ReCEL - Research on Children's Education and Learning

The research environment ReCEL brings together researchers and doctoral students at Örebro University who conduct research within the wider area of ​​children’s education and learning. The environment is interdisciplinary with members from Education, Gender Studies and Science Pedagogy.

At the center of the environment’s research is a broad interest in pedagogical practices for younger children (0-12 years), both formal education for children in the age range and informal pedagogical activities for this age group. A number of different educational science areas and issues are studied, such as:

• children's rights and rights education
• sustainable development and aesthetics
• children's early reading and writing learning
• children's early learning about science
• digitalisation in education
• multilingualism in preschool and school
• gender and gender equality in educational practices
• parental support and parental collaboration
• the professional profession of preschool teachers and teachers

The environment’s researchers conduct both theoretical and empirical research, and various theoretical and methodological approaches are represented, such as North European Didaktik, ethnographic, text-analytical and discourse theoretical studies, as well as studies with quantitative approaches. The environment hosts three research groups. These conduct joint research in projects or other types of close collaborations.

The researchers in the environment have an extensive network of contacts both nationally and internationally, and are part of several concrete collaborations.

Swedish networks that environmental researchers are part of are:
- Nationella Literacynätverket [the National Literacy Network]
- Sveriges genusforskarförbund [the Swedish Gender Research Association]
- SMDI-Nationella nätverket för svenska med didaktisk inriktning [the National Network for Swedish with an Didkaktik-orientation]

Internationella nätverk som miljöns forskare är aktiva i är:
- EERA network Research in Children’s Rights in Education
- Nordic Early Literacy Education (NELL)
- Nordic Research Network about Parents in Education (NORNAPE)
- Multilingual Childhoods, Special Interest Group in Gender Balance in the ECEC

In addition to participation in these networks, the researchers collaborate with a number of individual researchers in Sweden and from Australia, Brazil, Finland, Israel, Luxembourg, Norway and Switzerland.

The environment is led by a steering group consisting of Professor Ann Quennerstedt and Associate Professor Bodil Sundberg.