I work as a university teacher in the Department of Education at the Kokkola University Consortium, University of Jyväskylä. I am teaching a range of different courses. The main focus of my teaching is on sustainability, responsibility, diversity and digital learning. I also supervise teaching placements.
My research focuses on issues of sustainable wellbeing and social sustainability, particularly from the perspective of diversity. I have researched on how the conditions for a good life can be supported in early years education and how these experiences relate to broader societal issues of inclusion and equality.
I am specialised in the concept of superdiversity, which means the diversification of diversities, and in perspectives on supporting families with an immigrant background. My research methods have been qualitative, with constructive grounded theory being the one I have used most frequently, for example in my doctoral thesis (2025).
My recent research has been on the construction of a sense of safety in early childhood, using concepts such as superdiversity, and recognition among other. Also the focus has been on flourishing as the aim of education.
I am also a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki (https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/fi/persons/lassi-s-lavanti).
