About the webinar series ‘Dialogues on education and society’
The GINTL-JoLII webinar series ‘Dialogues on education and society’ engages leading experts in dialogues on Chinese and Finnish education and society with a comparative broader European and global perspective. The dialogues are in various formats, and they are targeted to researchers, policymakers, education practitioners, and administrators.
The webinar series is jointly organised by the Global Innovation Network of Teaching and Learning (GINTL) and the Sino-Finnish Education Research Centre (SFERC) of the Sino-Finnish Joint Learning Innovation Institute (JoLII).
Webinar recording
Topics and speakers in this webinar
Teachers’ professional learning in Finland: Providers of education in key role
Prof. Jari Lavonen
Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki
Dr. Jari Lavonen is a Professor of Science Education at the University of Helsinki, Finland. He has been researching science and technology or STEM education for the last 34 years. His special focuses are project-based learning, student interest and engagement, and teacher education. He is currently a Director of the National Teacher Education Forum and Chair of the Finnish Matriculation Examination Board.
Retrospect and prospect of the teacher education reform in China since the 1990s
Prof. Congman Rao
Faculty of Education, Northeast Normal University
Congman Rao, is currently the Director and professor of the International and Comparative Education, Northeast Normal University, China, Editor-in-chief of the academic journal Studies in Foreign Education, vice president of China Comparative Education Society, Vice chairman of the Teaching Guidance Committee for Secondary School Teacher Preparation in Institutions of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education, and member of the Expert Committee for Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs in General Higher Education Institutions.
His research interests include comparative education, teacher education, and civic and moral education. He has published more than 190 papers in domestic and international academic journals and more than 30 books, textbooks, etc.
Commentator
Adj. Prof. Tapio Lahtero
Administrative Principal, Helsinki University Teacher Training Schools
During his career, Tapio Lahtero (Ph.D., Adjunct Professor), has served both in the education departments of municipalities in the universities. Lahtero completed his degree at the University of Jyväskylä in 2011 with the thesis topic ‘Leadership culture at schools’, and finalised an eMBA leadership exam in public management in 2015 at the University of Tampere.
Lahtero worked over ten years as a principal, regional principal, and the head of the comprehensive schools in the education department of the City of Vantaa. Since 2015, he has served as the Administrative Principal of the University of Helsinki teacher training schools. Lahtero has been training principals and leaders of education departments of municipalities at the Universities of Jyväskylä and Turku. Currently, he acts as the leader of the principal training programme at the University of Helsinki.
Lahtero has published several research articles about leadership culture, strategic leadership, and pedagogical leadership.
Facilitator
Dr. Jenny Niu
Postdoctoral Researcher, GINTL
Shuanghong Jenny Niu, obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Helsinki in the year 2021, specialising in education, and a D.Sc. from Aalto University in the year 2009, specialising in leadership and customer relationship management. Her recent publication is ‘Teaching and learning 21st-century competencies: paving the way to the future’.
