This FERA CHAT SIG pre-seminar focused on discussing and fostering academic development and transformation. One of the challenges of modern academia is how academic work and research can serve societal renewal by participatory analyses of dysfunctional activities and participatory design to transform them. The pre-seminari is targeted for doctoral students, post-doctoral researchers and other researchers interested in learning about and applying cultural historical activity theory in their work. The half-day pre-seminar is composed of two parts. During part one, Emeritus Associate Professor of Higher Education James Garraway from Cape Peninsula University of Technology will deliver a keynote on academic development, cultural-historical activity theory and Change Laboratories. After the keynote, docent, Senior University Lecturer in Higher Education Vesa Korhonen from Tampere University will give his critical comments on professor Garraway’s talk and lead the audience into a discussion. During part two, participants, who have submitted their contributions to the pre-seminar, will give short presentations about their work in connection to the pre-seminar topic. The presentations will be followed by discussion and comments with the Professor Garraway, Docent Korhonen, the pre-seminar organizers as well as the participants.

Pre-seminar takes place on Wednesday 23 Nov 2022 at 12.15-15.45.

Registration for the pre-seminar is via the link below by 15. November at the latest. Participants interested in presenting their work are asked to submit a two-page draft (approx. 1000 words, not including references) as part of their registration by 1.11.2022 the latest. The organisers will be in touch soon after.

https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/118924/lomakkeet.html

Link for the remote participation:

Zoom information:

https://tuni.zoom.us/j/61955218366?pwd=bkdScXBMcXdOdVk3ejlZYUxDYkt4QT09

Meeting ID: 619 5521 8366

Passcode: 278678

Keywords: cultural-historical activity theory, academic development, change laboratories

Participatory research approaches with social sustainability in higher education

Elina Lehtomäki, professori (Oulun yliopisto), elina.lehtomaki (at) oulu.fi

Joffy Conolly, väitöskirjatutkija (Oulun yliopisto)

The pre-conference workshop offers short introductions to the use of participatory research approaches including critical inquiry, citizen science, photovoice and action research, and discusses their use with practical examples and cases.

The workshop is aimed at doctoral and postdoctoral researchers. Reading material will be provided online before the pre-conferences (Moodle).

Workshop takes place on Wednesday 23 Nov 2022 at 10 am. Registration for the pre-seminar is via the link below by 15 November at the latest:

https://link.webropol.com/s/pre-workshop

Values Matter in Education and Research – Exploring the Philosophical Foundations of Educational Sciences

Anna Rawlings, Post-Doctoral Researcher (University of Jyväskylä), FinEd Coordinator (University of Helsinki), anna.rawlings (at) helsinki.fi

Auli Toom, Professor (University of Helsinki)

Katariina Holma, Professor (University of Oulu)

Maija Lanas, Professor (University of Oulu)

Tying in with the topic of the FERA 2022 Conference, "Multivocality in the Changing World of Education", the FinEd Network’s pre-seminar examines the philosophical foundations of educational sciences, and the values pertaining to conducting educational research. The first part of the pre-seminar will comprise a keynote speech by Professor Katariina Holma (University of Oulu) followed by questions from participants and discussion, and the second part will consist of workshops on the topic. The pre-seminar is targeted for doctoral researchers who wish to deepen their understanding about the philosophical background assumptions as well as ethical practices of the field.

Pre-seminar 23 Nov 2022 at 10.30-16.00. Registration: Registration for the pre-seminar via the link below by 15 November. Note that the first part of the pre-seminar (keynote & discussion) will be organised in hybrid format, to enable distance participation. https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/117790/lomake.html

THEMATIC GROUPS

Global education in the changing world of education

Hanna Posti-Ahokas, university researcher (Helsingin yliopisto), hanna.posti-ahokas@helsinki.fi

