ADVOST

Case 1: Finland

The Finnish case aims to produce new knowledge to language learning context that is demanding and diverse. Pedagogical innovations are needed to promote young children’s language skills and identity building, especially with children living outside of traditional Sámi areas. One answer to this challenge is distance education. The Finnish case study will explore new and innovative pedagogical models to provide culturally relevant pre-school education for 5- and 6-years old children via online learning environments.

Finnish case project in research portal

The Canadian case study will explore the ways that digital media, play, and land-based teaching approaches can come together to enhance storytelling in inclusive ways that augment literacy and language learning through culturally relevant arts-based approaches. The Canadian case study will examine how pre-school children use material culture (everyday objects) to make connections to places in which they live and learn, to share stories about their lives.

The UK case study will examine how practitioners might be better supported to work within diverse communities that permit the voices of all pupils to be heard, and their perspectives be taken into consideration when planning for teaching and learning. The case study will work with practitioners to explore principles of practice focusing on theoretical notions of voice, space, audience and influence that might facilitate the voices and agency of all young children in educational settings and contribute to social cohesion both within the school setting and beyond into the community at large.

The project partners are University of Lapland, Finland (project leader), Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada and Leeds Beckett University, UK.

Finland: Sámi Education Institute, Regional State Administrative Agency, Utsjoki Municipality / Sámi Distance Teaching project, and Rovaniemi City

Canada: Memorial Childcare Centre, Rennie’s River School, and The Rooms

UK: ‘Look Who’s Talking’ Research Group, Up for Learning, Boothroyd Primary Academy, and Mayfield Primary School

Finnish team

Tuija Turunen

Project leader, Principal Investigator
Professor
Faculty of Education
University of Lapland
tuija.turunen(at)ulapland.fi

Pigga Keskitalo

Dr., Researcher
Faculty of Education
University of Lapland
pigga.keskitalo(at)ulapland.fi

Hanna Helander

Junior Researcher
Faculty of Education
University of Lapland
hanna.helander(at)ulapland.fi

Canadian team

Anne Burke

Principal Investigator
Professor
Faculty of Education
Memorial University of Newfoundland
amburke(at)mun.ca

Diane Collier

Associate Professor
Brock University
Adjunct Professor
Memorial University of Newfoundland
dcollier(at)brocku.ca

UK Team

Mhairi Beaton

Principal Investigator
Dr., Senior Lecturer
Carnegie School of Education
Leeds Beckett University
M.C.Beaton(at)leedsbeckett.ac.uk

Susan Atkinson

Dr., Senior Lecturer
Carnegie School of Education
Leeds Beckett University
S.J.Atkinson(at)leedsbeckett.ac.uk

The project ADVOST held a network webinar on 31 August 2021. The webinar recording is now published!

The webinar “Advancing small​children’s voice and agency through research collaboration and innovation studies” included short presentations by the ADVOST project team: Anne Burke from Memorial University, Diane Collier from Brock University, Mhairi Beaton and Susan Atkinson from Leeds Beckett University, and Tuija Turunen, Pigga Keskitalo and Hanna Helander from University of Lapland. The webinar is based on the work of Paula Ayliffe, Kyrstie Stubbs, Henna Aikio, Satu Pieski, Sirkka Sanila, Angela Rose, Erin Power, Jessica Williams and Jennifer Skanes.

The webinar recording has now been published in the network YouTube channel  where you can also find the recordings of our previous webinars!

Project ADVOST organises a network webinar to present the project and its three cases, and how the pandemic has affected in doing research in the project. The webinar will be held on 31 August 2021 at 15.00 (Finnish time, UTC +3). Please check your local time.

The open online webinar will be titled “Advancing small​children’s voice and agency through research collaboration and innovation studies“. It is based on the work of Mhairi Beaton, Tuija Turunen, Anne Burke, Pigga Keskitalo, Hanna Helander, Paula Ayliffe, Kyrstie Stubbs, Henna Aikio, Satu Pieski, Sirkka Sanila, Angela Rose, Erin Power, Jessica Williams and Jennifer Skanes.

The webinar will be held in Teams. The webinar is open for all to participate, and it will be recorded. The recording will be published in the network Resource centre, where you can also find the recordings of the previous webinars.

Webinar abstract

This webinar is based on the processes and findings of the phase one of the ADVOST project (Socially Innovative Interventions to Foster and to Advance Young Children’s Inclusion and Agency in society through Voice and Story). It included case studies conducted in the United Kingdom, Finland and Canada. All three case studies explored how the promotion of children’s voices and agency might support social cohesion and wellbeing. The ADVOST project sought to provide a deeper understanding of how teachers were using pedagogical approaches to facilitate the voices and agency of all young children in ways that valued and honored the cultural diversity they bring to the classroom.The set project phases needed some modification because the schedule start of the project coincided with the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. Not all the three case studies could be implemented in the original planned format so the research design required adaptations. The pandemic effected the research ethics and added some complications, such as children’s interviews were conducted online despite meeting them face-to-face.

