Year 2000 and Transition in the University in Finland – Voice of the Press

Author(s):

Anita Valkonen(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

22. Research in Higher Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

22 SES 02 B, Policy, Management and Governance in Higher Education

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-02

15:15-16:45

Room:

B021 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Jussi Välimaa

Contribution

This study discusses university education and administrative reforms in recent years from perspective of the media. According to Ministry of Education a high standard of education, the high quality and free education are the basis for the Finnish welfare society. The aim is to secure the place of residence, language and economic status equal access to quality education from early childhood to university. The goal is education and training and raising the level of knowledge so that the education approaches world-class education. (Ministry of Education 2009.)

Research questions are in my study: How the transition in the university is percieved by discourses of the press? How newspapers are written by the reform? What has been written about top university? The press in my research means the daily newspaper Helsingin Sanomat. The newspapers are also an important part of information technology, because they also publish internet sites. They are also presenting our mainstream media. I take a closer look at newspaper perspective. In my study I am focusing on editorial, other writings in the newspapers and opinions. The discussions of transitions in university are versatile. My main theme is the top university. I also study educational system equity.

Discourse analysis (DA) or discourse studies, is a general term for a number of approaches to analyzing written, spoken or signed language use. My point of view is Michel Foucaut´s idea of discourse analysis. Foucault's concern is not to produce a general theory of discourse. Discourse analysis have constructionist approaches in constructs, but in my study I prefer more use the idea of field theory of Pierre Bourdieu. His theory of different kind of fields is dynamics of power relations in social life. The field means a social arena in which people maneuver and struggle in pursuit of desirable resources. In the field is a setting in which agents and their social positions are located. In this social and hierarchical order there are different kind of rules for example between power and class relations. (Bourdieu 1985.)

The top university plan had a flying start in the leading Finnish newspaper. The top university ideal might have more than powerful economic actors, like hegemonic framing and would be also national interest. In very many articles repeated to implement the top university urgently. (Ridell 2008, 298.)

Generally thinking the transition is as well as an opportunity but also a threat. In many articles are written ongoing transition is a threat Humboldian model vanishing in university world. European Union is very powerful to all countries in Europe concerning the higher education.

The university is changing since the 1990s and it had features of the business world, such as business practices and values. Finnish universities are currently in the national and international one of the best in competition. (Koivula, Rinne and Niukko 2009.)

If we believe in life-long learning, then the education is a value in itself. Many students have found their own place if you own fragmented labor market or consumption-based leisure time does not exist. It is in the name of economic productivity, a term WIN-WIN scenario (win-win), and the workers are able to certain skills and business and professional life in general take advantage of each other. It provides economic benefits, for example, investment in education, which is seen to lead to improve in productivity and prosperity for the benefit of both the individual and the possible future creation. The problem may be that the high level of expertise in the formation does not need to improve all the skills (or training).(Brown, Lauder and Ashton 2011, 12.)

Method

Historically speaking the press can be considered as one of the fourth powers. These other three are the legislative, executive and judicial powers. Today it can be argued that the media and the newspapers have a lot of power. Users of power are various and they have influence each other and they are emerged. (Kivistö 2007.) My aim is research the powers between educational policies and media. Readers are in this study recipients. Postmodernism is the movement of modernism and the following reaction of postmodernism are defined by a set of perspectives. Postmodernism is a reaction to the assumed certainty of scientific, or objective, efforts to explain reality. Discourse analysis (DA) or discourse studies, is a general term for a number of approaches to analyzing written, spoken or signed language use. My point of view is Michel Foucaut´s idea of discourse analysis. Foucault's concern is not to produce a general theory of discourse. Discourse analysis have constructionist approaches in constructs. scientific knowledge is a form of power structure in which certain individuals are denied the opportunity to know the truth. The aim is to give voice to local, oppressed communication forms and use them in scientific knowledge and power in the relationship between the detection and criticism. This theory is Foucault's genealogical study to call the antithes. (Foucault 1980.)Discourse analysis is concerned with a range of topics which are often close conventional social science concerns like social control or like this research media reality. In a way DA has different kind of approaches to social science. According Foucault is how some discourses have shaped and created meaning systems that have gained the status and currency of 'truth', and dominate how we define and organize both ourselves and our social world. (Jokinen etc. 1999.) Globalization, Informationalization, and Social Movements and Informationalization, enacted by networks of wealth, technology, and power, are transforming all over world. They are enhancing our productive capacity, cultural creativity, and also communication potential. At the same time the system are disfranchising societies. (Castells 2009, 72.)

