A terrific synthesis by a native Finn, a teacher, a researcher and a policy analyst all rolled up into one excellent writer. Pasi Sahlberg teaches us great deal about what we need to know before engaging in national educational reforms.
Pasi Sahlberg
professor of education policy and research director at the Gonski Institute for Education, University of New South Wale
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Pasi Sahlberg
Biography
Pasi Sahlberg is a professor of education policy and research director at the Gonski Institute for Education, University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He is a Finnish educator and author who has worked as a schoolteacher, teacher-educator, researcher, and policy advisor in Finland and has studied education systems, analyzed education policies, and advised education reforms around the world. He held several leadership and expert posts at the Ministry of Education in Finland. He has worked as Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank, Lead Education Specialist at the European Commission, and visiting professor at Harvard University.
Pasi is recipient of the 2013 Grawemeyer Award in the U.S., the 2014 Robert Owen Award in Scotland, the 2016 Lego Prize in Denmark, and Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Resident Fellowship in 2017 in Italy. He is a member of the International Council of Education Advisors (ICEA) for the Scottish First Minister, a member of the Advisory Board for the Centre for International Education Benchmarking, and advisor to the Mayor of the City of Reykjavik.
He gained working knowledge in over 60 countries around the world and is a former senior education specialist at the World Bank in Washington, DC, lead education specialist at the European Training Foundation, director general of the Ministry of Education in Finland, and a visiting professor at Harvard University.
Pasi's most recent books include "Finnish Lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland" (2015), "FinnishED Leadership: Four big, inexpensive ideas to transform education" (2018), and "Let the Children Play! Why more play helps schools and children thrive" (with William Doyle, 2019).
Pasi Sahlberg
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Current: GERM that kills schools: Pasi Sahlberg at TEDxEast
Time 18:42
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Pasi Sahlberg
Featured Keynote Programs
What have we learned from Finland’s educational success?
Finland’s education system has been explored and used and an admirable model since early 2000s. Often, however, lessons drawn from Finnish education system are misinterpreted through inadequate analysis leading to myths and errors that can be very harmful for policies and practices in other places. This presentation challenges these fake news about Finnish education and outlines the key takeaways from international investigation of high-performing education systems.
Leading with small data
Schools around the world are being prepared to new digital solutions and smart machines that are about to make teaching and learning better and improve all schools. More and better data promises rapid learning gains and decreasing rates of failure through Big Data solutions. But educators should also understand what learning analytics, data mining and Big Data cannot do. This presentation explores the key opportunities and limits of datafication in school education and argues that rather than accepting that more data will make schools better, school leaders need to lead with small data and reclaim the professional wisdom and power of human relationships in every school.
Let the children play
For as long as there have been children, they have learned through play. They have learned by moving, exploring, discovering, practicing and experimenting with life. Play, both intellectual and physical, is critical for the healthy growth and learning of a child. Despite strong medical and scientific consensus for play as a foundation of education, play is an increasingly endangered experience for many of the world’s children. This presentation focuses is on children’s play as an essential element of early childhood education, learning and growing up. The conclusions include practical suggestions to early childhood educators and leaders to strengthen the role of play or otherwise improve work with young children.
How to fix inequality in schools and education systems?
International research has revealed that inequality is perhaps the most prevalent and burning challenge in the United States and around the world. Failure to provide inclusive, fair and equitable education schools and entire education systems are failing millions of kids from learning in school what they would need to pursue happiness and good life. This talk provides wide range of evidence to show the magnitude of inequity and suggest practical advice for making schools and school systems fairer and more equitable for all children.
Pasi Sahlberg
Featured Books
Finnish Lessons 2.0: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland?
by Pasi Sahlberg
Hard Questions on Global Educational Change: Policies, Practices, and the Future of Education
by Pasi Sahlberg
Pasi Sahlberg
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