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Geography in the Finnish school

curriculum: part of the ‘success story’?
a
Sirpa Tani
a
Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki,
Helsinki, Finland
Published online: 02 Dec 2013.

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‘success story’?, International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 23:1,
90-101, DOI: 10.1080/10382046.2013.858457

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 International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, 2014
Vol. 23, No. 1, 90–101, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10382046.2013.858457

Geography in the Finnish school curriculum: part of the

‘success story’?
Sirpa Tani*

Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

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The article investigates the status of geography education in the Finnish national
curricula from the 1970s until today. Conceptions of teaching, learning and change in
society are traced through curriculum texts; in addition, the ways in which these are
applied in the subject-specified aims and content of the geography curriculum are
explored. This is done in the context of the success story of the Finnish education
system. The analysis shows how constructivist ideas of learning have been
implemented in the curriculum, but are not necessarily seen in the students’ learning
outcomes. Changes in society have been reflected in the underlying values and cross-
disciplinary themes defined in the curricula, although their application in geography
has been relatively weak. The content of the geography curriculum has remained
strongly connected to the tradition of teaching regional geography, while the close
linkage between geography and biology has guaranteed a stronger position for
physical rather than cultural geography. Some contemporary changes, in information
and communications technology (ICT) and geographic information systems (GIS) in
particular, have quickly been implemented in the geography curriculum, while some
themes – for example, those emphasizing students’ everyday experiences – have
remained marginal.
Keywords: geography curriculum; comprehensive school; Finland

Introduction
Reports of Finnish students’ excellent performance in international assessments have
increased worldwide interest in Finland’s education system (Kupiainen, Hautam€aki, &
Karjalainen, 2009; Niemi, 2012; V€alij€arvi et al., 2003). This has in turn resulted in the
launch of several education programmes for export (see, e.g. Future Learning Finland,
2013) and even ‘PISA tourism’ (PISA referring to the Programme for International Student
Assessment), as numerous professionals from Ministries of Education, universities and
schools have visited Finland in order to learn how such success was achieved. At the same
time, however, the challenge of making valid comparisons between education systems
internationally has been widely reported. The risks of interpreting results for particular pur-
poses have been highlighted, while the problems of attempting to replicate national educa-
tion systems successfully – regardless of social, cultural and political differences – have
also been acknowledged (see Crossley, 2009; Dobbins & Martens, 2012; Simola, 2005).
Despite the obvious problems associated with making international comparisons, as
described above, the PISA ‘success story’ has increased interest in the Finnish education
system at both the international and the national levels. Several experts in educational
practice have attempted to explain these results by analysing social and political contexts,
as well as the structure of the Finnish education system. In this article, these explanations

