Browsing by Subject "culture"

This thesis is about the sociocultural phenomenon of start-up entrepreneurship. Contemporary society is home to a growing obsession towards entrepreneurship, with entrepreneurial action regarded as a possible solution to a wide spectrum of social problems. Entrepreneurial action and the acquiring of an entrepreneurial way of thinking and operating is widely considered to contribute to the common good, in reality having potential for a positive impact on society. Hence entrepreneurship is promoted in social policy and education in an effort to educate citizens towards entrepreneurial agency. All in all, an interesting shift is happening with entrepreneurs positioning themselves as producers of the common good ”making the world a better place one pizza at a time”, while farmers traditionally identifying as ”producers” are becoming more ”entrepreneurial”. Entrepreneurial agency as a new form of agency suitable for any individual in almost any field of action originates from the neoliberal discourse and the emphasis on individual freedom and entrepreneurialism. Like Margaret Thatcher famously stated, ”there is no society, there are individual men and women”. This highly individualistic approach to the reorganisation of society and the reinforcement or restoration of the class dominance of a small global elite was voiced as an alleged antidote to the perils of socialism, and culturally connected to the positive ideals of the entrepreneur as a free, self-reliable, innovative and efficient individual. This was the neoliberal re-invention of the entrepreneur that transformed the idea of the entrepreneur as primarily a business operator to that of the morally worthy individual simply doing the right thing. The fruits of the labour would then trickle-down as collectively beneficiary. This thesis is an ethnographic study on start-up entrepreneurs in the Greater Helsinki start-up ecosystem working to promote their companies. Through interviews and observational data, this thesis studies the start-up entrepreneur as the epitome of this contemporary entrepreneurial agency. Start-up entrepreneurship sometimes referred to as ”entrepreneurialism on steroids”, is a form of often tech-related entrepreneurialism aimed at fast growth with the help of investments - a sort of ”rags to riches” narrative. But the work is demanding with statistically most start-up companies destined to fail, with a very small percentage becoming successful in finding markets, growing and returning the investments while providing lucrative ”exits” for the founders. Utilising positioning theory this thesis focuses on three themes related to start-up entrepreneurs: their identifications and boundary work in separating them as a specific social group, the outspoken motivations behind their actions and the troubles that arise from their endeavours. Through dress code, speech norms and the acceptance of the Weberian idea of the entrepreneur as ”a special actor” and capable problem-solver, the identity of the start-up entrepreneur is constructed and ritualistically verified in events like SLUSH. The origins of the neoliberal discourse are interestingly present in these motivations, with a majority of the interviewees emphasizing the altruistic side of their social entrepreneurialism and the importance of freedom in life. They are free to achieve. But on the other hand, the possibility of unimaginable financial gain brings certain ambiguity to the situation. In the words of one interviewee: ”Anyone who says they don´t dream of getting rich in a start-up company is lying.” Finally, among all the positive hype that surrounds successful start-up companies and entrepreneurship partly due to the way they are portrayed in the media, there are problems ahead for many. Stress and financial troubles combined with the shame and possible debt resulting from going bankrupt manifest themselves as severe physical symptoms, mental health problems, insomnia and burnout. This can in turn have a dramatic impact in dictating the lives of the start-up entrepreneurs. Following the ideas of critical entrepreneurship studies and contributing to the lack of research on the topic, this thesis suggests that due to the influence of the neoliberal discourse on the way entrepreneurship is framed and celebrated as well as the severity of the resulting problems for many, there should be a more critical and analytical approach to the seemingly value-free promotion of entrepreneurship. It is necessary to ask whose interests are actually getting promoted through increased entrepreneurial agency, and whether the alleged promotion of common good is in fact contributing to any issues other than the convenience of the every-day lives of the middle-class.

