Browsing by Subject "alakoulu"

Previous research has indicated that children and young people are less and less likely to meet the recommendations for physical activity. Less than half of children of primary education age engage in physical activity in accordance with the recommendations. The proportion of children and young people fulfilling the recommendations for physical activity is declining when moving from the younger to the older age groups. Moreover, nearly half of the daily sedentary behaviour of pupils in primary education occurs during the school day. However, the physical education lessons in school do not suffice on their own to enable pupils to engage in adequate daily physical activity. As a result, incorporating other physical activities in school days is necessary. The purpose of this study was to examine and describe the means that allow classroom teachers to increase physical activity during lessons. A further aim was to investigate the benefits and challenges experienced by classroom teachers in relation to increasing physical activity during lessons in primary education. This study was implemented using the qualitative research method. The research data were collected in February 2024 using a questionnaire form mostly containing open questions. The research data consists of the responses of a total of 38 teachers working in primary schools in the Kymenlaakso region in Finland. The data were analysed using data-driven content analysis. The study found that classroom teachers can increase physical activity occurring during lessons in multiple ways. Teachers can organise exercises during breaks in the lessons, make use of action-based learning and versatile body positions during learning as well as lesson planning that involves digital materials, technology and the involvement of pupils. Joint classroom practices, the use of the body in learning, effective use of the classroom space and versatile utilisation of the school environment also provide means that enable increasing physical activity during lessons. The teachers felt that there was a variety of benefits in increasing physical activity during lessons. According to the teachers, increasing physical activity during lessons has a positive impact on both health and well-being as well as learning and school performance. It also supports the development of a peaceful and positive atmosphere in the classroom and contributes to creating a clearer and more versatile structure for school days. The teachers felt that there were also many different challenges to increasing physical activity during lessons. According to the teachers, the challenges in increasing physical activity during lessons emerged in connection with transitions between different activities, motivating pupils, restlessness of pupils, restrictions imposed by the classroom space and large group sizes as well as teachers’ own well-being and schedules. The significance of increasing physical activity during lessons and a positive attitude toward increasing physical activity was strongly emphasised in the teachers’ responses.

Objectives. According to a study commissioned by UNISEF Finland (2012) Finnish students find their teachers distant. The results of the OECD Teaching and Learning International Survey (2013) indicate that Finnish elementary school teachers do not receive enough feedback about their performance. This main objective of this study was to examine elementary school teachers' attitudes towards students' feedback. The research questions were: How do teachers relate to feedback given by students? Which factors have an impact on teacher attitudes? The aim of the study was to introduce a new viewpoint to scrutinizing the current role of teacher and student in the teacher-student relationship. Furthermore, the aim was to provoke discussion about values behind and practices related to interpersonal communication and feedback culture in Finnish schools. The theoretical framework of this study consists of theories in educational psychology and speech communications. As a research topic student feedback on teacher-student relationship is quite new, there is little prior research available. Students' teacher views, expectations and experiences, on the other hand, have started to interest scientists increasingly. Methodology. The study was implemented as a qualitative attitude research. Research data was collected in the spring of 2017 during three group interviews. Nine teachers from three different elementary schools in the Helsinki metropolitan area were interviewed – three teachers from each school. The teachers shared their views on 32 claims presented by the interviewer. The research data was analyzed according to the principles outlined in literature about qualitative attitude research. For instance, an approach of discourse analysis was used. Results and conclusions. All in all, the teacher attitudes towards student feedback were favorable. However, as the teacher attitudes did include some variation, four different attitude profiles were identified. Two of the teachers approached students' feedback daringly, three tolerantly, two neutrally and two with reservation. The results suggest that a student's teacher-related experiences and their effects on the child and teacher-child relationship remain at least partially unidentified. That is why the role of both the teacher and the student as well as the existing communication culture in the Finnish schools should be examined critically and candidly. Student feedback in the student-teacher relationship might help build stronger and healthier pedagogical relationships which, in return, create better conditions for teaching and learning.

