Senior researchers

The AGORA community supports junior and senior researchers, research fellows and affiliates interested in questions of social justice and equality.

Researchers and key partners involved in the AGORA’s activities are introduced below.
Kristiina Brunila

Professor of Social Justice and Equality in Education 

Research areas:

  • Social sciences in Education
  • Social Justice, Equality, Equity and Diversity in Education
  • Educational Governance and Neoliberalism 
  • Youth, Vulnerability, and Mental Health in Education 
  • Psychologisation and Therapeutic Power and Cultures
  • Feminist Theory
  • Advanced Research Methodologies
  • Policy Research and Educational Reforms
  • Knowledge Formations and Power in Education
  • Precision Education Governance
  • Alternative Futures and Transformations in Education

Ongoing projects: 

  • Anticipated and Alternative Futures of Education (2024–2025): Examining education's future pathways in collaboration with the Finnish Innovation Fund KOETUS.
  • Turning Points: Changes Academics Make to Shape Their Working Lives (2023–2025): International collaboration with Melbourne University exploring academic agency.
  • Future Trajectories of Precision Education Governance (2019–2024): Investigating the rise of marketized, privatized and data-driven governance in education.

Leadership and Impact
Kristiina Brunila is the Founder of the AGORA Research Centre, an internationally recognized hub for social sciences in education, and for social justice and equality in education. Under her leadership, AGORA has grown into a vibrant academic community with over 40 affiliates, recently celebrating its 10th anniversary. AGORA’s commitment to advancing equality and social justice has been recognized with Maikki Friberg Award for promoting equality and diversity in academia.

Kristiina’s leadership extends to the Education and Society Research Community at the University of Helsinki, with scholars across disciplines to tackle critical societal challenges. Additionally, Kristiina has held key leadership roles in numerous large-scale, multidisciplinary research initiatives. She has also earned several prestigious awards. Her academic contributions include collaborations as a visiting professor and scholar at international universities such as Melbourne, Victoria, Malmö, Umeå, Gothenburg, and Sheffield. 

Publications and Supervision
Kristiina has authored and co-authored over 170 publications, including articles, book chapters, and anthologies, contributing to educational sciences and beyond. 

Contact: kristiina.brunila@helsinki.fi
Social Media: AGORA Blog

Helena Hinke Dobrochinski Candido

Senior researcher

Research areas:

  • Comparative and international education
  • Education politics and policies
  • Education and knowledge governance
  • Intertwinement of public and private sectors in education
  • Global and local nexus in education
  • Roles of transnational organizations in education
  • Quality assurance and evaluation dynamics
  • (International) Large-scale assessments and indicators
  • Marketization, commodification, and datafication in education
  • Education export
  • Interface of migration and education policies
  • Social justice within and through education

Ongoing projects: KOETUS


Leadership and Impact

During my employment at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki, I have held many institutional and leadership posts: teacher-in-charge of exchange studies (2023-), member of the Equality and Non-Discrimination committee (2023-), member of the Work Community and Wellbeing committee (2022-), member of the International Affairs committee (2022-), coordinator and facilitator of the Research Group in Comparative and International Education (COMPARE) (2020-), member of the steering group of the International Master’s Program in Changing Education (2020-2024), and chair of the Critical Sociology and Philosophy of Education (CRISP) research group (2021–2022). I have membership in 15 scientific organizations. I am a regional editor for the Bloomsbury Education and Childhood Studies Series – Brazil. I have acted as a referee for 14 scientific publications. I was invited to deliver 13 lectures in national and international institutions. I organized six international academic events.


Contact: helena.candido@helsinki.fi

Juho Honkasilta

Postdoctoral researcher

Research areas:

  • Social constructions of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
  • Identity and subjectivity constructions, otherness and othering, social Inclusion and exclusion, ableism in education discourse practices
  • Theorizing inclusive education, (mis)conceptualizations of inclusive education
  • Implementation of behavioral support at schools
  • Disability studies in education, Inclusive education, Special education, Discourse studies

Ongoing projects: CoSupport

Contact: juho.honkasilta@helsinki.fi

Hanna Kontio

Adjunct Professor, University Lecturer

Research areas:

  • International higher education
  • Academic partnerships
  • Intercultural higher education pedagogy

Ongoing projects:

Leadership and impact

My research supports the internationalisation of the Higher Education Institutions especially in the areas of global higher education cooperation and international degree programmes. My current teaching and supervisory duties at the University of Helsinki are within the International Master’s Programme in Changing Education programme (launched in 2020), where I serve as the vice director and the responsible lecturer.    

