Looking for something. Use our search engine!

The search engine is the heart of our site. All our content is at your fingertips, just start typing and the search will present hits in several categories.

Recommended shortcuts

Research profile ECEC

 

Eriksson Linda, M.A. Education, doctoral researcher
My doctoral research concerns religious and worldview education, more precisely children’s possibilities to strengthen their worldview identities and develop religious and worldview literacy within ECEC contexts. The research is grounded in a relational ontology and a holistic view of the human beings, teaching, and learning. It is connected to the project Resilience in Early Childhood Education and Care (ResECEC), which explores how various aspects of resilience are expressed in children´s daily lives within ECEC.  I am a member of the network Poeda, a network for post-perspectives in educational research in Finland.

Furu Christin, title of docent, university researcher
My research concerns sustainability issues in early childhood education and care with a special focus on the importance of nature connectedness in supporting resilience and sustainability among children and staff. I am the project leader of the ResECEC project  on how to support resilience within ECEC. In addition, I am involved in research on collegial professionalism and professional development as well as operational cultures in ECEC. My research is founded in relational ontology, and I adopt narrative and arts-based approaches to research and education. I am a member of national, Nordic and international research groups in sustainability education.

Hansell Katri, Research leader, PhD, title of docent
My research concerns linguistic diversity and multilingualism in educational contexts focusing especially on approaches that promote language-aware teaching and cross-language cooperation, e.g., tandem language learning. I am also interested in developing models for cooperation between researchers and teachers as well as ECEC teacher training programme. My current research projects and groups focus on language-enriched teaching from ECEC to primary education (Meningsfull interaktion på finska 2.0), support system in ECEC (Vakaata tukea), Linguistic learning environments in bilingual pre-primary education, and blended teacher education programme for ECEC from students’ and teacher educators’ perspectives.

Heikkilä Mia, PhD, senior researcher at ÅAU (part time)/Professor of Child and Youth Studies, focus ECEC, Stockholm University
My research focuses on children’s learning, participation, and influence in early childhood education and care, and on how educational practices can be organized to give children greater agency. I also examine pedagogical leadership. My reserach often includes analyses of gender, ethnicity, age, and functionality, as these identity categories shape children’s opportunities to fully participate in their educational contexts. A key motivation in my work is to examine the societal norms that hinder equitable inclusion in education.

I am the principal investigator of ResECE (Resilience in Early Childhood Education, 2023–2027) and member of the project group for  AKT on pedagogical leadership in early childhood education. At Åbo Akademi University, I have also contributed to projects such as Stjärnklart, Övningsdaghem, and GATE, and collaborated as a co-researcher in several article projects.

Hirvi Johanna, M.A. Education, doctoral student
My research area is related to children’s transitions within early childhood education and preschool education. I have a particular interest in how professional teachers in early childhood education work to ensure that children in need of support receive educational continuity during transitions.

Kvist Maria, University teacher, doctoral student
My research focuses on the linguistic and semiotic landscape of preschool education conducted in two languages. I place particular emphasis on both children’s and teachers’ experiences and perceptions of the preschool learning environment. The study is carried out within the framework of the project Språkliga lärmiljöer i förskoleundervisning på två språk (in English: Linguistic Learning Environments in Preschool Education in Two Languages).

Nordin Pia, M.A. Education, doctoral student
My research area is pedagogical leadership in early childhood education and care. The focus is on analysing the conditions for pedagogical leadership and sustainable leadership. Part of the research is conducted within the project Framtidens småbarnspedagogik – ledarskap. In addition, research around multilingualism and multi-identity interests me.

Nylund Jessica, M.A. Education, doctoral student
My doctoral research concerns education for sustainability in ECEC. In my doctoral project I´m exploring how children´s future hope can be strengthened through arts-based learning processes. Resilience and connectedness to nature are themes
that are woven into my research project. Part of the research is conducted within the project Resiliens i småbarnspedagogiken – aktörskap, tillhörighet och medkänsla (ResECEC). I am a member of the network Poeda, a network for post-perspectives in educational research in Finland.

Staffans Eva, PhD
My research area is connected to the special education context within early childhood education. I have a particular interest in the professional role of special education teachers, and in the project Robust Support (Vakaata tukea), I focus on how support for children in early childhood education is carried out, implemented, and perceived. In addition to the field of special education, I also have an interest in craft activities within early childhood education. I am involved in several Nordic and international research networks that focus on inclusion, children’s favorite outdoor places, and teachers’ preparedness to support children who have experienced trauma.

Still Johanna, EdD
My research interests are primarily in music, with a focus on music education, but I am also interested in cross-language activities and pedagogical documentation in early childhood education. In the music project, Make more music,(https://www.abo.fi/projekt/musicera-mera/), I will study what can inspire teachers in early childhood education to develop new creative activities that enable children to develop their musical skills and interest in music.

Svanbäck-Laaksonen Mikaela, PhD (Education)
My research concerns pedagogical leadership, children´s movement activities and the development of early childhood teacher education.  My main ongoing research project focuses on blended teacher education programme for ECEC from students’ and teacher educators’ perspectives and pedagogical leadership and leader´s change and development processes.

Tjäru Sofie, M.A., doctoral student
My research interests concern literature didactics and literacy in early childhood education and pre-primary education. In my doctoral dissertation, I investigated teachers’ perspectives on and approaches to read-aloud practices in preschool education. I am a member of the Nordic Early Literacy network, where researchers from Norway, Sweden, and Finland collaborate to study early literacy as well as reading and writing practices in early childhood and preschool settings.