Mervi Kaukko

Most of my current research addresses the educational needs of migrant and refugee students. I lead a Research Council of Finland-funded consortium Learning, Engaging, Participating: Exploring Newly Arrived Migrant Students’ Pathways in Education and Society (PATHWAYS, 2025-2029) and a project exploring the state and future of refugee education in Finland (Kone Foundation, 2023–2027), and thirdly, a Nordic project exploring pandemics and forced migration(NordForsk, 2023–2027).

My previous projects have examined, for example, school engagement and learning among students transitioning from preparatory education to basic education, the well-being of unaccompanied asylum-seeking youth, and how refugee students understand experiences of success in their everyday school life.

Theoretically, my research is grounded in practice theories. Together with colleagues from Australia and the Nordic countries, I explore, for example, how school practices could be transformed to be more sustainable, and how all social practices are shaped or enabled by a set of arrangements that can be understood and changed. This work is discussed in books I have co-edited, including Living Well in a World Worth Living in, volumes 1 and 2 (Reimer et al., 2024, 2025), Pedagogy, Education and Praxis in Critical Times (Mahon et al., 2020), and Researching Practices across and within Diverse Educational Sites (Whatman et al., 2024).

I began working in Tampere in 2019 at the Tampere Institute for Advanced Social Research (IASR). Prior to that, I was a lecturer at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia (2016–2019), and at the University of Oulu (2015–2016). In 2022–2023, I was a Fulbright Senior Scholar at Harvard University, at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. My background is in classroom teaching. I have graduated from the Intercultural Teacher Education (ITE)-program at the University of Oulu, and I have worked as a classroom teacher and an English teacher.

I am Professor (Multicultural Education) at Faculty of Education and Culture, teaching courses on multicultural education, qualitative research methods and academic writing. I lead the projects mentioned above. Much of my teaching is in doctoral studies. I teach courses on dissertation writing and speeding up the doctoral process. I am the vice chair of our faculty's evaluation group for doctoral studies, and I enjoy supervising doctoral researchers. I am also a member of Tampere University's Equality and Equity Board. 

Suomen Kulttuurirahaston Pirkanmaan rahaston hoitokunta. 

Refugee education, practice theory, multicultural education, intercultural education, research ethics. 

Selected scientific articles:

Macaulay, L. Kaukko, M. (2025) Runoja pakolaisnuorten kokemuksista. Äänikeskeisen runoanalyysin kokeiluja. Nuorisotutkimus 43(3), 57-69.

Kaukko, M., Neuhaus, S., Välimäki, M. (2025). For the nation and the future: Historical snapshots into refugee education during the last 100 years in Finland and Sweden. History of Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/0046760X.2025.2577671 

Kaukko, M., Dryden-Peterson, S., Wilkinson, J., & Kemmis, S. (2025). Refugee education for living well in a world worth living in. Teachers and Teaching, Theory and Practice, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2025.2478151

Kuusisto, E., Rissanen, I., Timm, S., & Kaukko, M. (2025). Civic purposes in teaching: A study among Finnish and German student teachers. European Educational Research Journal EERJ. https://doi.org/10.1177/14749041251359342

Alisaari, J., Harju-Autti, R., Kaukko, M., Heikkola, L. M., Mustonen, S., & Petäjäniemi, M. (2025). Administrators’ views on supporting newly arrived students in Finland. Apples, 76–92. https://doi.org/10.47862/apples.144900

Kaukko, M., Macaulay, L., Reimer, K., Dunwoodie, K., Webb, S., & Wilkinson, J. (2024). “It is a university where I felt welcome”: poems of asylum-seeking students’ sense of coherence in Australian higher education. Higher Education Research and Development, 43(4), 889–905. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2023.2280746

Kaukko, M. (2024). Kolme tapaa nähdä pakolaislapsi väärin. Kasvatus & Aika,18(3). https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.14652

Kauhanen, I., Lanas, M., & Kaukko, M. (2024). (Im)possibilities of parity of participation in school settings in the lives of unaccompanied youth. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 28(14), 3422–3436. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2023.2287474

Kaukko, M. Petäjäniemi, M., Harju-Autti, R., Haswell, N. Alisaari, J. Heikkola, L. & Mustonen, S. (2023) Tasapainoilua, tilan antamista ja näkymätisöintiä – Pakolaisaiheiden käsittely suomalaisissa kouluissa [Balancing, giving space and invisibilsation – Addressing refugee issues in Finnish schools]. Kasvatus ja Aika [Education and Time], 17(4).

