WISDOM in Practice (WiP)

We live times of ‘wicked problems’. Along with the growing complexity of modern societies, we face increasingly peculiar problems as we try to reconcile the contradictory demands of ecological, social, cultural and economic sustainability.

We want to meet these challenges in a research project Wisdom in Practice, funded by the Research Council of Finland (2022-26). Our aim in this project is to investigate how professionals face wicked problems and, on that basis, to develop pedagogy in higher education to prepare graduates capable of addressing sustainability problems and promoting planetary well-being in the everyday work. This project integrates philosophical and psychological traditions of research on wisdom with empirical research on professionals addressing complex problems. The knowledge produced in this project will inform the development of pedagogical practices for enhancing wisdom.

The project is divided into three work packages (WP) with interrelated goals.

WP1 ‘Foundations for wisdom in practice’ aims at corroborating the theoretical basis of ‘wisdom in practice’
WP2 ‘Wisdom in professional practice’ aims at examining experts’ collaborative pursuit of practical wisdom in the world of work in Finland, Switzerland and Australia
WP3 ‘Pedagogy for wisdom in higher education’ will develop wisdom pedagogies in higher education through participatory action research.

Finnish team members:

Hannu L. T. Heikkinen, PhD, Professor, Leader of the research team Eco-social Sustainability and Education of FIER. Tasks: Principal Investigator (PI), WP1B leader.
Päivi Tynjälä, PhD, Professor. Tasks: Co-PI, WP3 leader.
Eeva Kallio, PhD, Associate Professor, WP1A leader. 
Niina Mykrä, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher 
Anu Virtanen, M.A., Project Researcher. 
Maarit Virolainen, PhD, Project Researcher, WP2 leader. 

International team members:

Stephen Billett, PhD, Professor, Griffith University, Australia. Doctor Honoris Causa of University of Jyväskylä. 
Laurent Filliettaz, PhD, Professor of Adult and Vocational Education, University of Geneva, Switzerland. 
Stephen Kemmis, PhD, Professor Emeritus. Charles Sturt University, Australia. Doctor Honoris causa of University of Jyväskylä.
Kristján Kristjánsson, Professor of Character Education and Virtue Ethics, University of Birmingham, UK. 
Kathleen Mahon, Postdoctoral Researcher, PhD, University of Borås, Sweden. 
Jane Wilkinson, Associate Professor, PhD, Vice Dean of Monash Education, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.