Government Key Projects (GKP) as a Tool for the Development of Learning and Teaching in Finnish Universities

Riitta Pyykkö, Minna Vuorio-Lehti, Birgitta Vuorinen

Abstract


Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s Government Program for 2016–2019 was organized into five strategic priorities (Employment and competitiveness, Knowledge and education, Wellbeing and healthcare, Bioeconomy and clean technologies, and Digitalization and deregulation) which were implemented in the form of so-called Government Key projects (GKP). In this paper, we will discuss the strategic priority Knowledge and education and how it was materialized in the form of the Government Key Project. We approach the strategic priority from three different angles: the national higher education policy and state steering of higher education, the university education leadership, and the implementation of one concrete project. We will first explore the background and goals of the Government’s decision, the application process of Government´s Key Projects, and the role of the Vice-rectors’ forum in the coordination of the application process. The second part of the paper will concentrate on the implementation of the project Building up the pedagogical and digital teaching and guidance competence of higher education institution staff; the organization of the project, its leadership, allocation of resources, work of the Steering Group, progress of the sub-projects and steering, and follow-up of the planned actions. Finally, we will evaluate the results of the project, on the one hand, in the framework of the goals of the strategic funding for the key projects, and, on the other, in the framework of the theory of project leading/management.

https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.18.13.8


Keywords


Government Key Project; development of learning; development of teaching; higher education policy; knowledge and education

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References


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