Pasi Sahlberg (Photo by Damir Klaic-Kljuc)
A high-profile voice for education reform is speaking in Sitka this afternoon.
Pasi Sahlberg is a professor of education in Finland, as well as an author and lecturer. His book, “Finnish Lessons,” discusses Finland’s education system, consistently ranked among the best in the world.
Sahlberg says the United States and Finland can learn from each other. Much of his country’s educational system is patterned after the United States, but there are also things Finland does that could make a difference here.
He spoke to KCAW on Sunday afternoon:
Finnish education expert Pasi Sahlberg speaks at 3:30 p.m. Monday at the Sitka Performing Arts Center attached to Sitka High School.
Read: Sahlberg, in the in the Washington Post, on what the United States can’t learn from Finland.
He stopped in Sitka after speaking at a conference in Anchorage. And the reason for his visit is interesting, in-and-of itself. Sahlberg’s great-great grandfather lived and worked in Sitka as a doctor in 1840 and 1841.
Sahlberg, and his cousin Juha Ignatius, are the first of the family to return here.
During a ceremony Sunday, they read from their great-great grandfather’s diary and presented the city with a handmade brass bell in commemoration of the journey. The full version of our interview with Sahlberg is below. It includes his thoughts on coming to Sitka to explore his family connection, as well as more on education reform:
