Browsing by Author "Lampinen, Marina"

The reform of vocational education took effect in the beginning of 2018. New legislation extensively reformed the field of vocational education in Finland. The aim of this study is to explore this reform from the worker-citizenship’s perspective. Former studies have shown that there is a clear link between worker-citizenship and vocational education. This link has had an effect both on the curriculum and the expectations for students and the education system. In the beginning of the study I examine the dimensions of the societal debate that raise the concept of worker-citizen to the center of vocational education. My research questions are: What kind of claims for worker-citizenship can be identified in the reform? How are these claims justified? My data consists of 1) the government proposal for the new legislation and 2) the speech of the Minister of Education in the Parliament. My study method is a critical discourse analysis combined with Carol Bacchi’s idea of “What’s the problem represented to be?” My key findings are that the claims for worker-citizenship are strongly present in the reform. I identified two discourses that illustrate these claims. I call these discourses “the claim of flexibility and agility” and “the expectation of active and individual customership”. These claims find their justification from the idea of inevitable change. This change and adjusting to its needs seem to be the primary task of the worker-citizen. My findings also localize vocational education reform as a part of the neoliberal development that has been gaining ground in Finnish education politics.