Umeå University's logo

This article explores tactful contact in educational relations, where learning emerges through the interaction of teachers, students, and digital tools. Viewing learning as co-creative and relational, the study broadens the discussion on polyphonic relational epistemology by applying a sociomaterial lens targeting relational materiality. Digital contexts alter both space and temporality of interactions. Therefore, to participate actively in co-creative learning digitally, you need agency to relate to others in changed ways, referred to as relational agency. This study examines how teachers can scaffold students' relational agency in digital learning environments. A vignette is used as data to analyse how relational agency arises not from the individual alone, but in an emergent process from the entanglement of human and non-human actors. An anticipatory dimension is added to the traditional view of teacher-student relationships where teachers act on the unpredictability inherent in various situations and contexts. The results indicate that one form of anticipatory pedagogical tact is to provide a variety of digital communication options, mitigating students' vulnerability. This gives students various choices of embodiment in their interactions, which facilitates psychological safety and acts as a scaffold, thereby increasing their relational agency.

Symposium general abstract

Yrkesläraren befinner sig i ett spänningsfält mellan utbildningssystemets styrning och organisering samt arbetslivets förväntningar och yrkeskulturer. I en samtid präglad av snabb utveckling och omställning ställs ytterligare krav och förväntningar på läraruppdraget. Detta är utgångspunkterna för ett samnordiskt komparativt projekt med intresse för och fokus på yrkeslärares profession, professionsutövning, kompetensbehov och kompetensutveckling. VEN (Vocational Education in the Northern Regions), är ett samarbete mellan yrkeslärarutbildningarna vid de nordligt belägna lärosätena Nord universitet och Høgskulen på Vestlandet (Norge), Umeå universitet (Sverige), och Åbo Akademi (Finland). Samarbetet avser bidra med insikter i yrkeslärares arbete och dess utmaningar genom både fördjupningar i och jämförelser mellan de olika nationella kontexterna.

De studier som ingår i symposiet undersöker och problematiserar yrkeslärares samhällsuppdrag i en alltmer komplex samtid, genom olika infallsvinklar på deras förståelse av sitt demokratiuppdrag, förhållningssätt och hantering av normkritisk kompetens och införandet av ett nytt ämnesövergripande (tverrfaglig) temaområde med syfte att hantera elevers livsutmaningar. Yrkeslärares specialpedagogiska upp-drag studeras dels utgående från styrdokumentsanalys, dels i form av specialpedagogiska anpassningar under elevers praktikperioder. Vidare klarläggs yrkeslärares vardagspraktiker, de kompetenser arbetet förutsätter och former för kompetensutveckling (Antera, 2021).

Methodology

Symposium contributions.

Contributing abstract 1: Yrkeslärarens profession - med betoning på ett demokratifrämjande- och specialpedagogiskt uppdrag

Yrkeslärarens profession kan förstås som två sammanhängande dimensioner: uppdraget att utbilda skickliga yrkesutövare och det bredare samhällsuppdraget - att bidra till en inkluderande yrkesutbildning som stärker elevernas förutsättningar för delaktighet och påverkan i arbetsliv och samhälle. I symposiets första del fokuserar vi på den senare dimensionen genom att belysa norska, finländska och svenska yrkeslärares förståelse av sitt demokratiuppdrag av Johannessen, Kärnebro, Björk-Åman, Ledman & Stenmark, samt genom en styrdokumentanalys av yrkeslärarens specialpedagogiska uppdrag i samma länder av Björk-Åman, Forsberg, Rondestvedt & Ström.

Med utgång i styrdokumenten konstateras i den förstnämnda studien om yrkeslärarens demokratiuppdrag av Johannessen et al. att det i den förnyade svenska läroplanen, Lgy25 , finns en tydlig betoning på kunskaper, värden och förmågor som krävs för aktivt och etiskt samhällsdeltagande. I Norge tydliggörs motsvarande uppdrag bland annat i det tvärfagliga temat Demokrati og medborgerskap i LK20, medan uppdraget i Finland formuleras mindre explicit i de övergripande styrdokument, även om demokratifrågor behandlas i särskilda kurser. Mot denna bakgrund analyseras i studien yrkeslärarens demokratifostrande roll utifrån Biestas teori om kvalificering, socialisering och subjektifiering.

