<b>Privatisation and commercialisation in and of Finnish comprehensive schooling from educational actors’ perspective</b>

As the Global Education Industry (GEI) has pushed into schooling in recent years, it has reshaped educational principles and practices, normalising processes of privatisation and commercialisation in education. These processes represent neoliberal rationalities, or styles of thinking, that emphasise the economic aspects of education and partly challenge principles of equity and equality in education. In Finland, however, there has been little societal or academic discussion about the business of education and learning, also known as edu-business, particularly in the context of comprehensive schooling. This dissertation examines the Finnish comprehensive school environment at a time when edu-business has increased in and around comprehensive schooling. The research focuses on the phenomena of privatisation and commercialisation of education in order to understand how neoliberal rationalities have emerged in Finnish comprehensive schooling context in recent years. The study focuses on analysing how principles and practices based on neoliberal rationalities, especially those related to processes of privatisation and commercialisation, manifest in the views of Finnish educational actors on comprehensive schooling.

The research approach of this dissertation is based on the tradition of policy sociology, which seeks to examine the social and cultural dimensions of political decision-making and its enactment through a sociological lens. The dissertation consists of this summarising report and three substudies exploring the diverse views of Finnish education professionals about edu-business and related processes of privatisation and commercialisation in and around schools. The research begins with an examination of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä's government's education policy concerning com-prehensive schooling, focusing particularly on the response of the Trade Union of Education in Finland (OAJ) towards these policies. The analysis then moves to a case study of the Finnish edu-business accelerator, xEdu, and concludes with a survey study of the views of education professionals working in Finnish comprehensive schools regarding this topic. The dissertation represents the mixed method research tradition: the substudies combine both qualitative (substudies I and II) and quantitative (substudy III) research data and methods

The dissertation shows that, in recent years, processes of privatisation and commercialisation have been embedded into Finnish comprehensive education, partly in a hidden way. This has especially occurred through the digitalisation of education and intensified public-private partnerships. As a result of these developments, the private sector is now participating more extensively and diversely in comprehensive schooling and its practices. The research findings reveal diverse, sometimes conflicting, views among education professionals regarding the extent and nature of the processes of privatisation and commercialisation that should be included in comprehensive education. The research indicates that some Finnish education professionals view education as a commercial commodity, a product or service which may also involve profit-making. These views reflect neoliberal rationalities and their underlying principles, wherein education is primarily perceived as a source of economic profit and a national competitive advantage. Neoliberal views are also shaping new roles for those working in the field of comprehensive education, for instance when it is proposed that Finnish teachers adopt the role of 'teacherpreneurs' who lead change in teaching and learning. On the other hand, the research also demonstrates that a large proportion of Finnish education professionals, especially those working in comprehensive schools, oppose the processes of privatisation and commercialisation when considering the current state and future of Finnish comprehensive schooling

Overall, the dissertation suggests that, with the emergence of edu-business, education is viewed not only through the principles of equity and equality but also increasingly through the lens of neoliberal rationalities and principles. However, Finnish educational professionals still view the core principles of the social democratic state's concept of welfare, such as equity and equality, as primary starting points that should guide comprehensive education in Finland. These rationalities, principles, and practices surrounding education create a somewhat complex value landscape, within which education professionals must navigate when working with comprehensive education. The research suggests the need for more open and transparent discussion around Finnish edu-business and its promotion, taking particularly account of the perspectives of education professionals.