We are pleased to announce the new season of FinEd Online Research Talks! This series of talks covers current topics on educational sciences from varied theoretical and paradigmatic standpoints, showcasing the research conducted in FinEd’s member universities – Helsinki, Turku, Tampere, Jyväskylä, Eastern Finland, Oulu, Lapland, and Åbo Akademi. The talks are targeted for the scientific community, including PhD researchers, Master’s students, researchers, and other interested parties. Participation is free – you are warmly welcome!
This term, we will host three lunchtime talks:
12.10.2022 (Wednesday) at 12 noon – 1 PM.
Ethics in research with young children, Prof. Niina Rutanen (University of Jyväskylä).
This lecture is based on our research groups’ experiences in research with 1-8-year-old children. The Tracing children’s socio-spatial relations and lived experiences in early childhood education transitions (Trace in ECEC) project, funded by the Academy of Finland, has enabled a longitudinal data collection with the same children throughout the years. One of the central tensions we have identified during this process is the tension between the needs of the study and the needs of the child to be seen or, alternatively, remain invisible. The lecture will focus on three central aspects where these tensions are visible during the process 1) informed consents and child’s own assent to study, 2) diverse gazes and relationships with the child while being on the field, and 3) reporting the study.
Link to Prof. Rutanen’s talk Meeting ID: 637 6838 7165 Passcode: 062897
Niina Rutanen is a Professor in Early Childhood Education at the Department of Education, University of Jyväskylä. Her main research interests have focused on relational and spatial approaches in research on early childhood institutions and young children. The most recent project Tracing children’s socio-spatial relations and lived experiences in early childhood education transitions (Trace in ECEC 2019-2023, funded by the Academy of Finland) explores children’s transitions in early childhood education (www.jyu.fi/trace-in-ecec). Twitter @nrutanen @trace_in_ecec
3.11.2022 (Thursday) at 11AM – 12 noon.
Challenges of transformative agency for equity and sustainability: A perspective from the learning sciences, Prof. Annalisa Sannino (Tampere University)
Agency is a central topic in the learning sciences, which, however, too often rely on conceptualizations of agency transferred somewhat uncritically from disciplines other than education itself. The lecture starts with a brief critical discussion of the most influential conceptualizations of agency from psychology and from sociology which remain silent or vague about the processes behind the emergence and development of agency. Yet, educational scholarship, today more than ever, must be able to inform concretely lived processes of and deliberate efforts at generating agency for the making of a just and sustainable world. The lecture proposes an activity-theoretical perspective which lends its conceptual and methodological tools to the actual fostering of transformative capacities and contributes to the creation of conditions to concretely enact agency. The lecture argues that this perspective may represent a relevant contribution for the learning sciences to respond to acute challenges of our time.
Link to Prof. Sannino’s talk Meeting ID: 675 1506 4707 Passcode: 139308
Please note the time of Prof. Sannino’s talk has changed from previously announced.
Annalisa Sannino is Professor at the Faculty of Education and Culture, Tampere University, Finland. Her research focuses on collective learning and transformative agency for equity and sustainability in educational settings, workplaces and communities. Her work is increasingly recognized as a contribution to the field of the learning sciences from the perspectives of cultural-historical activity theory, formative interventions and cross-sectoral participatory analyses and design. Results of her research have appeared in numerous publications including edited books by Cambridge University Press (2009 and forthcoming) and Routledge (2013). She is currently serving as visiting professor at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, at University West, Sweden and at Rhodes University, South Africa.
7.12.2022 (Wednesday) at 12 noon – 1PM.
Research in Special Education and Sloyd Education at ÅAU, Prof. Kristina Ström and Prof. Mia Porko-Hudd (Åbo Akademi)
In this presentation, we will briefly present the two research areas Special Education and Sloyd Education at ÅAU. We will focus on giving an insight into current research and ongoing projects, as well as reflecting upon possibilities for joint ventures between the two disciplines.
Link to Prof. Ström’s and Prof. Porko-Hudd’s talk Meeting ID: 638 8826 4066 Passcode: 304975
Kristina Ström and Mia Porko-Hudd are Professors of Education at the Faculty of Education and Welfare Studies, Åbo Akademi University.
