This document provides information about the Diploma in Innovation in Education program organized by Aalto University Executive Education and the University of Helsinki Centre for Continuing Education. The program consists of lectures, workshops, school visits, and discussions led by top professors and experts. It aims to help participants explore innovation in education and apply strategic and design thinking to lead change within their own educational systems and schools. The program receives excellent feedback from international participants who found the insights into the Finnish education system and opportunities for global networking to be very valuable.

1. Diploma in Innovation in Education
- The Experience
Organized by
Aalto University Executive Education and the University of Helsinki
Centre for Continuing Education © all rights reserved
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2. The Diploma in Innovation in
Education program is a mix of :
• Lectures and workshops by top professors
and experts
• Visits to leading schools and educational
Institutes
• Inspirational and thought-provoking talks
• Discussions with leaders in education
• Networking with like-minded people
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3. “An exceptionally well-balanced program with a truly global perspective. The presenters and speakers were world class,
challenging our thinking and perspectives on education. The insight into Finnish Education revealed the strengths of
this model but perhaps more importantly the many common global challenges for educators. The partnership between
Aalto University and the University of Helsinki was a perfect blend of pedagogical expertise and entrepreneurial
pedigree, both added significant value to each other” – Participant, 2016 © all rights reserved

4. Expectations vs. Challenges
Participants bring real-life challenges
from their organizations / schools
and discuss their expectations from
the program.

5. Participants come from:
• Australia
• Bhutan
• Finland
• India
• Peru
• South Korea
Backgrounds
• Principals
• Department of
Education
• Ministry of Education
• Startups
• Service Providers
• School owners
“As an international participant it was really great to get a solid understanding of Finnish
education. The opportunities for dialog between educators from across the globe was
exceptional!” – Participant, 2016

6. Day 1: An inspiring workshop about
electronics, coding and automation
“Creation of learning environment through
collaboration of key stakeholders (teachers,
students and parents); trust and autonomy to
the teachers and use of technology are found to
be very critical for learning to take place” –
Participants, 2016
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7. Day 2: Strategic Leadership in Education
“Our experienced leadership practices should
support our vision” – Jari Ylitalo, Aalto University
“Sharing of knowledge and experiences on both
strategy and leadership in education has
widened my understanding”.
“Great opportunity to reflect on one's leadership!
We're going in the right direction”.
“ From log cabin to gamification! ”
“Strategy, Leadership and Teaching 1.0 and 2.0
resonated with me”.
Participants’ Feedback on the
Module
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8. A Finnish school back in the days
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9. Day 3: Viherkallio visit – A modern innovative
school of today in Finland
“Visit to the school was excellent! It was the best learning
experience. What we have seen and heard will remain in our
minds forever” – Participant, 2016
“A wonderful opportunity to see everything in
practice. An essential part of this program!”
– Participant, 2016
“The school visit was the best learning experience!
We saw students, classrooms, teachers and all what
was happening!” – Participant, 2016

10. Aalto Design Factory Visit: Pain vs. Pleasure
“The visit to Aalto Design Factory (ADF) was very educative. The
collaboration between Aalto university and the different industries is
amazing. It was amazing to see similarities between the school visit and
ADF!” – Participant, 2016
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11. Day 4 (1/3)
“Compassion a Sign of
Strength”! – Dalai Lama
Finnish education is
about compassion &
joyful learning!
Session titled: Compassionate,
Compelling Educator by Lotta
Uusitalo-Malmivaara, The
University of Helsinki
It is common knowledge outside of academic journals that motivation, tenacity,
trustworthiness, and perseverance are important traits for success in life. It is thus
surprising that academic discussions of skill and skill formation almost exclusively focus on
measures of cognitive ability and ignore non-cognitive skills. (Heckman & Rubinstein, 2001)

12. “A really powerful and relevant message about leadership, particularly the distinction
between good and great leadership” – Participant, 2016 (on Tapio Lahtero’s session).
TECHNICAL HUMAN PEDAGOGICAL
Interpretations and meanings made of technical, human and
pedagogical leadership form into SYMBOLIC leadership
The web of meaning form into CULTURAL leadership
Five forces of leadership (Lahtero 2011, Sergiovanni 2006)

13. Day 4 (3/3): Business
Model Innovation in
Education by Fabian
Sepulveda
“Eye opening information, extremely helpful for
organizations or when creating business models.
Fabian’s workshop was excellent!” – Participant, 2016

14. Day 5: Design Thinking & Service
Design Workshop
“Great insights for design thinking and ability to
squeeze all in a few hours! Highly useful, lots of
good, fresh perspectives. – Participants, 2016
“Design thinking is an open and functional way of working together
to solve problems. The essence is solving a problem with a human
touch. The exercise we have done was found to be very useful and
will be very applicable in our organization” – Participant, 2016
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15. The Miracle of
Finnish Education
by
Kirsti Lonka & Esa Saarinen
“Absolutely magical, took
us to the next level! [Esa]
Together with Kirsti
managed to help decipher
for us the secret behind the
excellence in Education.
Very inspiring and
thoughtful”– Participant,
2016
“What a day, what a finale. It is not often you can say you were moved to tears by a
presentation but this day will have a profound effect on me as an educator for
years to come. There are no words to describe the magnitude of the value of this
session” – Participant, 2016
“We are ‘Engineers of
Learning’ in Finland” –
Kirsti Lonka

