Mikkola has been a wide-ranging social actor since he was young. He was active in the Helsinki Teen Association and the board of the Teen Association and was a leading, constructive force in the organization. At the Ministry of Education and Culture, he pursued a career that lasted nearly a quarter of a century in the field of education and training, especially the development of teacher education.
Nordic co-operation was a matter of the heart for Mikkola. He was a member of the board of the Hanasaari Administrators’ Foundation of the Finnish-Swedish Cultural Center. He knew the Nordic languages and cultures and promoted the position of the Swedish language in the Finnish education and research system in many different ways.
He was a key player in the development of Finnish language education policy.
Before Upon joining the Ministry, Mikkola had worked extensively in the field of education, for example at the Board of Schools and the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Helsinki. He joined the Ministry in 1996.
For his first work, Mikkola put the knowledge base of teacher education and the teacher situation in order.
In his work, he was uncompromising: he prepared things carefully, analyzed the initial situation, identified areas for improvement and presented solutions based on the researched information. The quality and impartiality of the preparation was trusted by both political decision-makers across party lines and key stakeholders.
Mikkola had excellent networks, and he enjoyed exceptional prestige in the ministry’s industries. Åbo Akademi University and the University of Jyväskylä invited him to receive an honorary doctorate in education.
Armin readability, knowledge of arts and cultures, and history, were second to none. The conversations with him were expansive and inspiring. His social analyzes were observant. He was a staunch defender of equality and non-discrimination.
In addition to all this, Armi was an award-winning cook and recipe developer in many competitions. He also shared his expertise with the people of the ministry by writing cultural recipes in an internal journal of the ministry.
Armi retired in February 2020. It was then that he planned to spend the spring in Vienna and Berlin enjoying and writing about the museums.
The corona situation in the world prevented the implementation of these plans. Otherwise, we would have had a detective placed in a historic setting readable. Germany and Austria were dear destinations to Arm, a long German reader.
Anita Lehikoinen
The author is a colleague and friend of Armi Mikkola.
source https://pledgetimes.com/memoir-armi-mikkola-1952-2020/
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