We are proud to be able to announce the FinEd Online Research Talks (FORT) for the spring season 2026! The FORT events – one-hour online research talks on current topics in educational sciences by an established scholar from one of FinEd’s member universities – are aimed specially at PhD researchers, but we welcome also all other interested parties to join, for free – hope to see many of you there!
5th of March, 2026 at 12:00–13:00
Crossing Boundaries, Building Firewalls: Critical Policy Studies of Future Classroom Spaces, Professor Antti Saari (Tampere University)
Link to Prof. Saari’s talk https://jyufi.zoom.us/j/63118004080
Meeting ID: 631 1800 4080; Passcode: 977578
In Finland, comprehensive school learning environments have become sites of increasing political, economic, and public attention. Pressures arising from fiscal constraints, pedagogical reforms, and shifting societal expectations have accelerated both renovation and new construction, often under the banner of Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs). These spaces are frequently designed to embody “new pedagogies” centered on flexibility, collaboration, and digital integration, supported by a persistent belief that educational progress requires a clear departure from traditional classroom models.
Building on prior research that highlights enduring tensions, mismatches, and disconnections between educational research, policy ambitions, and everyday pedagogical practice, this study revisits the challenges of implementing contemporary learning environment reforms. Drawing on critical policy studies of future classroom spaces, the presentation addresses three interconnected themes: (1) policy trends shaping classroom design and the ways spatial imaginaries mediate broader visions of education and society; (2) the role of scientific knowledge in guiding or constraining the design and implementation of ILEs; and (3) the situated adaptations, negotiations, and divergences that emerge as ILEs are constructed and enacted in practice.
29th of April, 2026 at 12:00–13:00
The second FORT talk of the spring will be held by Associate Professor Anna Widlund (Åbo Akademi University). The details of the talk will be announced later.