I en komparativa WPR-analys (Bacchi, 2009) av specialpedagogiska styrdokument av Björk-Åman et al. väcks bland annat frågor om vad det innebär att Norge avvecklar begreppet specialundervisning i styr-dokumenten samtidigt som Finland återinför det. Norge ger samtidigt lärarna ett tydligt gruppansvar genom tilpasset opplæring, medan Finland individualiserar stödet och i Sverige läggs det största ansvaret på yrkeslärarna genom extra anpassningar. I studien problematiseras och diskuteras hur dessa nationella skillnader formar yrkeslärarnas specialpedagogiska uppdrag och ger det skiftande form och innehåll i de tre länderna.

Contributing abstract 2: Yrkeslärarens professionsutövning - ett utsnitt av yrkeslärarnas praktiska arbete

Under temat yrkeslärarens professionsutövning presenteras två studier varav den första håller oss kvar inom det specialpedagogiska området med tematiken arbetssätt och anpassningar under yrkeselevernas praktikperioder av Olovsson, Hansson, Wickman & Markgren och den andra riktar Backström-Widjeskog blicken mot hur yrkeslärarna kan stödja yrkeseleverna att hantera personliga och praktiska livsutmaningar på bästa möjliga sätt.

Olovsson et al. fokuserar i sin studie på specialpedagogiskt stöd under arbetsplatsförlagt lärande (APL) i svensk yrkesutbildning. Här undersöks yrkeslärares och handledares arbetssätt och hur anpassningar formas i praktiken. Resultaten visar att kulturellt-diskursiva föreställningar om den ”önskvärda eleven” påverkar vilka elever som inkluderas eller exkluderas i arbetsplatsens sociala gemenskap och vilka förväntningar som riktas mot dem. Stödinsatserna framstår ofta som informella och individberoende, vilket kan skapa ojämlikhet mellan elever. Även om studien är baserad på svensk data har den en nordisk ingång.

Backström-Widjeskog sätter i sin studie fokus på det tverrfaglige temaområdet folkehelse og livsmestring som år 2019 introducerades i den norska läroplanen med syftet att hjälpa elever att lära sig hantera personliga och praktiska livsutmaningar på bästa möjliga sätt (Utdanningsdirektoratet, 2019). I studien sätts ändå det studerade temat in i en nordisk kontext med data insamlat bland norska och finlands-svenska yrkeslärare. Utifrån modellen ”Arkitekturen för att främja handlingskraft och bemästrande” identifieras i resultaten fem dimensioner – trygghet, mod, mening, motståndskraftigt ägarskap och stolt-het – som centrala när yrkeslärare arbetar för att stärka elevers sociala och personliga utveckling.

Contributing abstract 3: Yrkeslärarens Professionskompetens och -utveckling

Yrkeslärares kompetens studeras i relation till yrkespraktiker och kompetensutveckling. I Salo, Johan-nessen, Olovsson, Hansson och Jacobssons studie används praktikarkitekturer (Kemmis et al., 2014) för att studera yrkeslärares arbete och kompetensutveckling. Arbetet framträder genom teman som undervisning och elevsamspel, samverkan med kollegor och arbetsliv, samt skolorganisation och resurser. Kompetensutvecklingen tar form både som formell fortbildning och som informellt kollegialt erfarenhetsutbyte och individuellt lärande via praktiserande av yrkesfärdigheter. Central är aktiviteten att ge och få stöd i relation till elever, kollegor och arbetslivsrepresentanter.Bjørngaard, Kärnebro och Wiklund-Engbloms studie fokuserar på yrkeslärares normkritiska kompetens, utgående från NORM survey. Studien är teoretiskt förankrad i normkritisk pedagogik och normmedve-tenhet som professionell kompetens (Blomberg, 2020). Den normkritiska kompetensen omfattar fyra dimensioner: förmåga att agera normkritiskt, medvetenhet om normers påverkan, kollegialt stöd och öppenhet samt kollegial normmedvetenhet. Studien visar att kompetensen är mångdimensionell och påverkas av lärarutbildning, yrkeserfarenhet och nationell kontext. Yrkeslärare i Finland och Norge uppvisade större handlingsförmåga i normkritik, medan svenska lärare visade högre grad av normmedvetenhet och kollegial normativ medvetenhet. Kollegialt stöd var liknande i alla tre länder.

