{"id":1212,"date":"2026-05-18T07:27:32","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T05:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/jatkoilla\/?p=1212"},"modified":"2026-05-18T07:27:34","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T05:27:34","slug":"what-shapes-nordic-adult-education-research-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.uef.fi\/jatkoilla\/2026\/05\/18\/what-shapes-nordic-adult-education-research-in-2026\/?lang=en","title":{"rendered":"What\u00a0Shapes\u00a0Nordic\u00a0Adult\u00a0Education\u00a0Research\u00a0in 2026?\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The JATKOT research group participated in the Nordic Adult Education Conference held in Turku with a delegation of nine researchers. This year, the conference combined the Finnish Adult Education Research Days (AITU) and the Nordic Adult Education Conference (NAEL). The conference theme was crystallized into a single question: \u201cWhat is the role of adult education and lifelong learning in times of crisis?\u201d This question was explored in keynote speeches, corridor discussions, and numerous thematic sessions throughout the conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Understanding informal learning, fear of loneliness and \u201cbrain rot\u201d in working life<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the conference days, JATKOT researchers participated in several thematic groups. One of the most central was the Learning and Wellbeing at Work group, organized in collaboration between members of our group and HAMK EDU researchers. Over four 90-minute sessions, research was presented on adults\u2019 learning at and for work, supporting learning in working life, and the multifaceted relationship between learning and wellbeing. Similar themes also emerged, for example, in the group Fostering Informal Learning in the Age of AI organized by Antje Barabasch, in which many of our researchers also participated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both groups, a changing world and working life were described as the context of learning, and everyday, \u201cinformal\u201d learning appeared as a necessity for performing and developing work. Although understanding of informal learning and its importance at work has increased and its strategic value has been recognized, it emerged clearly, for example in a presentation based on P\u00e4ivi H\u00f6kk\u00e4\u2019s research, that managers still primarily perceive learning as something that occurs through formal training. Managers therefore need concepts, practical approaches, and tools to guide informal learning processes. Such tools were presented by the session chair Antje Barabasch, whose research resulted in a tool supporting workplace learning on three levels\u2014cognitive, reflective, and applied. Antje found that unlike larger organisations, SMEs have less systematic approaches to fostering exchange, collaboration, and AI-supported knowledge creation. But why is understanding and supporting informal learning at work so difficult? Marianne Jaakkola\u2019s research shed light on this question based on the literature: learning is described in diverse, sometimes unclear and even contradictory ways. On the other hand, based on Jaakkola\u2019s findings, managing workplace learning takes place both through direct interaction and by shaping the environment and conditions, meaning that it does not always appear as a clearly systematic activity but rather as something embedded in relationships and workplace contexts. Nevertheless, leaders\u2019 perceptions of themselves and their leadership also matter: based on her research, Oana Velcu-Laitinen from the JATKOT group noted that leaders who believe their creativity can develop anticipate new kinds of learning opportunities, such as learning related to creativity and AI. In contrast, leaders who believe their creativity will remain fixed or may even decline are less conscious and goal-oriented in their learning. In such cases, it can be assumed that they also do not perceive learning as a strategic and manageable activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussions on workplace learning highlighted both concerns and hope. Digitalization, with leaps in artificial intelligence, and remote work offer flexibility and new forms of learning, but the downsides of technology were also discussed. The fear of so-called \u201cbrain rot\u201d\u2014that learning is outsourced too heavily to AI or systems, leading to a weakening of human learning capacity\u2014sparked lively debate. At best, digital tools can support collaborative problem-solving and creativity across organizational and physical boundaries. Hybrid and remote work also raise the issue of workplace loneliness. Sara Keronen\u2019s research on workplace loneliness attracted significant interest, and rightly so: loneliness is subjective but strongly intertwined with workplace structures. As encounters decrease, learning also diminishes. Research provides important insights into how community and belonging can be intentionally fostered in new forms of work. Intergenerational learning also offered perspectives of hope. According to research by Susanna Paloniemi and Kaija Collin, generations or generationality in work are not defined solely by age but also by experiences, competencies, and attitudes. Employees from different backgrounds can learn much from each other, although aligning them can sometimes create tensions. Creativity and intergenerational interaction can thus be seen as key forces in humane working life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education and learning as tools of markets and politics \u2013 handing over the keys to happiness by meeting expectations?