Jan Löfström
Professor
jan.lofstrom@utu.fi +358 29 450 4755 +358 50 478 4021 ORCID identifier: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0995-3265 |
Social science education; social studies education; history education; economic education; intercultural education; moral education; teacher education; use of history; historical consciousness; historical reparations
Professor of History and Social Studies Education, University of Turku, 2022–
Visiting Professor of History Education, Linnaeus University, Sweden, 2020–2022
Associate Professor of History and Social Studies Education, University of Turku, 2019–2022
University Lecturer of History and Social Studies Education, University of Helsinki, 1999–2019
Docent (Social Studies and History Education), University of Turku, 2014
Docent (Historical Anthropology), University of Jyväskylä, 2000
PhD (Sociology), University of Essex, 1994
For further information and publications 1999–2019, see: ORCID 0000-0003-0995-3265
My long-time research interests include intersections of historical consciousness and moral consciousness that was explored in the research project History in Moral Encounters, directed by Professor Niklas Ammert at the Linnaeus University and funded by the Swedish Research Council (2018–2021). In the project were collaborating Niklas Ammert, Silvia Edling, Jan Löfström and Heather Sharp. The foundations of the project were outlined in the Special Issue on Historical and Moral Consciousness, in Historical Encounters, vol. 4 issue 1 (eds Ammert, Edling, Löfström & Sharp, 2017), and the results were published in a number of peer reviewed articles (see my ORCID) and in Ammert, Edling, Löfström & Sharp (2022) Historical and moral consciousness in education: Learning ethics for democratic citizenship education. (London: Routledge); and, Ammert, Edling, Löfström & Sharp (2023) Att lära från, om och med historia. Historiemedvetande, moral och didaktik (Malmö: Gleerups).
The aforementioned topic connects closely with my work on historical apologies and the notions of historical responsibility as a perspective on historical consciousness, for example in the Journal of Curriculum Studies 2014:4, Citizenship Studies, 2011:1, and in the edited volume, Jan Löfström (2012) Voiko historiaa hyvittää? (Can history be repaired?), Helsinki: Gaudeamus University Press.
The research project on intersections of historical and moral consciousness resulted also in an international network, Democracy in the past, the present, and looking to the future: A network on historical, moral, and democratic consciousness in history education, research and policy; funded by Swedish Research Council (2023–2025), and steered by Niklas Ammert (PI), Fredrik Alvén, Silvia Edling, Jan Löfström, and Heather Sharp. Members of the network have contributed in 2025 to a Special Issue on Historical and Democratic Consciousness in the journal Citizenship, Social and Economics Education. An other network relating to the connections between democracy education, history education and social science education, has been the exploratory workshop serie, Educating active and democratic citizens in challenging times: exploring the past, present and future of social studies in the Nordic countries" funded by the Joint Committee for Nordic Research Councils in the Humanities and Social Sciences (2022–2023), steered by Jakob Maliks (PI), Tom Gullberg, Brit Marie Hoveland, Jan Löfström, and David Rosenlund. With Heidi Eskelund Knutsen as a new member, the steering group will embark on a project of editing an all-Nordic volume on the theme.
Further relating to my interest in democracy education, I'm currently leading a subproject in the research consortium Education for deliberation: practices of inquiry in dialogue-based democratic education, funded by the Finnish Research Council (2024–2028); the Consortium involves colleagues at the universities of Oulu, Tampere and Turku (Katariina Holma, Veli-Matti Värri, Tuukka Tomperi, Julia Jaakkola, Hanna-Maija Huhtala, Jan Löfström). For more information on the research project see: deliberate.fi.
I serve as the PI of the Finnish team in the European research project, Youth and History II (coordinated by Dr. Piero Colla), that replicates the European survey of 1995, titled Youth and History. The Finnish team includes Jukka Rantala, Tanja Taivalantti, Johanna Norppa, Aleksi Marti, and Najat Ouakrim-Soivio. The survey questionnaire has been piloted in 2024 and the survey is envisaged to take place in Autum 2025.
