Why can Finland do without accountability in education, but Poland cannot?

Abstract

The objective of this article is to apply the theory of social capital (whose principal indicator is confidence) to the specific problem of accountability in education. The evidence suggests that countries with low social capital (such as Poland) and countries of high social capital (such as Finland) have been able to develop successful educational policies, according to international measures. One of the determinants of the Polish success in education reform, which began at the beginning of the previous decade, was the formal installation of a centralized accountability system. Finland, on the other hand, has a system based on confidence and teacher professionalism, where standardized exams do not have a place. The Latin-American countries, among which is Chile, exhibit low performance on international exams. It is only natural, therefore, to look towards the successful experiences, with the objective to learn from them and eventually adopt some of their policies. It is argued that the social background upon which a determined institution is built is fundamental for determining the success or failure of these adaptations. The Latin-American countries, Chile included, have very low levels of social capital, same as Poland, and thus should try to learn from Poland's educational reform. The case of Finland seems less applicable in Latin-American as only countries with high social capital can function on the basis of informal institutions of accountability.