Browsing by Author "Musturi, Erika"

This master’s thesis examines the Finnish education brand constructed through the marketing communications of Finnish education export companies, and the discursive strategies that companies use to legitimize their activities. The aim of the thesis is to examine, what are the attractiveness factors and justifications that Finnish education export companies rely on in marketing and branding their education in the early 2020s. Since topping the PISA-rankings in the early 2000s, Finland has gained international recognition for its education system. Since then, the Finnish government has strategically tried to capitalize the “PISA-miracle” and turn education into a new significant area for export. However, in the current context, excessive reliance on PISA success can be seen as problematic, as Finland's PISA results have been on a downward trend for a long time. Therefore, it is relevant to examine what other factors have become essential components of the Finnish education brand and how companies are adapting to a scenario where PISA-success cannot be relied upon as heavily as before. The research data was collected from the websites of 11 Finnish education export companies, operating in the field of primary education, as well as from the web page of the Education Finland project, coordinated by the Finnish National Agency for Education, aimed at boosting Finnish education exports. The analysis was conducted in two parts: firstly, a thematic analysis was done to identify the themes describing the Finnish education brand. Secondly, using critical discourse analysis, the data were examined to identify the discourses that legitimize education exports, and these discourses were then analysed in relation to Van Leeuwen's (2007) theory of legitimation strategies. The thematic analysis identified four main themes of the Finnish education brand: well-being, equality, creative thinking, and expertise. The legitimation of the Finnish education export was built around the discourses of societal development, evolving expertise, and professionalism. Hence, Finnish educational competence was presented as a tool for social development, raising the level of competence and responding to current and future needs of competence.