RURALITIC friendship book: Henrik Edgren
Remember those friendship books from school, where you collected fun facts about your friends? We asked the researchers at RURALITIC to fill in a project “friendship book” to help make our scientists and their research more visible. Next up in the spotlight is Henrik!
Henrik, please introduce yourself and tell us about yourself. Who are you? Where do you work?
My name is Henrik Edgren and I work at Uppsala University in Sweden, in the Department of Education. My field of research is the history of education and sociology of education, where I especially do research on how educational systems – both historically and today – in different countries construct and educate citizens.
What is your expertise and what do you work on within RURALITIC?
My contribution is twofold. I am conducting and leading research on historical representations in school textbooks about rural perspectives and their values for the creating of a national, social and political identities during the 19th century. In addition, I conduct interviews and analyse surveys from people living in two Swedish rural regions: the island of Gotland (in the Baltic Sea) and the region of Västerbotten (in the northern part of Sweden).
What is a research paper/book you wish everyone would read?
My colleague in the sociology of education, professor Ida Lidegran, has written a very interesting article about how digital teaching affected students from different social groups very differently.
What is a term that you often use, and what does it mean?
“Keep up the good work” – as a way of encouraging both myself and my colleagues to do the best we can; that is enough for me.
What is a question you are currently trying to answer?
How schools in different European countries are trying to educate democratic citizens in a world where democracy is constantly questioned, and even sometimes under attack.
What is skill you wish you had (scientific or otherwise)?
I wish I could play the guitar.
If you were not a researcher, what would your profession be?
A teacher in Swedish secondary education. I love to teach, and I feel really useful when I do it.
Where is your happy place?
When I watch a soccer game with my favourite Swedish team (from Uppsala), Sirius.
Who is a person who influenced your path?
Börje Salming, a famous Swedish hockey player who played many years in the NHL.
Follow RURALITIC on BlueSky and LinkedIn to stay tuned for the next researcher in the spotlight.
In the meantime, check out the profile on Lucie Chatelain from Chambres d’Agriculture!