The Nordic Model: Finland and Education Chairman’s Lecture Series

In this new series, speakers at Scandinavia House will explore the reasons why Nordic countries lead surveys of societies with high levels of trust, happiness, gender equality, and quality of life. By many measures, these countries are among the most successful societies worldwide. In these lectures, we’ll look at how individual countries have successfully addressed certain issues that confront all societies.

In the opening lecture of this series, guest speakers Sam Abrams and Linda Liukas will discuss Finland’s successful educational system. Frequently ranked as best in the world, Finland’s education model leads in graduation rates as well as in reading, math and science literacy due to improvement efforts that have been ongoing over the past four decades. Abrams and Liukas will discuss why Finland has been so successful, and what other regions can learn from and utilize from their approach.

Sam Abrams is the director of the National Center for the Study of Privatization in Education, Teachers College, Columbia University and author of Education and the Commercial Mindset. Linda Liukas is an internationally acclaimed speaker and author of Hello Ruby.

The series will continue in 2019.