Working in groups, and developing children’s group experiences and group skills, are a crucial part of primary school (Trach, Lee & Hymel, 2018). Grouping is a part of group’s developmental process, where a group gets to know one another and becomes functioning, tight, and safe for its members (Jauhiainen & Eskola, 1994; Karlsson & Riihelä, 2004). According to earlier studies, focusing on the exercise and doing one’s own part in that, working together, and using collaborative skills are important to children when working in small groups (Cera Guy, Williams & Shore, 2019; Ladd, Kochenderfer-Ladd, Visconti & Ettekal, 2012). Based on database searches of the thesis, grouping has only been studied little from the perspective of children. At child-focused research children are listened, considered, and participated into making the research (James & James, 2012). This thesis adds understanding and knowledge of grouping, shows children’s views on groups and so develops small group actions at school. This thesis studied what children think is a good small group and how it relates to the concept of grouping. The data of this study was collected at a third-grade class in Greater Helsinki by observing a few classes with small group studying and by interviewing 11 pupils. The data was analyzed with content analysis. Codes found from the data were first grouped to 12 theme categories. After that theme categories were typified to five categories which depict phenomena that occur in groups. ATLAS.ti, Microsoft Word and digital notepads were used as a practical aid with the analysis. As the results of the study was stated that according to children, groups are joint spaces where it is salient to be together, do together and plan together. Important elements were also enjoyment in a group, a common goal, safety, sense of belonging, interaction and things that relate to performing the exercise. Challenges at groups were similar to those Cera Guy and colleagues (2019) found. Challenges were, for example, related to goofing around in groups, group size and collective decisions. Being a member of a group was understood to be a relatively permanent feature. However, children thought that a group and its members could change for example if somebody changes their mind or a member talks to others about their behavior. Children’s concepts about good small groups had many similarities with grouping’s central parts and features. Therefore, grouping may refer to becoming good groups. According to what children said to be the challenges in groups, it would be good to support small groups at schools by supporting especially interaction skills and conflict solving, setting a common interesting goal, and focusing on a task.

Goals. The function of this Thesis was to find out class teachers' experiences and opinions about children's vocal education in elementary school: how do class teachers teach singing to children in elementary school, what kind of effects in children have they noticed teaching singing causes, what do they think about themselves as children's vocal educators and how do they define an ideal children's vocal educator in elementary school. My Bachelor's Thesis, Children's vocal education and its effects on children's wellbeing, in which I interviewed a professor of singing, is also a part of the results of this Thesis. There are Finnish and international researches which have shown that music has positive effects on individual's brain activity. It was important to research this subject because music education in schools and departments of teacher education has decreased, despite of the researches mentioned above. It is not unusual that a class teacher either wants to teach music or doesn't want to teach music at all. Methods. The data for this Thesis was collected by interviewing four class teachers who all teach music in the same elementary school. The interviews were analyzed, thematised and reflected with prior researches. Results. This Thesis shows that class teachers teach singing to children in elementary school in a very holistic way: both in different vocal exercises and songs they choose. According to class teachers the effects vocal education causes in children in elementary school are mainly positive. Class teachers see themselves as professionals when it comes to teaching singing to children in elementary school but they have learned their musical abilities in somewhere else than in department of teacher education. According to class teachers the ideal children's vocal educator in elementary school inspires and encourages children to sing. She or he also teaches in a holistic way, encourages the children to use their voice in a healthy way and teaches learning to learn. It would be important in teacher education to guarantee better skills for the future class teachers as music educators so that even few of these ideals would come true.

Goals. The aim of this study was to identify teacher's perceptions about Songdrawing in school. The Songdrawing method is developed by songwriter Minna Lappalainen. The research questions were consisted of teachers views about using the method, interaction, learning through the songdrawing and developing the method itself. There was only a little amount of research concerning Songdrawing and I adjusted the questions according to the need for getting more information on the use of the method as a part of the teachers work. I also reviewed views on what it is possible to learn in the context of school. Ideas on how to take advantage of the method are found throughout this research and the information on how to further develop Songdrawing are also given to the developer of this method. Methodology. The study has been conducted with qualitative research approach and the data was collected based on theme interviews. Ten elementary school teachers participated in the study. Of the ten teachers seven had already used Songdrawing in their teaching and were interviewed with individual interviews. Three teachers in turn took part in a group interview and they hadn't used the method in their teaching but had just took part in a training in which the Songdrawing method was introduced to them. The data was analysed by using qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions. All of the interviews revealed that the Songdrawing method can be used in elementary schools and especially in primary education. The method can be used in teaching as single exercises, projects, in co-operation with different grade levels and in social functions of the school. All of the interviews also revealed that the Songdrawing method can be used in interdisciplinary schoolwork. The results of the study also revealed participants views about co-operation on Song-drawing from both the teacher's and student's point of view. According to teachers perceptions it was possible to learn different skills by using the method: school skills, motor skills, school subject knowledge and skills, co-operational skills, emotional skills, self-knowledge skills and creative skills. The results mainly confirmed the information already known about the method and revealed views that primary school teachers had about the subject. Participants who had used Songdrawing gave development ideas that mainly consisted suggestions on how to improve the material for using the method. The conclusion on the result of the study is that the Songdrawing method can be versatilely used in schools as a part of teaching in different occasions and when learning different matters.

