Pasi Sahlberg
About Pasi Sahlberg
Speech topics
Education Reimagined: Four Ideas for the Future We Could Start Now
There is no better time to think harder about what future school could be than right now. The global health pandemic paused many earlier efforts to rethink the future by disrupting education as we knew it before 2020.
Technology, wellbeing and the role of schools in students’ learning are some of those issues that are at the heart of new considerations for schools of tomorrow. In many ways we need to think again how we think about the future. In this keynote, Sahlberg argues that we need to have good common understanding of the state of education today to be able to reimagine education for the future. Based on that big picture he suggests four ‘moon shot’ ideas that could be considered today. Every crisis leaves new opportunities. In reimaging education those opportunities should be utilized without delay.
Sahlberg's presentation helps participants to:
- understand some of the key challenges and opportunities in today’s education;
- become aware of the educational lessons learned from the past two years;
- realize how American education compares to education in some other countries; and
- reimagine education for the future by relying on contemporary knowledge and thought-leadership
Speaking videos
Books by Pasi Sahlberg
“In Teachers We Trust: The Finnish Way to World-Class Schools” (2021)
Seven key principles from Finland for building a culture of trust in schools around the world. In the spring of 2018, thousands of teachers across the United States―in states like Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Arizona―walked off their jobs while calling for higher wages and better working conditions. Ultimately, these American educators trumpeted a simple request: treat us like professionals. Teachers in many other countries feel the same way as their US counterparts. In Teachers We Trust presents a compelling vision, offering practical ideas for educators and school leaders wishing to develop teacher-powered education systems. It reveals why teachers in Finland hold high status, and shows what the country’s trust- based school system looks like in action. Pasi Sahlberg and Timothy D. Walker suggest seven key principles for building a culture of trust in schools, from offering clinical training for future teachers to encouraging student agency to fostering a collaborative professionalism among educators. In Teachers We Trust is essential reading for all teachers, administrators, and parents who entrust their children to American schools.
“Finnish Lessons 3.0: What Can the World Learn from Educational Change in Finland?” (2021)
The first two editions of Finnish Lessons described how a small Nordic nation built a school system that provided access to a world-class education for all of its young people. Now available in 30 languages, this Grawemeyer Award–winning book continues to influence education policies and school practices around the globe. In this Third Edition, Pasi Sahlberg updates the story of how Finland sustains its exemplary educational performance, including how it responds to turbulent changes at home and throughout the world. Finnish Lessons 3.0 includes important new material about: teachers and teacher education teaching children with special needs the role of play in high-quality education Finland’s responses to growing inequality, slipping international test scores, and the global pandemic In the midst of national education reforms and global changes driven by public health crises and economic turbulence, Finnish Lessons 3.0 encourages teachers, students, and policymakers to think big and bold when they look for new solutions to improving their schools and entire education systems. This edition provides an even deeper dive into the present world of education in Finland in light of the most recent education statistics and international data, including PISA 2018, TIMSS 2016, and TALIS 2018.
“Let the Children Play: How More Play Will Save Our Schools and Help Children Thrive” (2019)
Play is how children explore, discover, fail, succeed, socialize, and flourish. It is a fundamental element of the human condition. It's the key to giving schoolchildren skills they need to succeed--skills like creativity, innovation, teamwork, focus, resilience, expressiveness, empathy, concentration, and executive function. Expert organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Centers for Disease Control agree that play and physical activity are critical foundations of childhood, academics, and future skills--yet politicians are destroying play in childhood education and replacing it with standardization, stress, and forcible physical restraint, which are damaging to learning and corrosive to society. But this is not the case for hundreds of thousands of lucky children who are enjoying the power of play in schools in China, Texas, Oklahoma, Long Island, Scotland, and in the entire nation of Finland. In Let the Children Play, Pasi Sahlberg, Finnish educator and scholar, and Fulbright Scholar William Doyle make the case for helping schools and children thrive by unleashing the power of play and giving more physical and intellectual play to all schoolchildren. In the course of writing this book, Sahlberg and Doyle traveled worldwide, reviewed over 700 research studies, and conducted interviews with over 50 of the world's leading authorities on education. Most intriguingly, Let the Children Play provides a glimpse into the play-based experiments ongoing now all over the world, from rural China, Singapore, and Scotland to North Texas and Oklahoma, as well as the promising results of these bold new approaches. Readers will find the book to be both a call for change and a guide for making that change happen in their own communities.
“FinnishED Leadership: Four Big, Inexpensive Ideas to Transform Education (Corwin Impact Leadership Series)” (2017)
Improve overall school performance from start to Finnish! Exploring and analyzing how Finland consistently places at or near the top of international student assessments, especially PISA, has become popular in recent years. Pasi Sahlberg now explores this phenomenon from the perspective of the educational leader. With the culture of general and educational leadership in Finland as a backdrop, this resource is packed with strategies and tools that travel well. Rooted in four main ideas, this book covers topics such as: Enhancing equity is an essential component of success Physical activity is crucial for substantial learning Embedding ideas into your current leadership practices takes perseverance
“Empowered Educators in Finland: How High-Performing Systems Shape Teaching Quality” (2017)
BEST PRACTICES FROM FINLAND'S HIGH-PERFORMING SCHOOL SYSTEM Empowered Educators in Finland is one volume in a series that explores how high- performing educational systems from around the world achieve strong results. The anchor book, Empowered Educators: How High-Performing Systems Shape Teaching Quality Around the World, is written by Linda Darling-Hammond and colleagues, with contributions from the authors of this volume. Empowered Educators in Finland explores Finland's unique approach to teacher training that, combined with a national focus on equity and children, has led to strong student results on the OECD PISA and other international tests. Since the 1930s, every child born in Finland has been provided with a box of clothes, sheets, toys, diapers, and even a small mattress; the box itself can―and often does―serve as a simple crib. Intended to ensure that all Finnish children begin with the essentials, this box also serves as a clear symbol of the nation's emphasis on equality and opportunity. This book describes how what is commonly thought to be "just a part of Finnish culture" is actually the result of strong support for educators at all levels of government. From the Ministry of Education and Culture, to the Finnish National Board of Education, to regional and local policy makers, Finland has made deliberate choices to create and support a strong educational system. While there are unique political, cultural, and societal features of Finland―as with all countries―there are many lessons to be learned and practical ideas to be implemented across the world.
At a glancePasi Sahlberg
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