Research at the Department of Teacher Education

The Department of Teacher Education provides internationally recognized critical research which creates the basis for teaching of different subjects in the Department. The research on learning and education is recognized as one of the areas of strength in research at the University of Turku.

The goal of the research conducted in the department contributes to solving of the educational challenges of future school, children and youth. The integrative main research themes of the department are:

  • Future scientific and mathematical thinking in the digitalized world
  • Education integrating art, craft, design and technology
  • Multiculturalism, equity, and societal change
  • Well-being, participation, and avoidance of marginalization

From the point of view of societal development, important topics of research on learning and teaching are the equity of teaching and learning processes, human rights and democracy education and the pedagogical challenges of the increasing cultural diversity of the classrooms.

Additionally, the department conducts research on other fields, which are connected to its educational programs, such as research on teacher education, higher education, and subject didactics of different school subjects.

The topics of interest on the field are multidisciplinary by nature and many of the questions can be solved only with interdisciplinary cooperation. This is based on good collaboration with for example educational psychology, cognitive neuroscience and social sciences.

Ongoing projects

Open schools for open societies (OSOS)

Open schools for open societies (OSOS)

The consortium project is funded by EU Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (2017-2020) 

The project aims to describe and implement at scale a process that will facilitate the transformation of schools to innovative ecosystems, acting as shared sites of science learning for which leaders, teachers, students and the local community share responsibility, over which they share authority, and from which they all benefit through the increase of their communities’ science capital and the development of responsible citizenship. The project supports a large number of European schools to implement Open Schooling approaches by a) developing a model that promote such a culture, b) offering guidelines and advice on issues such as staff development, redesigning time, and partnerships with relevant organisations (local industries, research organisations, parents associations and policy makers), and c) suggesting a range of possible implementation processes from small-scale prototypes through to setting up an “open school within a school” or even designing a new school while it is testing and assessing them in more than 1,000 school environments in 12 European countries. The themes of the project activities developed and pursuit in participating schools that will take place will focus on areas of science linked with the Grand Societal Challenges as shaped by the EC, will be related to RRI and will link with regional and local issues of interest.

Contact

Tomi Jaakkola

More information

https://www.openschools.eu/

Next-Lab

Next-Lab

​The consortium project (2017-2019) is funded by EU in the context of the European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme.

Next-Lab focuses on introducing inquiry-based science education (IBSE) in schools and continues the mission of the project Go-Lab, promoting innovative and interactive teaching methods in primary and secondary schools. Next-Lab brings Go-Lab ecosystem to a new level of innovation, providing advanced collaboration facilities for teachers and students, online labs for younger students (primary school), learning apps helping students to acquire 21st century skills, an ePortfolio tool, and other new features. Furthermore, Next-Lab addresses pre-service teachers, cooperating with teacher training institutions and contributing to their training programmes. Next-Lab is coordinated by University of Twente, the Netherlands and provides training and support to teachers in 30 European countries, extending Go-Lab community and facilitating cross-border teacher collaboration.

Contact

Koen Veermans
Miikka Korventausta

More information

http://nextlab.golabz.eu/

DigiYouth. Enhancing youth entrepreneurship with cross-border startups and digital technologies

DigiYouth. Enhancing youth entrepreneurship with cross-border startups and digital technologies

Contact

Jaana Lepistö
Marja-Leena Rönkkö

More information

Project webpages at the University of Turku
http://www.digiyouth.eu/

Future Teaching

Future Teaching

The FUTE project works to develop a didactic platform for teacher training, and to create tools that help teachers by implementing more design thinking into the educational curriculum in schools across Europe.

Contact

Satu Grönman
Päivi Granö

More information

http://www.fute-project.eu/

The Developing Network of Safety Culture in Schools (OPTUKE)

The Developing Network of Safety Culture in Schools (OPTUKE)

Contact

Brita Somerkoski

More information

http://www.utu.fi/en/units/edu/units/okl/sites/optuke/

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