The book, called Educating for democracy in England and Finland: Principles and Culture, has been edited by Dr Andrea Raiker from the University’s Institute for Research in Education (IREd) and Dr Matti Rautiainen from the University of Jyväskylä.

“I met Dr Rautiainen whilst attending a conference on behalf of the Centre for Learning Excellence. Our mutual interest in the cultural impact on education prompted a number of joint ventures, including me spending a month in Finland researching Finnish Teaching Training Schools linked to universities,” said Dr Raiker.

“We were aware of the differences between our two systems and researched reasons behind Finnish children doing so well in international tests, whilst English children were falling behind, despite greater government control over the English education system.

“We concluded that the role of government and the nature of the education system they supported was a contributory factor. This led us to consider the democratic principles underpinning relationships in education, particularly in teacher education.”

Dr Rautiainen said: “It is important to know and understand reasons behind our school systems, but as important is to make pilots and interventions for the benefit of tomorrow. In this sense, education for democracy is an eternal process, where we could work stronger together, across nations, both in the development of education and research.”

Dr Raiker and Dr Rautiainen hosted seminars that allowed student teachers, school teachers and teacher educators from Bedfordshire to connect directly with those at Jyväskylä and share ideas of democracy and education.

“Our research revealed that Finnish students have a more future-orientated and reflective approach towards their profession, whilst English students appear to focus only on the present, and conceptions of professionalism are more taken for granted,” said Dr Raiker.

“Fundamental to educating for democracy is the encouragement of curiosity and the development of clear communication and collaboration across communities, so we hope our readers will embed these concepts in their practice, whatever their discipline.”