*Email: sirpa.tani@helsinki.fi

Ó 2013 Taylor & Francis

 International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education 91

are reflected on with regard to the teaching of geography in schools. A question is raised
as to whether geography education has been as successful as the reputation of the Finnish
school system might lead us to assume.
No single reason can explain why some educational systems may fail or succeed; vari-
ous elements create a complex network of factors which function differently in different
contexts (Sahlberg, 2011; V€alij€arvi et al., 2003). Sahlberg (2011) lists three aspects of
Finnish educational history, since the beginning of the 1970s, which have played important
roles in the construction of the present situation. First, Finland’s commitment to building a
publicly financed and locally governed comprehensive school system available to every
child has been deeply rooted in its education policy. This political imperative has survived
despite the many political changes which have occurred since the early 1970s. Second,
even though Finland has borrowed many of its educational ideas from others, it has con-
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verted them to suit its particular national, regional and local contexts. Third, the systematic
development of working conditions for teachers in Finnish schools has been based not only
on a highly valued teacher education programme (all qualified teachers have a master’s
degree), but also on the freedom of teachers to decide what to do and how to do it in their
classrooms (Niemi, 2012; Sahlberg, 2011, p. 6). This kind of trust has made it possible for
teachers to plan, carry out and evaluate their work which, thus far, has given them the
power to act as competent and gifted professionals (see Toom & Husu, 2012).
Several elements in the Finnish education system support the teachers’ freedoms
described above. One is the lack of regulation and ongoing political oversight of what
teachers do. The situation was different before the early years of the 1990s, when schools
were still strictly regulated by central agencies (Sahlberg, 2011, p. 130). The current situ-
ation gives the local authorities power to decide how to implement the national curricu-
lum in their local contexts. Teachers have the final say about how these guidelines are
applied in practice. The same kinds of freedom relate to the use of textbooks: in Finland,
textbooks have an important status in teaching, but they are neither officially approved
nor regulated. This freedom can also be seen in the lack of national tests in primary and
secondary schools. Regular assessments have been carried out of mathematical and lin-
guistic skills, but they have been sample based instead of assessing the whole age group
of students (Laukkanen, 2008). Similar assessments have recently started to be organized
in other subjects; for example, students’ learning outcomes in geography together with
natural sciences have been tested in 1998 and 2011 (Cantell & Hakonen, 2012).
Simola (2005) has sought explanations to the Finnish ‘miracle’, not from the pedagog-
ical decisions made in national curricula but from our historical and sociological roots.
Based on the geopolitical location between the east and the west, Finnish social democ-
racy still has ‘some eastern authoritarian, or even totalitarian, flavour’ (Simola, 2005,
p. 457). This, together with the rapid transition from an agricultural to a post-industrial
society, has kept the traditional values alive in society and thus helped teachers to keep
an authoritarian position with respect to their work.
Even though teachers are relatively free to decide how to work in their classrooms,
they are still under certain regulations and expectations defined in the curriculum. In
Finland, the national curriculum serves as a framework for local curricula. It determines a
common structure and basic guidelines, which are then applied by the local authorities
and teachers (Vitikka, Krokfors, & Hurmerinta, 2012). The curriculum document defines
the mission, values, conceptions of learning and school culture as well as the working
methods which are adopted in teaching the school subjects.
The aim of this article is to analyse the geography curriculum of Finland and to reflect
on its goals and content in relation to the success story described above. How are the
 92 S. Tani

pedagogical aims and social issues described in the core curriculum applied in the teach-
ing of geography? The analysis conducted in this article is based on the ideas presented
by Marsden (1989, 1997): his exploration of the changes to the English curricula from
three perspectives – the pedagogical aims, changes in society and changing trends in
geography as an academic discipline – are applied in the Finnish context by investigating
how the educational aims, social issues and subject-based contents have been defined in
its national curricula. These issues are approached first with an overview of the curricula
since the 1970s from the viewpoint of values and interdisciplinary themes, and then from
the perspective of changes in geography education. In conclusion, it is argued that despite
the success of the education system in Finland there have been major problems in imple-
menting broader pedagogical aims and contemporary social, cultural and environmental
issues in the geography curriculum. These problems are raised, and the potential for
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development in the forthcoming curricula is emphasized.

Changing values, changing society

The first national curriculum for comprehensive schools was published in Finland in
1970. It consisted of two separate volumes: educational aims were defined in the first vol-
ume, while the second part included subject-specific aims and contents (Committee
Report, 1970a, 1970b). The basic objective was to offer stimuli to support the develop-
ment of the students’ personality as a whole. It was noted how technological innovations
were changing the world, and therefore one of the aims for schools was to enhance young
people’s abilities to act more democratically and humanely. More detailed descriptions of
the basic aims of education were then introduced. Among these were, for example, cogni-
tive, ethical, social and aesthetic aims – which were all designed to promote each
student’s growth as a person.
While a fundamental reform of the educational system took place in the 1970s, the 1980s
was a period of internal development in Finnish schools (Kaivola & Rikkinen, 2007). The
second version of the Framework curriculum was published in 1985. Municipalities and
schools were given the power to decide how to organize teaching so that it would better fit
local contexts. While previously the content and teaching methods had been emphasized,
now learning objectives and evaluation were also implemented in the curriculum of each
school subject (Kaivola & Rikkinen, 2007). Environmental education was mentioned for the
first time among the basic aims of education, and the development of one’s national identity
was seen as a prerequisite for internationality (Board of Education,1985).
During the 1980s, new conceptions of learning and knowledge were widely discussed.
The traditional ideas of teacher-centred education and the importance of factual knowl-
edge were replaced by an increased emphasis on understanding, problem-solving, critical
thinking and learning skills (Lehtinen, 2004, p. 54; Sahlberg, 2011, p. 33). These were
described in the Framework curriculum for the comprehensive school (National Board of
Education, 1994). While the importance of maintaining national unity and fostering
national citizenship were seen as starting points for the 1985 curriculum, social tensions
had been left unnoted – interestingly, the 1994 curriculum emphasized changes on both
the national and global levels. The conception of learning shifted towards more construc-
tivist ideas, according to which knowledge was seen as being built on a collaborative pro-
cess enacted between students and teachers. It has been noted, however, that despite the
change of discourse on teaching and learning, there is surprisingly little evidence of actual
changes in teaching practices at the time (Lehtinen, 2004, p. 55; Sahlberg, 2011, p. 33;
Simola, 2005, p. 462).
 International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education 93

In the 1994 curriculum even more freedom was given to each school to create their
own curricula based on a very general national framework. Innovations in new technolo-
gies, changes in economic and working life and the rise of international interaction were
among the issues identified in the core curriculum. Also included was the need to clarify
core values, which included the promotion of sustainable development; the significance
of cultural identity, multicultural perspectives and internationalization; the promotion of
physical, mental and social well-being; and the importance of citizenship education
(National Board of Education, 1994, p. 15; Tani, 2004, p. 8).
The present version of the curriculum was published in 2004. It defines learning as an
individual yet communal process in which knowledge and skills are constructed through
collaboration between learners, who are seen as active agents in the process. The situa-
tionality of learning and the importance of different learning environments are
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highlighted. The underlying values defined in the curriculum include human rights, equal-
ity, democracy, natural diversity, the preservation of environmental viability and the
endorsement of multiculturalism. Education is defined as promoting ‘responsibility, a
sense of community and respect for the rights and freedoms of the individual’ (National
Board of Education, 2004, p. 12).
Besides educational values, some cross-disciplinary themes were defined in the 1994
and 2004 curricula. Their aim was to ensure the implementation of certain educational
values in teaching. Nine themes were introduced in 1994 and seven in 2004. One of the
changes in the 2004 document was the way in which the themes were named: in 1994,
the concept of ‘education’ was included in many of the themes (e.g. international educa-
tion, environmental education and entrepreneurship education). These terms were subse-
quently seen as too patronizing (Riitaoja, 2013), and therefore they were replaced with
titles which highlight the goals that were meant to be achieved – this renewed the focus
on education as a means of achieving the goals (e.g. cultural identity and international-
ism; responsibility for the environment, well-being and a sustainable future; participatory
citizenship and entrepreneurship).
Changing the titles of the themes was also necessary for other reasons. The collapse of
the Soviet Union in 1991 and Finland’s membership of the European Union in 1995
changed the political tone of society making it more multicultural. ‘International educa-
tion’, which had been based on the idea of national identities and interaction between
nations, started to sound old-fashioned and it was therefore replaced by the theme of cul-
tural identity and internationality. What was still maintained in the document, however,
was the understanding of cultural identities as stable entities. The term ‘environmental edu-
cation’ was replaced by the theme ‘responsibility for the environment, well-being and a
sustainable future’. The differences between environmental education and education for
sustainable development have caused lively debate in Finland as well as elsewhere (Hesse-
link, van Kempen, & Wals, 2000; Tani, Cantell, Koskinen, Nordstr€om, & Wolff, 2007).
The declaration of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005–2014)
also influenced many researchers and administrative bodies to replace ‘environmental edu-
cation’ with ‘education for sustainable development’ (e.g. McKeown & Hopkins, 2003).
To sum up, some major trends can be identified from the development of the Finnish
national curricula. First, conceptions of learning have changed from teacher-centred
towards more student-centred approaches. Second, changes in Finnish society have been
reflected in the national curricula, albeit quite modestly, as Finnish identity is still broadly
understood as a homogeneous entity connected to rural and natural surroundings. Third,
even when cross-disciplinary themes have been introduced in the curricula, their position
has remained relatively weak. All these trends can also be related to geography education.
 94 S. Tani

