The year was 1970, and Ulla Riis had just graduated with a master’s from Umeå University when she was employed as a lecturer in education at LiU. A year later, Ingvar Werdelin, the university’s first professor of education, arrived and he encouraged her to pursue doctoral studies.
Her first years as a lecturer and doctoral student were lonely.
“We were only three doctoral students, all women, but the other two lived and worked in Malmö and Lund. They were doctoral students that my professor brought with him from his previous position there. At the same time, it was an advantage that my supervisor had so few assignments, as this allowed him to be generous with his time with each of us.”
Riis’ research interest in education, technology and society began in her teens.
“I was quite young, maybe 13–14 years old around 1960, when I began to realize that technology and society are connected and that there are many problems in the intersection.”
At this time, a general critical attitude began to emerge in society.
“My secondary school teacher in social studies encouraged us to question and discuss things, and in retrospect I can see that I probably took an interest in debating social issues early on.”
Important research on IT in schools
“It started with a limited experiment introducing computer technology in schools in the 1970s, and continued through a handful of government initiatives in the 1980s and early 1990s, and I’ve written about this.”
Another part of Riis’s research involved the development of pedagogical methods and how these can be adapted to meet different students’ needs and made more inclusive.
“I remember that the Swedish National Board of Education, and from 1991 the Swedish National Agency for Education, referred to my conclusions in their publications, and thinking about this has been a joy.”
Part of the newly established Department of Thematic Studies
After her doctoral studies, Riis worked for a time at the Swedish National Agency for Education, having responsibility for the distribution of the agency's funds for research. At this time, in 1978, technology was proposed as a new compulsory subject in primary school. Until then, school research had mainly been seen as a concern for the discipline of education, and this felt unsatisfactory.
“I was of the opinion that the school and its problems should be highlighted from a broader perspective.”
When a new subject was introduced, this should also be reflected in school research, according to Riis, and the agency’s management decided on a project on the technology subject – how it was introduced and took shape.
“This was a fork in the road for me and when I returned to LiU after a couple of years at the agency, I had the opportunity to join the newly started Tema T – Technology and Social Change.”
From 1990 to 1993, Riis was dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Linköping University.
“This was a time of great expansion, especially of the ‘dry’ subjects at a traditional faculty of arts and sciences. The number of study places increased by 50 per cent in just a couple of years and the need for new university teachers was great. We spent a lot of time and effort on recruiting.”
Another side of the assignment as dean was consultations with colleagues from other faculties and universities.
“Thanks to these meetings, I met the principal of Luleå University College, who has been my life partner ever since.”
New challenges
“Then you can lose knowledge of the conditions for and consequences of technology use and stop reflecting on this.”
As a jubilee doctor at LiU, she hopes that her legacy in educational research will remind us of the importance of technology introduction and use in teaching and education.
How does it feel to become a jubilee doctor at Linköping University?
“It’s wonderful! I’m surprised that half a century has passed by. And I’m grateful to have been able to be around for so long and, this is important, to be healthy.”
What are you most proud of in your professional life?
“What I’ve liked most is teaching and supervising. I only hope that the students who have received this teaching have been satisfied, but above all that they have learned something they otherwise wouldn’t have known.”
FACTS: Jubilee doctors
A jubilee doctor, or doctor jubilaris in Latin, is a title given to a person awarded a doctoral degree 50 years earlier. At the Academic Ceremony on 24 May, Linköping University will honour new jubilee doctors, i.e. doctors awarded their degree in 1975.
From the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences: Erling Karlsson and Gudrun Liedén.
From the Faculty of Arts and Sciences: Ulla Riis.
From the Faculty of Science and Engineering: Greger Lindell and Karl-Eric Magnusson.