Travel reports

  • Här kommer en kort reserapport från Thessaloniki och ECHA konferensen.
    En varm och härlig konferens på många sätt.
    Under dagarna onsdag – lördag hade jag tillsammans med flera av mina kollegor från GiftED förmånen att få lyssna till duktiga talare med lång erfarenhet av Giftedness och gifted education. Dagarna var långa och välfyllda men tiden gick fort. Jag fick även vara med och lyfta fram ECHA konferensen som kommer att hållas i Karlstad 2025, både genom samtal med andra under mingel men också tillsammans med Valerie M, Elisabet M och resten av Karlstadsgänget.
    Under kvällarna träffade jag flera av de som arbetar med liknande frågor ifrån flera andra länder, i olika konstellationer, för att äta mat och fortsätta prata.
    Stort tack till NNGE som hjälpte till med resebidrag. /Charlotta Lindvall

  • I am thankful to NNGE for having supported my participation to the 19th ECHA conference in Thessaloniki, Greece, 28-31 August 2024. With its rich program, the conference offered me the opportunity to learn from presentations and workshops, and to meet scholars and researchers whose work I follow and reference in my work. I organized a workshop that engaged 11 participants in a hands-on activity and discussions, and I plan to include its outcomes in my future research. The conference was a meeting place of like-minded people, and I enjoyed the discussions during the breaks, after the conference and the good, positive vibe that accompanied all the four days. I returned from Thessaloniki with new references to look up, my own reflections and new ideas to put into practice./Laura Elena Runceanu, PhD

  • On 6-8 March we – Fredrik Ardenlid, Johanna Lundqvist, Fanny Mossberg and Louise Sund from Mälardalen University, Sweden – visited the NERA 2024 Conference at Malmö University. NERA is an association for educational researchers in the Nordic countries, and it strives to enhance education and to provide a platform for collaboration between Nordic researchers. At the conference, the preliminary results of two ongoing literature studies related to gifted education were presented. Fredrik Ardenlid (presenting author) gave one presentation and chaired the session which included a total of four presentations. The presentation was about teachers’ differentiated instruction (DI) practices in inclusive classrooms, primarily focusing on students with high abilities. The presentation illuminated how teachers use DI practices to address the diverse and expanding range of needs and abilities in today’s inclusive classrooms. The preliminary results underscored the role of DI practices in fostering (more) inclusive classrooms and highlighted a growing recognition of the importance of addressing the diverse abilities and needs of students within inclusive education. The preliminary results also showed an increasing awareness of students with high abilities in the field of DI and inclusive education. Fanny Mossberg (presenting author) gave the other presentation and was enrolled in a session with a total of three presentations. The presentation was about outstanding abilities and inclusive education, with the aim of increasing awareness about early identification and well-functioning inclusion for children with outstanding abilities. The presentation provided insights into the methodological process of a scoping review, along with some preliminary results, such as characteristics of outstanding abilities, identification strategies and educational provisions. Johanna Lundqvist and Louise Sund (non-presenting authors) were co-authors to the NERA-abstracts submitted and present at the sessions. In total, around 40 researchers listened to the presentations and some of them also asked questions after the presentations. At the conference, we met three other Nordic researchers interested in gifted education. Our presentations were supported by the Nordic Network for Gifted Education (NNGE). Johanna Lundqvist and Fanny Mossberg also attended a pre-conference on 5 March. It concentrated on early childhood education and care and constituted a platform for collaboration between Nordic early childhood educational researchers. Valarie Margrain was the keynote speaker at this pre-conference.

  • Swedish doctoral students present on gifted ed in Greece August 2023

We, Felicia Augustsson (Karlstad University) and Diana von Börtzell-Szuch (Stockholm University), traveled to Thessaloniki, Greece, to present and participate in the conferences JURE (Junior Researchers of Earli) and EARLI (European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction). The theme of this year's EARLI conference was "Education as a Hope in Uncertain Times" and was held at the University of Macedonia and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. We presented part of our studies in our doctoral projects in round table sessions at JURE. In the different sessions we attended, we learned about new research projects on topics such as differentiated instruction, giftedness, literacy, and well-being. In addition, we attended in a useful workshop on the topic "Publishing a paper: The author, the reviewer, and the editor", held by editors from three different journals.  

