Research is linked to our teacher education programmes and teachers’ professional activities in preschools, extended schools, schools and other teaching. However, there are also dimensions of teaching and learning in areas other than schools and teacher education. We investigate questions related to educational science within the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences and technology. Our researchers cooperate across subject boundaries and shed light on societally-relevant problems from their various perspectives.

Researchers who work with issues that relate to education, both in schools and civic education, are found in many subjects at the university, such as English, Ethnology, Comparative Literature, the Study of Religions, Swedish, etc.

Research platform

In December 2018, a new focus document for strengthening research as part of Teacher Education at Södertörn University was validated for the period 2019-2021. The purpose of the research platform is for the university to develop and strengthen the Teacher Education programmes’ grounding in research by initiating, gathering and conducting research based on the questions and needs of Teacher Education and the teaching profession.

The research platform will have a clear focus on teaching and learning and research relevant to Teacher Education, contributing to the creation of:

• Teacher Education that is grounded in research and has close ties between research and undergraduate education
• a stable and established research environment in teaching and learning and research that is relevant to teacher education
• meaningful cooperation with schools, municipalities and other stakeholders outside the university
• understanding of the role of the preschool, school and teacher education in a multicultural, multilingual and medialised society that is undergoing rapid change.

Studies in the Educational Sciences

In the autumn of 2017, the Swedish Higher Education Authority granted Södertörn University the power to award doctoral degrees in a new research area: Studies in the Educational Sciences. This area, which initially includes Swedish and Education, is part of Teacher Education; four doctoral students were admitted in the autumn of 2018, two in Swedish and two in Education.