The DELIBERATE consortium met with researchers from the DEMOED group at the University of Oulu in a joint workshop on April 4, 2025. The consortium was invited to Oulu and the arrangements were overseen by Katariina Holma, who is the leader of both our consortium and the DEMOED group, and Hanna-Maija Huhtala, who is a DELIBERATE researcher for the Oulu theoretical sub-project.
During the meeting, seven different research projects were presented. Julia Jaakkola introduced the latest plans for the empirical sub-project’s questionnaire, which aims to collect nationwide survey data from Finnish teachers. A particular challenge in designing the survey is how to capture with questionnaire items teachers’ perceptions of teaching deliberative practices and competencies. Jaakkola presented a new set of questions she had developed to operationalize this theme in the survey, and a productive discussion ensued.
Tuukka Tomperi, on the other hand, outlined the research plans for the pedagogical sub-project for the current year, focusing on classroom practices through case studies of teaching experiments and teacher interviews. One aim is to map students’ experiences of barriers and difficulties in participating in discussions and, secondly, to investigate teachers’ experiences of using the television series Moraalimittari (“Morality Meter”) as a stimulus and guide for deliberative classroom discussions.
From the DEMOED group, we heard about the latest projects and publications from Veli-Mikko Kauppi, Henri Huttunen, and Samuel Iinatti. Additionally, we were introduced to the research interests of Tuija Kasa and Anniina Leiviskä, although they were unable to attend in person. The lively discussions during the meeting made it clear that the DEMOED group and the DELIBERATE consortium share many common research interests related to democratic education.
Inspired by the workshop, we plan to continue our collaboration closely in the future. As a concrete form of cooperation, the groups are planning to organize joint conference sessions and seminars during 2025, including at the FERA Conference on Education 2025 (Kasvatustieteen päivät), the main Finnish annual congress for educational research, which will be held in November at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi. Moreover, on June 11.-12. 2026, the groups will co-organize an international conference in Oulu, where the distinguished senior philosopher of education, Nick Burbules, has agreed to be a keynote speaker. To foster positive synergy, this conference will be held together with the annual meeting of the Finnish Society for History and Philosophy of Education. Stay tuned for more information!
