Research on pedagogical professions and practices (PEPP)

The environment conducts research on teachers’ work and children’s/pupils’ everyday life and learning at preschool, preschool class, extended school teaching, and school. The research is practice-oriented and is often conducted in close collaboration with active professionals in pedagogical practice. There is also a close link between the environment and the teacher education programmes at the higher education institution.

Our research

In the environment Research on pedagogical professions and practices (PEPP), we want to stimulate research with focus on pedagogical professionalism and pedagogical practices. The research projects are aimed at the different institutions within the education sector – primarily preschool, extended school teaching, preschool class, and school, but also professional education and training with particular focus on teacher education.

We want to encourage practice-oriented studies where problem definitions are based on actual problems, conditions and challenges in the daily practice of a profession, as well as studies on children’s and pupils’ participation in the practice of pedagogy. Our research is conducted with close connections to pedagogical practices and has clear links to teacher education.

Leading Nordic research environment

PEPP has the ambition to constitute a base for national and international research collaboration and to develop into a leading Nordic research environment in the field. The environment also has a pragmatic ambition to utilise research through near-field analyses where concepts, models or theories are developed that can be used by active teachers to communicate challenges in their own professional practice. In this way, PEPP wants to contribute to the development of professionals’ vocational expertise as well as to the pedagogical activities.

The area of research covers questions relating to several categories of professions, forms of school, and activities. However, PEPP has a special interest partly in teachers and their work and partly in children during early years education and their experiences of pedagogical practice. The environment is connected to international research fields like, for instance, Teachers’ work, knowledge and professional development, and Early childhood education.

There are also sub-groups to the research environment PEPP: Forskargruppen för fritidspedagogisk forskning (text in Swedish only) and Digital Tools and Digital Competence in Preschool and School Teaching.

Projects

Current

News

Publications

Staff

Education and mission

PEPP representatives take part in teaching in as well as development of courses within teacher education. Two examples are the development of student placement training (VFU) and how to think concerning scientific basis and professional relevance in degree projects.

Representatives of PEPP have produced a framework for all syllabi concerning VFU on the primary and preschool teacher programmes and also actively participated in all stages of the implementation work, as well as developed the new supervisor training for the teacher education. In addition, we take special responsibilities in specific fields, such as the pre-school educational area, the recreational education area, vocational teacher training, and the digitization of schools and preschools.

In 2015, PEPP members were highly involved in the Swedish Higher Education Authority’s (UKÄ) evaluations of the VFU courses, as well as in the work to adapt goals, criteria, assessment basis and guides within VFU to the implementation of a three-point grading scale. In 2018, members from PEPP were central actors in UKÄ's evaluation of the pre-school teacher and primary teacher training courses.

PEPP was also involved as part of the scientific management in a pilot project on practice schools – a commission from the Ministry of Education and Research that was financed by the Swedish Government and ran between 2015 and 2019.

Also on commission from the Ministry of Education and Research, PEPP has conducted trial activities with suitability assessments of applicants to the teacher education. The project was financed by the Swedish Government and ran between 2014 and 2017.

Networks and collaboration

Staff within PEPP collaborate with different networks, nationally as well as internationally.

  • The international research network Transitions within EECERA
  • ETEN, the European network för teacher education
  • Literacy Research Network – a Nordic network for literacy research within NERA
  • Leisure-time Pedagogy, a Nordic network for recreational education research within NERA
  • NordYrk, a Nordic network for vocational training
  • Forum for pedagogy and vocational skills
  • Nordic Early Literacy Education
  • Nätverket Utvecklingspedagogik, förskoleforskning och praktikutveckling
  • Nationellt nätverk för fritidspedagogik
  • Local collaboration with responsible organizations in the region within the ULF deal