Vertailen tutkielmassani eurooppalaista veijarihahmoa (trickster) kettua ja Pohjois-Amerikan alkuperäiskansojen veijarijumaluutta kojoottia ja näihin liittyvien tekstien sovellutuksia vieraan kielen opetuksessa suomalaisessa oppimisympäristössä. Tutkielman tavoite on tarkastella eurooppalaisen ja pohjoisamerikkalaisen veijarihahmon eroja sekä osoittaa tekstien käyttökelpoisuus englannin vieraan kielen opetuksessa. Teoriataustana toimii Louis Owensin kehittämä kulttuurienvälinen lähestymistapa (cross-reading), joka korostaa kulttuurisen ja historiallisen taustatiedon sekä oman ja vieraan kulttuurin vertailun merkitystä vierasperäisiä tekstejä luettaessa. Tutkielman ensimmäisessä osassa vertailen Reynard the Fox –nimistä veijarihahmoa (suom. Kettu Repolainen) ja Pohjois-Amerikan alkuperäiskansojen veijarijumaluutta kojoottia kirjallisten näytteiden pohjalta. Analyysi perustuu William Hynesin veijarihahmojen arviointiin kehittämiin kriteereihin. Aineisto pohjautuu Pohjois-Amerikan alkuperäiskansojen suullisen perimätiedon pohjalta kirjoitettuihin tarinoihin Kojootista, sekä William Caxtonin vuoden 1481 käännöksen modernisoituun versioon Reynard-ketun seikkailuista eläinten hovissa. Tutkielman toisessa osassa käsittelen luokkahuonetutkimustani veijaritekstien käytöstä englannin vieraan kielen opetuksessa. Luokkahuonetutkimus toteutettiin kolmella eri luokka-asteella: alakoulun kuudennella luokka-asteella, yläkoulun yhdeksännellä luokka-asteella ja lukion ensimmäisellä vuosikurssilla. Analysoitava aineisto perustuu opettajan osallistuvasta tarkkailusta saatuihin muistiinpanoihin ja reflektioon, sekä oppilailta kerättyyn palautteeseen. Aineistoa analysoidaan ankkuroidun teorian (grounded theory) mukaisesti, eli teoria on muodostettu aineiston pohjalta. Analyysi keskittyy oppilaiden suhtautumiseen opetusta ja aihealuetta kohtaan. Tutkielma osoittaa, että veijarihahmoja käsittelevät tekstit viihdyttävät myös nykypäivän lukijaa ja että ne soveltuvat suomalaiseen englanninkielen opetukseen.

Finland has seen an increase of immigrants in the past twenty years. Currently, newly arrived immigrant students are placed in preparatory classrooms for up to a year to provide them with the language skills they need to integrate into regular Finnish classrooms. However, municipalities can choose whether they would like to offer preparatory education, as well as how they would like to structure it. This creates possible gaps for inequities to exist within preparatory classrooms. In the 2018 PISA results, Finland had the highest gap in reading scores between immigrant and non-immigrant students out of all OECD countries with an immigrant population of higher than five percent. This demonstrates that Finland has fallen behind other countries in educating its immigrant students. Therefore, this study attempts to examine how Finnish and non-Finnish cultures are viewed and discussed in preparatory classrooms, as well as how preparatory classrooms support the well-being of students and prepare students to succeed in school. This study consisted of semi-structured interviews of students and staff members within one lower secondary school in Southern Finland. This school had two preparatory classrooms, as well as one special “P2” classroom. Interviews were analyzed using an inductive approach to thematic analysis, where four themes and five subthemes were found by using a constructionist paradigm. The results of this study were that the preparatory classrooms at this school valued and appreciated non- Finnish cultures during discussions in class, but Finnish behaviors and ideologies were seen as normal and what students should adapt to when moving to Finland. Additionally, while teachers were able to provide a positive and supportive learning environment for students, the school did not provide enough emotional support or resources for students. Finally, a lack of resources and funding meant that students were not able to get the support they needed to properly develop the Finnish language skills required to succeed in school. This study indicates there is a need for more funding and resources to be allocated to preparatory classrooms, as well as larger-scale research on the benefits and shortcomings of Finnish preparatory education.

Tavoitteet ja teoriatausta. Tutkielman tarkoituksena on selvittää, miten kulttuurisia elementtejä nostetaan esille ja ilmennetään Voilà ja J’aime oppikirjasarjoissa. Samalla selvitetään, miten paljon kirjasarjoissa esiintyy stereotypioita ranskalaista kulttuuria ja kieltä kohtaan sekä minkä tyyppisiä mahdolliset esille tulevat stereotypiat ovat. Lisäksi tutkitaan Opetussuunnitelmien muutoksen vaikutuksia kulttuuristen elementtien ja stereotypioiden määrään tai laatuun kirjasarjoissa. Tutkimuksen pohjana toimivat Peruskoulun opetussuunnitelman perusteet (POPS 2004 ja POPS 2016) sekä Eurooppalaisen viitekehyksen kielitaitokuvaus (CEFR). Nämä perusteet antavat pohjan sille, miten kulttuuria tulisi käsitellä ja tuoda ilmi vieraan kielen kursseilla suomalaisessa perusopetuksessa ja minkä tyyppisiä valmiuksia eri kouluasteilla oppilailta tulisi löytyä. Aineisto ja menetelmät. Tutkimus on vertaileva tutkimus, jonka aineisto koostuu kahden eri kirjasarjan oppikirjoista. Molemmat ovat ranskan kielen opetuksessa laajasti käytettyjä kirjasarjoja. Ne pohjautuvat eri Opetussuunnitelmiin ja tämän vuoksi valikoituivat tutkimuksen kohteeksi. Kummankin kirjasarjan osalta otimme tutkimukseen mukaan neljän ensimmäisen kurssin oppikirjat, jotta vertaileva tutkimus olisi mahdollista toteuttaa. Kirjasarjat on suunnattu B2-kielen opetukseen yläkouluissa, mutta ne ovat osittain käytössä myös lukio-opetuksessa. Tutkimuksen aluksi kirjoista on kerätty kulttuurisia elementtejä sisältäviä tehtäviä, esityksiä tai kappaleen osia sekä stereotyyppisiksi luokiteltavia elementtejä. Aineiston sisältöä on tulkittu tämän jälkeen teoreettisiin lähteisiimme nojautuen ja näin ollen pyritty tulkitsemaan sitä, millaisia elementtejä kirjasarjat nostavat esille ja minkälaisia stereotyyppisiä piirteitä ne sisältävät. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa selvitetään, miten kulttuuristen elementtien kuvaus tai määrä on muuttunut vanhan ja uuden opetussuunnitelman vaihdoksen myötä. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset. Tutkimus osoittaa, että kirjasarjoissa esiintyvät kulttuuriset elementit ovat pitkälti neutraaleja ja vain harvoin vahvoihin stereotypioihin sortuvia. Kulttuurin piirteitä esiintyy kummassakin kirjasarjassa runsaasti. Etenkin ranskalainen ruokakulttuuri, taide ja tapakulttuuri nousevat tasaisin väliajoin molemmissa kirjasarjoissa kaikilla kursseilla esille. Opetussuunnitelmien muutos kirjasarjojen välissä ei lopulta juurikaan vaikuttanut kulttuuristen elementtien määrään tai laatuun. Muutamia poikkeuksia lukuun ottamatta teemat pysyivät hyvin samankaltaisina myös uudessa kirjasarjassa. Uudempi kirjasarja J’aime esittelee tosin hiukan laajemmin Ranskan eri alueiden merkitystä sekä niiden omia kulttuuristen erityispiirteitä, mikä vastaa hyvin uudemman Opetussuunnitelman ajatusta kulttuurin moninaisuuden korostamisesta ja laajasta käsittelystä.

This thesis concerns the Polish institution of the dom kultury (house of culture). A dom kultury is an arts centre housing activity ranging from music clubs to film screenings. Under Poland’s state socialist regime, it was envisioned as a space for the implementation of socialist ideals, although such goals were not always realised in practice. Since the end of state socialism, houses of culture have been less defined by such programmatic socialising content; nonetheless they continue to occupy a key part in Poland’s cultural landscape. This thesis explores local people’s memories and perceptions of the institution, tracing the different frameworks people use to make sense of the world around them. It also uses the theoretical frameworks of culture, temporality and postsocialism to explore people’s opinions. The study utilises an oral history methodology, with the source material consisting of ten interviews conducted with inhabitants of one town in Poland, Chodzież. The research builds on the growing interest in narrations of the everyday rather than trauma in the oral history of ex-socialist countries. A thematic analysis of the material was conducted according to the research focus of ideal roles and lived experiences of the house of culture. Remote methods had to be adopted due to the ongoing pandemic, which impacted on the data collection process by slowing down participant recruitment, while also enabling greater flexibility in the research process. The first main finding of the study pertains to the role played by the house of culture over time. While the dispersion of cultural activity since socialism means that it no longer provides the novelty that it once did, the house of culture plays a growing role in the community in accommodating local organisations’ activity. Secondly, the study found that while reference to socialism has its place in people’s narrations of the past, it is not necessarily the dominant framework, with reminiscences about individual life biographies intersecting with macro-level periodisations. Finally, the importance of the local community that houses of culture are situated in was underscored in participant’s narrations, surfacing in the themes of cultural loyalty and rivalry. The study supports the findings in previous studies of houses of culture concerning the normative ideal of culture. Discussions surrounding cultural authenticity defined perceptions about degrees to which culture is performed ‘correctly’, whether it concerns the institution’s role as provider or people’s role as consumers (and co-creators). Even for those who engage with the institution sporadically, it remains an important part of the Polish cultural landscape, providing locals with access to artistic culture and beyond. This underscores the main theme that runs throughout the findings, concerning the interplay between importance for the individual and the collective.

Aim of the study. Society has become more diverse during the last decade. Tolerance is the key to today's society. Knowing cultural heritage helps to construct cultural identity. Understanding cultural heritage and cultural identity helps to understand other cultures better. Museums have an important role in cultural heritage education. Museums can offer visitors things they can relate to and identify with. In this way museums can help to construct cultural identity. The aim of this study is to find out how different cultures are taken into account in museums according to professionals. The aim is also to find out how museums can help to construct cultural identity. Methods. This study is a qualitative case study. The data was collected from two professionals in museum field. The research data was collected by individual interviews using theme interviews. Data from the interviews was analysed by qualitative content-based analysis. The data was analysed by themes utilizing the themes from the interviews. Results and conclusions. The results show that the aim in museums is to have an interactive relationship with the museums visitors. Museums have also tried to get more diverse spectrum of visitors. The professionals consider multiculturalism as an important topic. Multiculturalism and the increasing diversity of society create new challenges for museums. Multiculturalism also brings new possibilities and new perspectives. Museums have an important role in the society as an advocate of tolerance. The professionals are worried that tolerance education is not appreciated enough in the society though. Museums can increase tolerance by providing information about different cultures. It is important to provide culture for the minorities also. Professionals see that museums can support the process of constructing cultural identity. It is important that museums highlight the issues visitors can identify with.

This thesis aims to investigate and compare how immigrants in Canada and Finland are visually ‘othered’ in media. Critical events in 2016 heightened the discussion of immigration, further emphasizing media’s importance of representing this population to the public. Visual representations of the ‘other’ can come in subtle forms yet perpetuate imagined communities of ‘we’ and ‘they’ in major ways. It is therefore becoming more imperative to conduct research on processes of ‘othering.’ This thesis uses visual framing analysis (VFA) on leading newspapers in Canada and Finland, a combined total of 271 images were collected for analysis from Canada’s Toronto Star and Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat. These images were examined for visual frames of the ‘other’ by measuring communication with the viewer, spatial proximity, depiction with others or as individuals, social interaction and vertical and horizontal points of views. The results revealed clear distinctions of framing immigrants as the ‘other’ in both newspapers. Canadian media ‘othered’ immigrants half the amount as Finnish media, which ‘othered’ immigrants in nearly all codes examined. The findings of this research suggests how a further understanding of complex identities and visual literacy is key to understanding diversity and culture and disintegrating a sense of the ‘other.’