Expanding Conceptualizations for the Study of Learning

Kristiina Kumpulainen

The background and need for this special issue This special issue is dedicated to expanding conceptualizations for the study of learning in contemporary education. Ongoing social changes in the private, public, and economic spheres create new and various demands for learning and education. As the articles of this special issue propose, reasoning, critical thinking, imagination, and managing emotions in dealing with controversial issues have become increasingly important learning requirements in the pursuit of interests toward learning across diverse settings. Also, the way in which people learn to take part in such practices in contemporary contexts, both in formal education and everyday life, are shifting. For instance, novel kinds of digital tools create continuously evolving spaces for learning that transform social interactions and learning practices across contexts and time (Ritella, Ligorio, & Hakkarainen, 2016). Overall, ongoing changes in society, and the learning requirements they entail, challenge research communities to reconsider how to understand and advance learning in diverse settings. It is also increasingly recognised that there is a need to apply and further develop conceptual and methodological frameworks that are able to account for the complexity of learning in contemporary societal conditions (Kumpulainen & Erstad, 2016). The five articles included here address several important and under-researched topics in contemporary learning and education. Each article also proposes and elaborates on potential conceptual frameworks for expanding conceptualizations for the study of learning in the 21st century. Before introducing the articles, we will describe the impetus for the publication of the special issue. After that we describe each of the contributions including their specific research topics and conceptual frameworks. We then outline and discuss some cross-cutting themes emerging from our reading of the articles and conclude by pointing out some key arguments made by the commentators to further the ongoing dialogue and research in the field.