Browsing by Subject "kotitalousopetus"

The Master´s Thesis examines home economics teachers´ experiences of home economics education during the exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in spring 2020. The topic is important as the coronavirus pandemic continues, affecting and will affect home economics education. Previous research has shown that home economics is a civic subject that is constantly evolving as the world changes. Previous studies have also found that the management of competencies (such as consumer skills, cooking and home sanitation) included in the home economics subject supports people’s well-being in everyday life. The Thesis analyzes how home economics teachers experience the changes brought about by exceptional circumstances in their work when they switched to distance learning in schools. The material of the Thesis is part of the “Towards more sustainable home economics education 2020” survey, which was collected during the pandemic. The qualitative material consists of the answers of 99 home economics teachers to a two-part open-ended question: "Explain how your teaching changed in a state of exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus. Describe how the collaboration with students and their guardians has gone." Coding and thematic design were used in the analysis of the material. According to the home economics teachers who responded to the survey, challenges were posed by, for example, practicing the use of digital tools, inventing new teaching tasks, taking into account different family situations, and the fact that some students had difficulty getting in touch. Home economics teachers though welcomed, for example, the development of digital skills, student assessment and co-operation with students´ guardians. Home economics teachers experienced an increase in workload and working hours during exceptional circumstances, which had a detrimental effect on home economics teachers' resilience at work. The conclusion of the Thesis is that the resilience of home economics teachers must be supported, for example, by providing clear municipality- and school-specific instructions for the implementation of home economics education.

Objectives. The aim of this study is to clarify experience or knowledge of the teachers of home economics on how, in practice, learning environment for the person with celiac dise-ase should be organized during the lessons and what kind of challenges and possibilities in regards with the gluten-free diet will be faced. The objective is to clarify how the realization of gluten-free diet is being seen in the home economics teacher’s work; what kind of plan-ning and special attention it will require. The theoretical framework consists of discussing both the coeliac disease and the realization of gluten-free diet in everyday life of an adoles-cent person, in home economics teaching and in the entire school environment. Methods. This study was carried out as a qualitative study. Data were collected by inter-viewing seven home economics teachers. Semi-structured theme interview method was used when carrying out the interviews. The data gathered in the interviews was thematically analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Ten themes emerged as answers to the re-search questions. Results and conclusions: In this study, many situations were found in which the celiac di-sease is apparent in home economics classrooms. Practical assignments of a coeliac pupil were mainly smoothh, s/he was normally working in a group, but also sometimes on his/her own. There was a separate storage for non-gluten raw materials, to prevent cross con-tamination and a regular cleaning was used. Coeliac disease was seen mostly in social events: coeliac pupil was not invited into a group. S/he did not always want to emphasize the condition. The importance of group work and the ability to co-operate is being highligh-ted and there is a need for a coeliac pupil to have equal opportunity to work in groups. The importance of applying recipies was highlighted in the answers, it was specifically noted that a person with celiac disease should get tips for his/her own everyday life. The realiza-tion of gluten-free diet was seen in the teachers work especially while planning the classes and while ordering of the raw materials, but not, nearly at all, in the school’s budget. Com-mon understanding was that it is easy to find information on coeliac disease, but some of the teachers have twisted or distorted information which would lead to a situation where the importance of the special diet is not completely understood. The co-operation and school’s support are very important for the coealic pupil.

There are three contents at the home economics’ national core curriculum for basic education in 2004 and 2014. All the contents are equal to each other’s’, but home economics teachers highlight them diverse ways during home economic classes. Prior studies have indicated that teachers are used to highlight the least content related consumer education. Teachers feel that consumer education is hard to implement at home economic classes. The aim of that study is to clarify home economics teachers’ experiences on consumer education during home economics classes. The aim is to find out, what kind of teaching problems teachers have concerning consumption and financial issues. This study was carried out as a qualitative study. Data were collected by interviewing five home economics teachers. Semi-structured theme interview method was used when carrying out the interviews. Transcribed data were analysed through a qualitative contents analysis. The results show that teachers believe that consumer education should be part of basic education and home economics classes. However, teachers experienced household teaching as a subject of handicrafts and learning food and cooking skills are the most important thing. Therefore, content related consumer education was less noticeable during home economics classes. The clearest challenge of teaching consumption and financial issues is teachers’ attitude concerning consumer education. They don’t feel that the content related consumer education is as important as the two other contents. Lack of updating training and inferior quality of learning materials were also seen as a problem. The results reflect that contents related consumer education should be more in updating trainings and learning materials should be developed. The results are mainly consistent with the results of previous studies

