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Objectives. In this thesis I research how restorative peer mediation supports the citizenship of children. In addition I examine what kinds of possibilities of participation does restorative mediation offer for children in comprehensive school. Peer mediation is based on a theory about restorative justice. Theory of peace education has been suggested as the background for international mediation. Previous studies have proven peer mediation to be a working method in solving conflicts between children. It has been shown to produce many types of learning from social skills to skills of problem solving. Methods. This thesis was executed as a literary survey. I examined the research done on peer mediation and considered the results I got from the aspect of children’s citizenship and involvement. In this thesis I defined my keywords based on scientific literature and research: mediation, citizenship, participation, conflict, restorative practices and peace education. Results and conclusions. Previous studies showed mediation to be a proper method for solving conflicts between children in comprehensive school according to the teachers and pupils alike. The pupils were satisfied in being involved in the mediation process but worried that too few of their conflicts were being guided to mediation. The attitudes of adults and their uncommitment to the using of mediation caused problems in the continuity of the method. The poor visibility of mediation in the school world, such as both children and adult’s scarce knowledge about peer mediation, led to the reduced use of the method. In all the studies peer mediation solved 90 % of all the cases that were guided to be mediated so as a method it works well. Mediation is based on the involvement of citizens and bringing the method into schools gives children a chance to be involved. The pupil mediators have the greatest possibility of becoming involved and according to studies they are the ones that benefit the most from peer mediation. In the mediation method children get to solve their problems themselves and act as active citizens. They experience feelings of success from sorting out their own arguments and while doing so diminish the load of teachers by settling their own conflicts independently. Mediation is a functioning method in increasing children’s participation.

The aim of this study is to examine online volunteers views and experiences about online volunteering. The purpose is to investigate how interaction and presence based online volunteering is defined, how it is operated and what kind of requirements it sets for volunteers. In addition my interest is to examine how social inclusion and virtual communality reflects in the context of online volunteering and how it can be studied in the field of traditional volunteering. Previous studies suggest that many people are active to volunteer and volunteering can be considered to be very meaningful not only to the individual who volunteers but to the society as well. Volunteering is also suggested to increase the feeling of social inclusion. It has been said that online volunteering is a new trend of traditional volunteering which opens a new context of action; virtual world. There are many stereotypical images about online volunteers such as the image of them being young of age and technologically advanced. In reality online volunteers come from all age groups and possess very varied technical skills. Online volunteering is strongly linked with societal changes and technological development, which opens a great diversity how online volunteering can be operated. The data of this study consists of four interviews. All of the interviewees were from the Pelastakaa Lapset (Save the Children) organization. Interviews were conducted as theme interviews and they were transcribed and analyzed according to the principles of content analysis. Based on this research online volunteering in Pelastakaa Lapset organization could be defined somewhere between the “complete” and “ traditional / virtual” definition types. Online volunteering was conducted partly via the internet from home via computer and partly on site. The main operating model was two-on-two or group discussions in virtual world. Since online volunteering in this concept was based on interaction and presence it set some requirements for the volunteers. The volunteers were required to be able to act in visual virtual forums but mostly they were required to know how to listen, support, to be present and offer guidance to the youth they were dealing with. There was evidence that online-volunteering can increase social inclusion and that an online-volunteer can be part of a virtual and media community. It was also shown that despite the different operating context online volunteering reflects elements from traditional volunteering field and it is fitting to study it under the same research paradigms that guide the traditional volunteering research.