Changes in the geography curriculum from 1970

Geography has achieved a relatively solid position and status in the Finnish school curric-
ula. In the Framework curriculum of 1970, geography teaching was organized following
a well-established principle of starting teaching from the students’ immediate environ-
ment and then expanding their horizons towards more remote areas. At the same time,
however, increased attention was paid to environmental problems; this meant that
environmental studies were emphasized at the primary school level, often at the expense
of traditional local studies (Kaivola & Rikkinen, 2007; Rikkinen, 1982; Tani, 2004).
Rikkinen (1982, p. 351) has noted that the launch of the comprehensive school system
resulted in a considerable decline in the position of geography, measured by the number
of teaching hours it was afforded. In the 1970 curriculum, the educational aims and the
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content of school subjects were kept separate from each other and, similarly, the school
curriculum from everyday life in schools. Thus, subject content and study skills were
emphasized in the geography curriculum, but without any clear definitions of the educa-
tional purposes of the subject. Some value-based aims for geography were nevertheless
given: an emotional attachment to Finnish nature and its people was considered to be
important; other peoples were to be highly valued; and collaboration between Finland
and other nations was to be promoted (Committee Report, 1970b).
The decentralization of curriculum planning during the 1980s and 1990s was impor-
tant for geography education, because it enabled schools and individual teachers to take
their local contexts into account more than before. The national framework in 1985
emphasized the ‘home region studies’ as a starting point, after which larger areas could
be explored. The aims were classified as knowledge-based, skills-based and value-based.
In the seventh grade, geography education dealt with Latin and Northern America, and
the perspective was that of regional geography. The value-based goal was to help stu-
dents understand how industrialized countries were responsible for enhancing equal
development in developing countries and promoting collaboration between different
nations (Board of Education, 1985, p. 171). The regional geography of Europe was the
content of geography teaching in the 8th grade. Here the importance of economic and
political cooperation between different countries, as well as respect for the cultural tradi-
tions of European nations, was highlighted. The geography curriculum for the 9th grade
concentrated on the geography of Finland, where cultural traditions as well as the under-
standing of, and respect for, one’s home country and its people were important elements.
Nordic cooperation was also mentioned as being desirable (Board of Education, 1985).
To sum up, it can be said that geography education during this period was still strongly
concentrated on the regional paradigm and, despite the articulation of some general
aims, the content of the curriculum was mostly defined by describing what to teach, not
how or why to teach it.
While geography was taught as a separate subject from the third grade in the 1985
curriculum, in the 1994 curriculum it was integrated with biology, environmental studies
and civics for the first six grades. The new subject was called environmental and natural
studies, the main aim of which was ‘to support and guide the student’s growth into an
investigating, active citizen who is interested in nature, the study of nature, and nature
conservation’ (National Board of Education, 1994, p. 85). It is important to note how the
themes connected to relations between people and the environment have most often been
defined as people–nature relations. This text clearly shows how Finnish geography educa-
tion has been strongly connected to the natural sciences. Several reasons for this can be
found. First, at the primary school level (grades 1–6) the majority of teachers have their
 International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education 95