Johannessens studie viser hvordan yrkespedagogisk utviklingsarbeid styrker yrkesfaglærerstudenters profesjonskompetanse, særlig deres endrings- og utviklingskompetanse. Studien bygger på en Deweys (2013) forståelse av prosjektarbeid, Johnsen (1985) sine kriterier for godt utviklingsarbeid og Illeris’ helhetlige læringsmodell (2012). Resultatene viser at arbeidsformen fremmer selvinnsikt, helhetlig forståelse, meningsskaping og dannelse, men i mindre grad læring om kultur og samfunn. Prosjektarbeidet oppleves som meningsfullt, men er svakt koblet til andre studentgrupper og praksisfellesskapet. Studentenes motivasjon preges mest av ønsket om egen læring og utvikling, og mindre av relevans for praksisfelt og samfunn.

References

Antera, S. (2021). Professional competence of vocational teachers: A conceptual review. Vocations and Learning, 14(3), 459-479.18

Bacchi, C. L. (2009). Analysing policy: What's the problem represented to be? Pearson Australia.

Blomberg, H. (2020). Norm awareness in education: Operationalising professional competence. [Un-published manuscript].

Illeris, K. (2012). Læring. Gyldendal Akademisk.

Kemmis, S., Wilkinson, J., Edwards-Groves, C., Hardy, I., Grootenboer, P. & Bristol, L. (2014). Changing practices, changing education. Springer.

This study explores the outcome of a teacher workshop as part of a larger longitudinal study on a school designed as an innovative learning environment. All teachers were invited to participate in a workshop aimed to equip them with vocabulary for planning lessons grounded in the notion of student-centred learning (SCL) practices (Bremner, 2020). The purpose was to 1) explore teachers’ understanding of how to plan for and deliver SCL practices and 2) measure the impact of the workshop pertaining to expansive learning of SCL practices.​ 

Several theories were employed throughout the study to support various phases. The CHAT theoretical framework provided a scaffold for the workshop’s structure as a formative intervention, including double stimulation and addressing how the concept of SCL evolves within the school, thus facilitating expansive learning (Engeström & Sannino, 2010). During the workshop, Bremner’s (2020) synthesis of SCL research into six categories was used as conceptualization for the second stimuli (Engeström & Sannino, 2010) to mirror the teachers’ understanding of student-centred learning practices. The six categories are: student autonomy, formative assessment, adapting to learner needs, relevant skills, power sharing, and active participation (Bremner, 2020). Bernstein’s (2000) theory of classification and framing pertaining to distribution of power and control in the classroom formed a basis for coding the classroom practices. This theory has been further developed to categorize practices into the TTPC framework (Bergström & Wiklund-Engblom, 2022; Bergström et al., under review). 

A mixed methods research approach of exploratory sequential design was employed (Cresswell & Plano Clark, 2018), in which multiple types of qualitative data (observational data and audio recorded group discussions) and quantitative data (questionnaires and evaluations) were collected at several phases (during workshop and during and after the planned lecture). Hence, the data collection​ was carried out in two phases: 1) during the workshop on student-centred learning (SCL) practices​ and 2) during and after the delivery of the planned SCL lecture​.  

The planned lessons will be observed during November 2024. The analysis will be carried out thereafter, and results will be finalized for the conference presentation.  

