Maria Peltola
University teacher, Education coordinator M.A. in Early childhood education and PhD student in Educational psychology
Teachers, Teaching and Educational Communities
Faculty of Education

I'm studying the dynamics of agency in the learning environments of adulthood - in relation to a complex and technology-mediated everyday life. The research is based on cultural-historical perspective and the conceptual-analytical framework of Psychology from the standpoint of the subject. Important concepts and starting points include the zone of proximal development, the conduct of everyday life, zone of free movement, zone of promoted action, the pedagogical paradox, agency and participation, the subject's perspective and experience and subject’s grounds for action (FOG).
In my main job at the university I have been coordinating blended and remote studies in Sámi early childhood education program in Northern Finland. Since the beginning of 2020, my job has been to coordinate a co-project of seven universities, which aims to educate 1000 new early childhood education teachers using remote and contact teaching (see also tuhatplus.fi, only in Finnish). In addition to these projects, I've been working as a university teacher in psychology, educational sciences and early childhood education.
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