We are grateful for the new international contacts and friendships that the conference created opportunities for. It was a rewarding experience to present in an international environment, and also to come together with both doctoral students and senior researchers from all over the world regarding education science issues. We are also particularly happy about the contacts made through the symposium on Gifted Education at EARLI. Going forward, we see good opportunities for collaborations with our newfound research colleagues and friends!

 

  • Report for the NNGE Scholarship and Copenhagen Visit in April 2023

I'm delighted to share a brief update following my trip to Copenhagen in April 2023, which was made possible by a travel grant from NNGE. During my visit, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with Professor Poul Nissen and psychologist Ole Kyes. We discussed their collaborative project focused on early identification of gifted students starting from the first grade. An expert working group, which includes these two professionals, is currently working on implementing this initiative, with the goal of launching this in time for the 2024/2025 school year. I am looking forward to learning more about the developments of this project.

The meeting was hosted in the psychologist's house, and it concluded with an unexpected yet delightful tour of the city. On the way to the train station, he generously took the time to show around his hometown, making the journey even more memorable.

Another anticipated part of the trip was a planned visit to a school in Copenhagen that

educates gifted students. Unfortunately, despite multiple emails exchanged between me and the school's principal and a teacher, the visit could not be arranged due to their ongoing

examination period.

Nonetheless, the trip was thoroughly enriching, blessed with beautiful spring weather. I am deeply thankful to NNGE for providing the travel scholarship that enabled this journey.

With gratitude
Tove Ekelun
Karlstad University

 

  • In May, Lilja Kristinsdóttir visited Jóhann Örn Sigurjónsson

in Iceland for one week to finalize the research project: “20 years on: Experience of Out-of-school Programs for Precocious Children in Iceland” that Lilja had previously initiated with Meyvant Þórólfsson (now prof. Emiratus). We initiated our collaboration by giving Jóhann an overview of the project and the data that had been collected. We discussed the methodology to be used and our theoretical perspective. We read the interviews together before discussing our first impression of them after each one. We made a plan for analysis of the data and divided the tasks between us.

Since then, we have coded the interviews and analyzed them using thematic analysis. The results have been written as a first draft for a chapter for the NNGE book.

 

  • Report on NNGE Travel support (received 2023)

Recipient: Dr. Taina Makkonen
I received a travel grant from NNGE in 2023 for finalizing a funding application (EU Horizon MSCA postdoctoral fellowship in gifted education) with prof. Valerie Margrain, and Mr. James Lees and Mr. Eamonn McCallion (Grants & Innovation office) at Karlstad University (KAU), Sweden. Moreover, the objective was to meet relevant staff at KAU and stakeholders related to the (possible) two-year research collaboration on gifted education.

The three-day visit followed the itinerary below. The visit produced a final funding application sent to European Commission. 
Itinerary

Wednesday 6.9.2023
- arrive to Karlstad 13:27 - Valerie to meet Taina at järnvägstationen
- meet Dr John Cripps Clark from Melbourne (science education & gifted education researcher)
- work on final detail of research application with Valerie
- dinner with Linda Graham, guest researcher from Australia and a few KAU colleagues

Thursday 7.9.2023
- 9:10 to 10:00 tour of Sundsta-Älvkulle gymnasiet and meet with Dr. Elisabet Mellroth tour of Karlstad University
- 10.40 meeting with James Lees & Eamonn McCallion at the Grants & Innovation office
- Valerie has a meeting 14-15, Taina to work on any feedback from James & Eamonn
- 15:00-16:00 coffee meeting with Prof. Jesper Haglund
- wine n cheese visit to Valerie's apartment and any final conversations about application

Friday 8.9.2023
- 7:50 leaving from the hotel to university
- 8:30-9:00 meeting with Charlotta Lindvall: contact person to parental networks of gifted students in Sweden
- 9:00-9:30 check application
- 9:30-9:50 coffee break: chance to meet some colleagues from institutionen för pedagogiskt arbete
- 10:00-12:00 attendance at KAU research seminar including a presentation by Prof. Linda Graham
- 12:00-12:40 Lunch
- 12:40-13:10 Submit application
- 13:10-13:30 bus to city
- 14:01 depart Karlstad

Taina Makkonen, PhD
Lecturer
Viikki Teacher Training School, University of Helsinki
taina.makkonen@helsinki.fi