Vuoden 2020 keväällä koronaviruspandemian leviämisen rajoittamiseksi päätettiin muiden toimien ohella keskeyttää lähiopetuksen järjestäminen perusopetuksessa, toisella asteella sekä korkeakoulutuksessa ja opetusta jatkettiin mahdollisuuksien mukaan etänä. Suomessa neljännesmiljoona korkeakoulututkintoa suorittavaa opiskelijaa joutui näiden toimien seurauksena siirtymään etäopiskeluun kesken lukukauden. Pandemia ja etäopiskelu jatkuvat edelleen ja opiskelijoiden tilanteesta on uutisoitu varsin runsaasti. Opiskelijat ovat myös osallistuneet uutisoinnin yhteydessä käytyyn verkkokeskusteluun aktiivisesti. Tässä tutkimuk-sessa selvitetään millaisia kokemuksia korkeakouluopiskelijoilla on koronapandemian myötä lisääntyneestä etäopiskelusta ja sen vaikutuksesta heidän hyvinvointiinsa. Aikaisemmat tutkimukset ovat osoittaneet, että tilanteella on ollut huomattava vaikutus opiskelijoiden hyvinvointiin ja esimerkiksi Helsingin yliopistossa uupuneiden opiskelijoiden määrä on jopa kolminkertaistunut aikaisempiin vuosiin verrattuna. Tutkimuksen aineisto muodostui Yle-uutisten verkkosivuilla vuosina 2020 ja 2021 julkaistujen etäopiskelua käsittelevien uutisartikkelien yhteydessä käydystä verkkokeskustelusta ja etenkin etäopiskelua ja hyvinvointia käsittelevistä kommenteista (N=95). Aineistosta etsittiin kertomuksia etäopiskeluun ja hyvinvointiin liittyvistä kokemuksista narratiivisen analyysin keinoin Ylijoen (2005) käyttämää analyysitapaa mukaillen. Usean lukukerran aikana aineistosta hahmottuvista narratiiveista muodostettiin etäopiskelun vaikutusta hyvinvointiin kuvaavia tyyppikertomuksia. Suurin osa verkkokeskusteluun sisältyvien kommenttien sisältämistä narratiiveista (n=64) kuvasi koronapandemian myötä lisääntyneen etäopiskelun vaikuttaneen hyvinvointiin heikentävästi. Pienempi osa kommenttien sisältämistä narratiiveista (n=32) kuvasi hyvinvoinnin lisääntyneen etäopiskelun myötä. Nämä tulokset vahvistivat aikaisempien tutkimusten tuloksia, joiden mukaan opiskelijoiden hyvinvointi on enimmäkseen heikentynyt lisääntyneen etä-opiskelun myötä. Aikaisemmista tutkimuksista poiketen kommenteista löytyi myös huomattava määrä toisen henkilön asemaan samaistuvia tai näitä asemia havainnoivia narratiiveja (n=47), jotka nimettiin siltoja rakentaviksi kertomuksiksi. Suurin osa korkeakouluopiskelijoista kokee koronapandemian myötä lisääntyneen etäopiskelun vaikuttaneen hyvinvointiinsa negatiivisesti ja harvempi kokee sen vaikuttaneen hyvinvointiinsa positiivisesti. Opiskelijat kuitenkin usein osoittavat ymmärtävänsä omasta kokemuksestaan poikkeavia kokemuksia ja suhteutuvat niihin empaattisesti ja samaistuen.

The purpose of my research is to describe what is outdoorlife and hiking in nature nearby in “Rain or shine” kindergartens from the view of kindergarten directors. “Rain or shine” is an operating model for environmental education and physical exercise in nature in early childhood education and in schools' afternoon clubs coordinated by Suomen Latu. The study was needed because the operating model was reformed in 2015 with the aim to expand the “Rain or shine” activities. The research problem is approached by considering two of the promises of “Rain or shine” which are "We promise to spend easygoing outdoorlife in rain or shine” and "We promise to hike in nature nearby at least three times a week". The research was qualitative and it was based on semi-structured interviews. I chose three of eight “Rain or shine” kindergartens for the interviews. These kindergartens located in different towns and they had different owners. I interviewed the directors of these three “Rain or shine” kindergartens. The interviews were carried out in March 2016. All the three interviews were recorded. The durations of the interviews varied from 60 minutes to 100 minutes. Afterwards the interviews were transcribed and analysed by temating the material by using the questions of the interviews. I found out that the outdoorlife is a natural and unseparated part of the activity in “Rain or shine” kindergartens' work. The easygoingness of outdoorlife was protected for example with good planning and preparation, limiting the group sizes, the flexibility of kitchen staff and intensive co-operation with the parents. Different seasons and weathers was not found as a problem when everybody had a necessery outdoor equipment. Kindergartens had from three to four different nature places nearby regularly in use. The nearest places were located behind the fence of the kindergarten. The furthest nature places were located 1,5 kilometres away from the kindergarten. Nature places were diverse and they offered variable possibilities for activities and playing. The hikes were organized mostly in the mornings and the duration was 1,5–5 hours. There were often a snack or a lunch also outside. The free and spontaneous play was emphasized during hikes. There occured mostly long-lasting and imaginative plays with the material and equipment found from nature. The regularity of having hikes was regarded important because it guaranteed the possibility to develop the long-lasting plays. It seems that the promises "We promise to spend easygoing outdoorlife in rain or shine" and "We promise to hike in nature nearby at least three times a week" are carried out in a comprehensive and committed way in “Rain or shine” kindergartens.

