KASVA Newsletter 2014/1

​Annual seminar of KASVA on 20th-21st May in Kulttuurikeskus Sofia, Helsinki

The Doctoral Training Network KASVA will organise its traditional annual seminar on 20th-21st May in Kulttuurikeskus Sofia, Helsinki. This year, the subprogramme DWRAE is together with the coordinator in charge of the programme. The theme of the seminar is ”Theory and Practice in Educational Research –Teoria ja käytäntö kasvatustieteellisessä tutkimuksessa”. The seminar will reflect the perennial question of social and educational research, the relationship between theory and practice. The following kinds of questions will be discussed:

• In which way educational theories influence in educational practices and what they learn from practices?
• What kinds of methodologies are able to combine theory and practice in a fruitful way?
• Has the ”practice turn” taken place in educational sciences in the same way as in other social sciences?
• What kinds of options of reflecting the relationship between theory and practice you have in your dissertation?

Professor Davide Nicolini (Warwick University, UK) will give the first keynote lecture on ”Practice-based research: A new phase in studies of work and learning”. He is a well-known researcher of organizational learning and knowledge creation. He is a prominent representative of so-called practice-based theory organizational studies.  Professors Yrjö Engeström, Reijo Miettinen and Jaakko Virkkunen will give the second key lecture entitled ”Institutional learning and formative interventions: Toward societally relevant educational research” where the concept of institutional learning and methodology of formative intervention are combined and the different methodological alternatives of intervention research are discussed.

In the sessions of the seminar, the doctoral students are asked to present in which way the relation between theory and practice is present or dealt with in their dissertation, following the questions above. In connection with the registration to the seminar, the participants are asked to attach a short abstract of their presentation. The small groups of the sessions are then formed according to these. The costs of the seminar (accommodation, meals and the most economical travel expenses) are covered to everybody by KASVA.

You will get more information of the written pre-assignment, registration and timetable in the next Newsletter at the end of February.

Upcoming dissertations

Master of Political Science Mikko Aro will defend his PhD dissertation ”Koulutusinflaatio. Koulutusekspansio ja koulutuksen arvo Suomessa 1970–2008” (in Finnish) on March 21st, 2014. The opponent will be professor emeritus Ari Antikainen from the University of Eastern Finland and the custos will be professor Risto Rinne from the University of Turku. 

Warm congratulations to Mikko!

Coordinator has returned from her study leave

Sanna Niukko has returned from her study leave at the turn of the year. I thank warmly Nina Haltia for substituting me with great success – good luck with the future with new tasks! 

Have a great beginning of the year!

The next FiDPEL Newsletter will be published at the end of February.  If you have something that you wish to be communicated to the KASVA members, please notify the coordinator.