enactment of the CRC Act has been studied, it has been characterized as a weakly classified policy object (Nylund et al, under review). Based on that result, the central question for this presentation is how such an object is recontextualised in local settings by superintendents and headmasters. Guided by curriculum theory (Bergh 2010; Englund et al 2012) and the above mentions concepts from Bernstein (2000), three research questions operationalize the purpose (a three-step analysis):
1. How is the CRC Act recontextualized by school leaders and superintendents in different school contexts?
2. What do different recontextualisations imply for the relations between the child, school staff and parents, and who is thereby given voice and with what strength?
3. How do socioeconomic and ethnic contexts impact boundaries and power relations between children, school staff and parents?
The data consists of individual interviews with four superintendents and four headmasters. Each interview was conducted by two researchers, lasted for about one hour and followed a semi-structured interview guide. The larger project that this article is a part of has undergone an approved ethical review. The interviewees represent five different schools with a variation of socio-economic context. The motive for this empirical choice is that these actors are gatekeepers, situated between the national level and local schools. Three of the schools are located in different Swedish municipalities, while the other two belong to the same municipality and share both principal and superintendent but have different catchment areas and are significantly different in character.
School 1 is a small-town villa school (Grades 7–9) where the student population reflects a socioeconomically strong environment and is almost entirely composed of ethnic majority students. School 2 is a small-town city school (F–9) that can be described as a ‘mixed school’, with a diverse student population representing a range of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. School 3 is a small-town rural school (Grades F–6) located in a socioeconomically weak and ethnically homogeneous White working-class area. School 4 is a small-town outskirt school (F–3) situated in a disadvantaged area, with many students from working-class and ethnic minority backgrounds. School 5 is a large-town suburban school (F–9) also located in a disadvantaged area, with many students from working-class and ethnic minority backgrounds.

Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings
The results show that the way in which the CRC Act is enacted in different local contexts can be described as a tension between guiding goal-oriented management and accountability-oriented exercise of power. Compared to the nationally elusive interpretations (Arneback et al, 2023), these are broadened in both directions at the local level. Based on local differences regarding socioeconomics and ethnicity, this result is used to discuss whether the CRC Act contributes to more equal conditions for the development of children and young people or whether it rather reinforces inequality.
As the CRC Act, as a universal rights framework enters socially differentiated local school environments, class, ethnicity, and institutional capacity influence how rights are activated, resisted, or rendered symbolic. Rather than functioning as a stable legal framework, the transformation of the CRC Act, from policy to practice, is thus shaped by local traditions and power relations. In local educational settings, this means that juridification does not simply expand the role of law but rather reconfigures the relationships between education, politics, and legal systems (Bergh & Forsberg 2024). For example, in one of the schools studied, which can be characterized as having a goal-oriented culture, the CRC Act empowered collegial professional agency targeting questions of what is best for all children. In contrast, in another school characterized by a legal accountability-oriented culture, instrumental interpretations focusing on the right of each individual did not only formalize relations between schools and parents, but also between teachers, school leaders and superintendents. Consequently, enactment processes may both reproduce existing inequalities and create opportunities for empowerment and pedagogical change. This dual character reflects the broader dynamics of juridification (Habermas 1987; Teubner 1987), where legal regulations simultaneously can stabilize established power relations and open new spaces for agency.

References
Andenæs, K. & Møller, J. Eds. (2016). Retten i skolen. Mellom Pedagogikk, juss og politikk [Law in Education. Between Pedagogy, Law and Politics]. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget
Arneback, E., Bergh, A., & Lerwall, L. (2023). Enacting the Convention on the Rights of the Child - in times of juridification. Paper presented at the ECER conference in Glasgow.
Bergh, A., & Forsberg, E. (2024). Differentiation of education through juridification. Journal of Curriculum Studies 56(2): 146–159. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220272.2023.2261991
Bergh, A., Murphy, M., & Nylund, M. (2025). The rise of law in education - exploring three drivers of juridification in the context of a changing welfare state. Journal of Education Policy, 40(6), 1062–1080. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2025.2517683
Bernstein, B. (2000). Pedagogy, Symbolic control and Identity: Theory, Research, Critique. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Brännström, L. (2009). Förrättsligande: En studie av rättens risker och möjligheter med fokus på patientens ställning. [Juridification: A Study of the Hazards and Potentials of Law, Focusing on the Legal Position of the Patient in Health Care]. PhD diss. Lund: Lund University.
Englund, T., Forsberg, E. & Sundberg, D. red. (2012). Vad räknas som kunskap? Läroplansteoretiska utsikter och inblickar i lärarutbildning och skola [What Counts as Knowledge? Curriculum Theoretical Prospects and Insights into Teacher Education and School]. Stockholm: Liber.
Habermas, J. (1987). The Theory of Communicative Action. Vol. 2, Lifeworld and System: A Critique of Functionalist Reason. Translated by McCarthy. Boston: Beacon Press.
Lundgren, U.P. (1977). Model Analysis of Pedagogical processes. Stockholm Institute of Education. Department of Educational Research.
Marques, M. & Moradel-Vásquez, J.J (2025). Juridification through rights: how the European Court of Human Rights shapes higher education, Journal of Education Policy 40(6), 1039–1061. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2025.2517700
Murphy, M. (2022). Taking education to account? The limits of law in institutional and professional practice. Journal of Education Policy, https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939. 2020.1770337
Nylund, M., Arneback, E., & Bergh, A. (2025). Enactments of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in Educational Practice: Power Dynamics and Contextual Variations. Paper presented at the NERA-conference in Helsinki.
Teubner, G. (1987). Juridification. Concepts, aspects, limits, solutions. In G. Teubner, ed. Juridification of Social Spheres: A Comparative Analysis in the Areas of Labor, Corporate, Antitrust and Social Welfare Law, 3–48. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter.
SFS 2018:1197. Lag om Förenta nationernas konvention om barnets rättigheter [Law on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child].

