The presentation investigates the intrinsic logics of the (learning) outcome orientation in vocational education (VE) through a linguistic analysis. The paper focuses on the Finnish term osaaminen, which is commonly used as an equivalent to competency, skill, and (learning) outcome. Notably, osaaminen does not denote learning, nor does it collocate with learning in Finnish VE policy. This explains the brackets in (learning) outcome. The ambiguity surrounding osaaminen illustrates a broader tension in its association with education.

Theoretically, the paper draws on the sociology of education, particularly research on competency-based training (CBT) and policy transfer in VE. The use of skill and competency as central descriptors of CBT in VE originates in the Anglophone world but has travelled successfully across contexts (Wheelahan, Moodie & Doughney 2022). Over recent decades, these (learning) outcome models have been adopted in EU and member state policies, thereby framing VE through concepts such as competency (Lassnig 2012). Consequently, Finnish VE is strongly oriented towards (learning) outcomes through the application of CBT (Rosenblad 2023; Pietilä 2025).

However, although EU policy aims for coherence through the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), national qualifications frameworks (NQFs) remain embedded in national contexts. During policy transfer, finding satisfactory equivalents for key concepts has proven difficult, and in some cases unsuccessful, due to cultural, historical, and institutional differences in how VE and central concepts are understood (e.g., Clarke & Winch 2006; Brockmann et al. 2008).

In national policies, the (learning) outcome materialises as sequences of letters—that is, words in national languages. This process is far from merely technical; it has significant implications for educational policy thinking. Nevertheless, we possess limited knowledge of how these translated concepts function in national contexts. This paper therefore examines osaaminen as one linguistic vehicle used in Finnish policy transfer. It addresses the following question: How, why, and in what ways does osaaminen operate in the VE policy context?

The analysis draws on linguistics (e.g., Langacker 1987) and adopts the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis in assuming that linguistic units and entire language systems provide distinctive frames for perceiving phenomena. The paper thus focuses on osaaminen to offer a descriptive analysis of its grammatical structure and semantics. In addition, the study employs linguistic discourse-analytic approaches (e.g., Blommaert 2007) to examine the pragmatics of osaaminen within Finnish VE policy discourse (such as terminologies and qualification requirements).

The limited accessibility of the meanings of policy concepts in national languages is a longstanding issue (see Winch 2015). This paper therefore offers an example of how linguistic analysis can serve educational policy analysis, aiming to open a gateway to the local outcome-oriented rationale in VET for both national and international scholars.

Blommaert, J. (2007). Sociolinguistics and Discourse Analysis: Orders of Indexicality and Polycentricity. Journal of Multicultural Discourses, 2(2), 115–130. Brockmann, M., Clarke, L., Méhaut, P., & Winch, C. (2008). Competence-Based Vocational Education and Training (VET): the Cases of England and France in a European Perspective. Vocations and Learning, 1(3), 227–244. Clarke, L. & Winch, C. (2006). A European skills framework?— but what are skills? Anglo‐Saxon versus German concepts, Journal of Education and Work, 19:3, 255-269. Langacker, Ronald W. (1987). Foundations of Cognitive Grammar. Volume I: Theoretical prerequisites. Stanford University Press. Lassnigg, L. (2012). ‘Lost in translation’: learning outcomes and the governance of education. Journal of Education and Work, 25(3), 299-330. Pietilä, P. (2025). Äidinkielen luokka ja sukupuoli: etnografinen tutkimus äidinkielen/suomen opinnoista osaamisperusteisessa tekniikan alan ammatillisessa perustutkintokoulutuksessa. Rosenblad, N. (2023). Knowledge and agency in vocational education: An analysis of competency-based training and student counselling utilising a lens of critical realism to cultural historical activity theory. Wheelahan, L., Moodie, G., & Doughney, J. (2022). Challenging the skills fetish. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 43(3), 475-494.