PI Piia Seppänen (Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning and Education CELE, University of Turku)
in Finland
Professor Piia Seppänen (University of Turku)
Post doctoral researcher Sonia Lempinen (University of Turku)
Researcher Iida Kiesi (University of Turku)
Researcher Nina Nivanaho (University of Turku)
Research assistant, master student Aino Olkkonen (University of Turku)
in Sweden
Professor Lisbeth Lundahl (University of Umeå & University of Turku)
Professor Linda Rönnberg (University of Umeå & University of Turku)
in New Zealand
Professor Martin Thrupp (University of Waikato)
Senior research fellow Darren Powell (University of Auckland)
Professor John O’Neill (Massey University)
Researcher Philippa Butler (Massey University)
Research assistant, Master’s student Sandor Chernoff (Massey University)
Finland Team
Piia Seppänen is professor of education, especially in comparative education and education policy in the Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning and Education CELE at the University of Turku. She leads the Finnish team as well as the overall HOPES research project on private actor involvement and interest in public education. Piia’s previous work has focused on school choice policy, pupil selection, classed practices, urban social segregation and comprehensive schooling systems.
Sonia Lempinen is a post-doctoral researcher in the HOPES research project, with special focus on Finland and local municipality contexts of privatisation(s). Her previous scholarly work has concentrated on school choice policy, municipal pupil selection, inclusive education, and comprehensive schooling systems.
Iida Kiesi is a master of education and a doctoral candidate at the University of Turku. She is a researcher in the HOPES research project and works on her PhD-project, which focuses on commercialisation of education, especially in terms of networks and partnerships.
Nina Nivanaho is a master of education and a doctoral candidate at the University of Turku. She works as a researcher in the HOPES research project along with her PhD-project concerning Finnish teachers’ involvement in the global education industry especially focusing on the EdTech companies.
Sweden Team
Lisbeth Lundahl is professor of educational work at University of Umeå and a visiting professor at University of Turku. Her research mainly concerns education policy and governance in Sweden against a European backdrop, and young people´s school-to-work transitions from Swedish and international perspectives. Lisbeth´s work often includes local policies of education and youth transitions.
Linda Rönnberg is a professor in educational work, with a particular focus on governance and evaluation at the Department of Applied Educational Science, Umeå University. Her research concern education politics and policy and especially different aspects of marketization/privatization, evaluation and accountability. Recent projects include research on private actors, Swedish education export, the role of consultants in compulsory education as well as policies of evaluation and internationalisation in higher education.
New Zealand Team
Martin Thrupp is professor of education at the University of Waikato. He leads the New Zealand team within the HOPES research project. He has previously undertaken research into school-level education policy, especially school markets and new accountabilities, in New Zealand and Europe. Martin’s work has usually had a particular emphasis on the lived effects of policy in schools.
John O’Neill is professor of teacher education and head of the Institute of Education at Massey University. His research interests include educational charities, the relationships between education policy and teachers’ work and learning, applied professional ethics, and teaching and learning in everyday activities and settings.
Darren Powell is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at University of Auckland. He works as a Senior Research Fellow within the HOPES research project. Darren’s research has focused on how schools, teachers, and children are drawn into the global ‘war on obesity’, and the ways in which corporations and charities are using concerns about children’s lifestyles and bodies to promote themselves as healthy, philanthropic, and educational.
Philippa Butler, PhD in Social Anthropology, is a research officer at the Institute of Education, Massey University. Her research interests include ethnic identity, research methodology, education in Māori and Pacific Islands communities, support for beginning teachers, inclusive education, and student engagement. Her role in the HOPES project is to provide research support for the New Zealand team.
Sandor Chernoff is a master student of education at Massey University. His thesis is on the politics of youth engagement in employment, education and training. Sandor has been undertaking web-based searches to inform the HOPES research in Aotearoa New Zealand. He has also been a research assistant on a number of other educational research projects including student agency in higher education and children’.