Jan Varpanen is a doctoral researcher in Tampere University, Faculty of Education and culture. His main areas of interest are philosophy of education and childhood studies. The themes of agency, play and community are central to his work.
In his dissertation project, Varpanen reformulates the concept of education in light of early childhood play and Gilles Deleuze’s philosophy of immanence. He argues that shared adult-child play is an educational practice where welcoming the life of the child becomes an educational purpose in itself. To create the conceptual tools for studying this dimension of education, Varpanen reconceptualises education as hospitality.
In addition to his dissertation, Varpanen has worked on various topics as part of several projects. Most recently, he was part of the KONE foundation -funded project EnAct – researching environmental activism and self-cultivation. Varpanen has also worked on pedagogical models of technology education in early childhood education (INNOPLAY-project) and the project ”Discourses of leadership in the diverse field of early childhood education”.
Publications:
Varpanen, J., Saari, A., Jurvakainen, K., & Kallio, J. (2022). The Uncanny Challenge of Self-Cultivation in the Anthropocene. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 41, 345–362.
Saari, A., Varpanen, J., & Kallio, J. (2022). Aktivismi ja itsekasvatus: Itsestä huolehtiminen prefiguratiivisena politiikkana. Aikuiskasvatus, 42(1), 37-49.
Varpanen, J. (2021). Uutta kasvatusajattelua luomassa: dekontekstualisaatio spekulatiivisena mahdollisuutena. Kasvatus 52(4), s. 426-437.
Varpanen, J. (2021). Escaping the Dark Side of Technology via Subject-ness: Sustainable Technology Education and Holistic Craft. Techne serien-Forskning i slöjdpedagogik och slöjdvetenskap, 28(2), 25–30.
Fonsén, E., Varpanen, J., Kupila, P., & Liinamaa, T. (2021). Johtajuuden diskurssit varhaiskasvatuksessa – valta ja vastuu johtajuuden jäsentäjinä. Sosiologia 58(1), 54–69.
Pulkki, J., Varpanen, J., & Mullen, J. (2020). Ecosocial Philosophy of Education: Ecologizing the Opinionated Self. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 1–18.
Ukkonen-Mikkola, T. & Varpanen, J. (2020). Integrated initial and continuing training as a way of developing the professional agency of teachers and student teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 96, 103189.
Varpanen, J. (2020). Early childhood education leadership in Finland through the lens of structure and agency. Educational Management, Administration and Leadership, 1741143220903727.
Fonsén, E., Varpanen, J., Strehmel, P, Kawakita, M., Inoue, C., Marchant, S., Modise, M., Szecsi, T. & Halpern, C. (2019). International review of ECE leadership research – Finland, Germany, Japan, Singapore, South Africa and the United States under review. In P. Strehmel, J. Heikka, E. Hujala, J. Rodd & M. Waniganayake (Eds.) Leadership in early education in times of change. Research from five continents. Toronto: Budrich.
Varpanen, J. (2019). What is children’s agency? A review of conceptualisations used in early childhood education research. Educational Research Review, 28.
Varpanen, J. (2018). Subjektifikaatio ja leikki: varhaiskasvatuksen antia subjektifikaation mahdollisuuden jäsentämiselle. Kasvatus & aika 12(3), 5-18.
Varpanen, J. (2018). Vapaus, demokratia ja jaettu todellisuus osallisuuden ytimessä. Teoksessa J. Kangas, J. Vlasov, E. Fonsén & J. Heikka (toim.) Osallisuuden pedagogiikkaa varhaiskasvatuksessa 2 – Suunnittelu, toteuttaminen ja kehittäminen. Tampere: Suomen varhaiskasvatus ry, 120-134.
Varpanen, J., Mansikka-aho, A., Tervasmäki, T. & Saari, A. (2018). Tampere 3 –prosessi herättää huolta korkeakoulupolitiikan suunnasta. Kasvatus, 49(5), 439-443.
Contact: jan.varpanen@tuni.fi
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