Browsing by Subject "osallistava pedagogiikka"

During the last years participation has become a topic reaching great interest in the field of educational science. The increased emphasis on childrens’ participation in the latest curricula of 2014 is one example indicating participations’ increase in popularity. Regarding comments in educational science, participation seems valued, yet at the same time studies and reports indicate that childrens’ possibilities to participate and get their voice heard at school leaves room for improvement. In addition, children are not well informed about their possibilities to affect issues that consern them. This bachelor’s thesis has been conducted as a literature review and the databases used are from educational -, social- and sosiological fields. The study begins with defining the consept of participation, which turns out to be a rather complex concept with many interpretative meanings. Also the consepts of citizenship and agency are introduced. This literature review discusses reasons impeding students’ possibilties to participate. A significant issue children face is what Gretschel calls ”quasi-participating” (näennäisosallistaminen). Another problem children face is that they are not given opportunities to participate because it is not considered important. The issues stem from social reasons such as how children are seen and how childhood is definied. Social discourses of children consider ideas such as ”children as future citizens”, ”children as the object of care” and ”children as adolescents”. Another dilemma is the extent of the consept, where various activities and action may be put into practise under participation’s name. This has lead to a situation, where children are compelled to take part in various kinds of projects that are ostensibly ”participative”, but the intentions behind them do not advance equality. As a solution to the poor participation possibilities this study proposes that teachers should be critical and acknowledge the mechanisms that cause ”quasi-participating” and ignoring childrens’ participation. Along with increased critical thinking this study presents solutions how teachers can improve school practices towards a more participative approach in three ways: teachership and interaction, democratic atmosphere and pedagogical ideas. These aspects contribute in the school’s development towards a more participative environment for children.

This thesis is a literature review, the goal of which is to first determine the conceptual difference between a simulation, a game and a simulation game. After this conceptual determination the thesis will explore the theoretical groundwork for using simulation games as a teaching method. Games have risen in popularity as a teaching method these past couple of years, so much so that the use of games as a teaching method has been largely inscribed into the Finnish National Curriculum of 2014. The purpose of this thesis is to first offer a deeper glimpse into the terminology of games and simulations, since many educators can accidentally mix these terms together. In addition, this thesis will offer theoretical rudiments of using simulation games as a teaching method for any teacher who are willing to use these kinds of methods. Previous research on this topic is scarce, especially in Finland. This thesis utilized a descriptive literary review method. The purpose of the review was to first determine the conceptual difference between simulations, games and simulation games, after which the goal was to collect theoretically educational sources to justify the use of simulation games as a teaching method. Sources were mostly Anglo-American in regard to simulations, whilst most Finnish sources covered participational pedagogy. The findings of the thesis were that a simulation is a model that replicates reality, games are controlled conflict situations which are rule-based with quantifiable results and a simulation game is a cross between these two. Simulation games are content-wise no better than traditional teaching methods, but simulation games offer a higher degree of engagement for students, activates them instead of passivating them and is beneficial towards socialization.