LEAD – Leadership in Education: Action & Development
LEAD2027 – Leadership in Education: Action & Development is a seven-day international professional development opportunity for school principals, headteachers, school owners and other education leaders. Discover Finnish school leadership through school visits, discussions with Finnish principals, practical workshops and exchange with fellow leaders from around the world. A dedicated school visit in Estonia offers a valuable comparison of leadership practices in two neighbouring education systems.
What does school leadership look like in a system built on trust, teacher autonomy and collaboration? How do principals make difficult decisions about people, resources and school improvement? LEAD2027 goes beyond a traditional study tour: throughout the week you will discuss real leadership challenges and develop a plan for your own school. Finnish school leadership remains the main focus throughout the event, enriched by an Estonian perspective.
What You’ll Learn:
Explore the practical responsibilities of school leaders, with a special focus on Finland and a comparative perspective from Estonia. Key topics include:
- School governance and autonomy: How responsibilities are shared between education authorities, school boards, principals and teachers, and how accountability works in practice.
- Financial management: School budgets, allocation of staff and other resources, priorities and decision-making when resources are limited.
- Staff leadership: Recruitment, professional development, delegation, staff motivation, collaboration and difficult conversations.
- Strategic decision-making: Setting priorities, leading change, developing school improvement plans and evaluating results.
- School culture and wellbeing: Inclusion, teacher wellbeing, a supportive school climate and responsible use of technology and AI.
- Finnish–Estonian comparison: How principals in the two education systems approach governance, leading staff and developing their schools.
Course Highlights:
- Finnish School Visits: Discover leadership practices in authentic school settings and discuss governance, staff leadership and school improvement with the host principals or leadership teams.
- Estonian School Visit: Meet Estonian school leaders in Tallinn, explore how they manage similar responsibilities and compare their approaches with Finnish practices.
- Leadership Immersion: Look beyond classrooms to the decisions that shape everyday school life.
- Practical Leadership Workshops: Work on governance, budgeting, staff management and strategic choices in both public- and private-school contexts.
- Leadership Challenge Clinics: Bring a real challenge from your institution and explore possible solutions through peer discussion and facilitated case work.
- Finnish Cultural Experiences: Explore the historic sea fortress of Suomenlinna and experience a traditional Finnish smoke sauna and the surrounding nature.
- 90-Day School Leadership Action Plan: Turn observations from Finland and Estonia into realistic priorities and next steps for your own school.
- Free access to Finnish Education Online Courses: Learn more about Finnish education before your visit.
LEAD2027 combines professional learning and international networking with a deeper understanding of Finnish society and culture. Most of the programme takes place in the Helsinki metropolitan area, with one educational day in Tallinn, Estonia.
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Tickets
All tickets includes:
- Event materials
- Certificate of attendance
- School visits
- Admission to all sessions
Catering and transportation package includes:
- Two dinners
- Lunches
- Coffee and refreshments
- Ferry tickets
- Entrace fees
- Transportation during the program (no airport transfers)
Course price
For standard registrations / group registrations
Catering and transportation package
Two dinners, lunches and refreshments, ferry tickets, entrance fees, transportation during the program (no airport transfers)
This is a provisional programme for the course, the finalized program will be shared with participants prior to the course.
Day 1, Sunday
Welcome and Introduction to Finnish Education
16:00 Course introduction with Tuovi Ronkainen: Welcome and learning objectives, an essential introduction to the Finnish education system, school levels, the national curriculum, school governance, teacher autonomy and the role of the principal.
17:00 Getting to know each other and facilitated leadership exchange: Introduce your school, identify a leadership challenge and prepare questions and observation themes for the first Finnish school visit.
18:30 Welcome dinner and informal international networking (included in the catering package)
Day 2, Monday
Finnish School Governance and Financial Leadership
09:00 Finnish school visit 1: Discover the school in action, explore how responsibilities and decisions are shared, and discuss principal autonomy, accountability and resource allocation with the host principal or leadership team. Includes guided observation and reflection.
12:00 Lunch break
13:00 Workshop with Tuovi: Understanding school governance, budgets, staffing and financial priorities in the Finnish context.