The three case studies produced innovation preliminary findings which will be presented in a webinar. Finnish case study concerns Sámi language distance education and teachers and pupils working with traditional storytelling, outdoor education and playful learning. In the UK case study, the researchers worked with early years practitioners and their pupils to collaboratively explore how student voice might be utilised as a pedagogical tool to improve learning. The Canadian case study explored how arts – based pedagogies informed teaching approaches in innovative ways using digital media to enhance children’s storytelling and voices.

The workshop was organised online the 22 and the 23 April, bringing successfully together the project researchers, teachers and the advisory board reflecting and discussing the current findings and future visions.

The first workshop day presented each country’s current situations with inspiring findings and interactive videos and presentations with researchers and teachers. The discussions highlighted children’s voice and story introducing useful practices, newly found innovations and land-based teaching approaches. Teachers observations and their experiences with children gave deeper understanding of the practices and discoveries, thereafter the following day continued with the researchers and the advisory board’s discussions and began a reflective comparison between the counties and future developments.

The workshop was successful and the project is working progressively forward despite of the ongoing pandemic situation.

The project is funded by Trans-Atlantic Platform Social Innovation call, by three funding organisations: Academy of Finland, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) and UK Research and Innovation (ESRC). Project period is 1/2020-2/2022. The project is part of activities of UArctic Thematic Network on Teacher Education. The project partners are University of Lapland, Finland (project leader), Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada and Leeds Beckett University, UK.

To find further information about the ADVOST, please visit the project website.

Text written by Titta Myllyniemi

Titta Myllyniemi, Intercultural education student from University of Oulu has started her intership at University of Lapland.

Titta Myllyniemi has started a 3-month internship at the University of Lapland. She is working with project manager Janette Peltokorpi with UNITWIN/UNESCO Network on Teacher Education and UArctic Thematic Network on Teacher Education.

Titta lives in Oulu and has settled well into the North. She is exited about the new learning opportunities and challenges to come. She is a Bachelor’s level student at the University of Oulu majoring in Intercultural Education (ITE) Primary School Teacher’s Program and having German Philology as minor subject. Titta is passionate about teacher education and working with it on different levels. The special interest she has on the UArctic and UNITWIN/UNESCO Networks on Teacher Education are Indigenous Education and Inclusive Education. Connecting the local and global perspectives fascinate her, and it’s what she is aiming to bring into classrooms as future primary teacher. Learning how networks function and also developing skills in international settings are important goals for her thematic practice.

Contact information:

Titta Myllyniemi
Intern
titta.myllyniemi@ulapland.fi

The article, titled “Teachers are on the front lines with students in the coronavirus pandemic” was published in the Conversation on 10 January 2021.

The article “Teachers are on the front lines with students in the coronavirus pandemic“, was authored by Associate professor Diane R. Collier, Brock University and Professor Anne Burke, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Professor Anne Burke described the work behind the article as follows: “We partnered with the ROOMS, a local museum and gallery, to talk about the importance of storytelling behind Artefacts and Art. In preparation for this day, teachers were invited to bring a personally owned artefact that shared how they felt about teaching during the pandemic. Further discussions revealed how the role of teachers have changed in Canadian classrooms and how they are standing alongside students on the front lines.”

The article was published as part of project ADVOST, that aims to promote children’s voices and digital storytelling. The ADVOST project includes three case studies, and the article is an outcome from the Canadian case study. The other partner universities in the ADVOST project are Leeds Beckett University (UK) and University of Lapland (Finland), and the project is part of activities of UArctic Thematic Network on Teacher Education.

Please read the full article in the Conversation website.

More information about the ADVOST in the project website.

UArctic Thematic Network and UNESCO/UNITWIN Network on Teacher Education publish a newsletter 2-3 times a year.

The newsletter includes information about the recent and upcoming network activities and events. There’s also “Get to know our network members” section with introduction from University of Aberdeen. Click here to see the newsletter.

Stay updated about the network activities and events by subscribing the newsletter and following the All News & Newsletters page.

Text written by Janette Peltokorpi

UArctic Thematic Network held a seminar and a book launch event on 11th of March at the University of Lapland.

The seminar was held in two parts. The first part of the seminar included two presentations. First presentation was held by professor Karen Timmer (University of Southern Queensland, Australia) and professor Debra Hoven (Athabasca University, Kanada). They presented their experiences of academic supervision work among students with indigenous heritage.

The second presentation was held by associate professor Benedikte Brincker (University of Copenhagen, Denmark). Her presentation was about the motivational aspects of students and teachers in the special circumstances of Greenland.

The second part of the seminar consisted of the publications of the book “Indigenous Postgraduate Education: Intercultural Perspectives” and it is edited by Karen Timmer (University of Southern Queensland, Australia), Debra Hoven (Athabasca University, Kanada) and associate professor Pigga Keskitalo (University of Lapland, Finland). The book discusses the experiences of indigenous doctoral thesis students’.

The seminar was recorded and the recording is now available in the YouTube channel of the network. The recording, as well as all the other network materials are available in the Resource Center.

The first meeting of ADVOST project, held on 16-18 March online, was very successful and gave a great start for project.

The programme of three-day kick-off meeting included introductions and getting to know each other, presentation on baseline audit results, discussion on theoretical and methodological frameworks and discussion on the project schedule, dissemination plan and other practical issues.

The project includes three case studies in three countries, and comparison between the cases. Finnish case study focuses on Sámi language distance education for young children. Canadian case is about play- and land-based pedagogies in enhancing storytelling by using arts-based approaches. UK case aims to support practitioners in working with diverse communities in a way that permit all the voices of all pupils to be better heard.

The meeting was planned to be held in Rovaniemi, Finland, but it was changed to online meeting due to the travel restrictions related to COVID-19 virus.

Open seminar on Indigenous Education will discuss educational contexts of indigenous people in Greenland, Canada and Australia. The seminar will take place at the University of Lapland, Department of Education, in room ss22, and it is hosted by ADVOST research project and UArctic Thematic Network Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity.

The first part of the seminar includes two presentations by visiting international experts. First, Professors Karen Trimmer from University of Southern Queensland (Australia) and Debra Hoven from Athabasca University (Canada) give an expert lecture about Supervision of Indigenous postgraduate students. They have a long experience about various kind of supervision tasks at higher education. Secondly, Head of Department and Associate professor Benedikte Brincker, Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen (Denmark), will talk about how different forms of motivation influences attraction and attrition of school teachers working under extreme conditions – Case: East Greenland.

The second part of the seminar includes the launch of the international book Indigenous postgraduate education: Intercultural perspectives, edited by Professor Karen Trimmer, University of Southern Queensland, Australia, Professor Debra Hoven, Athabasca University, Alberta, Canada and University Researcher Pigga Keskitalo, University of Lapland, Finland. The book explores how Indigenous people may be better supported towards more equitable participation to undertake higher degree research postgraduate studies in higher education institutions internationally.

In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; in Canada, First Nation, Métis and Inuit peoples; in Scandinavia and Kola Peninsula, Sámi and in New Zealand, Maori people; have been the “subjects” of formal and informal research since colonisation and assimilation. However, in many colonised or assimilated contexts Indigenous people have had limited opportunities to be the researchers or undertake postgraduate study by research. Increasing numbers of Indigenous postgraduate students and researchers is key to enabling leaders and communities, and in the development and understanding of and respect for Indigenous histories, cultures and language within curriculum and pedagogy and approaches to research. Importantly, postgraduate students and researchers can also be agents of power and have the capacity to not only subvert and resist but to positively advance within their own cultural context.

There is an important contribution to be made by giving voice to Indigenous postgraduate students so that they can share directly the stories of their experience, their inspirations and difficulties in undertaking postgraduate study. Bringing the topic and the voices of Indigenous students clearly into the public domain provides a catalyst for discussion of the issues and potential strategies to assist future Indigenous postgraduate students and can provide sustainable solution-focused and change-focused strategies to support Indigenous postgraduate students who will go on to become stronger Indigenous educational leaders, in turn supporting the next generation.

Open seminar and book launch at the University of Lapland, Rovaniemi
Wednesday March 11:
Time: 10-12
Room: ss22.

Programme:
10-11 Supervision of Indigenous postgraduate students
Professor Karen Trimmer, University of Southern Queensland (Australia) and Debra Hoven, Athabasca University (Canada).
11.00-11.30 How different forms of motivation influences attraction and attrition of school teachers working under extreme conditions – Case: East Greenland
Associate Professor Benedikte Brincker, Head of Department, Department of Sociology, University of Copenhagen
11.30-12 Book launch Indigenous postgraduate education – Intercultural perspectives (by IAP), Editors: Karen Trimmer, Debra Hoven and Pigga Keskitalo

Coffee and snacks. You all are warmly welcome!

The project focuses on agency and voice of young children in marginalized, indigenous and immigrant children with diverse ethnical and cultural backgrounds.

The project got successful funding decision from Trans-Atlantic Platform Social Innovation funding call, and the project period is 26 months. The AdVoSt-project will enhance educators’ knowledge of multiple storytelling pedagogies including perspectives of land-based learning. The research-based development of composing narratives with young learners through art, writing, photography, performance and digital representations privilege young children’s voice enabling their full citizenship.

The project is coordinated by University of Lapland, Finland and the university partners are Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada and Leeds Beckett University, UK. In addition to university partners, there are also associations and other local organisations as cooperation partners. The project is part of activities of UArctic Thematic Network on Teacher Education.

The project is funded by Academy of Finland, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada) and UK Research and Innovation. The grant is for 437 892 EUR, and it is divided with the partners as follows: 197 763 EUR for University of Lapland, 64 456 EUR for Memorial University and 175 674 EUR for Leeds Beckett.

The project includes five work packages: three for case studies (one for each country), one for comparison and dissemination activities and one for management. The outcomes of the project will be a handbook for practitioners, “white paper” for T-AP, scientific articles and conference presentations, webinars and dissemination events.