Ulrich Teichler keynote

In 2019, the CHER Board of Directors decided to honour the life and work of Professor Ulrich Teichler, one of CHER’s founding members. In recognition of his ground breaking contribution to higher education research, CHER established a tradition of annually designating a CHER conference keynote as the Ulrich Teichler Keynote Lecture.

Due the to COVID-19 pandemic, the first annual Ulrich Teichler Keynote Lecture was postponed by two years. However, in 2022, the CHER Board of Directors is happy to announce that the first Ulrich Teichler Keynote Lecture will be given by Professor Jussi Välimaa.

Dr. Jussi Välimaa is Professor in Educational Studies and Director of the Finnish Institute for Educational Research at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Being trained as a historian and social scientist Professor Välimaa has expertise in social and historical studies on higher education. Over his career, Professor Välimaa has been interested in the relationship between higher education and society and in the internal dynamics of higher education institutions. Dr. Välimaa’s latest book is ‘A History of Finnish Higher Education from the Middle Ages to the Twenty-first Century’ (Springer, 2019).

Jussi Välimaa: 
How Higher Education Changes?

The title of my keynote focuses on one of the central topics in higher education research. Change of higher education can be both a theoretical, empirical and even philosophical problem in our field. In addition, change also is a problem for policy makers and all those aiming to reform or manage higher education institutions.

I will reflect on the nature of changing higher education by asking: How do societies aim to change higher education and how does higher education change societies? I also analyse different academic approaches aiming to explain and understand changes in higher education.