Interdisciplinarity and ongoing scholarly conversation

The Research Hub Engage brings together scholars across disciplines, theoretical and methodological orientations at DPU to foster mutual academic inspiration, collaborative research, and shared reading and writing. At the time being, our interdisciplinary efforts include educational studies, psychology, anthropology, sociology, and philosophy. We value knowledge exchange across junior and senior career stages and actively involve international colleagues into ongoing research dialogues.

Complexity, theoretical nuance and innovation

We investigate the complex social, cultural, socio-material, and subjective dimensions of children and young people’s lives – their lived experiences, subjectification, participation, and wellbeing in contemporary societies. Our work addresses both analogue and digital forms of young people’s engagements—those seen as positive and productive, as well as those considered troubling or disruptive. Our research spans across formal, nonformal, and informal educational and social settings and, in addition to focusing on children and young people, it addresses relations among professionals and between professionals, young people, and families, examining how interactions unfold across boundaries and in space and time. We pursue theoretical and methodological innovation that pushes the boundaries for thinking and knowing.

Scholarly and societal relevance and impact

Engage’s research generates impact within both academic and professional fields. We publish in international and national journals and books and contribute to policy and practice by supporting decision-makers, educators, and other professionals in education, social and health sectors and related services, such as for example Educational Psychological Service.

Examples of research areas and themes

• Participation, inclusion, and wellbeing in education
  Educational experiences of inclusion and exclusion, vulnerability, impairment, mental health, wellbeing, attention and affect, normativity related to these issues
• (In)equality, social categories, and subjectification
  Social class, gender, (dis)ability, ethnicity, and religion, processes of becoming, othering, gendering and racialization across educational contexts
• Youth cultures, risk, and conflict
  Substance use, street crime, gang involvement, prevention and exit, radicalization, and volunteering in armed conflicts
• Digital and analogue social relations
  Peer cultures, bullying, digital youth, and hybrid forms of sociality across space and time
• Sexuality, sexual health, and body politics
  Sexuality, sexual wellbeing, sexuality education, and young people’s negotiations of norms and boundaries
• Children’s communities, togetherness, and agency
  Cultures of care, collective agency, and sociocultural dynamics shaping participation, learning and development in schools
• Families, institutions, and cross-professional collaboration
  Everyday lives across home, daycare, and school; relations among professionals, young people, and parents
• Educational purposes, sustainability, and societal change
  Learning and formation (Bildung) related to social, cultural and environmental sustainability, interconnections between wellbeing and sustainability in education contexts
• Innovative research methodologies, attention to relevance, ethics and quality
  Multiple methodologies, ethnography, qualitative research, practice, dialogue and action research, policy and document analyses, longitudinal inquiry, art-based and participatory data generation, co-creation