09.03.2010

Learning is a lifelong process

Research into the learning process plays a major part in attempts to understand and improve education and work today.

FiDiPro Professor Roger Säljö (right) is among the participants in a programme on learning environments headed by Academy Professor Erno Lehtinen (left) at the Faculty of Education at the University of Turku. Säljö has been a FiDiPro Professor since 2007 and is also professor of education and educational psychology at the University of Gothenburg.

The Centre for Learning Research at the University of Turku merges ambitious theoretical research with education work in practice. Both professors emphasise the benefits of this proximity to practical work in their recent research.

"I participate in several different projects on learning research. The common denominator of these projects is the way technological innovations can be used in the learning process," says Säljö.

"We examine the way in which the new technological environments impact on the content of specialist knowledge and on the way people become specialists. To give an example, we study the way in which methods for medical imaging are used in medical education."

Learning is a socio-cultural process

It is more important than ever to really understand how the learning process works in our society today, where learning continues throughout people's lives and the benefits of new technologies must be integrated with everyday life.

"People used to consider learning and studies a specific, separate phase in a person's life, something people do when they are young. Today, learning continues throughout life, and it's no longer seen as separate from work or other areas of life; we continue to learn new things in all the areas of our lives," says Lehtinen.

"Information used to be available only in books, and education was simply out of reach of some people. Today, information is everywhere. The new media have revolutionised our lives, particularly the lives of young people. They are constantly subjected to a vast information load," Säljö says.

Our learning process operates on several different levels, so the study of the learning process has a similarly broad scope and a multidisciplinary approach. Learning is regulated by social, cultural and biological factors.

"The human brain is the same everywhere, but there are vast cultural differences in teaching methods and in the expectations placed on children. The European tradition of schooling dominates the world but in Africa, for instance, the education potential of new technologies has been received with great enthusiasm," Säljö says.

Eventually, research into the learning process may also herald changes for education policy.

"Our aim is that our research will generate concrete suggestions for ways of organising teaching or for the way that teaching can be used to facilitate future learning or careers," Lehtinen says.

International researchers a valuable resource

The FiDiPro programme provides funding for the recruitment of top international researchers to work in Finland for a fixed term and enables them to team up with the best Finnish researchers. The programme is aimed at creating long-term international cooperation.

This brings benefits not only for Finnish research teams, but also for postgraduate students in Finland. Researcher training arranged in collaboration with graduate schools from other countries bring an added international element to researcher training and create potential for even more advanced training.
"The programme is extremely successful in my opinion. International networks are essential in research and the funding we receive from the Academy of Finland and the University of Turku has enabled us to create a good infrastructure around our FiDiPro Professor," Lehtinen says.

"The funding has worked very well. This kind of programme has an enormous impact on the research community in a country, since international collaboration is able to bring bigger resources and new perspectives to bear on research problems," Säljö adds.

The FiDiPro programme has contributed to making the University of Turku an attractive option for international postgraduates and postdoc researchers. Rising applicant numbers are a clear indicator of the success of the programme.
"Even though technology has made it possible to study all alone in front of a computer, the learning process is still fundamentally a social process - and so is research," Säljö points out.

"Information may be available everywhere, but schools still have an important part to play in helping to raise children and teach them social interaction skills," Lehtinen concludes.

Original text and photos: Riikka Söderlund

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