Read Introduction HERE

Fred Dervin was appointed Adjunct Professor with the School of Linguistics, Adult and Specialist Education at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Australia on November 25 2015. This appointment acknowledges, formalises and values Dervin’s excellent continuing collaborations and contributions to USQ’s scholarly culture and research outcomes. Dervin was Visiting Professor at USQ in summer 2013. USQ is a prominent multi-campus teaching and research institution providing education worldwide.

“The winner of this year’s Finlandia Prize for Literature, Laura Lindstedt, used her acceptance speech to sharply criticise the government over planned cuts to education and moves to expand investors’ anonymity. (…)

“Deceit, illusion, consumption and strangulation”

Lindstedt took the unusual step of using her acceptance speech to lash out at Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s centre-right government, which is pushing for deep cuts in higher-education funding.

“Finland is very consciously being turned into a class society,” she charged. “My great-grandfather was a peasant. My great-grandmother was an itinerant nurse. My grandmother was a switchboard operator. My own mother was already [able to be] a teacher. Our family believed, and still believes, in education,” said Lindstedt.

“Need I say aloud what our leading politicians have shoved in to replace the ideals of education, erudition, science and truth? Instead we find deceit, illusion, consumption and strangulation – all of these short-term pseudo-solutions, whose impact will be suffered by future generations, unless these decision-makers soon awaken from their innovation dream.”

She also had harsh words for corporations and wealthy Finns – including government ministers – who use overseas tax havens, and for the cabinet’s plan to roll back investors’ transparency”.

Haiqin Liu (and myself) proposed a PD course to Chinese teachers in Finland on “Reframing Chinese teaching-learning: innovative approaches”. This was co-organised by the CI and E4D. Thanks Haiqin and well done!

 

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Ashley Simpson Education Consultancy is a registered company in the Republic of Finland, registered company number (Y-Tunnus: 2715940-9).
Ashley Simpson Education Consultancy (ASEC) specialises in delivering services to clients within the education sector. Potential clients may include; individual education providers (schools), local government administration (municipal level), ministry of education/department of education and other organizations within the education sector (this might include; charities, NGO’s or individuals).

Ashley Simpson Education Consultancy specialises in delivering high quality services to clients. Potential areas of cooperation can be found under the section ‘areas of expertise’.

Areas of expertise :-
*Curriculum design and implementation
ASEC sepcialises in critical pedagogical approaches in schools and is against standardised educational processes.
* Qualitative research reporting
ASEC is trained in qualitative research approaches and methodologies.
* School development and training
ASEC is interested in exploring democratic schools, transformative pedagogies, and, anti-pedagogies in relation to educational processes.
* Teacher support resources and training
ASEC holds the view that teachers are radical agents of social change. ASEC provides teachers with support and training in order to achieve this radical potential.
* Stakeholder support and guidance
ASEC provides training and support to school stakeholders in transitions towards democratic learning. Wider stakeholders may include; parents, teaching staff, non-teaching staff, students, community members and community groups.
* Education policy analysis
ASEC has experience in working with policy-makers. ASEC takes a critical stance of education policies that incorporate; the marketisation of education, the privatisation of education, competition within education, and, standardised testing within schools.
* Education research
ASEC owner Ashley Simpson is a current doctoral (PhD) candidate at University of Helsinki.
* Enunciative pragmatics/discourse analysis
ASEC takes the stance that language is a performative function. ASEC is interested in exploring linguistic approaches in education that explore deeper logics, meanings and understandings of educational processes.

For more information please see more at Ashsimpson.org.

Dear Colleague

I am contacting you on behalf of University of Helsinki Human Resources. According to our personnel database you are a French citizen working in our university.

While the terror attacks in Paris have shocked our whole community, we especially want to offer the option of debriefing to our French staff. University’s occupational health care provider Mehiläinen’s professionals are on stand-by to give you support now and also later: to make an appointment please contact XXXXXX or call XXXXX.

If there are any other related issues you need to arrange with the University at this point, please do no hesitate to contact me directly (XXXXXX). You can also reach our occupational wellbeing personnel by emailing to XXXXXX.

 

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Why is it strange?

Although I appreciate the effort and I am horrified by the events, I don’t really understand the logics of this strange initiative. Do they do that every time there is a bomb attack or a catastrophe in the world – outside Europe? I am against the overpsychologization of the university…

– I have lived in Finland for 21 years.

– My parents are Franco-British and Germano-Polish. Will they contact me every time something happens in these different countries?

– In a global world like ours, contacting people based on their nationality is the wrong move. A passport does not equal engagement with a country…

– Many people from other countries died in the attacks… Will they be contacting representatives of these people too?

????

And note again the attitude of the Finnish police…

Everybody is obsessed with digitalising Finnish education at the moment. More urgent: Anti-racism, intercultural education!