Faculty of Educational Sciences
Recent Submissions
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Opiskelijoiden psykologisten perustarpeiden tukeminen kotoutumiskoulutuksessa – opettajien kuvauksia (2024)The purpose of this thesis is to describe how the basic psychological needs of students are met in integration training. The target group of the thesis were Finnish language teachers of integration training, from whose interview speech I looked for descriptions of factors promoting or limiting students' needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. The data was collected in May-June 2023. Six Finnish language teachers participated in the individual interviews. The transcribed material was analyzed using theory-driven content analysis. Student autonomy may not always be realized during the stage of guiding them into integration training. This is apparent to teachers, for example, in the student's lack of awareness about the reasons for being guided into a group and about their own opportunities. Some students would prioritize more vocationally-focused education or entering the workforce. Teachers strive to consider students' interests and opinions in planning educational content and methods. How-ever, this is challenging without a common language and interpreters are not always an option. Not all students are accustomed to expressing their opinions in a school context. Workplace learning provides a structural opportunity to influence one’s own education. OPAL feedback surveys were also mentioned as a way for students to have an impact. Teachers described the employment and language skill goals of integration training as unrealistic for students in slower groups. The personal goals of students were also sometimes seen as unrealistic. Students' sense of competence is primarily fostered through diverse study methods and learning environments. Integration training groups were described as heterogeneous. It was considered important that a student is guided to a group that matches their level. Challenges have been experienced in differentiation and in utilizing special education resources. Some-times it has been necessary to suggest a group change for a student during a course. Teachers reported trying to create a personal relationship with students. Some students' disrespectful attitudes towards female teachers have sometimes been challenging. The promotion of a relatedness among students in integration training was described briefly. A few teachers mentioned methods of group building. Students' need for relatedness has been limited by the extensive use of their mother tongue, cultural conflicts, and student absences.
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(2024)The basis of this research is the situation of educational equality in Finland. Previous research shows the strong heritability of education and the differentiation of students' skills according to socio-economic backgrounds. The influence of socio-economic backgrounds on learning outcomes has become even stronger in recent years. The skills learned and the competence achieved in primary and lower secondary education (basic education) can be defined as human capital. Capital deficits are linked to intergenerational disadvantage. Previous research suggests that there is a connection between receiving support at school and a weaker social background. This study, carried out with a qualitative research strategy, aims to answer what kind of work practices in special education in primary and lower secondary education aim to influence the learning and educational differences linked to the students' different socio-economic backgrounds. The research data consists six interviews (semi-structuded) of special education teachers working in the region of Southern Finland. The interview material is analyzed using qualitative content analysis. A key finding of the study is that the work of special education teachers reveals practices that seek to address learning and educational differences that are linked to students' socio-economic backgrounds. The work practices are divided into five categories: cooperation in student networks, understanding education and teaching as a broad entity, student-orientation as the basis of the teacher's work, and special education in the school's operational culture. The work practices have a close connection to the framework and concepts of the sociology of education and to the key factors of educational equality.
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(2024)In 2019 the new Upper Secondary School Act (714/2018) entered into force as a part of a larger upper secondary school reform. The Upper Secondary School Act obliges every upper secondary school to organize special education for all students who have challenges in learning. It was volyntary to organize special education before the reform, and special education was offered mainly in large cities. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the job description of special education teacher in upper secondary school and potential job description in the future. There is only a little previous research on special education in upper secondary schools. This thesis was conducted as a qualitative study. The material consisted of interviews with four special education teachers. At the time of the interview, the interviewees worked in upper secondary schools. The interviews were conducted as semi-structured thematic interviews and theory-driven content analysis was selected as the method of analysis. According to the results the job description of a special education teacher in upper secondary school can be divided into three themes which are student work, cooperation and developmental work. Work emphasizes individual work with students, and testing for difficulties in reading takes a lot of time. Cooperation is closest with student counsellor. Consultation is mostly informal (conversations in the corridors for example). Acting as a special education teacher in the upper secondary school requires continuous additional training. Encounters with students and the freedom to plan one’s schedule bring a lot of joy. Challenges encountered at work include difficulties in scheduling, insufficient resources and digitalization. The themes of the job will most likely remain fairly similar in the future. Teaching will change from individual work to more collaborative work. The cooperation is probably closer with all the personnel of the school. More resources for special education in all upper secondary schools in Finland is hoped. Special education teachers will hopefully have the opportunity to act as promoters of the general well-being of students. Materials should also be in print instead of digital materials.
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(2024)Objectives. This paper examines the epistemic activity of a small group of 7th grade comprehensive school pupils in a single session of innovation. The pupils work together to design and build a "smart pillow". The pupils' handicraft combines electrical engineering and sewing. The study analyzes epistemic search sequences (ESS): situations in which pupils fill in gaps in their knowledge. In these situations, the pupils ask and answer questions in an informed way. The paper explores how pupils negotiate shared epistemic expertise and knowledge construction in their interactions. The paper analyzes the verbal, gestural, and material interactions of pupils. Methods. Conversation analysis (CA) looks at interaction moment by moment. It is based on pupils' interpretations of each other's verbal and nonverbal actions. The primary data for the study is video footage recorded with a single camera and microphone, which was then transcribed. The same group of pupils was previously studied (Davies et al., 2023; Mehto et al., 2020b) using mostly theory-driven methods with focus on a longer time span of collaboration. However, CA brings the pupils' interactions into a data-driven focus that includes microanalytical study of verbal, gestural, and material activities during a single meeting. Results and conclusions. The epistemic interaction between pupils was learning oriented. The analysis showed that the pupils made progress in their work by frequently asking and answering questions (F=157). Through question-answer adjacency pairs, pupils positioned themselves as epistemically knowledgeable (K) in different ways. The analysis showed that pupils who were more frequently positioned as more knowledgeable (K+) asked more informative questions and gave more instructions. Pupils used gestures to guide their work. They used gaze to review information stored both on the prototype and a smartphone. Pupils also showed epistemic evaluation expertise with the use of modal verbs. The pupils approached craft know-how from perspectives of possibility and necessity. The most frequently used modal verbs were voida (can), pitää (must), saada (get) and kannattaa (it is worth).
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(2024)The purpose of this study has been to investigate the views of elementary school teachers on teacher expertise and the effects of social change on expertise. The aim of this study has been to determine how experienced teachers perceive teacher’s role and the changes that have taken place, focusing on teachers’ professional growth and the development of expertise. The significance of teachers and schools in society is evident. Education has been on display in the social discourse recently, focusing on the challenges brought by social change. The demands placed on teaching can be seen to have increased, and teachers view the social changes as a challenge to the implementation of the teacher’s and school’s primary task. By examining the construction and changes of teacher expertise, information can be obtained about the work of teachers in the present day and the meeting of demands and resources, so that the teacher’s professional development can be supported. The research was conducted as a qualitative study, using theory-guided content analysis methods, aiming for phenomenological inference. The data was collected by performing semi-structured interviews for six elementary school teachers, each of whom had worked as a teacher for over ten years. The participants of this study saw teacher expertise being formed by expertise in education and training, which includes professionalism and humanity. Teachers emphasized the building of expertise on a foundation of knowledge and, increasingly, educational skills, where the significance of an individual teacher has grown. Social change was seen to bring challenges to education, which require increasingly more thinking and decision-making skills. Teachers emphasized the need to adapt to a diverse world in times of social change through professional ethics and pedagogical expertise. A special challenge for expertise seemed to rise from the limited opportunities to influence one’s work and its implementation.