Jaakko Kauko

I currently work as Associate professor at the University of Tampere, and hold the Title of Docent at the University of Helsinki. For this reason this page is not updated after March 2016, and you can find my updated publications and activities from my new homepage.

My core idea for research is to analyse dynamics in politics, the ways in which political action is always tied to longer term socio-historical developments, constrained or enabled through institutional rearrangements, and actors are both entangled in and empowered by the dynamics that develop in these conditions. Theoretically I am interested in the questions of power, contingency, and complexity. Currently I am developing these theoretical ideas in two empirical contexts.

I am currently leading the project Transnational Dynamics in Quality Assurance and Evaluation Politics of Basic Education in Brazil, China and Russia (2014–2017) in which we aim to understand how local learning environments are shaped by transnational policies and practices, and analyse the multifaceted constitutive effects of quality assurance and evaluation. The project is a consortium between Education Departments at the universities of Helsinki, Tampere (Prof. Tuomas Takala) and Turku (Prof. Risto Rinne).

At the moment my other academic tasks include leading the Team 1 at the Nordic Centre of Excellence Justice through Education (JustEd) and supervising three dissertations, one master's and eight bachelor's thesis.

I am also writing reports of my personal post-doctoral project Contrasting the Dynamics of Education Politics in England and Finland (2012–2015), aiming to empirically compare the dynamics of education policy-making in England and Finland, and to develop and review the theory base in research comparing and contrasting education policies and policymaking. The research on England is done in co-operation with Jenny Ozga (University of Oxford).

Principal investigator 2013– (Research career phase 3)

5/2015–12/2017, Principal investigator and leader of the consortium project, Transnational Dynamics in Quality Assurance and Evaluation Politics of Basic Education in Brazil, China and Russia, funded by the Academy of Finland

1/2014–4/2015, Leader of the Helsinki team and post-doctoral researcher in the project, Transnational Dynamics in Quality Assurance and Evaluation Politics of Basic Education in Brazil, China and Russia, funded by the Academy of Finland (coordinated by Professor Hannu Simola until 4/2015, University of Helsinki)

9/2013-8/2018, Leader of the team Politics and Governance at the Nordic Centre of Excellence: Justice through Education (JustEd). Together with Dr. Ulpukka Isopahkala-Bouret

Post-doctoral phase 2011–2015 (Research career phase 2)

9/2012–8/2015, Personal project, Expanding the Theoretical Frontiers – Contrasting the Dynamics in Education Politics in England and Finland, funded by the Academy of Finland

1/2012–8/2012, Project, Parents and School Choice. Family Strategies, Segregation and School Policies in Chilean and Finnish Basic Schooling (PASC), funded by the Academy of Finland, coordinated by Professor Hannu Simola (University of Helsinki) and in co-operation with researchers from the Catholic University of Chile

8/2011–12/2011, Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki

Research visits during phases 2 and 3 (total 26 months)

5/2015, Fieldwork in Brasília and Florianópolis, Brazil. (6.–16.5.2015)

9–12/2014, Visiting Research Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities & School of Social and Political Science (IASH-SSPS), University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK

4/2014–6/2014, Visiting Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil

1/2013–12/2013, Visiting Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Education, University of Oxford, England, UK (11 months)

10/2011–6/2012, Visiting scholarat the Department of Education, University of Lisbon, Portugal

PhD student phase 2006–2011 (Research career phase 1)

1/2011–7/2011, Project, Parents and School Choice. Family Strategies, Segregation and School Policies in Chilean and Finnish Basic Schooling (PASC)

3/2007–12/2010, Project, Power, Supranational Regimes and the New University Management in Finland funded by the Academy of Finland, coordinated by Professor Risto Rinne (University of Turku) and Professor Hannu Simola (University of Helsinki)

1/2007–12/2010, Involved in the Finnish Doctoral Programme in Education and Learning (FiDPEL) sub-programme, Comparative Research on Educational Policy, Economy and Assessment (CREPEA)

10/2006–2/2007, Researcher (later PhD student) in the project, Fabricating Quality in European Education (FabQ), 2006–2009, coordinated by Professor Jenny Ozga (University of Edinburgh, now at the University of Oxford) and in Finland by Professor Hannu Simola (University of Helsinki), funded by the European Science Foundation and the Academy of Finland

Research visits during phase 1 (total 6 months)

1/2010–6/2011, Visiting scholar at the Centre for Research in Higher Education policies (CIPES), Matosinhos (Porto), Portugal