The Reform of Vocational Education and Training in Finland: Insights from Twitter

Abstract

This paper aims to analyse and describe relationships and communication in Twitter in relation to vocational education and training reform in Finland. Data were collected during the early implementation phase of the reform from January 2018 to early June 2018. The data included 2400 tweets containing the hashtag #amisreformi (VET reform). Social network analysis was utilised to study the network and communities. The main themes of the tweets were analysed using thematic analysis, and automated sentiment analysis was used to examine the tones of the tweets and public opinion. The study showed that the official actors were central influencers in the network that lacked connectivity. Overall, the sentiment analysis showed favourable opinions towards the reform. The main themes of the tweets were related to cooperation between education and work, a new kind of teachership and learning and skills.