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some researchers in our group approach adult learning from more sociological perspectives within adult education and career research. Accordingly, our group spread out to attend sessions such as the Sociology and Politics of Adult Education group organized by Heikki Kinnari and Hanna Laalo, where discussions shifted from workplaces increasingly to the macro level and politics. In this group, the concepts and developments of lifelong and continuous learning were critically examined, and a shared concern was expressed that the humanistic and wellbeing-enhancing significance of lifelong learning is being overshadowed by market-oriented continuous learning policies. This trend is evident not only in Finland but also in other Nordic countries. According to University of Iceland researcher Hr\u00f3bjartur \u00c1rnason, language use is not a side issue here: how we talk about learning also shapes related policies and practices. When learning is framed primarily as a tool for competitiveness, its intrinsic value narrows. At the same time, responsibility for skills and their development is increasingly shifting to individuals. This perspective was present in many presentations, including the keynote by Nina Haltia and Ulpukka Isopahkala-Bouret, who described changes in adult education in Finland particularly through open higher education and related policies. Individualization is also reflected in leadership training and discourse on wellbeing at work. Pinja Ryky\u2019s presentation criticized how structural and systemic problems are addressed through individual-psychological means in the context of managing workplace wellbeing. Leadership education provides only limited tools for leaders to support employee wellbeing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many presentations at the conference also examined the intersections and challenges between education and working life. The group \u201cNavigating Liminality \u2013 Adults\u2019 Identity Re\/Formation in Times of Crisis\u201d explored the meanings of various in-between or transitional phases. Topics ranged from biographical Holocaust experiences to those of freelance musicians, international students, and suburban youth from diverse cultural backgrounds. Discussions touched on the liminal spaces between education, work, and society, and the norms, constraints, and possibilities associated with them. Keynote speaker Professor Michael Tomlinson and P\u00e4ivi Siivonen described the identities, expectations, and challenges faced by adult students transitioning from higher education to working life in Finland and the United Kingdom. Meanwhile, in the Sociology and Politics of Adult Education group, Hanna Laalo and Heikki Kinnari examined the learning experiences of unemployed adults within a knowledge society increasingly focused on performance and economic growth. The significance of educational experiences was also highlighted in presentations by Tero J\u00e4rvinen and Jenni Tikkanen, which showed that perceptions of access to educational services may matter more than the actual range of provision in a given area. Jarkko Immonen\u2019s presentation demonstrated how contradictions between promised employment outcomes and lived experiences burden international higher education students. In a market-driven society, education and employment are promised to go hand in hand, but when individuals fall outside them, expectations and responsibilities are directed at the individual. A similar contradiction was noted in Tuomo Kuivalainen\u2019s presentation on career changers: although career change is seen as part of modern working life, how is it supported at the societal level, or are transitions and their demands left to individuals? Many presentations were united by the question of whether the risks and costs of transitions between education and working life are being shifted onto individuals. How could learning, education, and participation be supported at both institutional and community levels? What kind of future awaits a society of education and wellbeing if learning is viewed only as an instrument and responsibility for systemic problems is shifted to individuals?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is informal learning and where does it build Bildung?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to all of the above, the conference included a thematic group titled Adult Educational Practices and Principles for a Better Future and Hope, consisting of five sessions that examined adult education and learning particularly from the perspectives of liberal adult education institutions and various communities. This group also included participants and a presenter from JATKOT. The key concept in the group was Bildung, through which participants explored the possibilities, changes, and futures of adult learning in contexts such as projects, course offerings, civic movements, and self-directed learning. The group also provided space to consider where learning takes place when it does not clearly fall within curricula, qualifications, or institutional goals. The sessions were expertly led by Petri Salo and Jenni P\u00e4t\u00e4ri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our group\u2019s researcher Antti Jauhiainen presented his ethnographic research on Finnish \u201cbar parliaments,\u201d which sparked discussion on informal learning: how learning occurs in everyday encounters, conversations, and shared practices without necessarily being named or recognized as learning. Leisure, social life, and seemingly purposeless hanging out can play an important role in making sense of knowledge, experiences, and observations gathered elsewhere. Discussions highlighted how communal learning emerges in such loosely defined contexts and over time. The accumulation of experiences across contexts and their gradual integration\u2014without immediate goals or pressures\u2014can produce new understandings and conceptualizations that more formal learning environments may not capture. These processes