Helena Hinke Dobrochinski Candido, university lecturer

Vihtori Kylänpää, PhD student

Oona Piipponen, researcher, teacher

Global education is a growing research field including development education, human rights education, education for sustainable development, education for peace and conflict prevention and intercultural education, in line with the Maastricht declaration from 2002. The ongoing process towards a new European declaration seeks to identify the vision for global education and the necessary commitments and support to global education. To enhance this debate, we bring contributions from the field of comparative and international education, attempting to enlarge our research horizons and overcome disciplinary boundaries when investigating education. The thematic group welcomes presentations discussing the diverse questions around changing world of education with a focus on global perspectives and multivocality, ranging from politics to practice. We expect global education to be discussed in various contexts, at all levels of formal and non-formal education, from both localized and comparative perspectives, and eventually using interdisciplinary approaches. Papers drawing on policies and practices of global education as well as conceptual/theoretical contributions are equally appreciated. Papers can be presented in English or Finnish. The thematic group is organized by the Global Education Research in Finland (GERIF) network (https://gerif.home.blog) and the Comparative and International Research in Education (COMPARE) research group (webpage will soon be launched). The aim of this thematic group is to present research and to advance dialogue among researchers and global education practitioners. We warmly welcome education practitioners to participate!

Key words: global education, international and comparative education, research - policy - practice dialogue

Kasvatus projektina vai projekteja kasvattamassa?

Satu Heimo, koordinaattori (Vapaa sivistystyö ry.), satu.heimo@sivistystyo.fi

Kasvatustiede, kasvatus ja koulutus ovat yhä projektipainotteisempia. Kansallinen ja ylikansallinen projekti- ja hankerahoitus suuntaavat tutkimus- ja kasvatustoimintaa, mutta mahdollistavat myös uudet innovaatiot ja kehittämisen. Rahoituksesta kilpaillaan, mikä voi aiheuttaa yhteistyöhön jännitteitä. Projektien tuloksia ja vaikuttavuutta esiteltäessä eturistiriidat ja performointi voivat tuoda esille myös eettisiä ongelmia.

Tämän teemaryhmän keskiössä ovat tutkimukset, jotka koskevat aikuiskasvatuksen, kasvatustieteen ja -alan projekteja ja hankkeita. Tavoitteena on tarkastella kasvatustieteen ja -kentän projektisoitumista yhteiskunnallisena ilmiönä kriittisesti ja monipuolisesti. Tutkimusesitykset voivat vastata esimerkiksi seuraaviin kysymyksiin: Millainen on kasvatustieteen ja kasvatuksen tulevaisuus projektisoituneessa yhteiskunnassa? Millaisin mekanismein projektit edistävät tai estävät toiminnan moniäänisyyttä? Kenen ääni projekteissa pääsee kuuluviin? Millaisia vuorovaikutus- ja valtasuhteita projektirahoitteisissa kasvatusalan hankkeissa muodostuu? Ovatko projektit proaktiivista vai reaktiivista kasvatustoimintaa? Onko jatkuva oppiminen jatkuvaa, jos se on projektiperusteista? Millainen on projektien ihmiskuva tai käsitys (aktiivisesta) kansalaisuudesta?

Teemaryhmän järjestäjät tulevat aikuiskasvatuksen ja vapaan sivistystyön kentältä, mutta esitysten toivotaan tarkastelevan teemaa erilaisten kohderyhmien, metodologioiden, lähestymistapojen ja näkökulmien kautta. Tutkimuksia koskevaan keskusteluun toivotaan mukaan laaja-alaisesti teemasta ja vuoropuhelusta kiinnostuneita toimijoita.

Esitykset ja vuorovaikutteinen keskustelu edistävät kasvatustieteen ja -alan kriittistä itsereflektiota ja kasvatuksen tavoitteiden ja arvojen sanottamista.

Työpajan pääasiallisena kielenä on suomi, mutta esitykset voivat olla myös ruotsin- tai englanninkielisiä.