A significant body of previous research shows that the teacher-student relationship is important for both teacher and student well-being and learning. Hence, teachers’ relational competence is key to social sustainability in education. Today, there is an epidemic of mental health problems among university students. Furthermore, drop-out rates when university courses are carried out in digital learning environments are high. 

This study is about how teachers can understand and develop their relational competence in relation to different conditions and framework factors when teaching goes digital, i.e. teachers' digital relational competence for teaching in digital learning environments. The questions are thus about what digital relational competence is, how it relates to the learning context, how we can develop this competence, and, consequently, how we can teach it to teachers and student teachers in effective ways. 

Although there is a relatively good consensus on what relational competence means, there is still some variation in how it is described in a general sense and what terminology is used. However, these conceptualisations are mostly based on traditional teaching situations. Nonetheless, these will form the basis of our operationalisation in collecting data. These concepts include for instance: facilitation of development and learning, social presence, pedagogical imagination and tact, tactfulness, care, psychological safety, adaptation to relational pace and space, seeing the student, being relationally responsible, being authentic, being able to differentiate professionally, communicative, and manage socio-emotionally difficult situations. 

Interviews will be carried out with 10 university teachers in both Finland and Sweden during the spring of 2025. These will be analysed using reflective thematic analysis and compared to results from a prior interview study on students’ experiences and thoughts about teacher-student relations in digital university courses. Results will be finalized and presented at the conference.

This study explores teaching practices in an Innovative Learning Environment (ILE) with the attempt to examine the student-centred ideal emphasised in these kinds of postdigital classrooms. Rather than treating student-centredness as a self-evident pedagogical aim, we explore it through entanglements of human and non-human actors in one lesson analysed iteratively using explanatory sequential research design. Building on Bernstein’s concepts of classification and framing, the first step of analysis investigated how power and control were negotiated within the ILE classroom, where spatial and material flexibility challenged traditional practices. Thereafter, a sociomaterial analysis targeted how humans and material intra-acted attributing agency in shaping postdigital classroom entanglements. The findings show how social, spatial, and material boundaries shape power dynamics and agency. It emphasises the complex, shifting interplay of teacher-student roles in postdigital pedagogy advocating a pragmatic rather than idealised student-centred use of ILEs. Spatial competence involves understanding how boundaries—whether physical or symbolic—can empower or exclude. Teachers play a key role in scaffolding students towards spatial co-regulation, enabling autonomy and response-ability. By extending sociomaterial and postdigital perspectives, the study reveals how agency and authority develop within ILE classrooms, including ongoing safety concerns. The study contributes to discussions on the implications of ILEs for power relations, agency, and student-centred learning in the postdigital era.

The Naturkraft concept was designed to inspire families to spend more time in nature to increase their nature connectedness and overall resilience. Research shows that spending time in nature is beneficial for health. These benefits are especially important to reap during childhood, as nature plays a crucial role in the holistic development of children, fostering a deep and meaningful connection that contributes to their physical, emotional, and cognitive well-being, as well as sustainability. The aim of Naturkraft was to nudge families to visit natural outdoor spaces nearby, as research shows that nowadays, actions are often needed to encourage families with small children to be active outdoors. In this chapter, we describe the design process and give examples of Naturkraft activities and their theoretical background. The design process includes before, during and after perspectives and we highlight how research-based design, human-centred design, and design-based research were important parts of the project. We discuss results from various studies, pertaining to a range of measured effects and participants’ subjective experiences gained from participating in Naturkraft nature events. Overall, the results were positive and significant effects of improved mental state were found from taking part in Naturkraft events.

Introduction: The subjective experiences of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic have been extensively studied; however, little research has focused on the experiences and perspectives of physiotherapists’, especially in the Nordic countries. The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences and perceptions of physiotherapists regarding the rehabilitation of COVID-19 patients in hospital settings during the COVID-19-pandemic in Finland.

Methods: Hermeneutic phenomenology was employed as a methodology. Ten physiotherapists were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analysed using thematic analysis.