Objectives. In order to maintain a child’s interest and excitement for learning, development-appropriate differentiated instruction designed to fit the child’s needs and abilities is necessary. Failing to differentiate instruction for a linguistically gifted child may result in frustration, and a negative connotation towards learning altogether may arise. I chose differentiated instruction for gifted children as the subject of my thesis, as I’ve noticed the lack of its implementation in several preschools. The base theory of my thesis is built around the development of children’s linguistic skills, learning reading and writing, gifted children, differentiation and the Finnish preschool curriculum. The objective of this study is to examine how differentiated instruction of language learning is implemented in preschools and how pre-primary teachers view differentiation and its significance. Methods. The study was carried out using qualitative methods. Material was collected by interviewing five pre-primary teachers in Järvenpää in January 2019 and it was then analyzed with a theory-based content analysis. The book Onnistu eriyttämisessä – toimivan opetuksen opas (2018) by Roiha and Polso, and a five-part differentiation model the book contains, was used as the base theory for analyzation. I developed a categorization system for grouping results partly based on said model and partly by gathering information from my interview material. Lastly, I formed an analyzation frame, by which I was able to analyze results. Results and conclusions. Based on my findings, instruction was differentiated for gifted children via various methods. Especially varying difficulty of assignments, modifying learning environments, differentiation of learning material and adaptive situational grouping of children into skill-based groups stood out from the material. Differentiated instruction was thought to be highly significant among all interviewees. Even though differentiating instruction for gifted children was, on level of thought, considered to be as important as differentiation for children with challenges in learning, the latter was emphasized in everyday teaching.

Mål: Syftet med den här studien var att analysera hur ekologisk hållbarhet kan läras ut i skolan på ett målmedvetet och positivt sätt för att eleverna ska få lära sig och sporras till medvetna val. Forskningsfrågorna var hurdana ekologiskt hållbara val lärare kan göra för att minska på klimatavtrycket i skolan och hur lärare kan undervisa i ekologisk hållbarhet för elever i åk 1–6 i syftet att göra hållbarhetsundervisningen till en positiv upplevelse för eleverna. Tidigare studier har visat att ekologiska aspekter värderas av lärare men att visionen ofta är starkare än utförande, och att brist på tid och kunskap kan leda till att ekologiska aspekter inte beaktas. Metoder: Materialet för den här kvalitativa forskningen samlades in via intervjuer med fyra informanter. Två av informanterna var lärarstuderande i slutskedet av sina studier och två var färdigblivna lärare med över 20 års arbetserfarenhet. Intervjuerna som gjordes var semistrukturerade. Intervjuerna transkriberades och analyserades med hjälp av tematisk analys. Resultat och slutsatser: Forskningens resultat visade att det är viktigt att lärare gör undervisning om ekologisk hållbarhet roligt för eleverna, för att motivera dem, och undvika skrämsel gällande klimatångest. Som rolig undervisning lyfte informanterna upp undervisning med hjälp av digitala metoder och apparater. En annan viktig aspekt var lärarnas vardagsprat gällande ekologiskt hållbara val. Lärarna tyckte att de har tillräckligt med kompetens för att undervisa om ekologisk hållbarhet samtidigt som de berättade att de vill lära sig mera. Lärarna lyfte också upp att tidsbrist är en faktor som gör att hållbarhetsundervisningen ibland inte prioriteras. Det finns tydliga belägg för att öka medvetenheten och undervisning gällande klimatpåverkan som digitala metoder har. Tydligare riktlinjer och krav skulle göra undervisningen mera jämlik mellan olika klasser och skolor, eftersom nuvarande system skapar skillnader mellan klasser på basis av den enskilda lärarens värderingar.