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Professor of Education, Southern Cross University

Pasi Sahlberg is Professor of Education at the Southern Cross University in Lismore, NSW, and visiting professorial fellow at the UNSW Business School in Sydney. He is experienced in classroom teaching, training teachers and leaders, coaching schools and advising education policy-makers around the world. Pasi is an international speaker and author who has given more than 500 keynote speeches and published over 22 books and over 200 articles, chapters and essays on education.

Pasi has extensive experience in studying, living and working abroad, including England (King’s College), the United States (World Bank in Washington, DC) and Italy (European Training Foundation in Torino) and worked with 70 education systems around the world. He earned his PhD from the University of Jyväskylä (Finland) in 1996 and has given invited guest lectures at Harvard University, Stanford University, Columbia University, George Washington University, University of Chicago and Vanderbilt University in the U.S. and Parliament Houses in England, Scotland, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand and the European Union in Brussels.

His book “Finnish Lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland?” (2011/2015) won the 2013 Grawemeyer Award and he received the 2012 Education Award in Finland, 2014 Robert Owen Award in Scotland and 2016 Lego Prize in Denmark. His latest book (with William Doyle) is "Let the Children Play" (Oxford University Press, 2019) and forthcoming book with Tim Walker titled "In Teacher We Trust" (2021). He lives with his family in Lennox Head, NSW, Australia. Twitter: @pasi_sahlberg.

Experience

  • 2018–2022
    Professor, UNSW
  • 2014–2016
    Visiting professor, Harvard University
  • 2009–2014
    Director General, Government of Finland
  • 2007–2009
    Sr Education Specialist, European Commission
  • 2002–2007
    Sr Education Specialist, World Bank

Honours

First Class Knight of the White Rose of Finland