15:00 Leadership case clinic: Applying the morning’s observations to real governance and resource-management decisions in public and private schools.
Day 3, Tuesday
Staff Leadership and School Improvement
09:00 Finnish school visit 2: Explore staff leadership, teacher collaboration, professional development and school culture in practice. A discussion with the host principal or leadership team is followed by guided reflection.
12:00 Lunch break
13:00 Workshop with Tuovi: Recruiting and developing staff, delegating responsibilities and handling difficult leadership conversations.
15:00 Strategic leadership workshop: Leading change, addressing resistance and developing school improvement priorities based on the school visits.
Day 4, Wednesday
Strategic School Leadership and Suomenlinna
08:00 Strategic leadership: Setting school development goals, prioritising improvements, measuring progress and turning plans into action.
10:30 Practical case workshop: Stakeholder management, balancing competing priorities and implementing difficult decisions.
12:00 Lunch break
13:00 Facilitated learning session: Trust, Finnish society and civic values—how the wider context influences leadership practices.
14:30 Suomenlinna cultural immersion: Guided visit to Helsinki’s historic sea fortress. Admission to the guided experience and relevant programme transportation are included in the catering and transportation package.
Day 5, Thursday
School Leadership in Estonia
7:30 Ferry journey from Helsinki to Tallinn (included in the transportation package).
10:00 Expert-led introduction to Estonian education, the principal’s role, school governance and leadership autonomy at the University of Tallinn.
12:00 Lunch break.
13:00 Estonian school visit: Dialogue with the principal or leadership team about staffing, school improvement and strategic decisions.
15:00 Finnish–Estonian Leadership Comparison workshop: Similarities, differences and ideas for participants’ own educational contexts.
18:00 Return ferry to Helsinki and second included dinner
Day 6, Friday in Tallinn
Leadership Challenges and Finnish Smoke Sauna
08:00 School culture and staff leadership: Supporting wellbeing, inclusion, collaboration and responsible responses to new challenges, including AI.
10:30 Leadership Challenge Clinics: Explore real leadership dilemmas with Tuovi and peers, considering governance, people management and strategic options.
12:00 Lunch break
13:00 Action planning workshop: Turning course insights into priorities for your own school and preparing questions for the Estonian leadership comparison.
14:30 Finnish smoke sauna and nature experience: Discover an authentic Finnish sauna tradition in a natural setting. Admission and programme transportation are included in the catering and transportation package. Sauna bathing is optional; a nature-focused alternative will be available.
Day 7, Saturday
From Learning to Action
09:00 Final learning workshop: What can we take from Finnish school leadership, and what has the Estonian comparison added? Complete your 90-Day School Leadership Action Plan.
10:30 Present your action plan, receive peer feedback and identify opportunities for future international cooperation.
12:00 Course evaluation, closing remarks and certificates of attendance.
By the end of LEAD2027, participants will be able to:
- Explain key responsibilities, governance structures and decision-making practices in Finnish schools.
- Evaluate approaches to school budgets, resource allocation and financial prioritisation.
- Identify practical strategies for staff leadership, collaboration and professional development.
- Apply strategic leadership tools to a real school improvement challenge.
- Compare selected practices discussed with Finnish and Estonian school leaders.
- Develop a realistic 90-day action plan tailored to their own school or education organisation.
LEAD2027 is designed specifically for principals, headteachers, deputy principals, school directors, private school owners, superintendents and members of school leadership teams. Leaders from public and private schools, in Europe and beyond, are welcome. This is a leadership-focused event rather than a general teacher training course.
Tuovi Ronkainen is a former principal of Akaa Secondary School and an experienced biology and geography teacher. She has coordinated European school projects and worked with the European School Heads Association (ESHA) as a Project Ambassador. Her background in educational leadership, international cooperation and futures studies brings a practical and forward-looking perspective to LEAD2027.
A professor at Tallinn University, Estonia, and Head of its R&D Centre for Educational Technology, he has a background as a mathematics and physics teacher and school principal. For over 20 years, he has been active in teacher education and educational technology research, contributing to international projects on mobile technology and social software in education.