Avainsanat: Projekti, hanke, aikuiskasvatus, kasvatus, kasvatustiede

Educational Psychology and Learning Research

Heta Tuominen, academy research fellow (Itä-Suomen yliopisto, Helsingin yliopisto), heta.tuominen (at) helsinki.fi

Markku Niemivirta, professor (Itä-Suomen yliopisto, Helsingin yliopisto)

Anna Rawlings, post doctoral researcher (Jyväskylän yliopisto)

Anna Widlund, university lecturer (Åbo Akademi)

Kukka-Maaria Polso, PhD student (Helsingin yliopisto)

Henriikka Juntunen, PhD student (Helsingin yliopisto)

Riikka Mononen, professor (Oulun yliopisto)

Anna Kuusi, post doctoral researcher (Helsingin yliopisto)

The thematic group calls together all researchers interested in educational psychology and learning research. This thematic group focuses on a broad range of empirical research examining topics such as learning, achievement, motivation, and well-being among students of different ages, in various educational settings and learning environments, and at different stages of their educational careers. Studies can focus on, for instance, the interrelationships of these phenomena, their development over time, or their situational dynamics. All theoretical and methodological frameworks and approaches are welcome. Presentations can be given in English, Finnish, or Swedish. The abstract is to be written in the language of presentation. Welcome!

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)

Arto Salonen, professor (Itä-Suomen yliopisto), arto.salonen (at) uef.fi

Ilkka Ratinen, professor, Lapin yliopisto

The theme Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) brings together empirical and theoretical researches from different fields in the quest for good life on the finite planet. The theme focuses on social change and behaviour change in order to have sustainable lifestyle and culture. The approach is transdisciplinary where ecological, social and economic aspects can be linked. Your viewpoint can focus on climate education, global education, human rights education, environmental education or future education. Also, deliberation concerning adopting of eco-social approach to education which emphasizes a responsible relationship with the world is warmly welcome.

Keywords: Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), Environmental Education (EE), climate education, eco-social approach to education

School Development Studies

Heidi Huilla, postdoctoral researcher (Helsingin yliopisto), heidi.huilla (at) helsinki.fi

Sara Juvonen, PhD students; Raisa Ahtiainen, postdoctoral researcher

Welcome to the School Development Studies theme group. This theme group seeks to discuss questions such as how are schools being developed and why, for whom and for what kind of future? In a changing society, schools are constantly targets of change and development. A central task of research is to study and facilitate development, but it should also critically evaluate reforms and pressures and influences to reform. We welcome all kinds of different and intersecting perspectives on school development. We wish to have discussions about school development from the communities' perspective (e.g. leadership, teacherhood, organizational and learning), and from critical social perspectives (e.g. policy, eco-social, students’ backgrounds and school location). We welcome presentations concerning all levels of education and with all kinds of theoretical and methodological approaches.

Keywords: School development, school improvement, in-/equality, leadership, teacherhood

Education and spatial inequalities

Riikka Oittinen, PhD student (Helsingin yliopisto), riikka.oittinen (at) helsinki.fi

Sonja Kosunen, associate professor, Helsingin yliopisto

Urbanization and increasing inequalities between areas present new challenges to schools and raise questions about how equal well-being and educational opportunities are realized in different urban and rural areas. Segregation within and between schools threatens the realization of equal well-being and educational opportunities. At the same time, a significant share of regions outside urban areas are struggling with challenges related to a concentrated and thinning school network. In this thematic session, we discuss the local and regional challenges faced by schools and the relationship between schools and localities at all levels of education. The presentations may approach the theme, for example, from the perspective of pupils or teachers' everyday experiences, learning outcomes, school choices, well-being, or equality, and examine localities in urban or rural areas. Presentations based on both qualitative and quantitative data are welcome, in Finnish, English or Swedish. The thematic session is organized by the research unit Social Studies in Urban Education (SURE).

Keyword: inequality, segregation, regional perspective, educational opportunities

Learning and agency for equity and sustainability: Dialogue with activity theory

Jaakko Hilppö, university lecturer (Helsingin yliopisto), jaakko.hilppo (at) helsinki.fi

Annalisa Sannino, professor

Liubov Vetoshkina

Global demands of equity, social justice and environmental sustainability urgently require that actors across sectors and levels learn to pursue concerted willful actions which can lead to effective and flexible solutions. Understanding how in these conditions learning and agency, based on multiple voices of various actors, emerge and how they can be sustained is a crucial educational challenge. These issues are at the core of current developments of cultural-historical activity theory globally and its emerging fourth generation. In this framework, the mentioned educational challenges are typically studied with the help of formative interventions such as the Change Laboratory. The thematic group welcomes contributions of all levels – from preliminary to well developed – based on or engaging in dialogue with these theoretical and methodological premises. Contributions to the thematic group will be selected to individual sessions based on their specific focus in order to facilitate in-depth discussions between presenters as well as the audience during each session.

Each presenter will prepare hands-on activities or questions that activate the audience to take part in the discussion on the possibilities and pitfalls of the digitalization in various learning and teaching contexts. The interaction between the presenters and the participants is fostered with the help of digital technologies and relying also on the participants' own devices such as laptops and mobile phones.

Keywords: cultural-historical activity theory, dialogue, equity, social justice, sustainability

Moniääninen perhe

Marita Neitola, yliopistonlehtori (Turun yliopisto), marnei@utu.fi

Minna Ranta, Väitöskirjatutkija (Kasvatustieteiden laitos, Jyväskylän yliopisto)

Kasvatustieteen päivät 2022 teemana on Moniäänisyys kasvatuksen muuttuvassa maailmassa. Päivät haluavat herättää keskustelua moniäänisyyden ymmärtämisestä, sen ilmenemisestä ja näkyväksi tekemisestä. Joka kolmas perhe Suomessa on muodoltaan muu kuin perinteinen ydinperhe. Maamme väestö ja perheet, ovat yhä enenevässä määrin monikulttuurisia ja monikielisiä. Perhe koostuu sen eri jäsenistä, jotka osaltaan tuottavat perhettä. Perhe voidaan määritellä monin eri tavoin. Monimuotoisissa ja monikulttuurisissa perheissä luodaan uutta perhekulttuuria ja uusia perhesuhteita.

Perhetutkimuksen teemaryhmään kutsumme sellaisia tutkimuksia, joissa tarkastellaan moninaisia perheitä, perheiden arkea, perhettä kasvu- ja elinympäristönä jne. erilaisista näkökulmista. Näkökulmat voivat olla eri perheenjäsenten käsityksiä ja ajatuksia, perheiden kanssa työskentelevien näkemyksiä, yhteiskunnan päättäjien perheitä koskevia dokumentteja siitä, mitä perhe heidän käsityksissään on. Perheen moniäänisyydessä on tärkeää huomioida, kuka tai ketkä perheessä voivat puhua siitä; keiden ääni perheessä kuuluu; millä tavoin lasten ja nuorten ääni ja näkemykset tulevat esille. Kuka ylipäätään määrittelee perheen?

Olemme kiinnostuneita myös erilaisista perheteoreettisista lähestymistavoista sekä perheen tutkimisen tavoista ja menetelmistä – sillä perhetutkimus vaatii moniäänisen lähestymistavan. Teemaryhmään ovat tervetulleita myös sellaiset esitykset, joissa tarkastellaan, kuka ja miten perheestä yhteisöissä ja yhteiskunnassa puhutaan.

We welcome presentations both in English and in Finnish.

Narrative approaches

Minna Uitto, professor (Oulun yliopisto), minna.uitto (at) oulu.fi

Hannu L. T. Heikkinen, professor (Jyväskylän yliopisto)

Essi Ikonen, postdoctoral researcher

Raili Keränen-Pantsu, PhD student, educator

Narrative approaches have been one of the theme groups of the FERA conference since 2004. The call for presentations invites the full gamut of approaches, from life-history and narratology to post-qualitative and artistic research. The aim is to increase multivoiced dialogue between interpretative research approaches and examine their philosophical foundations. We encourage participative ways of presenting. Presentations may be held in Finnish, Swedish or English.