Publications and supervision

My scientific publications broadly represent internationally significant themes in the field of education, especially higher education pedagogy, global education, international higher education cooperation, and critical issues of education and development in African countries. The doctoral dissertations and master's theses I have supervised are related to international educational cooperation and expertise, as well as the development of pedagogies in diverse education settings. My broad academic development work is connected to strategy and curriculum work, pedagogical development projects, and international partnerships.

Contact: hanna.kontio@helsinki.fi

Ameera Masoud

Postdoctoral researcher

Research areas and interests:

  • Critical perspectives on integration of people categorized as refugees and immigrants
  • Anti-racism, racialization, inequality, diversity and inclusion/exclusion
  • Power-relations and power dynamics
  • Employment, employability, skilling, and education

 

Contact: ameera.masoud@helsinki.fi

Katariina Mertanen

Post-doc researcher

Research areas:

  • Governance 
  • Youth education
  • Education policy 
  • Digitalisation

Current research:

  • Future of youth education and precision education governance
  • Digitalisation, marketisation and globalisation of youth education

Ongoing projects: FuturEd

Contact: katariina.mertanen@helsinki.fi

Marja Peltola

University Lecturer

Research areas:

  • Youth research
  • Gender research, masculinities
  • Social class
  • Ethnicity, race, racialization
  • Intersectionality


Leadership and Impact
Marja Peltola is a sociologist and youth researcher with multidisciplinary experience in the fields of social science, youth research, gender research and education. She works as a University Lecturer in Education and coordinates AGORA’s doctoral research seminar Critical sociology and philosophy in education (CRISP). 


Publications and Supervision
Marja has published widely on themes related to youth, masculinities, (in)equalities, family and close relationships, and sexuality, among others. She supervises master’s and doctoral theses on these themes and others related. 
 

Contact: marja.peltola@helsinki.fi 
 

 

Jaana Pesonen

University lecturer

Research areas:

  • Theories of intersectionality and anti-racism.
  • Norm criticism in children’s culture and critical literacies in early childhood education
  • Privatization of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services
    • Marketization of ECEC pedagogy
    • Precision education and ECEC teacher’s profession
    • Assemblages of edu-business

Ongoing projects: CoSupportFuturEd


Contact: jaana.pesonen@helsinki.fi

 

Birgit Schaffar-Kronqvist

Senior university lecturer

Research areas:

  • Philosophy of education
  • Didactics of social justice and democracy in classroom
  • Embodied learning and sustainability

Ongoing projects:

  • MångSam, Mångfald och samarbete (diversitet and cooperation), leader of WP: Trygga klassrumssamtal (safe conversations in classroom)
  • KOETUS Anticipated and alternative futures of Finnish education
  • Anpassa eller frigöra? (Adapting of liberating? On education's task today)

Leadership and Impact

Birgit is the president of Nordic Society for Philosophy of Education, the chair of the equality and non-discrimination workgroup at the Faculty of educational sciences at the University of Helsinki and an editorial board member of Speki, Nordic Philosophy and Education Review.

Contact: birgit.schaffar@helsinki.fi

 

Satu Valkonen

Adjunct professor, University lecturer

Research areas:

  • The sociology of work and education
  • The marketization of education
  • Social interaction and digital media
  • Media education

Ongoing projects:

  • Proficient Early Childhood Education and Care (PI)
  • Marketization of education (co-leader)
  • PROSUS – Sustainable early childhood education and care (co-leader)

Leadership and Impact 

Principal investigator in projects Political cultures of early childhood education and repertoires of justification and Proficient Early Childhood Education; co-leader in projects Marketization of education and PROSUS – Sustainable early childhood education and care

Contact: satu.m.valkonen@helsinki.fi