Kaukko, M., Macaulay, L., Reimer, K., Webb, S., Dunwoodie, K. and Wilkinson, J. (2023) ‘It is a university where I felt welcome’: Poems of asylum-seeking students’ sense of coherence in Australian higher education. Higher Education Research and Development. DOI 10.1080/07294360.2023.2280746 

Kauhanen, I., Lanas, M. & Kaukko, M. (2023) (Im)possibilities of Parity of Participation in School Settings in the Lives of Unaccompanied Youth. International Journal of Inclusive Education, DOI 10.1080/13603116.2023.2287474

Rissanen, I., Kuusisto, E., Timm, S., & Kaukko, M. (2023). Diversity beliefs are associated with orientations to teaching for diversity and social justice: A study among German and Finnish student teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 123, 103996. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2022.103996

Kaukko, M., Alisaari, J., Heikkola, L., Haswell, N. (2022) Migrant Background Students’ Experiences of Facing and Overcoming Difficulties in Finnish Comprehensive Schools. Education sciences. 12, 450. DOI: 10.3390/educsci12070450

Kaukko M., Wilkinson J., Haswell, N. (2022). ‘This is our treehouse’. Investigating play through a practice architectures lens. Childhood 29(2), 187–203. DOI:10.1177/09075682221091419

Korkiamäki, R. & Kaukko, M. (2023) Faceless, voiceless child – Ethics of visual anonymity in research with children and young people Childhood 30(1), 55–70. DOI:10.1177/09075682221126586

Mustonen, S., Kaukko, M., Alisaari, J., Petäjäniemi, M., Heikkola, L. M., Harju-Autti, R., & Haswell, N. (2023). Pakolaistaustaisten oppilaiden tuki koulutoimen hallinnollisissa diskursseissa [School administration discourses concerning support for students with a refugee background]. AFinLAn Vuosikirja. https://doi.org/10.30661/afinlavk.127097 

Kaukko, M. & Wilkinson, J. (2023) Challenging ontological and epistemological assumptions of researching: A practice architectures approach. In Whatman, S. Wilkinson, J., Kaukko, M., Vedeler, G., Blue, L. & Reimer, K. (eds). Researching practices across and within diverse educational sites. Onto-epistemological considerations. Emerald, 23-36. 

Kaukko, M. & Wilkinson, J. (2023) A site-ontological approach to researching with children and youth from refugee background. In Whatman, S. Wilkinson, J., Kaukko, M., Vedeler, G., Blue, L. & Reimer, K. (eds). Researching practices across and within diverse educational sites. Onto-epistemological considerations. Emerald, 37-60. 

Whatman, S. Wilkinson, J., Kaukko, M., Vedeler, G., Blue, L. & Reimer, K. (2023) Concluding thoughts on methodological resources and research challenges in diverse educational sites. In Whatman, S. Wilkinson, J., Kaukko, M., Vedeler, G., Blue, L. & Reimer, K. (eds). Researching practices across and within diverse educational sites. Onto-epistemological considerations. Emerald, 163-168. 

Whatman, S. Wilkinson, J., Kaukko, M., Vedeler, G., Blue, L. & Reimer, K. (2023) Onto-epistemological and axiological consideration for researching practices. In Whatman, S. Wilkinson, J., Kaukko, M., Vedeler, G., Blue, L. & Reimer, K. (eds). Researching practices across and within diverse educational sites. Onto-epistemological considerations. Emerald, 1-22. 

Kaukko, M., Windsor, S., Reimer, K. (2023). Searching for worlds for living in. In Reimer, K. Kaukko, M. Kemmis, S. Mahon, K. & Windsor, S. (eds). Living Well in a World Worth Living in for All: Current practices of social justice, sustainability and wellbeing (Part 1). Springer. 

Heikkinen, H., Kiilakoski, T., Kaukko, M. & Kemmis, S. (2023) Tehtävänä on käytäntöjen muuttaminen. Ekososiaalinen sivistys käytäntöarkkitehtuuriteorian valossa. [Changing practices. Eco-social wisdom in the light of practice architectures] Kasvatus 1(23). 

Haswell, N., Kaukko, M., Knag Fylkesnes, M., Sullivan, P. (2023) Keeping each other safe: Young refugees’ navigation towards a good life in Finland, Norway, and Scotland. In Reimer, K. Kaukko, M. Kemmis, S. Mahon, K. & Windsor, S. (eds). Living Well in a World Worth Living in for All: Current practices of social justice, sustainability and wellbeing (Part 1). Springer. 

Keary, A., Reupert, A., Kaukko, M., & Wilkinson, J. (2023) Education and Ethics of Care when Working with Refugee Families during COVID-19. Early years, 43(4–5), 875–888.