Keywords: narrative, methodology, interpretative approaches

Learning analytics / Oppimisanalytiikka

Hanni Muukkkonen, professori (Oulun yliopisto), Hanni.Muukkonen (at) oulu.fi

Oppimisanalytiikka eli oppimisesta kertyvän tiedon automaattinen kerääminen, analysointi ja hyödyntäminen on tuonut uusia mahdollisuuksia oppimisen tukemiseksi. Koulutuksessa on kasvava tarve tutkia ja kehittää uusia pedagogisia toimintamalleja, jotka hyödyntävät oppimisesta kertyviä digitaalisia jälkiä. Oppimisanalytiikka auttaa opettajia kehittämään adaptiivisia pedagogisia toimintamalleja (mm. Van Leeuwen, 2019). Oppimisanalytiikan avulla opettaja voi esimerkiksi seurata oppijoiden etenemistä, kohdentaa tukea yksilöllisesti, kehittää omaa pedagogista osaamistaan ja suunnitella oppimisen tukea (Molenaar & Knoop van Camp, 2017; Howell et al., 2018). Toisaalta moninkertaistunut etä- ja hybridiopetuksen määrä, joustavien opiskelumahdollisuuksien tarjoaminen, sekä opiskelijoiden kasvaneet hyvinvoinnin ja motivaation vaikeudet (etä)opinnoissa haastavat korkeakouluja kehittämään joustavia pedagogisia ratkaisuja.

Opettajan ja oppilaan työpöydän visualisoinnit voivat tarjota keinoja seurata ja tukea esim. sisällöllistä oppimista, ryhmätöiden vuorovaikutusta tai oppimisen itsesäätelyn taitoja. Tutkimuksellista näyttöä tarvitaan mm. datojen rajoitteiden ja mahdollisuuksien tarkentamiseen sekä analytiikkavälineiden kehittämiseen ja arviointiin. Samalla tarvitaan menetelmien kehittämistä sekä oppimisen teorioiden kiinteää integrointia oppimisanalytiikan sovelluksiin.

Oppimisanalytiikan mahdollisuudet on tunnistettu laajasti, mutta niiden soveltaminen laajassa mittakaavassa on vasta käynnistymässä. Oppimisen seuranta, tukeminen ja ennakointi oppimisanalytiikan avulla voi toteutua monessa muodossa, mm. liittyen kurssitason oppimisprosesseihin, opintopolun analytiikkaan, multimodaaliseen analytiikkaan tai rekisteriaineistojen käsittelyyn tiedolla johtamisen välineenä. Uusien toimintamuotojen taustalle edellytetään eettisten, tasa-arvoisten, vastuullisten ja läpinäkyvien periaatteiden kehittämistä sekä tutkimuksen että institutionaalisten toimintatapojen näkökulmasta.

The theme group of learning analytics can include presentations both in Finnish and in English. We invite research presentations and involve the audience with preposted discussion questions based on the theme group topic learning analytics and the presentations. Online tools will be used to support discussions, interaction and knowledge creation.

Posthumanist educational research and the more-than-human perspective

Riikka Hohti, tutkijatohtori (Helsingin yliopisto), riikka.hohti (at) helsinki.fi

Pauliina Rautio, yliopistotutkija

Tuure Tammi, tutkijatohtori

The Thematic Group advances material, situational and non-anthropocentric perspectives to educational sciences, learning and learning environments. The discussions in the group draw on posthumanist, new materialist and feminist theories and methodologies. The background for the group is the need, intensified by the current environmental crisis in the epoch called the Anthropocene, to re-examine the ontological and epistemological foundations of education and social sciences as well as redefine the conception of human, and issues of justice related to these. We explore possibilities for non-anthropocentric education and discuss viewpoints in a multidisciplinary spirit, drawing on viewpoints and approaches offered by human-animal studies, childhood studies, affect studies, critical animal studies, Indigenous studies, arts, and more.

