Elise Tarvainen

Director of Global Operations / EduCluster Finland Ltd

Elise manages the global operations of the company and the work of EduCluster Finland experts in different partnership programmes.

Ms. Tarvainen has extensive experience of working as an expert in education and human resource development as well as in leading regional learning and innovation processes. She has a degree in
education (M.A.), with a qualification as a class teacher and a subject
teacher in Finnish education and her Ph.D. studies are in the field
educational leadership and administration specializing in school safety
and student wellbeing issues.

She has worked 14 years as a K-12 teacher and been actively involved in
school-based development processes related to the implementation of
Finnish National Core Curriculum in local contexts with tens of school
providers all over Finland. Her focus has been on developing learnercentered
school communities and school operational culture with
student-centered teaching and learning methods.

She has also expertise in working with regional administration and
educational reforms in local labour market development, in preventing
dropouts and promoting students’ participation in the society. She has
considerable international experience with projects all around the world.

Most recently she has been in charge of creating the foundations for the
Abu Dhabi – Finland Education Partnership Programme. The partnership
with Abu Dhabi Education Council and EduCluster Finland Ltd. has offered
a unique possibility to create an innovative, world-class school model by
fusing the best practices from the Emirati and Finnish school systems.