1.8.2026 – 31.7.2027
In this research project, I explore adults’ agency and control, the possibilities and restrictions they encounter in their work, and their memories of childhood play. One particular focus is on tolerance of uncertainty, which is required in learning, interaction, and dialogue, among other contexts.
At a theoretical level, the project asks what forms agency may take in liminal situations. By liminal situations, I refer to moments in the fabric of everyday life where former conditions for action no longer function as before, while new directions and possibilities are still emerging. Such situations may open up new possibilities and potential for learning and development. At the same time, they may give rise to uncertainty, hopelessness, and anxiety when people experience a diminished sense of control over their conditions.
The study explores experiences of control and agency in the liminal situations of everyday life, with a particular focus on early childhood education and care (ECEC). The project contributes to research on well-being at work in ECEC. More broadly, the themes are relevant to the changing nature of working life and the demands of continuous learning. The increasing complexity of contemporary work and learning has highlighted the importance of understanding how people tolerate uncertainty and experience control in their everyday lives. Experiences of control and tolerance of uncertainty are also closely connected with psychological safety in work communities, the need for control in social interaction, and experiences of childhood play.
Traditionally, these phenomena have been approached primarily as matters of personality traits. However, my theoretical orientation in critical psychology and subject-scientific approach invites a different perspective. Rather than treating tolerance of uncertainty and experiences of control as individual dispositions, I ask how they are constituted in people’s conduct of everyday life and through their relations to the social and material conditions in which they live and act.
The project is funded by the Finnish Work Environment Fund (https://www.tsr.fi/briefly-in-english/).