Keywords: more-than-human education, posthumanism, materiality, relationality, environment

Racism and whiteness in education

Tuuli Kurki, Suomen Akatemian tutkijatohtori (Helsingin yliopisto), tuuli.kurki (at) helsinki.fi

Ida Hummelstedt, ida.hummelstedt (at) helsinki.fi

Pia Mikander, pia.mikander (at) helsinki.fi

Jenni Helakorpi, jenni.helakorpi (at) helsinki.fi

Racism and other forms of discrimination can have significant consequences on wellbeing and learning for individuals as well as for the communities and societies at large. Racism also has a huge impact on who gets to be heard, which voices are legitimized in different contexts and with what conditions. Whiteness as a power structure and privilege, in turn, produces, upholds, and reproduces racism and should therefore be examined and challenged more thoroughly to understand the ways in which racism functions and is maintained. While whiteness has been shown to be embedded in educational institutions and educational cultures, research and discussions about whiteness and racism in education still remain scarce, especially in Finland. This has resulted, for instance, in the lack of recognition of how whiteness works, in belittling and dismissing the reported experiences of racism as well as in incomplete terminology and concepts. In this workshop we look for contributions that relate to the questions of racism and whiteness in education. In addition, papers can relate, but are not limited, to othering, discrimination, privilege, Western-ness, normalization and intersecting social categorizations as well as antiracism, decolonisation and resistance in education. We welcome contributions from different methodological perspectives and fields of education, including theoretical as well as empirical research. Also, papers that struggle to find words when seeking new ways to conceptualize the phenomena are encouraged to participate. In relation to the overall theme of this year’s conference, we consider it important to discuss multivocality of racism and whiteness research in education, make this research theme more visible in our discipline and to discuss our responsibilities as researchers to promote multiple voices of both research and experiences of racism in spaces of whiteness. Papers are welcome in Finnish, Swedish and English.

Spatial, Temporal, and Sensorial Inquiries into Multiplicity, Voice, and Change in Educational Research

Johanna Sitomaniemi-San, postdoctoral researcher (Oulun yliopisto), johanna.san (at) oulu.fi

Juuso Tervo (senior lecturer, Aalto yliopisto)

Päivi Jokinen (university teacher, Oulun yliopisto)

Marika Kettunen (PhD student, Oulun yliopisto)

This thematic group invites its contributors to respond to the conference theme with presentations that explore the spatial, temporal, and sensorial aspects of ‘multiplicity,’ ‘voice,’ and ‘change.’ In taking up the task of attending to multiple voices – which, in spatial terms, implies bringing into view and engaging with multiple perspectives – educational research evokes spatio-temporal coordinates of sound, vision, and affect through which various modalities of ‘change’ (educational, political, etc.) may be perceived, studied, and imagined. The conceptual, methodological, onto-epistemological issues that arise out of the relationships between, for example, voice and silence, perspective and place, knowledge and agency, or multiplicity and difference, suggest the significance of accounting for spatial, sensorial, and temporal imagination(s) that educational scholarship mobilizes and is mobilized by when facing a ‘changing world.’ In other words, the theme ‘multivocality in a changing world’ is taken up by this thematic group as an invitation to examine the spatio-temporal and sensorial attunements of education as both a disciplinary field and site of academic inquiry. The session welcomes theoretical, empirical, and other papers alike, and interdisciplinary scholarship in particular.

This is a bilingual thematic group (Finnish & English)

Teaching and Learning in Innovative Learning Environments

Laura Hirsto, professor (Itä-Suomen yliopisto), laura.hirsto (at) uef.fi

Sanna Väisänen, postdoctoral researcher (Itä-Suomen yliopisto)

The aim of this theme-group is to investigate, reflect and analyse contextual perspectives related to teaching and learning in innovative open, flexible, hybrid or online learning environments. These learning environments or learning landscapes can be viewed from e.g. social, physical, technological, or pedagogical perspective. Developing technologies such as learning analytics also have potentially important effects on the various levels of learning environments and their pedagogical designs. These developing learning environments can be viewed from the perspectives of challenges and affordances for learning and teaching provided by e.g. specific learning analytical tools or blended pedagogical designs. This theme-group calls for presentations in which the perspectives of the relations or the effects of these new, innovative, open, flexible, hybrid as well as online environments are investigated from the viewpoints of either teaching, learning processes, pedagogical design, multimodality of multiple voices. Presentations are invited in either English or Finnish.

