Description: There has been a great deal of discussion about performance orientation in school in Finland over the last few years. However, conceptually the discussion has been quite fragmented. Different speakers seem to understand school effectiveness in different ways, as competitiveness, cost-cutting, the quality of education and educational outcomes. The subject inspires those taking part in the discussion to passionate arguments both for and against. But for what and against what? The study is an analysis, from the point of view of the philosophy of education, of the meanings that have been attributed to the concept of school effectiveness or performance orientation in school in a public debate that has been going on around the turn of the millennium. The data consisting 257 texts published in the literature or in the media, were collected in 1997-2002. Today's society is characterised by a market-oriented ethos. The neoliberal idea of effectiveness and performance orientation has come to dominate both public debate and political decision-making. It has gained ground also in the field of educational policy and among many people working in education from pre-schools to universities and adult education. School's social production function, the measurability of its outcomes, and the public nature of its operations and activities have been foregrounded. School is caught up in a whirlwind where one strategic change follows another. The language of education has been reduced to the language of economics, politics and training, which does not seem to have room for questions regarding the good human life and the objectives of education. The resulting situation has placed teachers in the midst of conflicting expectations. How can the time and peace and quiet needed for human growth be taken into account in a performance-oriented school? How does the teacher see their role in the everyday reality of school? The study is based on Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics, while the interpreter's pre-understanding is grounded on experiences gained as a parent and a teacher familiar with different school stages. The concept of performance orientation is looked at from Wittgenstein's concept of language game. The analysis specifies the meanings attributed to school effectiveness in the language games of educational policy talk, pedagogical talk, the talk of local politics as represented in the media, and educationally oriented talk. The interpretation is a philosophical analysis of the concept of school effectiveness based on a hermeneutic and critical perspective. The principal concepts used in the study: school effectiveness, performance orientation, education, schooling, general education, Wittgenstein's later philosophy