Higher education plays a part in solving both national and global challenges. Knowledge is of immense importance in this task.

This research project, funded by the Research Council of Finland, examines knowledge in higher education and curricula by exploring the role of knowledge, perceptions of knowledge, and the tensions surrounding knowledge from the perspectives of a wide range of actors and interest groups.

The project analyses historical and education policy texts, education strategies and curricula, as well as interviews with teachers and materials produced in teaching practice. Through a sociological perspective on education, we examine how knowledge and the conceptions surrounding it are shaped in today’s higher education. We develop theory and explore new avenues to promote a form of knowledge in school education and curricula that supports active participation and creative visions for building a sustainable and more equitable future and higher education.

The project is composed of four work packages:

WP1: Knowledge conceptualisations influencing higher education: Research focus on historical trends, interactions between knowledge and competence, and policy incentives

WP2: Knowledge transformations for curriculum: Research focus on institutional guidelines, curricula documents, and teacher’s conceptions of knowledge in higher education.

WP3: Knowledge transformations in teaching practice: Research focus on teacher education across institutions and small learning modules.

WP4: Powerful knowledge for the unknown future: Analysis and synthesis of the research in the project, with focus on the knowledge, imaginaries and incentives for ‘thinking the unthinkable’.