Keywords: learning environments, learning analytics, learning spaces, pedagogical design

Unheard voices and unseen sceneries in the margins of education

Maija Lanas, professori (Oulun yliopisto), maija.lanas (at) oulu.fi

Kaisu Alamikkelä, Katja Castillo, Iida Kauhanen, Maria Petäjäniemi, Anne-Mari Väisänen, Kirsi Yliniva

This session focuses on what is silenced, rendered invisible or inaudible and placed in the margins of education. The session asks questions about multivocality: Who is recognised as a speaker, who has the power in the society to define the voices to be heard and who are the ones who hear them. Who, in turn, is pushed to the margins - or even off the page, without a right to speak? What are the experiences and perspectives that go unrecognised in education? What are the wider educational and social discourses, practices, policies and structures that do the silencing? What are the novel research methodologies that are needed to make the invisible visible and the unheard heard?

The session addresses the fundamental question about what it means to have a voice, voice in what, for what. In the discussion of how multivocality is understood, how it manifests, and how it can be made audible, this session focuses 1) on the structures and practices making some voices inaudible in the first place, 2) on what is being made inaudible, 3) on the experience of being made invisible or inaudible, and 4) on the research methodologies needed for making the invisible visible and the unheard heard.

The session is organised as traditional presentations in Finnish or English, with time to comment. Innovative types of presenting are welcome as long as they fit within 20 minutes.

SYMPOSIA

Early childhood education policy and privatization

The symposium reflects the policy around ECE with the help of an international colleague sharing her views and pondering critically current situation in ECE and around ECE. Professor (emerita) Helen Penn from the University of East London gives her keynote about ECE and global policy and what kind of neoliberal ideas have reached ECE. How have these ideas changed the scene of ECE? What about privatization?

After the keynote, the aim is to reflect on how these ideologies have reached the Finnish ECE, what consequences there might be in the future and what possibilities there could be when developing inclusive education in Finland.

University teacher Ph.D. Ville Ruutiainen will reflect on the privatization situation in Finland. He will ponder the views professor Helen Penn has presented. With the new liberal ideas, inclusion is a primary global principle and agreement in education with very different viewpoints compared to new liberal ideas. In Finnish ECE the three-step support system is coming into effect in 1.8.2022 (ECE legislation and curriculum), and the inclusive education culture is a goal to achieve. For this reason, Ph.D. Elina Viljamaa will ask “What about children with special needs?

The symposium is organized by the VAKAe SIG (https://vakae.wordpress.com/). The keynote speaker Helen Penn is a Professor of Early Childhood in the School of Education, University of East London, and a highly recognized scholar in the field. The chairperson of this symposium is Adjunct professor Päivi Pihlaja.

Keywords: early childhood education, early childhood special education, policy, inclusion

Education, Equity and Inclusion - Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable North

Tuija Turunen, professori, Lapin yliopisto

The symposium launches an open-access book titled Education, Equity and Inclusion—Teaching and Learning for a Sustainable North published by Springer Nature. The book provides a current view on education, equity and inclusion through the lens of education for a sustainable North. It explores the provision of education across the North, focusing on challenges and innovations in meeting the needs of diverse learners in remote, rapidly changing contexts. The symposium presents an Arctic viewpoint on the conference theme.

A distinctive feature of the book is that the contributing authors are not only geographically situated across the north but are also tied together through their participation in the UArctic Thematic Network on Teacher Education. Long-standing research partnerships between the network’s members have resulted in the development of insights into the North’s educational potential and challenges and a shared focus on the curricular and pedagogical changes necessary to promote equity and social justice in education.

The symposium will take the form of a panel discussion, with a chair and six panelists. The participants will be half of the book’s authors (to be confirmed at a later date, as travel arrangements are uncertain). The discussion will include an introduction to the book’s themes, curated questions and answers, live audience questions and a summary. The chair will lead the discussion.

The expected results of the symposium are to create a broader awareness of the themes of the book among the audience and spark illuminating conversations between experts and the audience.

A better understanding of the themes will help those working in the education field to understand the unique features of the Arctic education and use this knowledge in their work. A better understanding of the themes will also encourage more research in these areas.

