Keynote speakers

Mhairi C. Beaton
Professor, Carnegie School of Education, Leeds Beckett University
Mhairi C. Beaton is a merited researcher of education, an accomplished instructor, and an influential actor within international networks. She has extensive experience in the supervision of doctoral students and development of master’s programmes, and she has led many national and international research projects. Her research interests lie at the interface of inclusion, student voice, and teacher education.

Keynote title: Education in the Arctic or Arctic Education: A northern perspective

The University of the Arctic Thematic Network for Teacher Education for Social Justice and Diversity is now nearly ten years old. As an organisation, it has provided a platform for educational researchers from around the circumpolar north to promote educational research as a discipline among the teacher education programmes in the member universities. In this keynote, Mhairi will reflect on her experience of the organisation as a northern researcher, consider whether there are distinctive features to our research as a result of its geographical location and suggest how the network might contribute towards sustainable, innovative research which contributes to more socially just educational provision for all during the next decade.

Arto Ahonen
Arto K. Ahonen is an Associate Professor of Educational Assessment with a Doctorate in Education. He currently works as a Senior Researcher at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, which is a part of the University of Jyväskylä. Since 2016, he has been the National Project Manager of the PISA survey. His research focuses on comparative assessment, as well as the factors that affect competencies in the school context.

Keynote title: PISA as a benchmark for learning outcomes in Finland

The Finnish education system has gone through an exciting developmental path from a follower into a role model. Finland's performance during the two-decade history of PISA studies has been impressive, making it one of the world's top-performing nations. However, there has also been a substantial decline in recent years. The latest PISA 2022 study has gained a lot of attention since it revealed an unprecedented drop in 15-year-old students' proficiency in mathematics and reading. The long-term trend raises the question of what has happened to the education system over the last two decades. The effects of education policies may only be visible after a long delay, and it is often difficult to pinpoint the individual decision or solution behind a particular development. However, after two decades, it is possible to reflect upon some educational policy actions and changes that the school has faced over time. This presentation focuses on Finland's long-term trend in educational outcomes and provides insights into some of the changes the education system has undergone.

Ilkka Ratinen
Ilkka Ratinen is a professor in sustainability and outdoor education at the University of Lapland. He graduated from university of Joensuu with Ph.D in physical geography in 2005 and from university of Jyväskylä with Ph.D in science education in 2016. His research focuses on sustainability education especially measuring sustainability competences and outdoor education.

Keynote title: From plant illiteracy towards understanding the importance of plants

Lack of knowledge about plants and their role in our environment is a major problem in our society. Due to people's limited knowledge of plants, plant blindness and plant illiteracy are considered to be stumbling blocks to sustainable development, which is visible in Europe, for example in discussions about forests and agriculture. Plant blindness and illiteracy have their roots in school education. Students are not as interested in plants as they are in animals, and learning about plants is seen as boring and difficult. In addition, several key topics, such as the role of evaporation in cooling the climate, the role of vegetation in the water cycle or the interaction between plants and the atmosphere, are underrepresented in science education. To ensure a sustainable economy and environment in the future, there is a need to tackle plant blindness, improve citizens' plant literacy and make the study of botany more attractive. This presentation will reflect on the results of the Plant Literacy E+ project on how to improve the role of plants in school science education.