Researcher of the month: Jan Löfström

At the moment, I am researching questions that approach democracy education from different angles. In the last few years, I took part in an international research project, which focused on the intersections of historical and moral consciousness. After the project ended, the same group started a new and ongoing project, which focuses on historical and democratic consciousness (we love big words!). In this project, we are currently researching how the concept of democracy is characterized in the history curricula of different countries. Closely connected to the democracy theme is the new Research Council of Finland project, in which the University of Turku is a consortium partner, and whose research focuses on the theoretical and pedagogical preconditions for deliberative education. 

Researching these themes is important because there is an apparent need for pedagogical knowledge that supports democracy rooted in human rights. The foundation of democratic citizenship is of course a multifaceted concept; it involves factors relating to knowledge, skill, and orientations; and in the end, what counts is the motivation of an individual citizen to support the vitality of a democratic way of living. The role of education and schooling in this equation is centrally important.

In my everyday work as a researcher, my days consist variably of teaching (including on the topics mentioned above), scientific writing, administrative tasks, and expert assignments outside of the university, such as the upper secondary schools’ Matriculation Examination Board and the editorial team of a journal. The varied tasks keep my thinking fresh, but on the other hand, switching from one task to another is cumbersome (I wonder if that might get more difficult with age), During one workday I may get few concrete results. Instead, the fruits of my thinking are often realized years later, sometimes coming as a surprise even to myself.

In Finland, I collaborate somewhat in the arenas of publications and research, and especially within certain research collaboratives. Two board assignments, in particular, are motivating for me: Historians Without Borders (whose board has a variety of representation from the University of Turku), and the Ebeneser Foundation, which maintains the Kindergarten Museum (do visit!), and develops museum education. In the past few years, my research collaboration has taken place especially with Nordic colleagues, because the above-mentioned research topics are such that they have not been investigated much in Finland.

When I don’t conduct research, I take care of a kitchen garden and greenhouse in Eastern Uusimaa. It is meditative to rid the garden of weeds, and chopping wood is also a calming, zen-type activity. In addition, I read Donald Duck's paperback books, which lately have had fabulous stories containing themes from ethics and the philosophy of science and art (Ludwig von Drake!). If copyright issues were not a barrier, they could be used as material for ethics education, for instance.

My message to those working in educational research is that as people who work in research that is societally relevant, we are pretty privileged (the question of our sometimes-limited resources aside). This type of research can be also very theoretical and as such, useful in its longevity and applicability. Public interest in educational research questions is pleasantly high. As a bonus, some research findings and even research questions can raise passionate discussion among different stakeholders (as I have experienced within the didactics of economics education), which is revitalizing for a researcher and highlights the necessity of our work.

Researcher of the Month is a joint publication series of the Faculty of Education's Centres for Research CERLI and CELE, presenting one researcher once a month. The previously published presentations have been compiled on the series' website.