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. In October, professor Sara Sintonen from CERLI takes the spotlight.
My current research explores a range of themes and questions in early childhood education and childhood, including children and material relationality, and their being with the forest. More broadly, I am interested in how knowing, growing, learning and teaching unfold as more-than-human relationalities, dynamic processes that are continually changing and hardly follow a linear path. Some time ago, I spent an entire academic year in the forest school with a group of children, and that data continues to provide plenty of insights. My work also draws on my background in arts education, culture, media and multiliteracies. From time to time, I collaborate with different colleagues on research into teacher education.
I believe researching this topic is important because children are an essential part of society. Early childhood education and its implementation, teacher education, and research are intertwined with complex and sometimes highly intricate phenomena, and research-based knowledge helps us understand them better. Children also possess a kind of wisdom that speaks to me.
In an ideal situation, my working days as a researcher would consist of thinking about concepts and research material, reading, reflecting together with fellow researchers, and writing articles. In practice, however, my days are filled with taking care of practical matters, numerous emails, communication, meetings and negotiations, as well as writing reports and applications under tight deadlines. Teaching is another important part of my work, and supervising students is one of its greatest pleasures—whether they are writing a bachelor’s thesis, a master’s thesis or a doctoral dissertation.
I collaborate with many different researchers and organizations at both national and international levels, including in multidisciplinary groups. Different networks are invaluable, although they can sometimes also be time-consuming. I also try to stay attuned to what is happening in society by following public debate in its many forms. Silent, slow activism is one of my secret weapons.
Away from research, I like to spend time outdoors, although even in the forest or by the shore, my thoughts do not always leave me alone. I find myself returning to questions about what it means to be in the world and meaningfulness of human actions. It is enjoyable to immerse myself in a good film or a carefully made documentary. I also like to just be in silence.
If I could share one thought with others researching learning and teaching, it would be about collaboration. So many people are doing valuable and interesting work in their own areas, but together we could be even more impactful.
