Browsing by Subject "http://www.yso.fi/onto/yso/p1117"

Aims. The goal of my thesis is to find out how teachers teaching in vocational education and training (VET) understand inclusion in their own practices and how, according to their under- standing, inclusion is realized in different learning environments. For a long time, efforts have been made to introduce the principle of inclusivity into the education system, which is used to try to dismantle the paradigm of special education. However, inclusion is most often studied in the context of basic education, and the discussion about inclusion in the context of VET is not as lively. However, the same international and national obligations also apply to VET, so research would be equally needed in this context as well. Methods. The research data is part of the Governance for Inclusive Vocational Excellence (GIVE) project. The target group of this partial study consisted of 13 teachers from VET, whose thematic interviews formed the data. The themes of the interviews included the definition of inclusion, its appearance in practices and as an object of evaluation, as well as in documents and strategies. The data was analysed using phenomenography and abductive analysis. Results and Conclusions. Teachers understood inclusion through the ideals presented in official documents and through the implementation of laws and degree structures. However, many inclusive practices were found in the teachers' descriptions, especially through the preparation of personal competence development plan (PCDP) and the provision of support. For the most part, the teachers did not know how to verbalize these practices as part of inclusion. This could possibly be because there is not enough discussion about inclusion in VET, or that inclusion is spoken of under some other name, such as personalisation, participation, accessibility or support and guidance. The teachers hoped for a joint time to develop and unify various inclusive practices in both educational institutions and workplaces in order to create a common operating culture and develop inclusive structures. This is also strongly related to the development of the teachers' own competence, for which more support and sharing of competence was hoped for, as well as a stronger link to practical work.

Purpose. Around 3-15% of all pupils have dyslexia. According to the core curriculum, student assessment should be conducted in a comprehensive way, considering students’ individual difficulties. However, assessment instructions might be considered vague. Earlier studies have also shown that teachers may perceive assessment as complicated, particularly when it comes to students with special needs. The purpose of the study is to describe, analyze and interpret how secondary school teachers experience assessment and grading of pupils with dyslexia. The purpose is also to explore how pupils are enabled to show their knowledge in an adequate way. Furthermore, teachers’ perceptions of assessment fairness with regard to pupils with dyslexia are discussed. Methods. The research was conducted as a qualitative study with a phenomenographic research approach. The material consists of eight semi-structured, individual interviews with teachers working in two Swedish-speaking secondary schools i Finland. The collected material was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results and conclusions. Teachers expressed a genuine will to support pupils with dyslexia and they stated that they could assess pupils in a flexible way. Cooperation with special education teachers was perceived as important. The versatility of the core curriculum was regarded as an advantage for students with dyslexia. The most used accommodations were oral responses, extended time and test writing in a small group. Double assessment, prioritized content and adapted tests were also used, but teachers had different approaches. A student’s positive lesson activity could lead to a better grade. Language teachers struggled with the assessment of misspelled words. IT software was not widely used. The teachers stated that they did their best to take students’ difficulties into consideration when giving them grades, and they normally also thought their assessment was fair. The study shows that teachers do their very best to assess students with dyslexia, but there are differences in procedures between teachers, which might lead to unequal assessment.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Covid-19 pandemic has had a serious psychological impact on individuals. This also applies to teachers. Previous studies have also shown that 57% of teachers are considering changing their professions, which is partly because their well-being has been deteriorating. Positive psychology, in turn, has received more attention when it comes to students' well-being. The aim of this study is to investigate what role positive psychology can play in the promotion of teachers' well-being, with a specific focus on the well-being after the COVID-19 pandemic. Six (6) teachers in basic education in Finland participated in the study. They were interviewed through semi-structured interviews. The interviews were taped, transcribed and analyzed through a hermeneutic analysis method. The results showed that all teachers were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic and distance learning, although not all of them thought so themselves. What affected the teachers the most was the lack of social interaction and loneliness that the pandemic brought. The results also showed that the teachers in this study had good practices when it came to promoting their own well-being. These methods can be classified as methods belonging to positive psychology. Although teachers did not have good knowledge of what the concept of positive psychology means, these methods were used unconsciously.