master’s degree in educational sciences and only some basic knowledge of geography as
an academic discipline; therefore their first-hand experience and memories from their
own school years can have a remarkable impact on their image of the subject. Second, at
the secondary level, geography is taught by subject teachers who normally have geogra-
phy and biology as their teaching subjects. In that context, geography is easily connected
to natural environments and understood together with biology and other natural sciences.
Third, the history of Finland as an agrarian society where people were living close to
nature has kept the traditional views of nature and countryside as the ‘real’ Finnish envi-
ronments very much alive despite rapid urbanization since the 1970s (Tani, 2004).
Geography remained as a separate subject in lower secondary school (from the 7th to
the 9th grade). It was defined as a subject that built bridges between the natural and social
sciences, as one of its aims was to enhance students’ ability ‘to examine the interaction
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between man (sic) and nature from the local level to the global’ (National Board of Edu-
cation, 1994, p. 91). The importance of current information was acknowledged as part of
geography education, and students were supposed to learn to understand how everyone is
responsible for the environment. Even when environmental responsibility and an under-
standing of the role that communities play in building the future were mentioned, no
traces of these were defined in the curriculum content.
In the present curriculum, environmental and natural studies is taught as an integra-
tive subject in grades 1–4, including geography, biology, physics, chemistry and health
education. In the 5th and the 6th grades, biology and geography are defined as one school
subject, but their aims and content are separately described. In grades 7–9, geography is
taught as an individual subject. Knowledge and understanding are highlighted in the aims
without any detailed definitions of value-based goals. The only sentence in the text which
has some connection to values is the following: ‘Geography instruction must support the
pupils’ growth as active citizens committed to a sustainable way of life’ (National Board
of Education, 2004, p. 182). Goals for instruction are expressed as issues which students
should learn and understand. Two of these can be connected to value-based elements,
namely, that students should ‘know how every citizen in Finland can have an impact on
the planning and development of his or her own living environment’, and that they should
‘understand and evaluate critically news information on such issues as global environ-
mental and development questions, and learn to act in accordance with sustainable devel-
opment themselves’ (National Board of Education, 2004, p. 182). The last sentence is the
only one in the geography curriculum that includes any reference to the students’ role as
active individuals. Most of the aims are targeted for cognitive outcomes of education:
knowing and understanding are defined as important features in students’ learning,
whereas their actions are hardly mentioned. It is thus relevant to question whether the stu-
dents are encouraged to act in an environmentally responsible way, or whether it is
thought to be sufficient if they just know what types of actions would be needed in order
to practise a sustainable way of life.
The content of teaching is described under four titles: ‘Earth – human being’s home
planet’, ‘Europe’, ‘Finland in the world’ and ‘the common environment’ (National Board
of Education, 2004). These titles are only further explained with a list of issues which
stress the importance of knowledge; no values are listed. The final pages of the geography
curriculum describe the criteria for a final assessment of a ‘good knowledge’ of the sub-
ject. These are categorized as criteria considering geographic skills, competences for ana-
lysing the world, Europe and Finland, and the common environment. The geographic
skills mentioned include cartographic and other visualization techniques, as well as the
ability to use information from the news and data networks. An emphasis on questions of
 96 S. Tani

‘what’ and ‘how’ can be seen, when the verbs used to define good achievement are ana-
lysed. Students should know how to ‘perceive’, ‘recognize’, ‘describe’, ‘depict’,
‘compare’, ‘analyse’ and ‘explain’ certain issues. They should also be able to ‘apply geo-
graphical knowledge’ and ‘plan and carry out small-scale studies’. What are completely
left out of these criteria, though, are all the references to the students’ own experiences
and actions based on them.
The content of the geography curricula described above shows how, despite all the
educational aims mentioned and the social, cultural and/or environmental issues recog-
nized, a remarkable gap lies between the broader aims and actual content of the subject.
One possible way to bridge this gap could be to implement cross-disciplinary themes in
geography teaching. It has been noted, however, that these themes are not taken as inte-
gral parts of separate school subjects and therefore the gap has remained wide
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(Tani, Juuti, & Kairavuori, 2013).

What do students learn in geography?

One way to evaluate the possible success of curriculum planning and its implementation
is to organize national assessments to test students’ knowledge, understanding and skills.
So far no national tests in geography for an entire age group have been undertaken in Fin-
land. However, when more power was given to local agents to plan and apply the national
framework in schools’ everyday settings in the 1994 curriculum, the need to obtain data
on the outcomes became obvious. Therefore, some sample-based evaluations have been
conducted in different subjects. Geography was included in two of these national assess-
ments: first in 1998 (Rajakorpi, 1999), and again in 2011 (K€arn€a, Hakonen, & Kuusela,
2012). These both included the evaluation of the learning outcomes of the 9th-grade stu-
dents in geography, biology, chemistry and physics. The learning results were evaluated
in 1998, with a test that first measured the basic knowledge of each school subject and
then assessed the students’ skills in applying their knowledge. The results showed that
the students’ basic knowledge was satisfactory in biology and geography, tolerable in
chemistry and poor in physics. Questions measuring students’ skills in applying their
knowledge were difficult for many students – in geography their skills were evaluated as
‘poor’ (Rajakorpi, 1999, p. 65).
In the assessments conducted in 2011, the questions were designed to measure fac-
tual and conceptual knowledge, procedural knowledge as well as cognitive skills
(K€arn€a et al., 2012). These were categorized on the basis of the levels of thinking they
measured. In the geography assessment, 30% of the questions dealt with remembering
and identifying, 27% with understanding and 43% with applying knowledge (K€arn€a
et al., 2012). The learning outcomes in biology and geography were tested separately
from physics and chemistry. Some anchor questions from the previous assessment
conducted in 1998 were used in order to obtain some comparable data. Cantell and
Hakonen (2012, p. 144) have pointed out that most of the questions were based on
physical geography, which meant that the results could not be easily compared with the
content of the Framework curriculum – where both the physical and human sides of the
discipline are present.
The results show that the students’ basic knowledge of geography was satisfactory.
They managed to give more correct answers in geography than in chemistry, physics and
biology. The best results were achieved in assignments which primarily assessed the
students’ ability to recall knowledge. Their aptitude in answering the anchor questions,
however, was weaker in 2011 than in 1998. They had the most difficulties in problem-
 International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education 97

solving, explaining geographical phenomena and applying knowledge in different situa-

