Kristiina Brunila

University of Helsinki | HY · AGORA for the Study of Social Justice and Equality in Education

This paper presents a novel approach to youth mental health by examining the connections between young Finnish men’s mental health, ideals of masculinity, and public discourses of mental health. Drawing from critical sociological and feminist theories on gender, power, and therapeutic culture, we apply a thematic discursive analysis to a questionna...

In this article, we delve into an examination of how the ethos of vulnerability is manifested within cultural practices related to young people in Finland, thereby shaping and determining the conditions of what is possible for the kinds of subjects that young people can become. We employed the term ‘affective subjectivation’ to elucidate the proces...

We examine the ideal twenty-first century learner as discursively produced in recent future-oriented documents published by the OECD and UNESCO. Drawing inspiration from Bacchi’s question ‘What is the problem represented to be?’, we identify a constellation of interrelated discourses that together craft an image of a post-political, resilient, empa...

Public debate and media attention concerning mental health problems, stress, psycho-emotional vulnerabilities, and anxiety among university students has reached record level. Informed by media representations, student mental health guides, and our observations, we focus on the ethos of vulnerability as an articulation of psychologized student subje...

This chapter critically analyzes the reconfiguration of agency evident in early childhood education (ECE) and childhood studies research concerned with the Anthropocene, which is mostly grounded in posthumanist and new materialist approaches. Applying Foucault’s ideas related to problematization and Bacchi’s method “What is the problem represented...

In this chapter, I consider academic political agency through four overlapping narratives emerging from my previous academic writing projects of consistently troubling academic encounters over the past six years while making the transition from a precarious tenure-track position to a full professorship. One of the key aims of the writing of this ch...

Yksityisen sektorin merkitys nuorten koulutuksen järjestämisessä on vahvistunut Suomessa viime vuosikymmenien aikana merkittävästi. Valmennuskursseja, koulutusteknologiaa ja erilaisia hyvinvointi- ja opiskelijapalveluita tarjoavien yritysten verkosto vahvistaa jatkuvasti asemaansa koulutusta määrittelevissä ja rakentavissa keskusteluissa. Analysoim...

Finland’s integration policy is praised for its inclusivity and for guaranteeing equal opportunities. This paper examines how integration processes work within such an ideal image. Building on theoretical and critical discussions of integration and racialisation, we approach integration as a mechanism of racialisation and discuss the consequences o...

Drawing on affect theory and research on academic capitalism, this book examines the contemporary crisis of universities. Moving through 11 international and comparative case studies, it explores diverse features of contemporary academic life, from the coloniality of academic capitalism to performance management and the experience of being performa...

This book offers an analysis and critical interrogation of the contemporary crisis of higher education. On the one hand, this crisis manifests itself in the partial unmaking of the institutional form of the university that emerged from European medieval centres of scholarship, their globalisation through Western imperialism, and the temporary succe...

Introduction: writing about academic capitalism This book may be read in several ways. It may be read as an expression of its authors’ affectively charged, visceral encounters with academic capitalism. At this level, each of its chapters speaks for itself, and it seems remiss to impose an overarching interpretation. Moreover, this book might be rea...

Reconsidering academic capitalism Universities today leave nothing to chance when it comes to their public presentation. Their websites, among other marketing and advertising material, speak to this preoccupation, as they are one of the primary means by which universities communicate a desirable image to the wider world. The results of these market...

Introduction A few years ago, I became a female leader in academia. It was not my intention to become a leader, but I realised that it was something that came with the job of being an associate professor heading towards full professorship, who was determined to influence faculty policies and practices. As time passed I learned about the relentless...

Finland has repeatedly been presented as a “success story” of equality and education, promoter of human rights and included equality and human rights as part of national curricula. However, research has shown the slow progress of integrating topics of equality and human rights in teacher education despite hundreds of project-based interventions dur...

Hyväksytty julkaistavaksi Kasvatus-lehdessä

The OECD has become a notable predictor of the future needs of society and education. In youth education, the OECD spearheads global strategies, initiatives and recommendations about the curriculum and goals for education. By evoking the sense of 'crisis' in 'traditional education' the OECD functions as a central node of precision education governa...

Accepted manuscript for Globalisation, Societies and Education -journal

Tarkastelemme tässä artikkelissa varhaiskasvatuksen palvelujärjestelmän yksityistymistä ja selvitämme, millaisesta yhteiskunnallisesta ilmiöstä varhaiskasvatuksen markkinoitumisessa Suomessa on kyse. Markkinoitumisen ymmärrämme sisältävän yleisesti ne prosessit, joissa liiketoiminnan arvot, pyrkimykset ja käytännöt alkavat saada jalansijaa kasvatus...

Self-regulated learning (SRL) may determine adapting to online environments. This study is an evaluation of students' (N = 33 912) SRL and integration in remote learning in Finnish lower secondary schools when educational institutions all over the world were urgently closed and teaching was arranged in remote settings due to COVID-19. Neither the t...

Managing the future has become one of the major focuses of global governance in education. In its current mode, education seems unable to answer the needs and interests of the market and future megatrends, such as globalisation and digitalisation. Calls for precision education to introduce the usage of digital platforms, artificial intelligence in...

In this paper, we revisit the persistent positivity imperative in Finnish youth education by analysing findings from an on-going research project related to various educational interventions targeted at young people ‘at risk’. The article is focused on youth education as an emblematic manifestation of therapeutic ethos and neoliberalism. These mani...

Drawing on two interrelated areas of youth work, outreach youth work as a place of coordination of work, social benefits and social services, and youth workshops as a place for work training for young people “at risk”, our aim in this article is to analyse how young people in poor financial circumstances are governed through policies and practices...

Managing the future has become one of the major focuses of global governance in education. In its current mode, education seems unable to answer the needs and interests of the market and future megatrends, such as globalisation and digitalisation. Calls for precision education to introduce the usage of digital platforms, artificial intelligence in...

There is general agreement overall about the desirability and importance of youth support systems as being crucial for young people ‘at risk’ to help them cultivate their subjectivities about employability. In this article, we take a closer look at these support systems and especially at outreach youth work in Finland. We focus on the construction...

In this paper, we revisit the persistent positivity imperative in Finnish youth education by analysing findings from an ongoing research project related to various educational interventions targeted at young people 'at risk'. The article is focused on youth education as an emblematic manifestation of therapeutic ethos and neoliberalism. These manif...

Kasvatuksen, koulutuksen ja eriarvoisuuden kehässä ja miten siitä pääsisi ulos Olen koko akateemisen elämäni ajan tutkinut kasvatuksen, koulutuksen ja laajemmin yhteiskunnallista eriarvoisuutta ja erityisesti kasvatuksen ja koulutuksen roolia eriarvoisuuksien ja etuoikeuksien uusintajana ja purkajana. Viimeiset 10 vuotta olen tutkinut kolmen ison t...

Seksuaalikasvatuksen avulla kohti tasa-arvoisempaa ja yhdenvertaisempaa koulua Kun puhumme koulujen seksuaalikasvatuksesta, emme puhu ainoastaan oppitunnista, joka on omistettu seksuaalisuudelle. Puhumme koulujen toimintakulttuurista sekä tasa-arvo-ja yhdenvertaisuustyöstä, johon seksuaalikasvatus kuuluu. Seksuaalikasvatuksen hyödyt eivät jää ainoa...

Yhteiskuntaan täysivaltaiseksi jäseneksi pääseminen edellyttää edelleen kaksijakoisen sukupuolen tunnustamista ja tunnistamista. Ensimmäinen kysymys lienee edelleen, kumpi sieltä tuli? Joskus sanottiin, että kun tyttö tuli, tyhjä tuli. Ja siitä se jatkuu koko elämän ajan. Rasti ruutuun, mies vai nainen, vessan ovesta kuuluu etsiä hameellista tai ho...

