Research Output per year
Personal profile
Description of research and teaching
I am working as Professor of Education at the Faculty of Educational Sciences, University of Helsinki. I am the founding member and research director of the Playful Learning Center (www.plchelsinki.fi). I also co-lead the Learning, Culture and Interventions (LECI) Expert Group. I also hold an adjunct professorship at the University of Turku and Helsinki.
I received my PhD in Education from the University of Exeter in the year 1994 after which I have held two distinguished scholarly positions awarded by the Academy of Finland (1997-2005). In the years 2006-9 I directed the national interdisciplinary research network on learning, CICERO Learning at the University of Helsinki. I moved from this position to serve as the Director of the Information and Evaluation Services Unit at the Finnish National Board of Education (2009-11). In the past, I have been a visiting professor at the University of Warwick, Institute of Education, UK (2007-9) and at the University of California, Santa Barbara, UCSB, Gevirtz Graduate School of Education (2004-6).
I have spearheaded several externally funded research projects examining learning and education from the sociocultural perspective. My research focuses on understanding social, emotional and cultural dimensions of learning and development. In my publications, I have been interested to develop new knowledge about social interaction in learning, illuminating the ways in which participation, agency and knowledge are situationally negotiated across space and time. I have also addressed methodological questions in the analysis of social interaction in formal and informal settings. Lately, I have begun to be interested in visual, participatory research, children’s and young people’s creativity and resilience as well as formation of learner identities in the digital age.
In sum, my core research themes are:
- Social interaction and learning
- Sociocultural theories
- Social ecologies of learning and development
- Cognitive, social and emotional processes
- Play and creativity across the lifecourse
- Agency and resilience
- Children, media and digital literacies
- Children’s engagement and voice
- Transitions
- Participatory research methods
- Visual research
External positions
Visiting Professor, University of British Columbia
1 Aug 2019 → 31 Jul 2020Fields of Science
- 516 Educational sciences
International and National Collaboration
Publications and projects within past five years.
Publications 1992 2019
Global perspectives on children’s digital opportunities: an emerging research and policy agenda
Livingstone, S., Lemish, D., Lim, S. S., Bulger, M., Cabello, P., Claro, M., Cabello-Hutt, T., Khalil, J., Kumpulainen, K., Nayar, U. S., Nayar, P., Park, J., Tan, M. M., Prinsloo, J. & Wei, B., 1 Nov 2017, In : Pediatrics (English Edition). 140, Supplement 2, p. s137-s141 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
Open Access
File
A principled, personalised, trusting and child-centric ECEC system in Finland
Kumpulainen, K., Aug 2018, The Early Advantage 1: Early Childhood Systems That Lead by Example - A Comparative Focus on International Early Childhood Education. Kagan, S. L. (ed.). New York: Teachers College Press, p. 72-98 27 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Scientific › peer-review
File
(Re)Searching learning across contexts: Conceptual, methodological and empirical explorations: [Editorial]
Kumpulainen, K. & Erstad, O., 2017, In : International Journal of Educational Research. 84, p. 55-57 3 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
Researching Teachers’ Agentic Orientations to Educational Change in Finnish Schools
Rajala, A. & Kumpulainen, K., 7 Sep 2017, Agency at Work: An Agentic Perspective on Professional Learning and Development. Goller, M. & Paloniemi, S. (eds.). Cham: Springer, p. 311-329 19 p. (Professional and Practice-based Learning; vol. Volume 20).Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter › Scientific › peer-review
Understanding educational change: Agency-structure dynamics in a novel design and making environment
Kumpulainen, K., Kajamaa, A. & Rajala, A., 29 Jun 2018, In : Digital education review. 2018, 33, p. 26-38 13 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Scientific › peer-review
Open Access
File
Projects 2008 2023
Digital mediation of children’s interactions with the more-than-human world: Perezhivaniya and literate practices funded by the Australian Research Council (ARC)
Kumpulainen, K., Renshaw, P. & Tooth, R.
01/08/2019 → 31/12/2023
Project: Research project
MOI: Monilukutaitoa Opitaan Ilolla tutkimus- ja kehittämishanke, rahoitus OKM
Kumpulainen, K., Sintonen, S., Vartiainen, J., Nordström, A., Sairanen, H. & Wong, C. C.
01/01/2019 → 31/12/2020
Project: Research project
DigiChild: Nordic Research Network on Digitalising Childhoods funded by NOS HS/Academy of Finland
Kumpulainen, K., Kajamaa, A., Erstad, O., Mäkitalo, Å., Drotner, K. & Jakobsdottir, S.
01/01/2019 → 31/12/2020
Project: Research project
A Comparative Study of Early Childhood Education in Selected High Performing Countries
Kagan, S. L. & Kumpulainen, K.
01/04/2016 → 31/12/2017
Project: Research project
Learning by Making: The Educational Potential of School-based Makerspaces for Young Learners' Digital Competencies
Kumpulainen, K., Kajamaa, A. & Leskinen, J.
01/08/2017 → 31/08/2020
Project: Research project
Prizes
Nomination for the Outstanding Publication Award, European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (EARLI)
Kristiina Kumpulainen (Recipient), Aug 2002
Prize: Prizes and awards
Member of the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters
Kristiina Kumpulainen (Recipient), 12 Apr 2019
Prize: Prizes and awards
Nomination for the best paper award at the THE POWER OF MEDIA IN EDUCATION NBE 2007 Conference, Rovaniemi, Finland.
Kristiina Kumpulainen (Recipient), 2007
Prize: Prizes and awards
Activities 1990 2019
Early years : an international journal of research and development (Journal)
Kristiina Kumpulainen (Reviewer)8 Mar 2019
Activity: Publication peer-review and editorial work types › Peer review of manuscripts
Invited keynote: Fostering Young Children’s Cultural Literacy via Playful Pedagogies
Kristiina Kumpulainen (Speaker)18 Jul 2019 → 19 Jul 2019
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk
Keynote: Monilukutaidon pedagogiikan kurittomat palaset
Kristiina Kumpulainen (Speaker)13 Feb 2019
Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation
Väitöskirjan esitarkistus KM Laura Rantavuori: Kohti relationaalista asiantuntijuutta joustavassa esi- ja alkuopetuksessa
Kristiina Kumpulainen (Supervisor)16 Mar 2019
Activity: Examination types › Pre-examiner of doctoral thesis
Vastaväittäjänä toimiminen, University of Neuchatél, Institute of Psychology and Education, Switzerland
Kristiina Kumpulainen (Supervisor)18 Jan 2019
Activity: Examination types › Opponent of doctoral dissertation
Press / Media
YLE Uutiset: Uusi tutkimus haastaa yleiset käsitykset: Lapset viettävät sittenkin enemmän aikaa lelujen ja kirjojen kuin älylaitteiden parissa
11/01/2019
1 media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media
Radio Suomi haastettelu (YLE): Prinsessaleikit, muovailuvaha ja palikat pitävät pintansa lasten leikeissä
11/01/2019
1 media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media
Huomenta Suomi-ohjelma (MTV 3): Tutkimus kumoaa myytin - digilaitteet eivät nakerra lasten lukuintoa
10/01/2019
1 item of media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
Interview in Irish Times: How children make sense of the world
27/02/2018
2 items of media coverage
Press/Media: Press / Media
Equipment
Playful Learning Center
Kristiina Kumpulainen (Manager)
Learning, Culture & Interventions (LECI)Facility/equipment: Research Laboratory