can also, over time, strengthen formal learning in unexpected ways. It was also discussed how informal learning spaces may be essential for the resilience of Bildung: they can enhance shared understanding, conditions for dialogue, and the ability to relate personal experiences to broader societal questions. At the same time, such forms of learning are often overlooked in a time when learning is viewed through the lenses of goals, measurability, and individual performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discussions in this thematic group also addressed many concerning developments in liberal adult education, the civic education sector, and self-directed adult learning. These discussions were strongly connected to the democracy framework of my own research. The weakening of community-based learning networks, civil society learning environments, and the long-established liberal adult education institutions in Finland poses a significant risk not only to adult learning but also to democratic culture more broadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What kind of experience did the Nordic Adult Education Conference have for JATKOT researchers?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The outcomes of a conference are sometimes impossible to predict in advance. You never know how much or what kind of feedback your presentation will receive, what you will learn, which presentation will inspire new ideas, or whom you will meet. Where will the evening after dinner lead, and what kinds of positions will you find yourself forming? For some participants from JATKOT, this was their first conference, and part of the excitement and tension stemmed from presenting their own dissertation research and receiving feedback from the scientific community. Doctoral researchers also had the opportunity to participate in a pre-seminar aimed at doctoral students, where Emilia V\u00e4\u00e4n\u00e4nen from our group was present. In the pre-seminar, P\u00e4ivi Siivonen introduced Nordic and European research networks in adult education, and Erik Nylander illustrated the research field through bibliometric perspectives. The session especially prompted reflection on the societal and international trends shaping research activity and academic work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, one of the highlights of the conference for our researchers was the numerous encounters, meaningful discussions, and other social interactions. Any concerns about negative comments or overly difficult questions turned out to be completely unfounded, as the atmosphere in all sessions attended by our group members was warm and highly respectful. Feedback and comments were constructive and often led to broader and engaging discussions. Some sessions had only a handful of participants, while others were standing-room only. Regardless of the number of attendees, active discussion and shared reflection made the number of participants irrelevant. The content of the sessions also supported this, as our shared experience was that presentations within a session were meaningfully connected, even directly linked, forming coherent wholes where both presenters and audience felt engaged. At the same time, subtle differences, new concepts, and perspectives enriched the discussions and provided learning opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to thematic sessions, we also participated with interest in a methodological workshop and a workshop organized by the journal Aikuiskasvatus focusing on visual abstracts. In the methodology workshop, a particularly thought-provoking topic was silence: what silence means in group discussions, how it is interpreted in interviews, and what kinds of power relations or cultural meanings are embedded in it, for example, in workplace meetings. The workshop highlighted the richness and diversity of qualitative methods and how research can support community wellbeing. It also raised the idea of examining impact over longer time spans. The visual abstract workshop focused on creating abstracts with AI support. It addressed their significance, use, and ethical questions, and included hands-on experimentation with tools. The importance of clarifying the core message and identifying the target audience was emphasized, as visual abstracts can reach wider audiences and enhance visibility, for example, on social media. Discussions also examined challenges in visualizing qualitative research and the role of AI in research communication. AI was seen as a useful support for ideation and design, but not a replacement for thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the conference days, numerous thought-provoking presentations were heard, offering a broad overview of adult education research worldwide. In addition to the academic content, it was especially valuable to meet face-to-face with members of our geographically dispersed and mostly remotely working JATKOT team. Discussions with close colleagues strengthened confidence in our work. Especially for those attending a conference for the first time, the support and presence of close colleagues are invaluable in easing tension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warm thanks to the organizers and colleagues in the field of adult education for this experience! The JATKOT group looks forward with enthusiasm to the next Adult Education Research Days in Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4 in 2028 and the Nordic Adult Education Conference in Link\u00f6ping the same year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JATKOT participants in the conference: Soila Lemmetty, Katja K\u00f6ykk\u00e4, Sara Keronen, Sari Vanhanen, Oana Velcu-Laitinen, Emilia V\u00e4\u00e4n\u00e4nen, Antti Jauhiainen, Tuomo Kuivalainen & Marianne Jaakkola<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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