Aiemmat tutkimukset osoittavat, että yhteiskunnassamme taloustaitojen tärkeys on korostunut muun muassa nuorten maksuhäiriöiden ja velkaantumisen johdosta. Nuorten taloustaitojen edistäminen ja talouskasvatus ovat yhteiskunnallisesti tärkeitä tekijöitä nykypäivän muuttuvissa taloudellisissa tilanteissa. Peruskouluissa kehitetään kodin lisäksi merkittävästi nuorten talousosaamista. Lisäksi peruskoulut toimivat tasa-arvoa edistävässä roolissa opettaessa kaikille nuorille taloustaitoja. Kotitalousopetuksen talouskasvatuksella pyritään edistämään nuorten talouteen liittyvää tietotaitoa sekä heidän kykyään soveltaa oppejaan omaan elämäänsä. Tutkielmani tarkoituksena on selvittää kotitalousopettajien (n=5) näkemyksiä ylä-kouluikäisten nuorten taloustaidoista sekä tuoda esiin käytännön keinoja kotitalousopettajien talousopetukseen. Tutkimuskysymykset ovat 1. Millaisia ovat kotitalousopettajien näkemykset yläkouluikäisten nuorten taloustaidoista? 2. Millaisia opetuskäytänteitä kotitalousopettajilla on yläkouluikäisten taloustaitojen opettamiseen? Empiirinen tutkimus toteutettiin kvalitatiivisella eli laadullisella tutkimusotteella. Tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin puolistrukturoitua teemahaastattelua, jonka avulla lähdettiin etsimään tutkimuskysymyksiin vastauksia. Aineisto koostui kotitalousopettajien (n=5) teemahaastatteluista, jotka toteutettiin yksilöhaastatteluina maalis-huhtikuun 2022 aikana Microsoft Teams -videokonferenssi alustalla. Litteroidut haastattelut analysoitiin aineistolähtöisen sisällönanalyysin keinoin. Haastatteluista saatiin tutkimuskysymyksiin vastauksia. Kotitalousopettajat näkivät yläkouluikäisten taloustaidot hyvin vaihtelevina. Osa oppilaista oli hyvin tietoisia omasta rahankäytöstään ja heitä kiinnostivat talouteen liittyvät asiat. Vastaavasti osalla oppilaista taloustaidot olivat hyvin heikkoja ja heillä ei ollut juuri mitään käsitystä talouteen liittyvistä asioista. Opettajat toivat talousopetuksen hyvinä käytänteinä esiin muun muassa toiminnallisuuden, pelit, ryhmätyöt ja projektit. Lisäksi opettajat nostivat esiin tarpeen lisätä 9.-luokalle pakollista kotitalousopetusta nuorten taloustaitojen edistämiseksi. Tulokset olivat hyvin samankaltaisia verrattuna aiempaan tutkimukseen ja kirjallisuuteen. Nuoret ovat hyvin heterogeeninen ryhmä. Peruskoulujen talouskasvatuksella edistetään kodin ohella merkittävästi nuorten taloustaitoja. Jatkossa olisi tarve tutkia laajemmin nuorten taloustaitoja, kuten esimerkiksi vanhempien antaman talouskasvatuksen vaikutuksia nuorten käyttäytymiseen, asenteisiin ja malleihin.

