Finland has lived a centuries long history
under the rule of Sweden. In 1809 the country was transferred from the
rule of Sweden to become a grand duchy of Russian empire. In 1917
Finland became an independent nation between the west and the east.
Although Finland is currently strongly devoted to the west, this has not
always been the case, and the country has to take into account
carefully its historical, cultural, geopolitical and economic roots as
well as the long Eastern border of 1340 kilometers with Russia.

Finland
has several political, economic, cultural and educational features that
are similar to the other four Nordic countries. Defining examples are
the so-called Nordic welfare model linked to the Keynesian economic
model, the participation and equality of opportunities as well as the
principle of equality of education to everyone independently of her or
his social, ethnic, gender and regional origin.

But
Finland is also the late-comer in the Nordic family. It became
industrialized and urbanized much later than its Nordic neighbors and
remained an agrarian country until rather recently. In summary, Finland
has changed quite late but also quite fast. In recent years Finland has
become one of the best educational achievers among OECD countries as
well as also among Nordic counties. One of the reasons may be Finnish
educational politics. So, what happened?

In
this chapter I describe and research in historical and comparative
terms the social and educational paths and developments in Finland,
their ups and downs and why Finland and its history looks like it looks.