Quality of School Life in the Finnish Comprehensive School: a comparative view

Abstract

Abstract The article attempts to answer the questions of how Finnish students experience the quality of school life as a whole and how students’ well‐being and social interaction in the Finnish comprehensive school compare with some other countries on the basis of extensive international comparative data. First, the concept ‘quality of school life’ and the self‐assessment instrument are described. Second, the validity of the instrument is explored. Next, the results of the assessment are first discussed from the national and then from the international perspective, comparing the data collected as a sub‐survey of the IEA Study of Reading Literacy in March 1991. The Finnish school is contrasted with Nordic as well as with German and American schools. Finally, using multivariate analyses the various aspects of the quality of Finnish school life are related to each other, to some background variables and to variables describing school achievement and educational aspiration. The findings are discussed from the comparative perspective.