KEYWORDS: University of the Arctic, education in the circumpolar North, equity and inclusion in education

Finnish and Japanese Multi-Age Classrooms: Possibility of Child-Centered Education

Hisashi Fusegi, professor, Shinshu University

Taina Peltonen, postdoc researcher, taina.helena.peltonen (at) gmail.com

The practice and positive effects of teaching in classrooms of multiple ages are too often overlooked in the field of teacher education. Although it was practiced as a common form of education around the world before modernization, past studies show that it is now viewed negatively without the basis of empirical research. The purpose of this study is to clarify the benefits of such educational environments, taking as an example the educational activities of multiple classes practiced in small schools in remote areas. We want to give voice for countryside areas in Finland and in Japan for pupils, teachers, and parents. With the big social and health service reform in Finland and because of economic reasons this area is even more forgotten than before.

Education means functional forms of learning and working methods, learning by doing, problem-based learning, project learning, phenomenon-based learning, drama pedagogy, collaborative learning, computeraided learning, integrative teaching, often pairs and group work, plays, parties, excursions, campuses, workshops, projects, theses, films, presentations ... like Ellen Key, John Dewey, Friedrich Fröbel, Maria Montessori, William Kilpatrick, Peter Petersen, Célestin Freinet, and so on. Case studies, 8-10 schools both in Finland and in Japan, are conducted targeting schools practicing multipleclass education in depopulated areas in Finland and Japan.

We will argue that there are advantages in multi-class education, despite of the conceptions of many educators and administrators. However, due to the advent of a global declining population accelerating the miniaturization of depopulated areas, cases of school consolidation are increasing significantly. Therefore, perhaps the traditional Scandinavian model will be forced to change. We light the mixed-grade education as a positive alternative option.

Presentations: Hisashi Fusegi, professor, Taina Peltonen, post doc researcher, Risto Kilpeläinen, PhD

Keywords: multi-age classrooms, small schools, child-centered education, multifaceted understanding

Global partnerships in education development

Olli-Pekka Malinen, University Lecturer, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Educational Sciences

Dr. Sai Väyrynen, Project Manager, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Educational Sciences

Dr. Hanna Posti-Ahokas, University Researcher, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Educational Sciences

Responsible, sustainable partnerships is the new catch phrase for global partnerships. What does this mean in higher education partnerships? How are partnerships perceived by researchers in the Global South and the Global North? How can the partnerships help to address Sustainable Development Goal 4 – Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all? In the field of education, ‘learning crisis’, ‘education crisis’ and ‘learning poverty’ are concepts that have been used to refer to factors affecting poor learning outcomes, especially in the countries of the South but also in the North. As education researchers engage in North-South collaboration, how can we build partnerships that are mutually beneficial, deepen our understanding of the challenges and address the Sustainable Development Goal 4? These are some of the questions the ‘Global partnerships in education development’ symposium will address. Researchers are invited to contact gintl (at) helsinki.fi send abstracts for the symposium. The organizers will also directly invite speakers from their network to participate. We aim for a discussion including multiple perspectives from various localities to support co-creation of meaningful partnerships.

Speakers from Finland and global partner regions will make brief presentations, followed by facilitated discussion. To support interaction, the discussion on certain question is carried out in pairs – small groups – whole-group with comments by the speakers.

The symposium is organized by the Global Innovation Network for Teaching and Learning (GINTL) (www.gintl.org) and will further boost the higher education institutions’ involvement in global partnerships in the field of education.

Keywords: Education development, SDG4, Global partnerships, higher education

Possibilities and pitfalls of digitalization transforming landscape of education

Joni Lämsä, postdoctoral researcher (Oulun yliopisto)

Jonna Malmberg, associate professor (Oulun yliopisto)

Sanna Järvelä, professor (Oulun yliopisto)

This symposium discusses how theories and empirical research can guide digitalization in teaching and learning. We call for presentations that provide different perspectives, such as self-regulated learning or collaborative learning, towards technology-enhanced learning and teaching. The symposium will also shed light on the advanced learning technologies that have been designed to measure and support learning in individual and collaborative learning contexts.

Keywords: Artificial intelligence, collaborative learning, digitalization, self-regulated learning, technology-enhanced learning