Dr.
Her research interests include school pedagogy, moral and religious education, gifted education, teacher education and cross-cultural studies. She has published 13 monographs and numerous journal articles related to these fields. She serves in 13 Editorial Boards of educational journals. She has supervised 27 doctoral dissertations in education and theology and mentored many postdoctoral students who are now professors and researchers in education. She has led the Finnish team in many national and international research projects.
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University lecturer PhD, MA (Ed.)
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Doctoral student
Topic of thesis: Changing mindsets about learning among elementary school students
Description of thesis: This article-based doctoral dissertation focuses on researching mindsets related to learning and aims to connect psychological, educational, and neuroscientific data in order to construct and test a mindset intervention program that will improve students’ learning outcomes during elementary school.
Funding: Finnish cultural foundation
Doctoral student
Topic of thesis: Teachers´ implicit theories of learning and their implications for pedagogical thinking and practice
Description of thesis: This article-based doctoral dissertation will focus on researching teachers' implicit theories of learning and their implications for pedagogical thinking and practice. This research will give an overview of Finnish class teachers' and special education teachers' mindsets about intelligence and perceptions of neuroplasticity, how a growth mindset and understanding of brain plasticity is actualized in teachers' pedagogical thinking and practice, and special education teachers' evaluations of a mindset intervention program for students with special needs.
Doctoral student
Topic of thesis: Mindsets about foreign language learning among university language teachers and students
Description of thesis: This article-based, mixed-method dissertation assesses the growth or fixed mindsets of second/foreign teachers and learners at Finnish Universities. Moreover, it investigates 1) the association between students’ fixed or growth mindsets about their language-learning ability and their experience of foreign language classroom anxiety, 2) the relationship between language teachers’ fixed or growth mindsets about language-learning and their feedback style, and 3) the connection between language teachers’ mindsets and their knowledge of neuroplasticity.
Dr.
Dr.
Source of funding: sabbatical grant, University of Kurdistan
Academy Postdoctoral Researcher
Fields of expertise: Multicultural education, religions and worldviews in education, teachers' intercultural competencies, growth mindset pedagogy
Research topics: Malleability beliefs and diversity beliefs as part of teachers' intercultural competencies, teachers' mindsets and growth mindset pedagogy, Muslim inclusion in schools, Islamic religious education
Doctoral student (Tallinn University)
Topic of thesis: Growth mindset appearing in a didactic relationship
Description of thesis: This qualitative case study examines first grade teacher's growth mindset in teaching. The data includes theme interview, observation and stimulated recall interviews. The final results describes how teacher's growth mindset appears in planning and reflection of teaching and how growth mindset actualize in teaching.
Doctoral student
Topic of Thesis: Teachers’ purposes in voluntary teaching: the case of China
Description of thesis: By adopting a purposive and motivational approach, this project seeks to comprehend the personal and professional identity reformulation of Chinese pre-service volunteer teachers. This study will answer 1) Why do Chinese pre-service teachers volunteer and how do their teaching motivations different from those who do not volunteer? 2) What are the life purposes of Chinese volunteer teachers, and how does volunteering influence their life purposes and career choices? 3) How do Chinese pre-service teachers reformulate their personal and professional identity during their volunteer teaching? By integrating motivation and life purposes into a model of volunteer identity, this dissertation will present a thorough profile of the life purposes of Chinese pre-service teachers and give meaning to their volunteering and identity reformulation.