New book: In Teachers We Trust
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…
read moreDoes the pandemic help us make education more equitable?
Everybody agrees that the COVID-19 pandemic is a big disruption in education. It questions many traditional rules and structures that have organised the work of schools in the past. But not everyone agrees that the pandemic will eventually change schools. In this article, I narrow the scope of that question and ask whether the pandemic helps us fix some of the pre-existing inequalities that we were unable, and often unwilling,…
read more“Let the Children Play” goes global
It is 12 months since the book William Doyle and I wrote was published in the United States. It has been a hard-to-get item in much of the rest of the world due to publishing rights and more recently because the restrictions caused by the pandemic. The book has received positive reviews in the American Journal…
read moreComing soon: Finnish Lessons 3.0
Finnish Lessons (Teachers College Press) was published first time in November 2011. The expectations were not high but there was considerable interest in the United States and especially in Canada to read more about Finnish education system and what might be the reasons for its unexpected performance so far. Global launch of Finnish Lessons took place in Edmonton, Canada, where then-Minister of Education, Hon. Dave Hancock…
read moreConversation with ABC’s Sarah Kanowski
On June 4th I sat down with ABC’s Sarah Kanowski to have a conversation about my work, life and perspectives to education in Australia and Finland. This is the first public interview that the story went to look at my very early years as a schoolboy, adolescent and student and how all these often unexpected and planned life events took me to Sydney, Australia today. It is not often that one can have a conversation like…
read morePhase 1 results of GUD Australia released
The Gonski Institute for Institute (UNSW) has partnered with Harvard Medical School, the University of Alberta and Alberta Teachers Association on the international research project called Growing Up Digital in Australia. The project has the potential to be the world’s largest study of technology, learning and health impacts on K–12 students. Australia is the first country after Canada being partnered in this three-phase…
read moreThe Sydney Opera House and the Gonski Institute Conversations
THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE AND THE UNSW GONSKI INSTITUTE FOR EDUCATION PRESENT PASI SAHLBERG in a series of conversations with Eddie Woo and Amie Albrecht, Maggie MacDonnell, Phil McRae and Dr. Michael Rich “If we all think the same way, none of us probably thinks very much.” Pasi…
read moreFestival of Dangerous Ideas 2020 postponed
I was supposed to speak at the 2020 Festival of Dangerous Ideas about Manufacturing Inequality in education. Now that this and many other great events is cancelled, I obviously won’t. I hope this great event will be organised as soon as the situation allows. This is what it was supposed to be about. The latest PISA measures…
read moreFacts and myths about Finnish schools
There are many false interpretations and incorrect conceptions about school education in Finland. In recently published policy brief titled “Facts and Myths About Finnish Schools” by Center for Strategic Education (CSE) in Melbourne I bust some of the most common myths about Finland’s schools.
read moreLet the Children Play now available worldwide
Let the Children Play was released as an English edition in North America in August 2019. Now it is available through Oxford University Press outlets in other English speaking countries around the world. It may take a moment before books are shipped to the distributors and stores. While waiting, here is a short synapsis of our book. Play is how children explore, discover, fail, succeed, socialize, and flourish. It is…
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