ABSTRACT
In domains like math and science, Finnish performance was near the international average in the first and second rounds of International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Outcomes (IEA) mathematics and science studies in the 1970s and 1980s. This chapter describes how market forces and globalization have shaped the Finnish education system. In order to understand education or any other aspect of Finland requires studying how social, cultural, political, and economic aspects have been interconnected to one another and to education. The serious economic recession of the early 1990s caused some major shifts in Finland, leading to exceptional economic growth. Before Finland's success on PISA, there was very little interest outside Finland in the Finnish education system. The idea of the Global Education Reform Movement, or GERM, evolved from the international exchange of education policies and 'best practices' between education systems.
