Speakers and Panellists
Keynote speaker
Minna Kyttälä
Dr Minna Kyttälä, Docent in Special Education, serves as Professor of Special Education at the University of Turku, within the Department of Education. She is responsible for the discipline of special education, including the training of special education teachers. Her primary research interests focus on the development of teachers’ professional competence, as well as on learning, its underlying factors, and associated challenges. Through these themes, her work aims to enhance the conditions for addressing learner diversity and for implementing appropriate support within inclusive educational settings.
At present, Professor Kyttälä leads the OPEMO project, “How Can Teachers Cope in an Increasingly Diverse School Environment? Research-Based Practices to Support Teacher Wellbeing in Teaching and Leadership”, funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund.
In her keynote, Professor Kyttälä will explore what an increasingly diverse and inclusive school means in terms of teachers’ work, competencies, and professional wellbeing. She will reflect on the opportunities and challenges involved in aligning the demands and realities of teaching with the needs of learners and the implementation of support measures within a school system designed for all.
Commentary speakers
Kati Kaplin-Sainio
Kati Kaplin-Sainio serves as a Senior Education Advisor at the Finnish National Agency for Education, with responsibility for matters related to support in early childhood and pre-primary education. She holds a Master’s degree in Education and is qualified as a Special Education Teacher in Early Childhood Education. Kaplin-Sainio has previously worked in a variety of special education roles, as well as in expert positions within the municipal sector.
In her view, recognising the diverse needs of learners and responding to those needs within group settings is a fundamental principle in the implementation of support in accordance with the national core curricula.
Minna Salminen
Minna Salminen serves as a consulting special education teacher in early childhood education for the City of Rauma. She is Chair of the Rauma local branch of the Trade Union of Education in Finland (OAJ) and Vice-Chair of the OAJ’s Satakunta regional association. In addition, Salminen is an active member of the Council of the Early Childhood Education Teachers’ Union (VOL) and of the OAJ’s Representative Assembly. She also serves as a deputy member of the VOL Executive Board.
Vilhelmiina Saharinen
Vilhelmiina Saharinen is a Master’s-level student of primary teacher education at the University of Turku. She is currently undertaking a traineeship as part of the planning group for the Teacher Education Days. In her commentary, she reflects on the increasingly diverse and evolving nature of schools from the perspective of a future teacher. Saharinen raises the question of how teacher education can prepare graduates for a school environment whose future is inherently unpredictable. She also highlights the significant potential of co-teaching as a supportive practice, particularly for early-career teachers.
Panelists
Jukka Vetoniemi
Jukka Vetoniemi is Doctor of Education and Senior Counsellor at the Finnish National Agency for Education. His expertise and research focus on inclusion, social participation, school leadership, and the development of inclusive learning environments. His current responsibilities include matters related to learning support, communal student welfare, and educational guidance.
Taina Suvikas
Taina Suvikas is the Pedagogical Principal of a primary school and also serves as Headteacher of a special education secondary school in the City of Rauma. With 35 years of experience working with learners of diverse needs, Suvikas is particularly committed to fostering pupil participation in their own growth and development in an age-appropriate manner. She emphasises student-centred approaches and the creation of a safe learning environment for every pupil. In both schools, she also leads initiatives in communal student welfare.
Mea Nordberg
Mea Nordberg, M.Ed., is a special education teacher at a lower secondary school in Rauma. Her educational background includes qualifications in early childhood education, primary education, and both general and special needs teaching. She has extensive experience across early childhood education and both lower and upper levels of basic education.
Nordberg has a strong history of involvement in the OAJ and currently serves as Chair of the Satakunta regional branch of the organisation. She is a firm advocate for the view that the cornerstone of Finnish education is a highly educated and pedagogically competent teaching workforce.
Jani Siirilä
Jani Siirilä is a fifth-year student in the class teacher education programme in Rovaniemi and currently serves as Chair of the Finnish Student Teachers’ Union (SOOL ry). During his studies, he has been active at the local level in subject organisation activities as well as in working groups at the University of Lapland. For the past three years, he has been involved in SOOL’s activities, serving most recently as a member of the Union’s Executive Board.
Panel Chair: Marianna Hoikkala
Marianna Hoikkala is a University Teacher in Speech Communication and a Doctoral Researcher at the University of Turku. Her research interests focus on the role of interpersonal communication in fostering and sustaining a sense of community and well-being among students and teachers. In her doctoral dissertation, she specifically explores university lecturers’ experiences of communication related to belonging and the formation of collegial community within academic work environments.
Panel Chair: Helmi Henell
Helmi Henell is a Master’s level student in the class teacher education programme at the University of Turku. Her particular interests lie in children’s culture and media and artistic content designed for children. Alongside her studies in education, she has a strong interest in media and journalism, and also works as a journalist.
Banner photo: Suvi Harvisalo / Turun yliopiston viestintä