23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Paper

Local Education Policies under Demographic Pressure: A Comparative Study of Finnish Municipal Strategies

Ina Ihalainen¹, Janne Varjo²

1: University of Jyväskylä, Finland; 2: University of Helsinki. Finland

Presenting Author: Ihalainen, Ina

The governance of provision basic education in Finland has historically shifted from the centralized state-driven model towards local decision-making, where municipalities have a large autonomy in making decisions regarding education (Varjo & Kalalahti, 2021). As a result, Finland is a prominent example of decentralized education system, where municipalities are the main providers of basic education and the key decisions regarding the provision of education are predominantly made at the local level (Kalalahti & Varjo, 2023; Simola et al., 2017). Regardless the de-centralization, the state continues to govern education through legal, economic, ideological and evaluatory instruments (Lundgren 1977).

Municipalities (N = 308) are fundamental to Finnish society, as they play a key role in promoting local vitality and development (Haveri, 2015). However, Finnish municipalities have been diversifying and diverging demographically and economically, and consequently also in their abilities to organizing public services (Varjo & Kalalahti, 2021). In 2020s, Finland and its municipalities have faced an unprecedented demographic change, which has already reduced the number of basic education students in large parts of Finland (Aro et al., 2023; Kyösti et al., 2023). This will lead to a more rapid municipal differentiation and force municipalities to make decisions regarding the provision of basic education. This development has already led to diversification of local institutional spaces (Kalalahti & Varjo, 2021). It raises the question of how the provision of basic education is – and can be – carried out in the increasingly differing municipalities.

In this presentation, we analyse how the provision of basic education appears in local education policies in differing and diverging municipalities. There has been only limited number of research about the current stage of municipal strategy work in the context of education policies (with exception of Aro et al., 2023; Kyösti et al., 2023). To answer this research gap, we seek to explore what kinds of different interpretations and implementations a seemingly uniform national education policy receives in local decision-making.

We approach municipal strategy work with the concept of institutional isomorphism (Kim, 2010). We assume that variations in provision of basic education across municipalities are not random but include certain regularities. Hence, it causes similar institutions to seek uniform solutions when faced with new conditions that collectively affect them. This occurs in a process in which institutions adapt to societal demands by developing similar structures and practices, driven by three mechanisms: coercive, mimetic, and normative isomorphism. (DiMaggio & Powell, 1983.) The institutional isomorphism framework makes it possible to examine and compare the ways in which different municipalities react to the current demographic change. In addition to identifying general patterns and apparent commonalities or convergence across localities, there is a need to explore and acknowledge the significance of the local particularities of policymaking and policy enactment and implementation (Ball, 1998; Bergman & Hansson, 2021).

This presentation explores the strategy work on municipal education policies. We emphasise local socio-historical contexts, seeing the current demographic change as a critical point to review education policies in different circumstances. The research objective is to analyze and compare municipal strategies on the provision of basic education. We address two research questions: How is the provision of basic education articulated in municipal strategies? How the institutional isomorphism appears these strategies?

Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used
In this study we use a public policy documents in order to compare the municipal strategies in mainland Finland. Municipal strategies are a major tool for local development work, obliged by the Local Government Act (410/2015). These strategies outline the local mission, vision, values, and strategies. Municipal council drafts the strategy at the beginning of its electoral term (Lumijärvi & Leponiemi, 2014). After ranking the municipalities by size, every second strategy was selected using systematic sampling (N = 147). This ensures that the dataset includes even representation of municipalities of different sizes and of varied geographical, economic, political, and demographic conditions. Documents were collected from open access internet sources. The length of the documents varies from three pages up to 48 pages, typically averaging around ten pages.