In the spring of 2020, all Finnish schools moved to distance learning to restrict the spread of covid-19 virus. During this time, all subjects were taught using distance teaching methods. Distance teaching has been used in schools before the pandemic, for example in online courses but distance teaching for an entire class and for a long period of time is rare. Additionally, distantly teaching elementary school subjects such as physical education (PE) is uncommon. Researchers have demonstrated that the age and the subjects offer certain challenges to distance teaching. Previous research indicates that subjects such as PE where a group setting is required, are challenging to teach distantly without the presence of a group and students learning the subject individually in their own homes. The aim of this study is to investigate the methods elementary school teachers used in distance teaching of PE. The goal is to understand the challenges and opportunities distance teaching sets for PE. Additionally, the goal is to determine how the teaching goals set in the curriculum can be achieved in distance teaching. The study was executed using qualitative methods. The data consisted of semi-structured thematic interviews of six elementary school teachers. The interviews were conducted in the spring of 2021 using distance communication methods. Data-analysis was conducted using data-driven content analysis. In distance teaching of PE teachers utilized asynchronous methods emphasizing mainly different forms of outdoor exercises which require minimum resources from the children’s families. Teachers experienced that goals and contents set in the curriculum from a physical and mental perspective were met partially, but from a social perspective very little. According to the teachers there were massive differences in the involvement of students in physical education learning during the distance teaching period. The main challenges in distance teaching of PE according to the teachers were taking into consideration the students’ equality and young age when planning and executing the lessons. The range of alternative teaching methods, flexibility and the use of new methods and technology were seen as positive factors in distance teaching of PE. Although the distance teaching period as a whole was a positive and eye-opening experience for the teachers, all of them concluded that PE is more appropriate in contact teaching. The distance teaching period offered new methods and technology to be used in PE teaching in the future, however in conclusion it is not practical to replace contact teaching with distance teaching in PE.

Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract Tavoitteet. Lukutaito ehkäisee syrjäytymistä ja luo hyvän pohjan menestymiseen koulussa kaikissa oppiaineissa. Lasten ja nuorten lukutaito on viime vuosina kuitenkin heikentynyt. Kansainvälisesti vertailtuna suomalaiset lapset ja nuoret ovat edelleen taitavia lukijoita, mutta he eivät ole kiinnostuneet lukemisesta. Erityisesti kokonaisten teosten lukeminen edistää vahvan lukutaidon kehittymistä, ja juuri kokonaisten kirjojen lukeminen on vähentynyt. Sen vuoksi onkin tärkeää selvittää, millaisilla menetelmillä lapsia ja nuoria saisi innostettua lukuharrastuksen pariin. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, millaisia toimiviksi havaittuja lukemaan innostamisen menetelmiä Lukuklaani-hankkeen tutkimuksissa on havaittu. Lisäksi etsin vastauksia siihen, miten oppilaat saataisiin lukemaan kokonaisteoksia. Menetelmät. Tämä tutkimus pohjautuu Lukuklaani-hankkeessa jo tehtyyn tutkimukseen lasten lukuinnostuksesta. Aineistonani käytin vapaasti saatavilla olevia Lukuklaani-hankkeessa julkaistuja tutkimuksia. Teemoittelin aiempien tutkimusten tulokset, minkä jälkeen jaoin teemat vielä alaluokkiin. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset. Lukuklaani-hankkeen tutkimusten kautta on saatu nostettua esiin opettajien jo käyttämiä ja toimiviksi todettuja kirjallisuuskasvatuksen työtapoja. Tutkimukset nostavat esiin opettajien hyväksi havaitsemia tapoja edistää oppilaiden lukuharrastusta. Lukuklaani-hankkeen alkukartoituskysely on laaja ja sillä kerätystä aineistosta tehtyjen tutkimusten avulla pystytään saamaan kuva siitä, mikä on kirjallisuuskasvatuksen nykytila peruskoulussa.

