This page provides a summary of the collaboration as well as the results, impact and Nordic Added Value of the research carried out under the call "Inclusive Education Across Borders".
From 2018 to 2021 three multinational research teams have looked at different aspects of inclusivity in primary and pre-primary education and come up with suggestions of how to enhance inclusive teaching and learning practices in the Nordic countries and the Netherlands.
The projects address highly topical and important aspects of inclusivity such as belonging, of subject language literacy and the consequences of urban and school segregation.
Here you can find more information about the projects, the research results, and links to publications and tools.
The research projects
Politics of belonging: Promoting children's inclusion in educational settings across borders
This project has studied how belonging is realized and experienced at a grass root level in children's, parents', and educators' daily lives in early education settings.
Mixed classes And Pedagogical Solutions (MAPS)
Mixed Classes and Pedagogical Solutions, looked at the way schools in urban settings across the Netherlands and the Nordic countries tackled challenges brought on by the existing segregation and the possibility for more inclusivity.
Inclusive science teaching in multilingual classrooms - a design study
Inclusive Science Teaching designed innovative tools for teachers and primary teacher education that promote all pupils' inclusion in science education through a literacy-oriented approach.
We know that the foundations for inclusion and equal opportunities are laid in the early years and that schools have a key role to play in promoting the welfare of our children in multilingual and multicultural settings.
- Krista Varantola, Chair of the Programme Committee
Inclusive Science Teaching
- Working on inclusive Science & Technology education ((learning material in Dutch. An English version will be published soon)
Mixed Classes and Pedagogical Solutions
Open Access publications
Politics of Belonging
- Social Sustainability through Children’s Expressions of Belonging in Peer Communities
- The Power of Belonging: Interactions and Values in Children’s Group Play in Early Childhood Programs
- Young Children’s Belonging in Finnish Educational Settings: an Intersectional Analysis
- Place, Peers, and Play: Children’s Belonging in a Preprimary School Setting
- Partnership in de klas
Inclusive Science Teaching
- Fra lytting til skriving i naturfag: Utforsking av en litterasitetsaktivitet i flerspråklige klasser på mellomtrinnet
- Onderwijs in de moedertaal
Mixed Classes and Pedagogical Solutions
This joint initiative has provided clear added value. Nordic-Dutch teams have integrated complementary competence and expertise, contributing to capacity building and strengthening the field in both regions. The genuine collaboration between researchers and practitioners, and an active dissemination to decision makers, has increased the potential for real impact.
- Krista Varantola, Chair of the Programme Committee
Feature articles on the projects
Schools must wake up to our multicultural reality
Professor Jóhanna Einarsdóttir argues that early childhood education must wake up to our new multicultural reality and focus on belonging to facilitate better inclusion.
Time for tailor-made early childhood and compulsory education
Is it time for tailor-made early childhood and compulsory education? Yes, argues Dutch researcher Barbara Piškur. Teachers will feel less stress, school children will be able to participate better and feel more at home at school.
We hope to make schools and preschools more welcoming places
Professor Eva Johansson and researcher, docent Anna-Maija Puroila, believe children’s feeling of belonging holds the key to understanding modern classrooms.
Contact the project leaders
Eva Johansson
Professor from the University of Stavanger. Project leader of the research project Politics of Belonging Promoting children´s belonging in educational settings across borders.
Contact:
eva.johansson@uis.no
Photo: Yngve Johansson
Maaike Hajer
Professor from Utrecht University of Applied Sciences. Project leader of the research project Inclusive science teaching in multilingual classrooms - a design study.
Contact:
maaike.hajer@hu.nl
Photo: Hogeschool Utrecht
Sonja Kosunen
Professor from University of Helsinki. Project leader of the research project Mixed classes And Pedagogical Solutions.
Contact:
sonja.kosunen@helsinki.fi
Photo: Liisa Takala
In December 2016 NordForsk and The Netherlands Initiative for Education Research (NRO) agreed on a joint initiative call on education research entitled Inclusive Education Across Borders: Research projects oriented towards practice and policy.
The initiative has between 2018 and 2021 funded three three Nordic-Dutch collaborative research projects.
The call was a part of the NordForsk research programme Education for Tomorrow.
Overall objectives of the joint initiative:
- Explore research questions and develop new knowledge in the area of inclusive education.
- Promote international collaboration in the research area of inclusive education.
- Support collaboration between research and practice in the area of inclusive education.
Funding of the projects
The research projects under this call were part of the NordForsk programme Education for Tomorrow, funded by: