The Finnish education system underwent a major reform at the beginning of the 1970s, when elementary (primary) schools and lower secondary (grammar) schools were transformed into comprehensive schools, thus guaranteeing nine-year basic education with a unified curriculum for the whole cohort of pupils. The new education system was among the universal public services provided by the welfare state, and the education policy emphasised social justice and equality. The reform was initiated in 1972 and was carried out gradually, expanding from the north to the south of the country. (Ahonen 2012.) According to Sirkka Ahonen (2002), consensus prevailed about the course of development in Finland and social justice was one of the most agreed upon goals.

Before the reform, the first level of the Finnish education system was based on the so-called parallel school system including elementary (primary) and lower secondary schools. At age 11, and after 4 years of elementary school, children would either continue with elementary (primary) school (2 more years and then 2–3 years of civic school) or move, after passing the entrance exam, to lower secondary (grammar) school. The continuation of elementary education to civic school entailed vocational training, whereas lower secondary school, which provided the foundation for upper secondary school, was more academically oriented. (Ahonen 2012.) At the beginning of the 1970s, nearly 60% of the cohort of pupils attended lower secondary schools (Kivinen 1988, 295). Since the segregated system had faced growing critique during the 1960s, the reform of the education system was carried out to guarantee equal educational opportunities for all children (Ahonen 2012; Kettunen, Simola, Jalava & Varjo 2012). The reform not only included replacing the old schools with new comprehensive schools but nearly simultaneously, at the beginning of the 1970s, the old seminar-based teacher training was changed to university master’s level education (Jauhiainen & Rinne 2012).

As a result of the reform, the teachers in comprehensive schools were either former elementary (primary) school teachers trained in teacher seminars or former secondary (grammar) school teachers who had attained a master’s degree (Jauhiainen & Rinne 2012). Previous studies (Kiuasmaa 1982; Jauhiainen & Rinne 2012) indicate that not all teachers were immediately stalwart supporters of the new comprehensive school system. There were critical comments from the former secondary school teachers especially. Although they observed that the basic principles of social justice and equality were espoused, the concrete execution of the reform raised some doubts. Previous studies highlight that the former secondary school teachers were concerned about the new comprehensive school system jeopardising their stable and privileged social status. In addition, the academic/subject competence emphasised by the secondary school teachers and general pedagogy/didactics were seen sometimes as contradictory. (Kiuasmaa 1982; Jauhiainen & Rinne 2012.)

This paper focuses on teachers’ memories of the reform of the education system in the 1970s and examines teachers’ reminiscences of this major change. From the micro-level perspectives of the teachers, the reform of the 1970s became part of the teachers’ occupational and life paths. The interest of the paper lies in the personal reminiscences of teachers who were working during that period of transformation. In addition, the paper discusses the possibilities and limitations of personal memories and narratives as historical sources.

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