The paper studies the changing spatial rationalizations of Finnish education policy with a particular focus on upper secondary education, which has gone through significant reforms in recent decades. The fostering of social and spatial equality has long represented the cornerstone of Finland’s Nordic welfare state education system. The establishment of a widespread network of educational institutions also formed an important means of building social and territorial cohesion in the country. Since the late 1980s, Finnish education policies have turned towards neoliberal ideals, underlining economic rationalizations, individualization and flexibility. Also, education policy has come to play an increasingly important role in the constitution of the knowledge-based economy and embedded spatial restructuring. The paper scrutinizes recent state upper secondary education reforms from the perspective of spatial justice and its scalar dimensions, underlining the consequential juncture of choosing between upper secondary education paths. It is shown how the rationalization of Finnish education policy differentiates places, favouring urban over rural, and produces particular citizen-subjects: while general upper secondary education forms a site for producing skilled and globally minded citizens, vocational education prioritizes the availability of regional workforce and the prevention of youth marginalization. Rather than providing equal opportunities, it is argued that the dual-path Finnish education policy reinforces spatial differentiation and the differential inclusion of citizen-subjects in the knowledge-based economy.

本文研究了芬兰教育政策不断变化的空间合理性，尤其侧重于高中教育，近几十年来，高中教育经历了重大改革。长期以来，促进社会和空间平等一直是芬兰北欧福利国家教育体系的基石。建立广泛的教育机构网络也构成了建立该国社会和领土凝聚力的重要手段。自1980年代后期以来，芬兰的教育政策已转向新自由主义理想，强调了经济合理化，个性化和灵活性。同样，教育政策在基于知识的经济结构和嵌入式空间结构调整中起着越来越重要的作用。本文从空间正义及其标量维度的角度审视了最近的州高中教育改革，强调了在高中教育路径之间进行选择的必然关头。它显示了芬兰教育政策的合理化如何区分地方，偏爱城市而不是乡村，并产生特定的公民主体：而普通高中教育是培养技能娴熟和具有全球意识的公民的场所，职业教育优先考虑区域劳动力的提供和防止青年边缘化。有人认为，芬兰的双轨制教育政策没有提供平等的机会，而是在知识经济中加强了空间分化和公民主体的差异性包容。