The seminar was held on 14 December Quality in Higher Education Perspectives from Sweden and Finland, on Hanaholmen outside Helsinki in Finland.
The seminar was arranged by SFS in collaboration with Hanaholmen – cultural center for Sweden and Finland, the Finnish organization for university students, SYL, and the Finnish Association for University of Applied Sciences Students, samok.
SFS has continuous contact with SYL and Samok on common issues, both regarding education policy at the national level and as members of the European student organization ESU.
The theme of the seminar day was quality in higher education. It is a question of constant relevance for SFS when the average teacher-led time for Swedish students drops year by year and it becomes more difficult for university teachers to meet the different needs of the student group. At the same time, quality is a multifaceted concept with several dimensions, something that we tried to capture with the different themes of the seminar day.
For student policy at the national level, it can be extra valuable to have a comparative perspective on our neighboring countries. As we share many similarities in the social systems, and have similar principles and goals with higher education, it can be easier to isolate which reforms or initiatives can have an effect and what we can learn from each other. During the day, to give an example, we learned that the Finnish resource allocation is based solely on performance, i.e. how many students graduate, and the Finnish organizations were inspired to hear that it is one of several factors in the Swedish the resource allocation. On our side, we had to take with us lessons about the importance of teacher-led time in the Finnish quality assurance system, among many other things.
During the day, the following topics were covered in the panels:
- Resources in higher education
- Research funding
- Students' prior knowledge and higher education pedagogy
- The European University Alliances (EUI) and quality assurance
- Internationalization and student mobility.
The seminar was broadcast live and recorded, and can be viewed afterwards here.
Hanaholmen's CEO Gunvor Kronman made the opening speech and emphasized the importance of knowledge and experience exchange between Finland and Sweden.
The student organizations also greeted and gave opening speeches. Pictured are Lotta Leinonen, chairman of SYL, Klara Dryselius, vice chairman of SFS and Jonas Soukkio, chairman of Samok.
Dashboard 1: What is the price of a quality higher education? - Funding models and incentives in Sweden and Finland
Klara Dryselius, vice president SFS, Aleksi Niemi, political secretary for Samok and via link professor of administrative studies at Tampere University participated. Signed moderated.
Dashboard 2: Effects of research funding on quality and research-based higher education
This included Sanna Wolk, chairperson of the Confederation of Swedish University Teachers and Researchers, SULF, Topias Tolonen, chairman of the SFS doctoral committee, DK, and Johanna Moisio, operations manager of the union for university teachers and researchers in Finland. Janne Wikström, project manager for HanaAcademy at Hanaholmen, moderated.
3 Panel: Cross-border quality assurance – Emerging quality assurance in the European University Alliances
Yuri Birjulin, political secretary SYL, Helka Luodelahti from the National Center for Educational Evaluation in Finland (Karvi), Ida Flemmich, board member of ESU and Maria Wikse, UKÄ, participated in the panel. Anti Regelin, board member of SYL moderated.
Dashboard 4: Educate for higher education – Students' learning and prior knowledge in Sweden and Finland
Klara Dryselius, SFS, Sonja Hyrkko, study supervisor participated in the panel Deacon, Nikolas Bursiewicz, political secretary SYL, Martin Stigmar, professor of higher education pedagogy Malmö University and Auli Toom, professor of higher education pedagogy University of Helsinki. Moderated made signed.
Dashboard 5: Internationalization of education in a new landscape – What is the role of student mobility?
Panelists were Emma Isoherranen, student, Mari Pohjola, program manager at the Finnish higher education authority OPH, Ida Flemmich, board member ESU, Adel Rizvi, board member Samok and Némo Chentre, member of the SFS international committee Komit. Janne Wikström moderated.