tions (Cantell & Hakonen, 2012, p. 141, 145).
Besides questions measuring the students’ knowledge and skills, several questions on
environmental attitudes were included in the test. The results indicate that the majority of
the students had positive attitudes towards environmental issues: they thought that it was
important to know their local environment. They also agreed with the statement that
knowledge of foreign areas would enhance tolerance, and had a positive attitude towards
internationality. Based on the results, the majority of the students felt that school offered
them knowledge and skills regarding participation in society (K€arn€a et al., 2012, p. 103).
Some previous studies have shown, however, that environmental awareness and positive
attitudes towards environmental issues do not always lead towards responsible behaviour
(e.g. Cantell, 2006; cf. Fielding & Head, 2012; Kollmuss & Agyeman, 2002; Mobley,
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Vagias, & DeWard, 2010). Therefore, it would be interesting to know whether the
students’ positive attitudes have a real impact on their actions.
When the results of the most recent assessments have been evaluated in the context of
the forthcoming curriculum renewal, several aspects have been highlighted (Houtsonen,
2012). First, student-centred teaching methods, especially problem- and inquiry-based
approaches, have been seen as important in order to support the students in taking an
active role in a knowledge-construction process. For example, interactive learning meth-
ods – such as those demonstrated through projects where students work together – were
seen as essential. Houtsonen (2012, p. 78) argues that inquiry-based learning requires a
renewal of teaching practices to be better able to enhance students’ ability to succeed in
working life and society in the future. More emphasis should thus be put on engendering
a sense of community and developing social interaction skills. This can be seen either as
part of the process where educational influences are used in a manner that undermines the
role of the subject and disciplinary knowledge (Marsden, 1997) and emphasizes the
‘oversocialized’ concept of knowledge and the studying skills (Young & Muller, 2010),
or as a trace of the growth in the influence of the economy and workplace skills. Second,
the role of fieldwork in geography education, as well as its potential to make students’
experiences an integral part of education, is highlighted. What is interesting here is the
strong connection of fieldwork to nature. This can easily be understood in the Finnish
context where the ideas of national identity and national landscapes have traditionally
been connected to natural and rural settings. However, from the viewpoint of contempo-
rary Finnish society – where the majority of children grow up in urban environments –
the focus on natural settings seems problematic (Tani, 2004).
The third point highlighted has been the role of information and communications
technology (ICT) and geographic information systems (GIS) in geography education:
since geoinformation has become an integral part of people’s everyday lives, its imple-
mentation in school education has been seen as important. In fact, Houtsonen (2012) has
stressed how digital geoinformation can develop students’ understanding of geographical
phenomena and support both geography teaching and learning. In recent years, many
researchers in Finland and elsewhere have focused on the potential of ICT in geography
education in contemporary and future societies (e.g. Bednarz & van der Schee, 2006;
Drennon, 2005; Gryl, Jekel, & Donert, 2010; Houtsonen, 2003; Johansson & Pellikka,
2006). What is not clearly shown, however, is how the increase in use of ICT in geogra-
phy teaching would support students’ growth towards being active and responsible global
citizens. In future, these links should be more clearly investigated. Cantell and Hakonen
(2012, p. 148; see also Cantell, 2011) have argued how more emphasis should be put, for
example, on the construction of links between geography education and students’
 98 S. Tani

everyday experiences and interests. When the ‘toolkit’ of geographical teaching methods
includes not only experimental and inquiry-based approaches typical of the natural scien-
ces, but also participatory and experience-based approaches typical of the social sciences,
the role of students as active citizens can be better supported. This would require both
knowledge-based and value-based education.

Conclusion
In this article, the changes in the Finnish geography curricula from 1970 until the present
day have been examined. Marsden’s analysis on the English curriculum has been used as
a lens for reading the curriculum documents from three perspectives: changes in the con-
ceptions of teaching and learning (changes in pedagogical thinking), as well as changes
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in society, have been interpreted from the curriculum documents; these are considered in
line with discipline-based changes (Marsden, 1989, 1997). The main findings from these
three perspectives are described below.
There has been a clear change in the pedagogical aims of the Finnish curricula from
the 1970s to the present day. Student-centred approaches have replaced the traditional
idea of the teacher’s central role as educator: constructivism has been defined in the com-
mon parts of the national curriculum and it has also been applied in the aims of the geog-
raphy curriculum. The results of the national assessment conducted in the natural
sciences (including geography) have shown, however, that the students’ ability to answer
questions requiring problem-solving, or the application of previous knowledge, has been
quite modest compared to their capability of answering questions based on remembering
facts. Based on this observation it seems appropriate to question whether student-centred
approaches have actually been included in the everyday work in geography classrooms.
The same kind of observation in a broader context has been made by Simola (2005).
Although there is a limited amount of evidence that Finnish teachers in comprehensive
schools are pedagogically conservative, Simola nevertheless emphasizes this issue and
sees it as a contradiction to the pedagogical aims of the curricula (Simola, 2005; see also
Lehtinen, 2004). The second perspective that Marsden used in his analysis was societal
change and its effect on the aims and content of curricula. In the Finnish case, social
changes have been remarkable during the history of comprehensive schooling since the
1970s. Finland shifted quickly after the 1970s from an agrarian to an urban society. After
joining the European Union in 1995, the country has received a remarkable number of
immigrants. This questions the traditional ideas of Finnish identity. These changes can
be traced in the underlying values outlined in the curriculum documents. The aims of
geography also reflect some of these changes. A closer analysis would reveal how such
modifications are rarely reflected in the subject content, even though they are noted in
the aims of the discipline. For example, an analysis of school textbooks has shown that
cities are not yet considered a ‘normal’ environment for Finnish people (e.g. Tani,
2004). One reason for this, besides the long history of attaching the Finnish identity to
rural and natural settings, could be the close linkage between geography and biology in
teacher education.
After urbanization, Finland underwent rapid social and economic adjustments –
amongst which, the development of communication technologies (typified by the growth
of Nokia and certain computer games companies) was interpreted as a success story. This
has raised a ‘techno-hype’ in Finland, which has had an effect on the national curricula
and can be interpreted also from Marsden’s third perspective – of geography as an aca-
demic discipline. Traditionally Finnish school geography has been linked closely with
 International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education 99

