INSIGHTS INTO  FINNISH EDUCATION

INTRODUCTION TO FINNISH EDUCATION

Organized as part of SDG4 2023

Heidi Layne

Heidi Layne is a senior lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä, Faculty of Education and Psychology. Heidi Layne has gained her PhD in the Philosophy of Education from the University of Helsinki, Finland. Her background is in global and sustainable education, specifically cultural and social sustainability, the welfare of children and families, critical intercultural and multilingual education, racism and antiracism in education, inquiry, and developing participatory qualitative research methods. She leads Education for Emergencies Research, Chairs the GloseNet network, as well as the annual SDG4 seminar, and is currently involved in other research initiatives, both in Singapore and in Finland on education transitions (for marginalized groups). As a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable and Global Education at the University of Jyväskylä, she supervises master’s level studies on global and sustainable education and co-leads a Research group on critical approaches to sustainability, global education, and development. 

In this talk, the speaker gives an introduction to Finnish education, in connection with the SDG4 seminar celebrating 160 Years of Teacher Education in Finland. 

THE POSITIVE RECEPTION OF FINNISH EDUCATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Organized as part of the GloseNet lecture series

Ratih D.Adiputri

Ratih is a university lecturer (international development studies) and a senior researcher/postdoc level (history, political science, education) at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her research interests include politics in Southeast Asia and sustainability issues. She is also the author of two books - 'SISTEM PENDIDIKAN FINLANDIA: Belajar Cara Belajar' [Finnish Education System - Learning How to Learn] and 'SISTEM PENDIDIKAN FINLANDIA: Belajar Cara Mengajar' [Finnish Education System - Learning How to Teach].

Finnish education is well-received in Southeast Asia, notably in the biggest country in the region, Indonesia. Thanks to this situation, Ratih’s 2 books about the Finnish education system are positively reviewed, mostly by teachers in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam. The presentation questions: Is this phenomenon highlighted what the post-colonial view that everything from the Western hemisphere is good? Is learning from the “West” sustainable for local education? or is this part of global education? 

FINLAND'S FAMOUS EDUCATION SYSTEM: UNVARNISHED INSIGHTS INTO FINNISH SCHOOLING

Organized as part of SDG4 2023

Taina Saarinen

Taina is a higher education researcher, currently working as a research professor and Director at the University of Jyväskylä Finnish Institute for Educational Research. She is interested in higher education in society, particularly equity issues in higher education and higher education institutions. She has also served in various expert positions regarding language policy, language education policy, and higher education policy. In 2023-2024, she led the Equality, equity, and accessibility development group of the University of Jyväskylä. She studies the internationalization of higher education and higher education policy from the perspective of language. What political, ideological, or societal theme do we talk about when we think we talk about language? What are the spaces and times where and when language makes societal structures visible? Whose language is important, whose is invisible, and what does that say about our higher education? How can we theoretisize higher education with language? Recently, she has moved towards questions of academic well-being and academic work in crisis. 

Johanna Ennser-Kananen

Johanna is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Jyväskylä.

Mira Kalalahti

Mira is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Jyväskylä. She is a docent of educational sociology at the University of Helsinki. She researches and writes about issues of equality, agency, and guidance in education and training. She is an educational sociologist by training and studies guidance as part of a wider socio-educational political framework. Her research areas are the school life of student guidance and guidance as part of the life course of young people, the practices and policies of guidance in educational institutions, and the social ties of education. Her special research target is the possibilities of inequality and uniformity that appear in supervision interaction and group supervision.  

Niina Mykrä

Niina is a postdoctoral researcher of environmental and sustainability education at the Finnish Institution for Educational Research, in the Eco-social Sustainability and Education (ESSE) team. Her main research interest is the possibility of change as a systemic, multilevel phenomenon on different educational levels, and a part of lifelong learning. 

Kara Ronai

Kara Ronai is a University Teacher in Sustainability and Global Education at the Faculty of Education and Psychology. Her background is situated in applied linguistics, English language education, and international education, which have led her to a growing interest in global education. Her current tasks include the coordination of GloseNet, along with teaching and coordination in the faculty’s Master of Educational Sciences (EDUMA) programme. She is also a doctoral researcher at the University of Jyväskylä’s Centre for Applied Language Studies, and her research focuses on cultural stereotyping in relation to plagiarism perceptions, policies, and pedagogy in higher education.

As editors of the book ' Finland's Famous Education System', the panelists share their responses to the over-excited and misleading views of Finnish education in this discussion. The session is moderated by Kara Ronai.

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COVID Responses in finland

Organized as part of the E4E lecture series

Mika Risku

Mika Risku is the Head of the Institute of Educational Leadership, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. He has been with the Institute since 1996 and has acted as its head since 2013. The Institute is a full-service house with comprehensive research, education, and social interaction in educational leadership domestically and internationally. Mika Risku’s recent main interests lie in positioning and conceptualizing the phenomenon of leadership in the field of education. This particularly involves educational policy and governance as well as developing educational organizations and leaders.