Objectives. The purpose of this thesis was to examine how a class teacher can impact on classroom climate. Specifically, I examined this theme from a view of a class teacher’s actions in elementary school because I wanted to obtain practical benefit for a teacher’s job. Classroom climate and communality sustain development and secure growth of a child and create a basis for learning (Salovaara & Honkonen, 2011, s. 42–43). This is the reason why classroom climate is a significant factor in operation of a class and a class teacher. Methodology. This study was implemented as a systematic literature review. The research material consisted of eleven english peer-reviewed articles. The studies were implemented in the U.S., Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands. These articles were published in 2010–2016. I analyzed the data with thematic analysis. Results and conclusions. The results were classified by the themes I developed. The main results of the theme interaction and practice of a teacher were that sosio-emotional skills of a teacher, the relationships between a teacher and pupils, atmosphere that a teacher had created and the support of pupils autonomy enhanced a good classroom climate. The results of the theme discipline were that nonverbal reminder for disruptive behavior improved and exclusionary discipline strategies impaired the classroom climate. The notable results of the theme support for a practice of social skills were the positive impact of practicing the sosio-emotional skills on the climate. The main result of the fourth theme organizing the classroom was that the teacher-determined classroom seating arrangement influenced on likeability of peers. Teacher’s actions, interaction, discipline and organizing the classroom were significant considering the forming of a classroom climate.

Climate change is a global crisis that affects the whole world. Education plays a significant role in climate change mitigation and adapting to the changes of climate change. It is necessary that people question their habits and change their behavior more climate friendly. Class teachers’ task is to provide students with appropriate information about climate change and different means to react to it. The aim of this thesis was to research student teachers’ conceptions of climate change, climate change education and its significance in elementary school education. In addition, the goal was to investigate how, according to the experiences of class teacher students, climate education has been dealt with in university studies. According to previous international and Finnish studies, teachers do not get enough knowledge or skills to implement climate education in elementary school. The skills and knowledge acquired in teacher training have a significant impact on what kind of climate education class teachers implement or whether it is implemented at all. For this reason, I also examined how to student classroom teachers would develop teacher training based on their experiences in university. The material of this thesis was collected and analyzed using a qualitative method. The material of the research consisted of interviews with five class teacher students from the University of Helsinki and five from the University of Oulu. The interviewees were ei-ther third-, fourth- or fifth year student teachers who had completed teacher’s pedagogical studies. The interviews were conducted as semi-structured thematic interview and the analyzed using a phenomenographic research approach. The results are based on the description categories made in the analysis of the phenomenographic research sample. The results of this thesis state that class teacher students understand the social importance of climate education and the seriousness of climate change. The aim of cli-mate education in elementary school was seen as understanding climate change as a phenomenon and climate change mitigation in everyday life, changing one’s own behavior and world of values more climate friendly. The interviewees also defined what skills, knowledge, and character traits a good climate educator should own. The student teachers felt that they were unsure about implementing climate education because according to them, climate education in university studies has been little, bad or has not been done at all. The interviewees would develop university studies in a way its content and teaching methods would prepare class teachers better and more thoroughly for the subjects taught in elementary school.

Aims. Muslim pupils experience many negative attitudes and challenges at school. The class teacher has a big role to play in promoting cohesion and integration of Muslim pupils. The class teacher's tools for integrating Muslim pupils include open discussion, religious literacy, and concrete support measures. This thesis aims to explore classroom teacher students' capacities to promote cohesion among Muslim pupils and their experiences in applying them. The focus of the study is on students in classroom teacher training. Methods. I obtained my data through a questionnaire. The respondents to the questionnaire were classroom teacher education students (N=21). My research was a qualitative study based on phenomenography. I used the theoretical content analysis method to analyse the data. Theoretical analysis explores a phenomenon based on an already known theory, which in this study is the skills needed by classroom teacher students to promote the integration of Muslim students. Results and conclusions. Classroom teacher trainees have low or no perceived capacity to promote cohesion among Muslim pupils. Student teachers knew very little about Islam and the challenges faced by Muslim pupils. The results of the survey highlighted the respondents' lack of knowledge about the importance of the research topic and ways to improve cohesion among Muslim pupils. A large proportion of survey respondents also felt that classroom teacher training does not provide the necessary skills to integrate Muslim pupils. The results are not generalisable to all teacher students, but they do reflect the ideas, practices and roles that may emerge among teacher students more generally.