Michael Lawrence and Dr. Fabio D'Agostin | Creating Schools…

‘It’s hard to be something you can’t see’ is more than just a nice quote. There is no substitute for witnessing the world’s most successful education system, Finnish teachers and students in person.

In 2023 we sent a couple of award-winning principals to Finland, followed in October by a group of Australian educators (with a few from elsewhere too). This tour filled within a week. 2024 is looking exciting with a tour of Finland and Estonia tour being planned for the last week of August, with a tour of schools in Canada’s excellent education system planned for September.

I am delighted with the school tour I recently had, organised by Michael. His professionalism and enthusiasm added to the richness of my experience in Finnish schools. Michael demonstrated a thorough grasp of the Finnish education system and enthusiastically shared his insights. The guidance he provided was well-structured, and he showed a genuine interest in the group members and their learning experiences. Overall, Michael made the tour both rewarding and memorable. I strongly recommend him to anyone interested in delving deeper into Finnish education under the guidance of a knowledgeable and friendly educator.

Theodora Bogiou, Award Winning curriculum design strategist, Gold Award in Innovation in Teaching 2020, EFL teacher Trainer

For anyone interested in how school teaching and learning can be done well, the exploration of Finnish education organised by Michael Lawrence was an invaluable event. Michael is a passionate advocate of the wonderfully student-oriented educational approaches and structures that characterise schooling throughout Finland. His comprehensive tour included school and university visits, classroom observations, briefings from teachers, lecturers, principals and administrators and opportunities to talk with students about their experiences. Within a two week period, our deep immersion within all strata of Finnish schooling fostered a strong awareness of the qualities and characteristics that generate the strengths of their education system.    

Dr. Fabio D’Agostin, Maths, Physics and Science Educator, The Geelong College, Deakin University. Waurn Ponds, Victoria, Australia

The itinerary included visits to various types of schools and:

Hybrid teaching laboratory; English language class at teaching university; meeting with pedagogical teams, teacher trainees, student counselor trainers, and special needs trainees.

Business village (meeting with organizers and team leaders)

Technical High School and Vocational Training College visit

Tampere City Education Office

Finnish Board of Education

Finnish Teachers Union

National Library of Finland

Teacher Training at Helsinki University (meet with students and faculty members)