In this episode, we speak with Dr. Rauni Räsänen and Dr. Mervi Kaukko about their journey into the transformative potential of education and reforming teacher education through action research in Finland.  

Dr. Rauni Räsänen is a Professor Emerita in the Faculty of Education at the University of Oulu University, Finland. In the 1960s, she started as a primary and secondary school teacher and a provisional supervisor for language teaching. Dr. Räsänen was also a Fulbright Scholar in the U.S. in the 1970s. She completed the first action research PhD in the field of . education in Finland. At Oulu University, she coordinated two groundbreaking international programs, the Master of Education International Program (which is now Intercultural Teacher Education) and the Education and Globalization Master's Program. Her research interests are ethics of education, teachers’ professional ethics, diversity in education, inclusive education, intercultural education, and international or global education. She also worked as a member of the National UNESCO Commission.

Dr. Mervi Kaukko is a Professor of Multicultural Education at Tampere University in Finland. Dr. Kaukko, in her PhD research, worked with unaccompanied asylum-seeking girls in a Finnish reception center. This participatory action research focused on the participation in PAR of unaccompanied girls, taking into consideration the intersection of their status, their gender, their age, ethnicity and so forth.  Her most recent action research projects focus on refugee and asylum-seeking children in Finland and Australia. She is also the Finnish coordinator of an International Action Research Practice Theory Network - Pedagogy, Education and Praxis. 

The conversation starts with exploring our guests’ journey into Participatory Action Research (04:11). Topics discussed include reforming teacher education through Participatory Action Research in Finland (04:43), students' participation in improving university programs (11:02), Feminist theories and perspectives in action research in Finland (14:22), challenges integrating Intersectional Feminisms (19:02), Intersectional Feminisms or Action Research as an approach to knowledge creation (22:38), Action Research and relationship building (27:33), collaboration and starting with Participatory Action Research (32:57), and Action research within teacher education (42:03). Tune-in to hear more!

Learn more about our guests, their work, and references mentioned in the episode at our companion site: https://www.parfemtrailblazers.net/. This episode is hosted by Patricia Maguire and produced by Vanessa Gold, Shikha Diwakar, and Kavya Harshitha Jidugu. Music is by ZakharValaha from Pixabay.