Expected Outcomes

In my study the book is divided into sections: top university, competitiveness (efficiency, quality), purpose of the University and the last section is equity. Discourse can be described as different ways to analyze and describe the reality. I found three point of views of power, consumerism and the position. Power increases when consuming rising and when location and status are favorable. One of my focus is top university written articles. The top university has also used the name innovation university and super university. Risksociety describe a society that is organized in response to risk. Globalization in its literal sense is the process of transformation of local or regional phenomena into global ones. It can be described as a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together. (Beck 1999.) In my study education is priviledge for lifelong learning. But it has also disadvantages like Beck´s theory of risks presents. Transmodern times are hopefully coming and collective values are valid in the future. Market forces would determine policy, science and culture. Is this system equity and create equal opportunities in the future?To broaden the picture the European context is important, after Finland were a member in 1995. Globally we have market-oriented economic values like in EU. Finland is also a dutiful EU team player as regards harmonising the structures of higher education, such as implementation of the Bologna Process (Ridell 2008, 290). The significance of media power is increased by the fact that the majority of people form their views and opinions of the social world largely on the basis of media representations, especially those concerning issues from which they lack first-hand experience (Ridell 2008, 291).

References

Beck, Ulrich (1999) What Is Globalization?. Cambridge: Polity Press. Bourdieu, Pierre (1985)Sosiologian kysymyksiä. Alkuteos: Questions de sociologie, 1980. Suom. J. P. Roos. Tampere: Vastapaino. Brown, P., Lauder, H. and Ashton, D. (2011) The Global Auction: The Broken Promises of Education, Jobs and Incomes. New York: Oxford University Press. Castells, Manuel (2009) Power of Identity : Economy, Society, and Culture (2nd Edition) . Wiley-Blackwell, USA. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/uniturku/Doc?id=10355291&ppg=52 Foucault, Michel (1980) Power/Knowledge – Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977, Edited by Colin Gordon. Harvester Wheatsheaf. Jokinen Arja, Juhila Kirsi & Suoninen Eero (1999) Diskurssianalyysi liikkeessä. Vuorovaikutus, toimijuus ja kulttuuri empiirisen tutkimuksen haasteina. [Discourse Analysis in Action]. Tampere: Vastapaino. Kivistö, Kalevi (2007) Journalismi.fi. Journalism. Read 30.7.07 Koivula, Jenni, Rinne, Risto ja Niukko, Sanna (2009) Yliopistot yrityksinä? Merkkejä ja merkityksiä Suomessa ja Euroopassa.[ University as a business company]. Kasvatus 1, 7-27. Ministry of Education (2009) University reform 20.3.2009. Ridell, Seija (2008) Top university – downhill for humanties? Policing the Future of Higher Education in the Finnish Mainstream Media. European Educational Research Journal vol.7 (3)

Author Information

Anita Valkonen (presenting / submitting)

University of Turku, Finland

Turku

Search the ECER Programme

Search for keywords and phrases in "Text Search"
Restrict in which part of the abstracts to search in "Where to search"
Search for authors and in the respective field.
For planning your conference attendance you may want to use the conference app, which will be issued some weeks before the conference
If you are a session chair, best look up your chairing duties in the conference system (Conftool) or the app.