Norwegian Early Childhood Education Research Conference 2025

Jenni Salminen is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Faculty of Education and Psychology at University of Jyväskylä, Finlan. Salminen’s research focuses on examining teacher-child interaction in the context of early childhood education and care (ECEC) and primary education, particularly understanding how the characteristics and quality of early teacher-child interaction are associated with children’s learning and well-being, how teachers’ characteristics and experiences shape the interactions in the classrooms, and the role that home environment plays for the child development. Salminen currently work as a postdoctoral researcher in the ERC funded EarlyMath-project, where she is the responsible researcher of the Preschool sample substudy. She is the primary investigator of the Interaction, development and Learning (VUOKKO) – follow-up-study, and an expert in the eTALE Africa 2 -project, focusing on developing contents of ECEC and math to support teacher education in sub-Saharan Africa. She is also a research group member in CRITICAL -project and With Sensitive Eyes -eyetracking research project.

Wilfried Smidt is a full Professor in Education with a main focus on Early Childhood Education at the Faculty of Education, Department of Psychosocial Intervention and Communication Studies, University of Innsbruck in Austria. Wilfried Smidt is also Adjunct Professor of Educational Science at the Centre for Research in Early Childhood Education and Care (FILIORUM), University of Stavanger in Norway. He holds a doctorate in Educational Science from the University of Bamberg and habilitated in Educational Science at the University of Bamberg. His main research interests have focused on professionalization in early childhood education, leadership in early childhood education, academic success and career success of early childhood pedagogues, personality traits of early childhood pedagogues, educational quality in preschool and family, and early literacy. Smidt is currently a part of the research projects Early language education and support − researching and developing training and practice together and The quality of preschool teachers’ training in Austria and Ukraine: A comparative analysis."

Thomas Moser is professor of ECEC research at the National Center for Learning Environment and Behavioral Research at the University of Stavanger, and is part of FILIORUM’s Centre Management Team. His current research focuses on kindergarten organization, quality and effects, bullying and inclusion, children's learning and development, curriculum issues, professional development, well-being and learning, space and materiality. He has been involved in a number of national and international research projects, e.g., co-coordinating two EU-founded research project. Moser was a member of several government-appointed committees in Norway and has been co-founder and chair of the board of the National Graduate School of Teacher Education (NAFOL). His publications include about 200 articles, professional papers, reviews, reports, textbook chapters, and books.

Eivind Aadland is a professor at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Education, Arts and Sports, Campus Sogndal. His main field is physical activity and health, where he seeks to understand and promote physical activity, primarily among children and youth. His primary research interests are the relationships between physical activity, physical fitness, motor skills, health, and holistic development in children and youth, intervention research in kindergarten and school, as well as the measurement and analysis of physical activity using accelerometers. Over the past 10 years, he has primarily worked with physical activity in kindergartens, where he leads two major research and development projects, the Active Learning Norwegian Preschool(er)s (ACTNOW) study and the Move-play-explore in early childhood education (MoveEarly) study., which aim to integrate physical activity into kindergarten practices. He also leads the research group for Physical Activity and Public Health at the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences.