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PROGRAM

8-8:45 AM	Registration with morning coffee
9:00	Welcome: Kirsti Westphalen, Consul General of Finland Los Angeles
9:30	Keynote Speaker: Pasi Sahlberg, Director General of CIMO (Organisation for International Mobility and Cooperation) in Helsinki. Sahlberg is the former staff member of the World Bank in Washington, DC, and European Commission in Turin, Italy. Finnish lessons: What Can the United States Learn from Educational Change in Finland?
10:30	Panel Discussions with Experts and General Public Moderator: Dr. Carl A. Cohn, Co-Director of the Urban Leadership Program, and Clinical Professor in the School of Educational Studies at Clairemont Graduate University Panelists: John Burbank, Director of Economic Opportunity Institute, Seattle Hannele Niemi, Professor in Education, University of Helsinki Karen Symms Gallagher, Professor in Education, USC Pasi Sahlberg, Director General, CIMO
11:30-12:30	Lunch Break
12:30	Break-Out Sessions Brave Questions: Early Childhood Education in a Changing World; Elisabeth Quintero, Professor of Education, California State University Channel Islands Learning from Finland: How Early Childhood Education Builds Students and Citizens, and Embraces Universality, Self-Esteem, and Cooperation in the Natural Environment; John Burbank, Director, Economic Opportunity Institute The Finnish Education System and its International Competitiveness Marja-Liisa Tanhunen, President, Central Ostrobotnia University Pasi Sahlberg, Director General, CIMO Auvo Kostiainen, and Alan Sweedler, San Diego State University Overview of Finnish Higher Education; Peter Finell, Central Ostrobotnia University, International Relations Manager and, Marja-Liisa Tanhunen, President Language Learning; Riitta Kärävä-Andonian, Certified Translator, Master of Science of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki What Does High Quality Mean in Teacher Education; Hannele Niemi, Professor of Education, University of Helsinki Teacher education in Finland On the Re-Emegence of wholeness in Higher Education: Convictions and Considerations; Philip Johnson, President, Finlandia University Disability or Learning Difficulty? Special Education in Finland and the United States; Tiina Itkonen, Associate Professor of Education, California State University of Channel Islands, Markku Jahnukainen, Professor of Special Education, University of Jyvaskylä, Finland Addressing the 'Bully Problem'; in Schools: On the Essential Roles of Imagination and Language; Kaia Tollefson, Associate Professor or Education, California State University of Channel Islands

4:45	Seminar Conclusions; Tiina Itkonen, Associate Professor of Education, California State University of Channel Islands