16. Statistically, it is more difficult to get into
teacher education than med or law schools
in Finland – Kirsti Lonka
The most compelling speaker/motivator I have ever heard, I was
highly engaged, motivated but similarly transported to a deep
place of personal reflection where I questioned the biggest
things in my life. Somehow he created an environment for this
to occur while having me hanging on his every word. The
balance between Esa and Kirsti was divine both in dress and
message! – Participant, 2016

17. Participants’ feedback on the Leading Change
in Education Workshop by Pekka Mattila
“Leading change in schools requires trust, understanding,
enabling environment, motivation and level of change
needed. Understanding the dimension of change and
culture provided a strong basis of understanding for
change. The use of tools such as framing and re- framing,
moving the bell curve, recognizing the bottle neck would
help me at the implementation time”. - Participant, 2016
“The practical workshops on leading change were
excellent. I am definitely going to use the methods we
learnt”. - Participant, 2016
“Pekka had the ability to take the whole room with him on
a ride to the moon and back”! - Participant, 2016

18. Participants
organizers
& guests
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19. What they say about the program
“An exceptionally well-balanced program with a truly global perspective”.
“The presenters and speakers were world class, challenging our thinking and
perspectives on education”.
“The insight into Finnish Education revealed the strengths of this model but
perhaps more importantly the many common global challenges for
educators”.
“These sessions provided an excellent balance of practical experiences and
theoretical knowledge”.
“Excellent material, captivating professors and speakers”.
“Very touching and inspirational, we were all in tears”.
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20. Feedback in numbers
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Overall impression of the program
Overall program flow
Program director’s support during the program
6
5.7/6
5.7/6
5.7/6

21. By attending the program, you will
Explore the concept of innovation and discovering the latest
trends in education
Acquire new methods for efficient school management
Apply strategic thinking and influential practices in schools
Improve school processes and achieving operational
excellence
Adopt a design-oriented approach in learning
Lead change within educational systems and in schools
Network and dialogue within a cross-cultural context of
educational professionals
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22. Esa Saarinen, Professor of Creative Problem Solving and Applied Philosophy, Aalto University School of Science
Kirsti Lonka, Professor of Educational Psychology, University of Helsinki
Pekka Mattila, Professor of Practice, Aalto University School of Business
Tapio Lahtero, Administrative Principal / Teacher Training Schools, University of Helsinki
Fabian Sepulveda, Senior Lecturer, Aalto University
Tiina Korhonen, Head of Innokas Network, University of Helsinki
Eero Vaara, Professor of Organization and Management, Aalto University School of Business
Lotta Uusitalo-Malmivaara, Lecturer and Adjunct Professor, University of Helsinki
Jari Ylitalo, PhD, Researcher, Aalto University, School of Science
Jari Lavonen, Head of Teacher Education Department, Professor of Physics and Chemistry Education, University of Helsinki
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Instructors

23. Schedule and modules
Day 1: 21st Century Learning
• Innovation and new technologies in education
• Innovation education and the Innovative school model
• 21st century competences
Day 2: Strategic Leadership
• Novel approaches to strategy
• Dynamics of strategy creation
• What is strategic influence? Leadership as practice
Day 3: School Visit
• Visit a leading school in Innovation
• Visit to Aalto Design Factory
• Experience the Finnish way-of-learning
Day 4: New Mindsets in Education
• Broad-based pedagogical leadership
• Compassionate, compelling educator
• Entrepreneurship in education
Day 5: Design Orientation
• Approach to service design in an educational context
• Introduction to design thinking in a learning environment
• Design Thinking Workshop
Day 6: The Miracle of Learning
• Opening remarks by Aalto EE and HY+
• Leading Change in Schools
• The Miracle of Learning
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24. Contact Details & Pricing
Walid O. El Cheikh
M.Sc. (Econ.)
Program Director
Tel. +358 10 837 3718,
Mob. +358 50 461 92 66
walid.elcheikh@aaltoee.fi
“Walid has been an exceptional program manager. He has invested himself
above and beyond, his dedication to international participants is amazing
and really helped bring Finland to us far beyond the contents of the course”.
- Participant, 2016
“True customer service experience, kept us happy, engaged, stimulated. If I
could give you 5 stars I would give and plus the moon!” - Participant, 2016
Program fee
Early Bird (Until July 1st)
€ 4950 (+VAT)
Normal (July 2 – Aug 24)
€ 5950 (+VAT)
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25. We look forward to seeing you in
Helsinki, Finland!
Dates: September 12 – 19, 2018
More info on the website
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