The second stakeholder consultation workshops in the Technical Support Instrument (TSI) project in Finland and Ireland took place in Helsinki, Finland, on 26–28 November 2024.
The multi-country project, titled ‘Fostering Inclusive Quality Education in Finland and Ireland’, is funded by the European Union via the TSI. It is implemented by the Agency and the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG REFORM), alongside Finland’s Ministry of Education and Culture and the Irish Department of Education.
The workshops in Helsinki followed on from the first consultation series with stakeholders, which took place in Ireland in June. Around 60 stakeholders participated in the workshops in Helsinki, including teachers, teacher educators and principals from different regions in Finland. The workshops took the stakeholders through three phases. In the criticism phase, stakeholders discussed and identified critical issues in the education system. In the utopia phase they imagined the ideal education system, and in the implementation phase they discussed measures and actions for establishing inclusive education environments. These discussions enabled the project team to collect key messages and general reflections from all stakeholder groups.
The workshops provided important inputs for the on-going process of analysing professional development frameworks in Finland. The results of the discussions also supported the findings of the policy and legislation analysis of the Finnish education system.
These inputs and results will help the project team to identify strengths and gaps in Finnish education policy and practice and inform the project’s next steps and developments. The workshops also help to find ways to address challenges related to the implementation of inclusive education policies.
For more information on the project and the Agency’s involvement in TSI work, visit the TSI web area.