A letter to the editor of Suomen Kuvalehti, about the discussion on identity politics

Young people’s unemployment and social exclusion – the so-called ‘youth problem’ – is one of the main focuses in Finnish youth policies. We examine youth policies and youth support systems by applying a framework of policy analysis developed by Carol Bacchi. We ask 1) what kind of problematisations in youth policies and their implementations produc...

Academic work and teaching in academia are undergoing major changes in the present neoliberal era. Our purpose in this article is to explore theoretically and in practice how to bring criticality and resistance to life through teaching in the academy and to demonstrate it is not necessarily always a narrative of success. The article is based on our...

Academic work and teaching in academia are undergoing major changes in the present neoliberal era. Our purpose in this article is to explore theoretically and in practice how to bring criticality and resistance to life through teaching in the academy and to demonstrate it is not necessarily always a narrative of success. The article is based on our...

Bad student behaviour is argued to be one of the major challenges for schools today. In response to the challenge, there is a strong body of literature aiming at fixing student behaviour. In this paper, we look into professional knowledge discourses regarding ‘bad student behaviour,’ focusing on one national context, Finland, to explore how disturb...

Young people's unemployment and social exclusion-the so-called 'youth problem'-is one of the main focuses in Finnish youth policies. We examine youth policies and youth support systems by applying a framework of policy analysis developed by Carol Bacchi. We ask 1) what kind of problematisations in youth policies and their implementations produce th...

Lupaus uudesta ja paremmasta on aina siivittänyt koulutusreformeja. Reformin kohteena on yhä laajemmalle yksilön elämänpiiriin, käyttäytymiseen, tunneilmaisuun ja persoonaan ulottuva oppimistalous, jota tutkimme FuturEd-projektissa. Keskeisenä käsitteenä on koulutuksen tulevaisuuden suuntaviivoja, kaupallisia intressejä ja uusia tieteenaloja yhdist...

Open access https://www.hup.fi/site/books/10.33134/HUP-3/read/?loc=001.xhtml

Affective subjectivation is a notion that describes the processes by which academics are inclined to turn themselves into manageable subjects within the context of precarious academic life. Based on three fictional, realistic stories, three topics are discussed: precaritisation in academia as an organisation and the relationship between managers an...

Neuroliberalism encompasses a wide array of discourses, policies, social practices and subjectivities by gaining legitimacy from behavioural and economic sciences. In our research, we focus on some of the key reforms in the Nordic welfare system in the era of neuroliberalism.

KOULUTUS ON TALOUDELLISTEN intressien ja kamppailujen kohde. Yli-opistoissa työskentelevien odotetaan toimivan ketterästi tiedon tuottajina samalla kun koko persoonaa kykyineen ja tunteineen valjastetaan tiedon tuotantoon. Artikkelin fokus on korkeakoulutusta ja erityisesti yliopistoja koskevassa uusliberalistisessa hallinnassa, jonka poliittiset i...

Tutkijatohtori Tuuli Kurki, Helsingin yliopisto (kasvatustiede): Miten eriarvoisuus näyttäytyy jatkuvan oppimisen kentällä? Nuorten syrjäytymisen syyt ovat syvällä yhteiskunnan rakenteissa-tutkijat pitävät yksilökeskeistä lähestymistapaa ongelmallisena Yhteiskunnasta syrjäytyneiksi määriteltyjen nuorten ongelmia pyritään korjaamaan lyhytkestoisin r...

1. Johdanto Artikkelini perustuu valmisteilla olevaan väitöskirjaani Pyhää ja Parjattua-Tasa-arvotyö Suomessa 1970-2000-luvuilla, jossa tarkastelen sitä miten monimutkaisissa valtasuhteissa tasa-arvotyö on Suomessa operoitunut. Tasa-arvotyöllä ei ole Suomessa ollut virallista yhteiskunnallista legitimiteettiä toiminnalleen eivätkä sitä ole säädelle...

Kristiina Brunila's interview in the University of Melbourne. What is the significance of 'policy' for socially just and equitable education, what are some of the most pressing challenges to equitable and socially just education, what are some of insights in the context of Finnish education that might bear relevance to the Australian education,...

