The Opoho Primary School principal was named this year's Otago Primary Principals' Association Prestigious Scholarship winner, which entitles her to take leave from her school duties to further her studies in education.
Mrs Clarke plans to attend the International Confederation of Principals conference in Helsinki, Finland, in August next year and then visit some Finnish schools.
She aims to better understand the systems of personalised special support which are part of mainstream schooling, she said.
''Finland achieves a greater success rate compared to international trends of diminishing special needs requirements by the end of lower secondary school, so it is definitely worth finding out the defining differences between New Zealand and Finland, to complement and strengthen systems that make a difference for our children and families.''
She was inspired to learn more about the Finnish education system by Finnish educator and scholar Pasi Sahlberg, Mrs Clarke said. Dr Sahlberg was a well-respected educator and policy adviser, who visited New Zealand and Australia in 2012, she said.
''Not only has Finland been a high education performer in recent years, he [Dr Sahlberg] believes that special education has had a key role to play in improving equity and combating education failure in Finnish schools.
''The number of children with special needs is on the increase and financial resources are limited, so the opportunity to share innovative and effective practice between nations is captivating.
''Pasi Sahlberg also advocates that money rarely is the solution to the problems in education systems, so that is worthy of more research, in my view.''
The other focus of her scholarship was to learn more about the collaborative practices across schools in Finland, Mrs Clarke said.
The New Zealand Government had invested significant resources into Investing in Education Success (IES) as a strategy to improve education and pupil achievement, where one of the intentions was for collaborative practice across communities of schools in New Zealand, she said.
''Again, I hope to return with greater insights about the practical aspects of the way this works in Finland, and how we might benefit from its successes.''
She was delighted to have won the scholarship, and was now looking forward to beginning her study.
''I know that when I have surfaced from the myriad end-of-year demands, the prospect of heading to Finland will be especially exciting, and I am truly appreciative of the opportunity.''