Data is analyzed with theory-guided content analysis, including three phases. First, all statements that mentioned basic education were identified in the documents. Second, we apply qualitative thematic analysis to identify how and in what contexts basic education is discussed and what it aims to achieve. To reveal the local specificities and similarities, we finally apply systematic comparative analysis (Krippendorff, 2018). Through the institutional isomorphism framework, we trace how municipalities react and adapt to the ongoing change, and if the similarities are driven by coercive, mimetic, or normative mechanisms.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings
According to preliminary results municipal strategies reveal how basic education is associated above all to municipality’s attractiveness, local vitality and population retention capacity. This becomes evident in the way basic education is presented in municipal strategies as a source of competitive advantage or a strategic asset for the municipality. High-quality education and healthy and safe school facilities are justified by the well-being of the municipal residents or the development of the municipality.

Education is accompanied by justifications for future skills, internationalization, and meeting the needs of local enterprises.  Educational contents are highlighted by digitalization and entrepreneurial competencies. In addition, when providing education, the municipalities must consider a wide range of issues which are not directly related to educational or pedagogical tasks. These include school buildings and learning environments, and their condition, the school network, school transportation, school meals, class sizes, student welfare services, staffing levels, and staff qualifications.

The study fosters a deeper understanding of the current state of local education policies and the ways in which municipalities are making decisions and responding to the ongoing demographic trend. Examining education policies in this way offers novel insights into how a non-education-based crisis influences education policy and provision of basic education. This offers opportunities for comparative learning across European contexts.
References
Aro, R., Aro, T., Hongisto, P., Kaarakainen, S.-S., Kalland, M., Kyösti, A., Puumalainen, J., Salovaara, V., Varjo, J., & Volmari, S. (2023). Väestönmuutoksen vaikutukset varhaiskasvatuksen sekä esi- ja perusopetuksen järjestämiseen: Kansalliset ja kansainväliset kokemukset, seurantaindikaattorit sekä lasten ja nuorten kuulemisen laatukriteeristö (Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriön julkaisuja: 2023:52). Opetus- ja kulttuuriministeriö.

Ball, S. J. (1994). Education reform: A critical and post-structural approach. Open University Press.

Bergmark, U. & Hansson, K. (2021). How Teachers and Principals Enact the Policy of Building Education in Sweden on a Scientific Foundation and Proven Experience: Challenges and Opportunities. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 65(3), 448–467.  https://doi.org/10.1080/00313831.2020.1713883

DiMaggio, P. J., & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48(2), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.2307/2095101

Haveri, A. (2015). Nordic local government: a success story, but will it last? International Journal of Public Sector Management, 28(2), 136–149. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-09-2014-0118

Kalalahti, M., & Varjo, J. (2023). Municipal Governance of Comprehensive Education: The emergence of local universalisms. In M. Thrupp, P. Seppänen, J. Kauko, & S. Kosunen (Eds.), Finland's Famous Education System: Unvarnished insights into Finnish schooling (pp. 19–34). Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Kim, T. (2010). The welfare state as an institutional process. The Social Science Journal 47(3), 492–507. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soscij.2010.04.002.

Krippendorff, K. (2018). Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology (4th ed.). SAGE publications.

Kuntalaki [Local Government Act] 410/2015. (2015). Finlex. https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2015/20150410

Kyösti, A., Kaarakainen, S.-S., Volmari, S., Wallenius, T., Merikukka, M., Salovaara, V., Kalland, M. J., Varjo, J. T., & Virtanen, P. (2023). Muuttuva väestö: Väestönmuutoksen vaikutukset varhaiskasvatukseen sekä esi- ja perusopetukseen. Itsenäisyyden juhlavuoden lastensäätiö sr. Itlan raportit ja selvitykset https://itla.fi/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Navigaattori-2023-1-Muuttuva-vaesto.pdf

Lumijärvi, I. & Leponiemi, U. (2014). Strategic Management in Finnish Municipalities. In Joyce, P. & Drumaux, A. (Eds.), Strategic Management in Public Organizations: European Practices and Perspectives, (pp. 41–56). Routledge.

Lundgren, U. P. (1977). Model analysis of pedagogical processes (Studies in Education and Psychology, 2). Stockholm Institute of Education, Department of Educational Research.

Simola, H., Kauko, J., Varjo, J., Kalalahti, M. & Sahlström, F. (2017). Dynamics in Education Politics: Understanding and Explaining the Finnish Case. Routledge.

Varjo, J., & Kalalahti, M. (2021). Kansallisesta yhdenmukaisuudesta kunnallisiin perusopetuksen järjestämisen malleihin. Focus Localis, 49 (4), 43–58. https://journal.fi/focuslocalis/article/view/113408