Hannu Simola

Hannu Simola is full Professor of Sociology and Politics of Education at the Department of Education of the University of Helsinki. His research interest has been moving from the socio-historical construction of schooling and teaching towards education policy and politics. Recently he is becoming fascinated with problems of education policy transfer, and how the trans-national meets the national and the local in policy and politics of education. Head of the Research Group focusing on New Policy, Politics and Governance of Education (KUPOLI), he has been a partner of different leading European research projects, and just starts the four year research project (2009-2011), funded by the Academy of Finland, Parents and School Choice – Family Strategies, Segregation and Local School Policies in Finnish Comprehensive Schooling. His most recent publications include: ”The Finnish Miracle of PISA: Historical and Sociological Remarks on Teaching and Teacher Education” (Comparative Education, 41: 455–470), ”Researching the Political Effects of Quality Assurance and Evaluation (QAE) in education – Reflections on Some Comparative Issues in Sociology and the Politics of Education in the Audit Society” (with R. Rinne in M. A. Pereyra, ed., Changing Knowledge and Education. Communities, Mobilities and New Policies in Global Societies. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 2008), and ”Trans-national Technologies, National Techniques and Local Mechanisms in Finnish University Governance: A Journey Through the Layers” (Nordic Educational Research 2009 29: 6-17).

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