Päivi-Maria Jaatinen © 2024

  • Doctor of Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä
  • Master of Arts in English, University of Jyväskylä
  • Teacher's Pedagogical Education in English, Teacher of English, University of Jyväskylä
  • Master of Arts in Art History, University of Jyväskylä
  • Bachelor of Arts in Design and Visual Communication, Lahti University of Applied Sciences, Institute of Design
  • Teacher's Pedagogical Education, JAMK University of Applied Sciences, Vocational Teacher College

I work as a Coordinating Teacher of Languages at Mikkeli Community College. I am also a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Music, Arts and Culture Studies at the University of Jyväskylä. I have two MA degrees, a Ph.D. degree and full qualification as a teacher and lecturer. I have a long teaching career, including different stages of education, from comprehensive school to university.

My special research interests concern English language and culture, service design, educational design, art & design, psychological well-being (PWB) and applied positive psychology in education. Lately, I researched how positive psychology methods could be applied to English language teaching and learning. The work in process, in general, is a study of psycholinguistics and how the learning of a foreign language can begin in a supporting learning environment. I am interested in the meaning of language, multimodal forms and expressions, psycholinguistics and conceptual analysis.
In my free time I value sustainable living with an authentic connection to nature. My home and head quarters are in Mikkeli, a town in Southeastern Finland, where I was born and still live. I live on a small town farm with my civil partner, Maku, who is a practical nurse, specializing in psychiatric rehabilition.

We take care of the main building and an old granary, which are both protected, as well as the yard surrounding the buildings, as they are considered important for historical and cultural heritage. I appreciate the country life and run also a vegetable and fruit garden in my leisure time. Thus, caring for the environment and nature as well as the cultural heritage is an important part of my life.

I am also a mother of two adult children. My daughter, Rebekka, studies for her MA degrees at the University of Turku and Åbo Akademi and son, Jeremi, works as a professional classroom teacher.

In my leisure time I also enjoy and practice actively water sports and yoga. I am a fully qualified water sports instructor and life saver.
Our dog, Elvis, also keeps me active.

My professional profile can be found also on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/paivimariajaatinen