Results: Four themes were identified: (1) pragmatic development of sensitive rehabilitation practices in a new and confusing working environment; (2) becoming a member of a cohesive team; (3) mixed feelings and reactions when facing the brutality of an unknown disease; and (4) being supported by colleagues but lacking support from the healthcare organisation.

Conclusion: The results may benefit healthcare organisations in improving organisational processes for ensuring the wellbeing of physiotherapists during future crises. Concrete actions to support employees could be developed by arranging resources for professional counselling and reflection during and after such crises, and by developing appropriate systems for recognising professional conduct in spite of difficult circumstances.

The present study explores teaching practices and how teachers navigate the transition to Innovative Learning Environments (ILEs), focusing on the interplay between the physical learning environment and teachers’ practices. The study is situated within a Swedish municipality that embarked on the construction of a new school designed as an ILE. The theoretical foundation of this study relies on the Typology of Teacher Power and Control (TTPC), an analytical tool based on Bernstein’s (2000) theory, offering perspectives on power and control dynamics in the classroom. The study integrates convergent mixed methods, combining classroom observations and retrospective teacher interviews, providing both objective and subjective insights into teachers’ practices. The analysis reveals varied teaching practices in ILEs. Classroom data show teachers clustering based on power and control distribution. Communication patterns reveal distinct teaching practices: Cluster I, identified as the authoritarian mitigator, is teacher-centred, Cluster II, the conservative explorer, exhibits mixed control, Cluster III, the empowering coach, emphasises student autonomy with teacher support, and Cluster IV, the flexible facilitator, promotes broad student empowerment. Interview insights corroborate these findings. The findings may interest researchers investigating teachers’ transition to ILEs and support professional development in teacher education and municipal ILE planning.

This paper is part of a four-year longitudinal research project on teachers played out practice in innovative learning environments (ILEs). This paper reports on findings from the first year of data collection by focusing on the analysis of classroom observation data and teacher interviews. The aim is to examine and unpack emergent and varying practices in the ILE based on two dimensions of teachers’ organisation of the classroom space and communication in practice. A convergent mixed methods study and analysis was conducted. In the ILE school, one teacher from each grade (K-9) was observed and interviewed. Observational data and interview data was analysed in different steps aiming for an integrated analysis in which conclusions are drawn based on a broader explanation of the variations found in the emergent teacher practice. A theoretical informed analysis was conducted on 10 classroom observations by using the Typology of Teacher Power and Control (TTPC). The analysis identifies six teaching practices that reflect student-centred learning, characterized by increased student power and control, and are visually represented in the TTPC-matrix to visualise teachers’ emergent practices. Through thematic analysis of interview data, anticipated findings include themes related to the physical learning environment, teacher communication, and connections between teacher beliefs and their implemented practices, allowing for an integrative understanding of these dynamics.

The substudy presented is part of a longitudinal project investigating student-centred learning practices in a new school built as an innovative learning environment (ILE). This paper describes results on teachers’ experiences based on a compiled teacher questionnaire generating both quantitative and qualitative data. The teacher questionnaire includes items on the following topics: shared values, value consonance, collective teacher efficacy, perceived collegial support, autonomy, belonging, job satisfaction, work engagement, psychological safety in teamwork, resilience, and teachers’ relational competence. All teachers (N=56) in the school subjected to study participated and data has been collected at two times at this point (2023 and 2024). Preliminary findings show, e.g., that teachers’ relational competence correlated positively with student experiences of teacher support. Further, we expect to find team differences that can explain the variation of teaching practices, which characterize each of the teaching trajectory display clusters found in Part 1 (see Bergström et al., EARLI 2025 abstract), which will further be explored in relation to students’ experiences in Part III (see Lindfors et al., EARLI 2025 abstract) in accordance with the convergent mixed methods research design of the longitudinal study. The emergent teaching practice will be scrutinised and correlated to other data sets in integrated analyses, e.g., using teacher interview and questionnaire data, student questionnaire data, teacher team workshop data and further longitudinal observational data. The different types of data and findings will be merged in several phases of analyses, in order to gain a broader understanding of student-centred learning practices in ILEs.