Pasi Sahlberg has worked as schoolteacher, teacher-educator, researcher and policy advisor in Finland and has analysed education policies and advised education policymakers around the world. He has gained working knowledge in over sixty countries around the world, as a former senior education specialist at the World Bank in Washington, DC, lead education specialist at the European Training Foundation, director general of the Ministry of Education in Finland, and a visiting professor at Harvard University.
He is recipient of the 2012 Education Award in Finland, 2013 Grawemeyer Award in the US, the 2014 Robert Owen Award in Scotland, the 2016 Lego Prize in Denmark and Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Resident Fellowship in Italy in 2017. He has published widely in academic journals, professional magazines and public media about educational issue and is a member of several academic journal's editorial boards. Pasi has served as an advisor to the Minister of Education of Sweden (through the Swedish School Commission), the Minister of Education in Malta, Minister of Education in Finland, and is currently advisor to the First Minister of Scotland (through International Council of Education Advisors).
