Helena Ackesjö

I am Ph.D. and associate professor in education at Linnaeus University. My research mainly deals with teachers’ work and conditions, as well as the profession’s encounter with policy. My interest is in education for children in school start age, and the research focuses above all teachers’ work in preschool, preschool class, School-Age EduCare and elementary school, as well as children’s transitions between the various school forms. In my research, children’s perspective is often put at the center, but what is recurring and constant is the professional perspective. I regularly work with assignments from the Swedish National Agency for Education, the School Inspectorate and the Ministry of Education in matters related to my research areas.

I lead the research environment Research on pedagogical professions and practices (PEPP) together with Per Lindqvist and the research group with interest of research on the School-Age EduCare (FRIP). I am part of the faculty’s research council and postgraduate education committee and since the autumn of 2023 I am acting as director of studies for the postgraduate education in pedagogy.

Teaching

I am mainly involved in courses within the postgraduate education and in supervision of PhD students, but I also teach within the teacher education programs with a focus on work in school-age educare, preschool and elementary school in relation to my research areas.

Research

I am currently leading three research projects:

The project The (un)equal school-age educare is expected to create new knowledge about teachers' work with the school-age educare’s compensatory mission in areas with socio-economic challenges: what contributes to and what possibly risks complicating this mission, which success factors can be identified and how can teachers create conditions for children’s development and learning. The goal is to create new knowledge about the school-age educare’s contribution to a more equal education for children in these areas.

In the project Strengthened quality in the school-age educare, the aim is to develop forms of cooperation between the academy and the municipality with the goal of strengthening the quality of school-age educare. Through the development of well-thought-out and well-planned teaching situations, the goal is that the school-age educare's teaching contributes to increased experiences of meaningful free time, contributes to increased attendance and, in the long run, also contributes to children’ goal achievement.

In the R&D project School-age educare’s contribution to students' goal achievement, the purpose is to contribute knowledge about the school-age educare's supplementary and compensatory tasks in addition to formulate scientifically anchored answers about the school-age educare's potential for students' goal achievement. Through the project, we can create a greater understanding of the school-age educare’s function, importance and position in the educational landscape.

I also participate as a contributing researcher in two other projects:

In the project The school's indispensable but invisible workforce – a study of education support personnel, we study the work carried out by so-called support functions in the school, i.e. staff with the task of supporting, relieving or supplementing already established professional groups. This personnel group is large and they appear to be indispensable, but despite this there is surprisingly little knowledge about their work.

In collaboration with the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Queen Mauds Minne – University of Kindergarten Teacher Education (DMMH), Roskilde University and Trondheim Municipality, I work in the research project Bedre skolestart, an innovation project with the aim of creating a good transition from preschool to school. The research part is about creating new knowledge about how children, parents and teachers in preschool and school experience the transition to school before and after the practice has changed by innovation.