Due to the new curriculum for basic education home economics as a school subject is expanded to lower grades and can now be taught in grades 1-6. Therefore, the home economics is now in one with the other artistic and practical subjects a school subject that can be studied through the basic education. The curriculum does not define the objectives and content of the home economics separately for lower grades. Yet the age and the level of development of the pupils has to be taken account of. The aim of this study was to examine the contents of instruction in home economics in grades 1-6. In addition, this research aims to review the contuum of home economics through basic education. The study has been based around two themes: the contents of instruction and future plans of the subject. The questions that the thesis seeks to address are 1. What kind of contents of instruction is implemented in grades 1-6? 2. What is the future outlook for home economics in grades 1-6? This was a qualitative study. The research data was ready-made. The research material in this study was a part of an internet-based questionnaire. The scope of the questionnaire was all schools in mainland Finland where grades 1-6 were taught. Material consisted of the open answers in the questionnaire. The data of this study was analyzed with content analysis. The results show, that the contents of instruction in home economics in grades 1-6 is well in line with the curriculum and the subject objectives. The results imply that interdisciplinary learning modules, the interrelationship between the practice and theory and the out-of-school learning environments are peculiar to home economics in grades 1–6. According to this study the majority of schools do not intend to increase nor develop lower grades home economics education during the next few years. However, the home economics instruction seems to remain the same and it will be taught in these schools in the grades 1-6 still in the future. The biggest obstacles for not increase or develop home economics in the lower grades were the lack of resources.

The National Core Curriculum for Basic Education 2014 provides an opportunity to teach Home Economics as a part of optional studies in primary schools. The National Curriculum emphasizes transversal competence, integrated curriculum and phenomenon-based learning. Integrative instruction, and approaching other subjects in the context of everyday life is the core of Home Economics. Until the 2016 Home Economics was mainly only taught in secondary and high schools and the goals for the competence and subject matter for teaching Home Economics in primary school is still not set in the National Curriculum. Consequently, there are no comprehensive educational material for Home Economics at the primary school level. Seven Master’s theses are completed with the focus on Home Economics in primary schools in 1990’s and 2010’s. There has been a demand for bringing back and re-branding Home Economics in international research field and discussions. Bringing Home Economics to primary schools can be seen as a step towards developing it into a subject that supports students’ growth as a human being throughout their studies by teaching important life skills. The aim of this study is to make groundwork to facilitate the planning of local curriculums, in-service education and teaching materials. The research data were collected by conducting nine expert interviews. The interviewees were selected to give the widest possible frame for Home Economics with different backgrounds like experience in teaching, writing teaching materials, working in third sector related to the field and being part of making the National Core Curriculum. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The results of this study show that Home Economics is perceived as relevant and meaningful subject due to comprehensive life skills it teaches. It is important to teach Home Economics also in primary schools because learning those skills is worthwhile for all ages. Teaching Home Economics should be based on a complex and rich interpretation of the subject and the aims set in the curriculum. That is the only way the significance and effectiveness of the subject can come to fruition. Attention should be paid to the versatility of teaching materials and to provision of adequate in-service education to those who teach Home Economics in primary schools in order to ensure that the objectives of the subject are met.

The goal of this master’s thesis is to analyze the opinions of drama teachers in utilising dra-ma education and the possibilities drama education offers for home economics teaching. The study focuses on combining drama education and home economics teaching from the point of view teachers, students and the learning environment. The theoretical framework is formed by describing drama education as a teaching method and home economics as a secondary school subject. There is very little previous research on combining drama educa-tion and home economics education. However, home economics has been presented as subject in which drama education could be utilized. Previous research on drama education demonstrates that drama education can be utilized in multitudes of ways in goal-centric teaching. The research method used in this master’s thesis was semi-structured interviews. Six drama teachers working in different drama education contexts were interviewed. The interviews were held during March 2022. The data was analyzed using theory-based content analysis. The research approach in this study was phenomenographic. Toivanen (2007), Heikkinen (2005), Pöntinen (2019) and Neelands (1998) were used as references for the theoretical framework. Utilizing drama education in home economics education was viewed as positive and enabling from the teachers, students, and educational perspective. Drama education was seen as an enabler for a more active and interactive learning environment. From the students’ point of view drama education offered more versatile learning in home economics education. For teachers it offered teaching tools but required planning, motivating students and good situation management. Drama education was seen as a suitable teaching method in home economics education; however, teachers emphasized the responsibility of a competent drama teacher to consider its necessity situationally. All in all, a drama education qualification could be a beneficial skill for home economics teachers.

Previous studies show that secondary school students participate in school meals in varying degrees. School meals are an important part of students ’school day as they are present at school every day. School meals are part of food education on basic education. With school lunch, students gain energy for study and they can better focus on teaching and learning. However, in many cases, convenience store products attract students more than food served at school. Research objective: The aim of this qualitative case study is to find out what different factors emerge from the students' method of empathy in the texts in relation to school meals. The aim was to find the various reasons raised by the students, which are why they either stay at the school to eat school lunch or go to the convenience store instead. The research questions of the study are: 1. How do students justify staying in to eat school lunch? 2. In what ways do students justify not staying in school meals? Methods. 7th grade students from one unified school in southern Finland participated in the study (N = 127). Data collection was carried out using the empathy method. There were two frame stories, in one of which the student experienced a situation where he went to a convenience store instead of attending school lunch, and in the other he stayed at the school himself to eat despite going to the friends' shop. The material was analyzed by data-driven content analysis. Results and conclusions. The most common reasons for students to stay in school to eat were the food served, the cause-and-effect relationship related to school rules, the healthiness of food, and money. The reasons for going to the store were most often the food served, the friends, the products from the store and the content of the break. The main themes that emerged from the data were ‘Top-down rules and regulations’, ‘Youth-related issues’ and ‘Student-related issues’. In future the research result can be utilized in home economics education and in the development of school meals.

The purpose of this master's thesis was to get acquainted with the stages of home economics in the light of the editorials in Kotitalous magazine in the years 1996–2016. Based on the editorials, we look at how the home economics is described and what is highlighted about home economics education. The background and context of the study are the history of the home economics and the previous research on home economics. The history of home eco- nomics shows its long-standing struggle for position. Home economics research places the industry strongly in a social context. The research questions are: 1. How is home economics described in the editorials of Kotitalous magazine from 1996 to 2016? 2. How is the subject of home economics described in the editorials of the magazine 1996- 2016? The study is a qualitative-historical study that used content analysis as its methods. The ma- terial-based and theory-based approach was utilized in the three-step analysis. The editorials of Kotitalous magazine were used as the research material. The sample of the material was 121 editorials from 1996–2016. Home economics were often described as mirroring their history. The multidisciplinary field of home economics and the subject of home economics were described through its social mis- sion, women’s groups, and the difficulties that the field has overcome. The sector appears to be a socially driven sub-entity that seeks to have a positive impact on individuals and families and thus on society. The sector is described in a situation where it must defend its position in both society and education. Readers were instructed to network and develop in their field, in some places developing their field was an obligation to participate in joint work. The editorials aim to increase readers ’professional pride, sense of unity, and professionalism and resilience at work. The industry will continue its struggle to consolidate its position as a subject and discipline. The social task is still at the heart of the sector.

The purpose of the Bachelor´s Thesis was to get information on students´experiences of optional home economics studies. The topic is current because of the change in the curriculum of primary school education. Since the fall of year 2016 primary schools have been able to offer optional home economics education in Finland. Previous studies have shown that the participation of children and youth in housework in everyday life will strenghten a sustainable basis for their independent life in the future. In previous studies it has also been found that primary school students are suitable for studying home economics. The Bachelor´s Thesis searches the reasons why third-graders have chosen for an optional home economics as a studying subject. The Thesis also clarified answers to the following questions: what are things that third-graders find nice with the home economics studies and how third-graders participate in housework in their everyday life. A theme interview was used as a method for collecting the material of the Thesis. The material of the Thesis was collected at a school in Helsinki by interviewing third-graders studying optional home economics. The interview was attended by 11 students and they were interviewed in groups of 2–3 people. The interviews were recorded with a voice recorder. The recordings were transcribed and the litterates from them were analyzed in a inductive way. The material was theme-based on the main issues. The mentions related to the themes were calculated and they were collected to the bar charts. The results were examined with reference to backround theory. The most common reasons why the third-graders had chosen home economics studies were enthusiasm of friends and intrest in cooking. The third-graders had a lot of positive experiences from home economics lessons for example grocery shopping and eating food. Almost all intervieews participated in homework in their daily lives. Housework which mentioned were for example emptying the dishwasher and cleaning own room. As a conclusion of the Thesis it can be stated that students who have been interviewed have the motivation to study home economics.