The Literature Education in Finland (LITEFI) consortium investigates literature education in Finnish elementary and upper secondary schools by combining theories and methods of educational science and literary studies. The project Growing into Literature examines the consistency and coherence of curricula, the theories behind literary approaches and the theories of and approaches to teaching literature.
Tampere University:
Kaisu Rättyä, Principal investigator, Faculty of Education and Culture
I lead the Academy of Finland–funded consortium project Growing into Literature: Advancing Theories and Practices, and I also serve as principal investigator for the work package ”Meaningful coherent curriculum and teaching materials for literature education”. I have long been interested in how curricula articulate a coherent pathway for literature education as a continuum. My previous research has focused on curricular emphases and assessment in literature education, mainly in lower secondary and upper secondary contexts. These findings suggested a need to examine literature education more closely across the whole school journey—both in curricula and in learning materials, starting from the early years. I am especially interested in how learner agency is foregrounded in these materials, as questions of motivation to read literature and its significance are so widely discussed. Our aim is to develop a comprehensive understanding of a meaningful continuum in literature education and to produce models and examples that support it.
Mirja Nieminen, project researcher, Faculty of Education and Culture
I began working as a Project Researcher in the Growing into Literature project in January 2026. This spring, my research focuses on primary school literature education, particularly on how learning materials present literature, its genres, and their key features to pupils. Previously, I studied the reading reception of picturebooks in children aged 2–6. In my doctoral dissertation, I examined children’s perspectives on literature intended for them by analysing which aspects of a picturebook they attend during engagement. By comparing these empirical insights with theoretical, text‑centred picturebook research that relies on the notion of an implied child reader, I demonstrated how findings from actual child readers can enrich and challenge established assumptions in the field. Taking a child‑perspective‑oriented approach also highlighted young children’s competencies as interpreters of picturebooks. In connection with this, I am interested in how children’s competencies as readers could be more fully recognised, for example in educational contexts.
In my doctoral dissertation, I examine the contents of literature education and the choices that shape them in Finnish language and literature (L1) learning materials for lower secondary and upper secondary education. This spring, I focus particularly on the continuity of content created by these materials. Later on, I examine how actors in the publishing industry influence this content, as well as the criteria teachers use when selecting materials for literature instruction. My research deepens the understanding of how decisions made by commercial actors shape the content and continuity of literature education within the Finnish school system. At the same time, it contributes to both Finnish and international research on literature and teaching materials and provides tools for developing literature education that is pedagogically meaningful and aligned with the curriculum.
University of Turku:
Åbo Akademi University:
Heidi Höglund, Principal Investigator, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, Education
