With Karin and Kristina (our beloved friend of the project!), we attended the annual FERA Conference, this time in Tampere just before the big ECER 2026. Our contribution to the discussion session on meaningful life and what matters in/for education focused on the ‘small’, and we asked:

 

What might happen if the small were taken seriously as a site of knowledge production rather than something to be ignored, overcome or scaled up? 

What becomes possible when we slow down enough to attend to small matters – and what might still remain hidden, secret, excluded or unnoticed? 

 

We introduced three examples of the small and offered the participants the possibility to ‘think with their hands’ (Murris, Haynes & Peers 2026) by using plasticine and postcards (check Kristina’s project about childhood secret places). The small connected beautifully with other contributions, such as slow and affective pedagogy, that was introduced by the LAPPsi project – Alexandra Nordström, Jenny Byman and Miia Perkola – from the University of Helsinki, and also Virve Keränen and Sara Sintonen from the University of Turku, who were arguing for connectedness beyond the verbal level and attuning to the slow and the now instead of the future. Hopefully we have the opportunity to continue discussing the small and the slow, and how they can challenge future- and objective-oriented education.

PS. Since we were in Tampere, we had to go and see Hugo Simberg’s The Garden of Death in Tampere Cathedral. Our quick visit was accompanied by organ music, what a treat! The other artworks in the cathedral are also very well-known in Finland, such as the The Wounded Angel by Simberg and the altarpiece called The Resurrection, by Magnus Enckell. Maybe inspiration for coming death enquiries?