Tavoitteet. Tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selvittää, millaisia käsityksiä opettajilla on ongelmanratkaisun opettamisesta ja kuinka paljon ongelmanratkaisua opetetaan. Ongelmanratkaisua pidetään julkisessa keskustelussa tärkeänä taitona tulevaisuuden työelämän kannalta. Kuitenkaan suomalaisessa peruskoulussa ongelmanratkaisu ei ole yleistynyt keskeiseksi osaksi matematiikan opetusta, vaikka ongelmanratkaisu onkin ollut opetussuunnitelmassa yli kolmekymmentä vuotta. Opettajan toimintatapoja ohjaa opetussuunnitelmaakin voimakkaammin opettajan käsitykset ja uskomukset. Tarkoituksena on selvittää, millaisia käsityksiä opettajilla on ongelmanratkaisun opettamisesta, mitkä tekijät vaikuttavat ongelmanratkaisun opettamisen määrään sekä miten opettajien käsitykset vaikuttavat ongelmanratkaisun opettamisessa koettuihin vaikeuksiin. Menetelmät. Tutkimus toteutettiin monimenetelmällisenä kyselytutkimuksena. Aineistona käytetiin 160 suomalaisen alakoulun opettajan vastauksia kyselyyn, joka toteutettiin osana suomalaissaksalaista tutkimusprojektia. Aineistoa analysoitiin sekä kvalitatiivisin että kvantitatiivisin menetelmin, tarkoituksena kuvata opettajien käsityksiä ongelmanratkaisun opettamisesta, ja toisaalta myös selittää eroja opettajien käsitysten välillä. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset. Puolet opettajista kertoi käsittelevänsä ongelmanratkaisua opetuksessaan ainakin kerran viikossa. Opettajan taustatekijöillä ei ollut vaikutusta ongelmanratkaisun opetuksen määrään. Tutkimuksen aineiston perusteella osa opettajista pitää sanallisia rutiinitehtäviä ongelmatehtävinä. Siksi tutkimuksen perusteella ei voida päätellä, kuinka paljon ongelmanratkaisua todellisuudessa opetetaan alakouluissa. Opettajat kokivat erityisesti ajan ja tehtävien puutteen vaikeuttavan ongelmanratkaisun opetusta. Noin viisi kuudesta opettajasta koki ongelmanratkaisun opetukseen liittyvän runsaasti erilaisia vaatimuksia niin oppilaiden kuin opettajan asenteeseen ja osaamiseen.

Teachers’ well-being at work is an important factor for both teachers themselves and school community. This Master’s Thesis focuses on teachers’ well-being at work in a certain elementary school in Helsinki Metropolitan Area during one school year. Aim of the research was to find out 1) level of teachers’ well-being at work during one school year, 2) which factors teachers find decreasing their well-being at work, 3) which factors teachers find supporting their well-being at work. The level of well-being at work is measured by five different factors: stress, strain caused by teaching and guiding, burnout, work engagement and meaningfulness of the work. The research is a mixed methods case study. The level of teachers’ well-being at work was studied through quantitative data and both decreasing and supporting factors of well-being at work was studied through qualitative data. The quantitative data was analysed by studying statistics and averages and the qualitative data was analysed by tools of data-driven and theory-driven content analysis. Research material consists of answers of questionnaires which measure teachers’ well-being at work. The material was collected as a part of ”KILO Työhyvinvointia / KILO Well-being at work” -project during school year 2022–2023. The project was funded by OAJ’s Occupational Wellbeing Fund (Trade Union of Education, Työhyvinvointirahasto), Finnish Basic Education Unit of city of Espoo and Elementary School of Kilo. Findings of the research show that teachers’ well-being at work was on relatively good level during the whole school year. Amount of stress, strain caused by teaching and guiding and burnout remained at reasonable level and at the same time experiences of work engagement and meaningfulness of the work were strong. Factors that especially decreased teacher’ well-being at work were different demands towards the work of a teacher and pressure as well as pupils and teaching group. Most often mentioned demands towards the work of a teacher were tasks outside of teaching work, amount of the work and lack of time. Among factors that put a strain on teachers and were connected to pupils and teaching group were mentioned behaviour of pupils and pupils that need support, and tasks related to this supportive work. The study shows that the most important factors that increased teachers’ well-being at work were delimitation of the work, work community and support it can offer, as well as focusing and investing in both physical and mental well-being. Results of the research indicate that it is important to focus on teachers’ well-being at work also in the future. This Master’s Thesis produces important information about factors that cause stress and strain in teachers’ work, and which should be taken into account. In addition to this, research points out factors that teachers can use, in order to support their well-being at work.