Termit, kuten itsetunto, tunteet, tunne-elämä, tunteiden tunnistaminen, tunnekasvatus ja psykologinen hyvinvointi löytyvät useista OKM:n ja OPH:n koulutusta koskevista poliittisista ohjelmista. Esiopetuksen opetussuunnitelmassa pidetään tärkeänä lasten tunne-elämän kehittymistä. Lapsia kannustetaan keskustelemaan tunteistaan. Perusopetuksen opetuss...

In official integration policies, refugees are successfully integrated once they have found a job. Integration programmes promise an easy way to employment: through adopting new skills and a profession. We utilize a discursive approach in our analysis of the official documents of integration policies and practices, as well as interviews with refuge...

This paper provides a reinterpretation of Paulo Freire’s philosophy of hope and suggests that this interpretation may function as a fruitful ground for democratic education that aims to contest the prevailing neoliberal ‘common sense’. The paper defines hope as a democratic virtue required for resisting the discursive practises and affective mechan...

This article scrutinises the normalised realities behind integration policies and training for refugees and immigrants that are claimed to be inclusive. The ‘great narrative’ of Finland has been focused on equal opportunity via education and training, which makes it even more important to examine the hidden realities and how such realities affect t...

This essay is about the ethos of vulnerability, young people, and policies and practices related to youth support systems in Finland. Our aim is to scrutinize the alliance of the ethos of vulnerability and neoliberal rationality as well as its outcomes in terms of support systems and young people from various backgrounds. In the end, we take our an...

The main aim of this article is to highlight how existence as well as choice in the context of young people “at risk” stems not so much from the individual young person as from the condition of possibility. A secondary aim is to interrupt current understanding of the possible conditions of young people from various backgrounds within the rise of ps...

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a debated phenomenon and the link between schooling and the occurrence of ADHD diagnoses is worth critical scrutiny. This paper contributes to the academic debate by providing a literature review of the evidence on the influence of relative age effect (RAE) on being diagnosed with ADHD. Firstly, th...

This article focuses on neoliberal governing by the European Union of cross-sectoral youth policies directed at young people ‘at risk’. The aim is to show how the alliance of discourses of employability and precariousness in these policies has emerged and how these discourses operate in policy. In the article, we analyse European Council and Europe...

Disturbing, problematic, or challenging student behaviour is said to be among the greatest challenges facing today’s school life. However, despite the apparent commonsensical nature of the issue, there is no commonly agreed upon definition for such events, and there is often very thin analysis of what actually becomes disturbed, challenged, or prob...

Asiasanat: nuoret, tukijärjestelmät, haavoittuvuuden eetos, diskursiiviset käytännöt Johdanto Nuorten työttömyys ja pääsy koulutukseen ovat olleet viimeisten vuosikymmenten ajan koko Euroopan laajuisia ongelmia, joiden ratkaisemiseksi on kehitetty erilaisia poliittisia toimintaohjelmia. Toimintaohjelmia on toteutettu Suomessa pääasiassa koulutusta,...

The focus of this paper is to examine how immigrants becomes constituted as ideal care workers in educational settings. By analysing the everyday practices in two educational contexts in the Helsinki metropolitan area, Finland, the authors explore how these practices that are influenced by the national and transnational immigration and integration...

Affective subjectivation is a notion that describes the processes by which academics are inclined to turn themselves into manageable subjects within the context of precarious academic life. Based on three fictional, realistic stories, three topics are discussed: precaritisation in academia as an organisation and the relationship between managers an...

This article focuses on neoliberal governing by the European Union of cross-sectoral youth policies related to young people ‘at risk’ of social exclusion and marginalisation. The aim is to show how the alliance of discourses of employability and precariousness in these policies has emerged and is operated. In the article, European Council and Europ...

In recent years Finland has witnessed a substantial amount of public debate and concern about vulnerability, wellbeing, mental-health problems and anxiety among young people from various backgrounds. The focus in this article is on the ethos of vulnerability, and particularly on the

Today, education is massively affected by marketisation and the drastic demands of the global economy. Integration training for immigrants has fallen prey to that; immigrants are employed to serve market needs, which has been attributed to the creation of “integration as business”. In the article, the authors examine how integration training for im...