Kauhanen, I., Kaukko, M., Lanas, M. (2022) Pockets of love. Unaccompanied children in institutional care in Finland. In Children and Youth Services Review. Vol 141, DOI:10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106621 

Alisaari, J., Kaukko, M. & Heikkola, L. (2022) Kotoutuminen, kuuluvuus, kielitaito ja kaverit: Opettajien ajatuksia maahanmuuttajataustaisten oppilaiden opetuksen kehittämiskohdista. [Integration, belonging, language and friends. Teachers’ thoughts about areas to develop in migrant students’ education]. Kasvatus ja aika 16(2), 26–46. DOI:10.33350/ka.103434

Alisaari, J., Kaukko, M. & Heikkola, L. (2022) Riitänkö minä? Osaanko auttaa? Opettajien huolia maahanmuuttajataustaisten oppilaiden opetuksessa. [Am I enough? Exploring teachers’ worries about working with migrant students] Kasvatus 53 (3), 229–244.

Alisaari, J., Kaukko, M., Heikkola & L. (2022) The Joys of Teaching: Working with language learners in Finnish classrooms. Scandinavian Journal of Education, 66 (4), 566-579 DOI: 10.1080/00313831.2021.1897877

Laletas, S., Grove, C., Sharma, U., O’Toole, T. & Kaukko, M. (2022) Breaking down the walls of the ‘Ivory Tower’: critical reflections on how co-teaching partnerships can bridge the gap between inclusive education theory and practice, Teachers and Teaching, DOI: 10.1080/13540602.2022.2062742

Millei, Z., Kaukko, M. & Korkiamäki, R. (2022) Thinking with publics, politics and ethical boards in ethnographic research. In B. Hünersdorf, G. Breidenstein, J. Dinkelacker, O. Schnoor & T. Tayagunova (eds) Going public? Ethnography in Education and Social Works and its Publics. Springer. 

MacDonald, K., Diamond, F., Wilkinson, J., Sum, N., Longmuir, F., Kaukko, M. (2022) Creating spaces of learning in academia: Fostering niches for professional learning practice. Studies in Continuing Education (44)2, 266-283, DOI: 10.1080/0158037X.2021.1956890

Keary, A., Reupert, A., Kaukko, M., & Wilkinson, J. (2022) Education and Ethics of Care when Working with Refugee Families during COVID-19. Early years. DOI: 10.1080/09575146.2022.2031120

Kaukko, M. (2021) Storycrafting refugee children’s lives. Presenting Ali and the Long Journey to Australia. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, online ahead of print.

Kaukko, M., Wilkinson, J., & Kohli, R. (2021) Pedagogical love in Finland and Australia. A study of refugee children and their teachers. Pedagogy, Society and Culture, online ahead of print.

Kaukko M. & Wilkinson J. (2021) ‘Learning how to go on’: Refugee students and informal learning practices. International Journal of Inclusive Education (24)11, 1175-1193.

Kaukko, M., Kemmis, S., Heikkinen, H. Kiilakoski, T. & Haswell, N. (2021). How to survive amidst nested crises: can the coronavirus pandemic help us change educational practices to prepare for the impending eco-crisis? Environmental Educational Research 27(11), 1559-1573.

Kauhanen, I., Kaukko, M., Lanas, M. (2022) Pockets of love. Unaccompanied children in institutional care in Finland. In Children and Youth Services Review. Vol 141, DOI:10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106621 

Scientific books:

Reimer, K., Kaukko, M., Windsor, S., Kemmis, S., & Mahon, K. (2023). Living Well in a World Worth Living in For All: Current Practices of Social Justice, Sustainability and Wellbeing. Springer.

Reimer, K., Kaukko, M., Windsor, S., Kemmis, S., & Mahon, K. (2024). Living Well in a World Worth Living in For All: enacting praxis for a Just and Sustainable Future. Springer.

Whatman, S. Wilkinson, J., Kaukko, M., Vedeler, G., Blue, L. & Reimer, K. (2023). Researching practices across and within diverse educational sites. Onto-epistemological considerations. Emerald,

Lampert, J., Kaukko, M., Wilkinson, J. & Garcia-Carrion, R. (2024). Disadvantage: Keywords in Teacher Education (1st ed.). Bloomsbury Publishing.

Heikkinen, H. Kaukko, M. (2023) Toimintatutkimus. Käytännön opas. Vastapaino.

Special issues:

Weck, V., Kaukko, M., Proyer, M., Macaulay, L. (2025) Disputing Deindividualisation: Learning with and from refugees and migrants to make education more inclusive. In International Journal of Inclusive Education. 

Kohli, R. K. S., Fylkesnes, M. K., Kaukko, M., & White, S. C. (2024). Forced Migration: A Relational Wellbeing Approach. Social Sciences (Basel), 13(1), 52. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci13010052

Petäjäniemi, M. & Kaukko, M. (2025) Turvan rajat. Pakolaisnuoruus Suomessa. Nuorisotutkimus 3/2025

Heikkinen, H. Kaukko, M. Nikkola, T. & Saari, A. (2021) Kasvatuksen dekontekstualisaatio. Kasvatus 4/2021.