Join Big Ideas’ Paul Barclay for a fascinating conversation from two sides of the educational fence with the same sense of schooling: a system that resembles an over-decorated Christmas tree. Professor Pasi Sahlberg, a leading Finnish researcher based at UNSW’s Gonski Institute, meets Gabbie Stroud, prominent recovering teacher, to discuss the way back to success for Australia’s students, schools and teachers, and the complex mess that currently stands in the way.

About the panellists

Pasi Sahlberg is professor of education policy at UNSW. He is the author of Finnish Lessons: What the World Can Learn from Educational Change in Finland (2021), In Teachers We Trust: The Finnish Way to World Class Schools (2021, with Tim Walker) and Let the Children Play: How More Play Will Save Our Schools and Help Children Thrive (2019, with William Doyle).

Gabbie Stroud is a freelance writer and novelist. Her book about her experiences in the education system, Teacher (Allen & Unwin), was published in 2018 and was shortlisted for Biography of the Year at the ABIA Awards in 2019. Dear Parents was published by Allen & Unwin in 2020.