Challenging Children as Agents of Change - Education as Co-creation

Can education be a place where ambiguity is welcome? How can we embrace moments of challenge as a trigger for collaboration, rather than a problem to be managed? This session will start by exploring the English and Finnish school systems and consider how set curricula and inflexible success criteria limit opportunities for student and teacher agency.   

We will focus on a five-year project, , that was conducted in London schools and co-led by young people alongside peers, academics, teachers, politicians, unions, artists and others. Using a 'participatory action research' approach, participants were invited to pose questions, generate findings, co-create solutions and crucially, act to change society. 

PAR positions young people (and those working with them) as active participants, rather than passive subjects; it is not only a research method, it's a worldview. One where young people are seen not as 'students', but agents of change and taking part can be transformational. We will think together about the potential implications of adopting this approach and the barriers that can impede working in this way. Read more . 

This session will be run in collaboration with Anna Rainio, Senior University Lecturer and Docent in the Department of Education at University of Helsinki.

Wednesday 9th April 2025, 13:30 – 15:30

Location: University of Helsinki, Main building (Room U3039), . Register .