Based on the crafting of seven fictional stories, the making of academic subjects in universities in times of neoliberal ethos is examined. The simultaneous configuration of subjects and objects of research is grasped in the term research(ing) subjects. Neoliberal governing generates the affect of anxiety as a socially manufactured intensity connec...

Researchers often find themselves reflecting on either/or questions. This article examines the multiple discursive reality of gender equality, a topic comprising several juxtapositions connected to either/or thinking which also provide the topic its legitimacy. The examples come from the context of gender equality work and gender equality policy, w...

Prison education is seen in both criminal and education policies as a way of assimilating inmates ‘back into society’. In spite of the policy emphasis on education, the practices in prison education vary from prison to prison. The stated aim of prison education in EU and in Finnish national level policies is to teach inmates the skills and knowledg...

In this article, we research and revisit our own experiences of gender equality work to determine the societal and discursive power relations that have shaped gender equality. We conducted our study in Finland, a ‘Nordic model of gender equality’, but we argue that these results have worldwide relevance, especially since Nordic models of gender equ...

Suomessa vuoden 2013 alussa käyttöön otettu nuorisotakuu toteutuu pääasiassa erilaisissa projekteissa, joita vaivaavat lyhytjänteisyys ja terapialuonteisuus. Ensisijaisesti nuorisotakuu onkin työvoima- ja talouspoliittinen väline, jonka sisältöihin nuorilla itsellään ei juuri ole sananvaltaa. Julkisessa keskustelussa nuoret nähdään usein laiskoina,...

Equality work is often conducted as education and teaching, and both are an intrinsic part of equality work. In this article, we focus on equality work and challenging heteronormativity by contextualising our focus both on the educational system as a whole but especially on teacher education. The promotion of equality in teacher education began in...

In this article, identity politics is understood as a form of politics stressing collective but malleable group identities as the basis of political action. This notion of identity politics also allows thinking of identity as intersectional. The focus of this article, and a problem related to identity politics, is that when discussed in the context...

Artikkeli käsittelee yliopistollista tutkijakoulutusta tietokapitalistisessa eetoksessa. Tutkijakoulutuksessa tutkijuuteen ja tietoon liittyy monenlaisia ehtoja mutta myös arvovalintoja. Artikkelissa kysymme, mitä tapahtuu tiedolle ja tutkijuudelle tohtorikoulutuksessa, kun yliopistoihin kohdistetaan tulosohjauksella yhä enemmän tuottamisen paineit...

How knowledge capitalism retools the scope of academic research and researchers is an issue which this article ties to the project market in the ethos of knowledge capitalism. In Finland, academic research has been forced to apply for funding in project-based activities reflecting European Union policies. The project market, which in this article r...

Young people labelled ‘disadvantaged’ or ‘at risk of social exclusion’ are increasingly directed into publicly funded or NGO-based, partly privately financed projects in order to secure their desired integration into society through work or further education. In this article, we carry out a comparative analysis of youth training programmes in Brazi...

This article concerns gender equality work, that is, those educational and workplace activities that involve the promotion of gender equality. It is based on research conducted in Sweden and Finland, and focuses on the period during which the public sector has become more market-oriented and project-based all over the Nordic countries. The conseque...

The ethos of vulnerability has come to play an increasingly central role in shaping cross-sectoral transition policies and practices related to young people outside of education and working life. Yet the wider effects of this ethos in policies and practices are still rarely analysed. In this article, we draw our data from five separate studies. The...

In Finland, young people who are neither employed nor in any education or training programme are expected to participate in short-term education, the aim being to improve their work life and employment skills, and thus make them more accountable for their labour market outcomes. An extensive assortment of so-called transition activities is created...

Aikuiskasvatuksen tutkimusmenetelmiä: Aikuiskasvatuksen asiantuntijat esittelevät aikuiskasvatustieteen tutkimusmenetelmiä ja näkökulmia tutkimukseen.