the environmental and natural sciences, as described earlier in this article. Regional geog-
raphy has been an integral part of school geography and it has remained strong, despite
curriculum changes. From the viewpoint of geography, ICT and GIS were included in the
curriculum of 2004 and, in the present renewal, more arguments for including digital
technologies have been raised (see Houtsonen, 2012). The implementation of GIS has
been surprisingly fast compared to other aspects of contemporary fields of interest in aca-
demic geography. The popularity of GIS can be understood both in the contexts of the
Finnish ‘techno-hype’ and also of regional geography, which can be re-interpreted in a
more contemporary way by applying modern technologies to its traditional conception of
geography. Another special feature of Finnish school geography is its close linkage with
biology and other natural sciences, which has kept physical geography strong. Even when
both physical and human elements are present in the curricula, teachers’ stronger compe-
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tence in the natural sciences has placed human and cultural geography in a relatively
weak position in school geography.
This article has described how Finland’s impressive results on international tests have
helped to create a ‘success story’ for its education system. It is nevertheless important to
bear in mind that the PISA tests have primarily assessed students’ competencies in liter-
acy, mathematics and science, while the role of geography in these tests has been quite
marginal (some sections of physical geography were included in the 2006 PISA test, and
the results were good). The impact of such assessments on geography as a school subject
has been strong; this can be seen, for example, in the launch of national sample-based
tests for geography. It is important, however, to also pay attention to those elements of
geography which have not been assessed in these tests.
The role of textbooks is strong in Finland: they are often treated as official interpreta-
tions of the curriculum, and therefore issues which are excluded from the books are easily
left out of the teaching of geography. Because value-based issues are challenging to mea-
sure through testing, their importance in teaching can be forgotten. The same problem
also concerns the implementation of students’ own experiences and local contexts in
geography education, which are also regularly overlooked in geography instruction.
Tests, national assessments and textbooks therefore guide curriculum development in a
particular direction – where knowledge and geographical skills are highlighted, but
learners’ everyday experiences are sidelined.
The Finnish national curriculum is now being renewed. It has been noted how
cross-disciplinary themes have not been sufficiently taken into account in school subjects.
In the future curriculum, these themes will be replaced with a new emphasis on including
value-based issues in each subject’s curriculum texts. It seems that the shift will be from
a knowledge-based curriculum towards a more skills-based curriculum. This can be
reflected upon in relation to the three educational scenarios described by Young and
Muller (2010), who point out the possible dangers in stressing too much curriculum con-
tent (Future 1, or ‘undersocialized’ concept of knowledge) or skills (Future 2, or
‘oversocialized’ concept of knowledge). They see Future 3 as a better choice, where the
role of ‘powerful knowledge’ is recognized and the importance of a discipline-based cur-
riculum emphasized. It will be interesting to see whether the Finnish geography curricu-
lum will be developed so that a balance between knowledge and skills will be found.
What is worrying is the impact of the ‘success story’ of education on the growing interest
in developing testing procedures; even though tests may enhance geography’s visibility
among other school subjects, there is a danger in putting too much emphasis and faith in
accurately assessing elements of geographical attainment through the application of
simple tests.
 100 S. Tani

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