Finland: A Structure of Trust

The Finnish education system is characterized by a high level of trust. There are no school inspections, textbook controls, or standardized national tests. Instead, quality is assured through practitioners’ high qualifications, knowledge, expertise, commitment, and responsibility. The educational system structure can be understood as a multilevel educational leadership model with influences from the transnational level, national legislation and guidelines, and decentralized municipal leadership responsible for planning, implementing, and self-evaluating education at the local level. The demands on principals in Finland are significant, and their responsibilities and workloads are increasing. Principals are both the administrative and pedagogical leaders of schools. As pedagogical leaders of the school, principals must have insight into teaching theory to understand and analyze the teaching principles included in the national curricular guidelines. As education and curricula are reformed, the demands on and expectations of principals must also change. Consequently, universities have taken action to support the needs of principals and their work through various initiatives. In-service training, education programs, and an increased emphasis on research regarding educational leadership are some of the concrete measures that have been emphasized to support the work of principals.