- Citizenship, Social and Economics Education : Special Issue: Intersections of Historical and Democratic Consciousness in History curricula/syllabi: A Comparative Study Across Nine Countries (2025)
- Citizenship, Social and Economics Education
(C2 Editorial work for a scientific journal’s special issue) - Demokraattisen harkinnan valmiudet kasvatustieteen tutkimuskohteena (2025)
- Kasvatus ja Aika
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Editorial and an introduction: intersections of historical and democratic consciousness in history curriculum and/or syllabus: A study across nine countries (2025)
- Citizenship, Social and Economics Education
(B1 Other refereed article (e.g., editorial, letter, comment) in a scientific journal) - Editorial (2025)
- Journal of Social Science Education
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Järjen ja tunteiden vuoropuhelu opetuksessa (2025) Erimielisten tila : Vaikeiden aiheiden käsittely opetuksessa Löfström, Jan
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Reading between the lines: Democratic citizenship in the history curriculum in lower secondary education in Finland (2025)
- Citizenship, Social and Economics Education
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Editorial (2024)
- Journal of Social Science Education
(B1 Non-refereed data-article in a scientific journal) - Editorial (2024)
- Journal of Social Science Education
(B1 Other refereed article (e.g., editorial, letter, comment) in a scientific journal) - Elements of Historical Personal Identity Construction of Finnish-Speaking Students (2024)
- Societies
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Historianopetus kansakunnan rakentajana (2024) Kertomuksia kansakunnasta : Suomi ja suomalaisuus muuttuvassa historiakulttuurissa Löfström, Jan
(A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - Assessment and National Exams in Social Studies and Social Sciences (2023)
- Journal of Social Science Education
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Att lära från, om och med historia : Historiemedvetande, moral och didaktik (2023) Ammert Niklas, Edling Silvia, Löfström Jan, Sharp Heather
(D5 Text book, professional manual or guide or dictionary ) - Could powerful knowledge and first-, second- and third-order concepts be coupled with Hedtke’s map of the conceptual landscape? (2023)
- itdb inter- und transdisziplinäre Bildung (inter- and transdisciplinary education)
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - In search of the meaning-making student : Notes on the lack of third-order concepts in the Finnish history curriculum
Att söka efter den meningsskapande studenten : Iakttagelser om bristen av third-order begrepp i de finländska läroplanerna för historia (2023)- Acta didactica Norden
(A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal) - Journal of Social Science Education, Vol. 22 No. 2 (2023): Assessment and National Exams in Social Studies and Social Sciences (2023)
- Journal of Social Science Education
(C2 Editorial work for a scientific compilation book) - Kirja-arvio : Kontroversen kring det österbottniska ”tomrummet”: forntid, historiebruk och identitetspolitik (2023)
- Historisk Tidskrift För Finland
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - Nuorten talousajattelua tulee syventää ja monipuolistaa (2023)
- Helsingin Sanomat
(E1 Popularised article) - Samhällsvetenskapliga studier i gymnasium i Finland från slutet av 1800-talet till början av 2000-talet : Kommentar till Samuelsson ” Skolan och samhällsvetenskapen – Framväxt och etablering av en svensk gymnasial samhällsvetarutbildning 1922-1970” (2023)
- Nordidactica : Journal of Humanities and Social Science Education
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal) - The Promise of Socio-Economic Education: Reflections From a Finnish Perspective (2023) Sozioökonomie und Wirtschaftssoziologie im Spiegel sozialwissenschaftlicher Bildung Löfström Jan, van den Berg Marko
(B2 Non-refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book) - War narratives, trust, lifeworld, participation and post-conflict society: The JSSE open issue 2023 (2023)
- Journal of Social Science Education
(B1 Non-refereed article in a scientific journal)