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I’m currently working as the CEO of the education export company EduCluster Finland (ECF). EduCluster Finland is a Jyväskylä-based education export company whose main owner is the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥. I have also studied at the Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥, graduating as a class teacher and music teacher in autumn 2000 and later completing my studies with basic studies in educational leadership and an Executive MBA.

EduCluster Finland was established in spring 2010, and the first big education export contract from Finland to abroad had been signed. I set out in my role as a teacher together with this pioneering group to export Finnish education. At that time, I had already had a 10-year career as a class teacher. Then we returned to Finland in autumn 2013, and I continued working as a class teacher. 

Finnish education at the heart of work

The three years teaching Arab children was a valuable experience. After the years abroad, the Finnish school system and, above all, the autonomy, responsibilities and obligations of Finnish teachers felt like an incredible luxury, even a bit frightening to me. Do they really mean that I know what is best for my pupils?

At the beginning of 2015, I moved to an expert post at ECF and and got to know the reality of education exporting from a different perspective. I got caught up in this work, and I have stayed on this path for the time being. I still feel that expertise is an essential part of my inner self, although for the past six years I have been working in various supervisory and managerial posts.

Pedagogy and business in one package

The best part of my job as a class teacher was the interaction between teacher and student. I don't get to experience that directly anymore, but indirectly I do.

I see my work as balancing pedagogy and business. The ECF's main mission is to export Finnish educational know-how to the world, and its activities are mainly divided into two areas. The first part of our operations consists of training we provide both by ourselves and in collaboration with external experts and owner organisations. Another major sector of ECF consists of Finnish-type international schools abroad. At these schools, education is based on a Finnish curriculum, the schools have Finnish leadership and Finnish teachers.

We also cooperate with the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, for example in the form of quality assurance audits. The audits provide Finnish schools important information on how their activities mirror the quality of Finnish schools.

"I am motivated by people and valuable work"

In difficult moments, I am motivated by the people I can work with. I am lucky as I have a chance to work with many experts on a daily basis.

In addition, I feel that we are doing important and valuable work. Our export product is extremely ethical in my opinion, as we seek continuously to introduce Finnish pedagogy and integrate it into another culture and thereby perhaps even change the world. I feel that through education we can advance the development of different countries, and in fact a number of future leaders of each country are growing and learning at our schools.