Browsing by study line "General and Adult Education"

Aims. Research has shown that self-esteem predicts success and well-being in important areas of life, such as relationships, work, and health. Thus, it is important to study self-esteem, its development and the factors that influence its development. Parents have a major influence on adolescents’ self-esteem and good relationships between adolescents and parents have been found to be associated with adolescents’ higher self-esteem. Only little research has been done on the association of the adolescent-parent relationship with a person's self-esteem in middle age. The first aim of this study was to investigate whether the adolescent-parent relationship is associated with self-esteem at age 16. The second aim was to find out how the quality of the adolescent-parent relationship predicts the self-esteem of the subjects at age of 52, considering the level of self-esteem in adolescence. Methods. The data is part of the Stress, Development and Mental Health (TAM) research project of the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare. The data has been collected when the respondents were 16, 22, 32, 42 and 52 years old. In this study, data collected in 1983 and 2019 were used when the subjects were 16 (N=2194) and 52 (N=1160) years old. The variables used in the analyses were conflict proneness, closeness and trust, and self-esteem. Research questions about the associations between adolescent-parent relationships and self-esteem at age 16 and 52 were answered using stepwise linear regression analysis. Results and Conclusions. The study found that the adolescent-parent relationship was associated with self-esteem in adolescence (at age 16) and predicted self-esteem in middle age (at age 52), when the level of self-esteem in adolescence was considered. From the aspects of the adolescent-parent relationship, it stood out that girls showed a stronger association of conflict proneness with lower self-esteem and boys showed a stronger association of parental trust with higher self-esteem and a stronger association of conflict proneness with lower self-esteem. In middle age, women showed a stronger association of closeness in the adolescent-parent relationship with higher self-esteem, while men showed a stronger association of parental trust with higher self-esteem. The results suggest that a good adolescent-parent relationship is associated with good self-esteem in adolescence, but also with higher self-esteem development to middle age. A key factor behind good adolescent-parent relationships is effective and trusting communication - this could also be a potential area for development in interventions.

Aims. This study investigated what kind of emotions work-life evokes in young adults. The aim of the study was to get a full picture on young adults’ emotions that were focused on their work-life. Theory of psychological construction of emotions and emotions circumplex- model was used as the main theoretical framework. Complexity in the concept of emotions makes it challenging subject to study. Emotions in the area of work-life have been studied in the field of organizational psychology, and in these studies the research has focused on examining emotions connected to work engagement or burnout. However, no previous studies exist concerning young adults’ emotions towards work or work-life. Methods. This study is a part of longitudinal FinEdu (Finnish Educational Transitions) study. Young adults’ emotions were examined with an open question which was presented to the research subjects (N=551). The participants were 27-28 years old young adults. The responses were categorized and merged to the circumplex- model of emotions. Results and conclusions. Thirty emotion categories were formed based on young adults’ responses (e.g. joy, anxiety, hope), and 27 of them ended up to the final analysis and as a part of circumplex- model of emotions. In addition, 4 upper categories formed the circumplex- model, which was further divided into 11 lower categories. Work-life raised more positive activating emotions in young adults’ that any other upper categories. The most common emotions that young adults reported were positive activating emotions, such as general positive emotions, joy and excitement. However, young adults also experienced negative activating emotions, such as stress, anxiety and fear. Concerning deactivating emotions, the most common were tiredness or feelings of burnout/exhaustion. As a conclusion, todays’ work-life raised mostly positive activating emotions, and some negative and/or mixed emotions. Negative and mixed emotions can result from todays’ uncertain and demanding work culture. In the future, organizations should invest to the health and wellbeing of young employees.

Young people's democratic participation has sparked extensive discussions both globally and nationally in the recent years. Previous research suggests that in the strategies of global actors such as the EU and OECD regarding urban and youth policies, young people's democratic par-ticipation is strongly linked to the premises of the labor market and active citizenship. The the-sis politicizes institution-driven practices of engaging youth and provides tools for those work-ing with youth participation issues to question public administration's hidden normative goals and practices. In my master's thesis, I examined the globally advocated notion of youth participation as orient-ed towards labor and business, viewing it as a neoliberal governance endeavor. From this per-spective, I investigated the form that this notion, promoted by global actors, takes in youth par-ticipation systems at the municipal level in Finland. The research data was derived from the ac-tion plan of the Ruuti participation system aimed at young people in Helsinki, which I critically analyzed using a perspective influenced by Michel Foucault's thinking on governance analytics. Guided by the theoretical framework of the action plan, I analyzed discourses to understand the types of governance they enable and the subjectivities and practices they produce about young people. Based on the analysis, the Ruuti action plan generated a new form of governance thinking and a subjectivity derived from neoliberal governance, namely that of an active consultant-learner who is flexible and adept at functioning in networks as an active citizen. For this subjectivity, self-assessment of one's actions, drafting action plans, evaluating their implementation, and continuous skills development are inherent parts of participation and influence. As a further re-search suggestion, I propose examining the discourses and subjectivity extracted from the Ruuti action plan at the level of practical activities through ethnographic research. Additionally, addi-tional data could be generated to understand the rationales of various stakeholders regarding youth participation.

Goals. The aim of this study was to investigate how problematic use of digital technology is associated with school well-being and general psychological well-being of middle school students. The data was collected as part of the Bridging the Gaps research project, which examines students' diverse learning habits, use of digital technology, and well-being. The study examined associations between problematic use of digital technology and three dimensions of well-being: school engagement, school burnout, and depressive symptoms. Previous research has shown that there is a link between school burnout and depressive symptoms, but no similar link has been found with school engagement. The purpose of this study is to complement and strengthen previous knowledge of the phenomenon and contribute to the ongoing discussion about the terminology and methods in this rapidly changing research field. Methods. The data for the study was collected from comprehensive schools in Helsinki in the autumn of 2019. The participants (N=674, 55.9 % girls, 41.5 % boys, 2.2 % other, 0.3 % missing) were seventh graders. Associations between problematic use of digital technology, school engagement and burnout, and depressive symptoms were examined using linear regression analysis. Gender differences were further investigated using variance analysis. Results and Conclusions. In this study, problematic use of digital technology was statistically significantly associated with all dimensions examined. The association to school-engagement was negative. There were no gender differences in academic motivation, however, the link between school burnout and depressive symptoms was stronger among girls compared to boys. The results support previous research concerning the associations between problematic use of digital technology and well-being of young people. In the future, more diverse and conceptually consistent research on this topic is needed.

The purpose of this Master's Thesis was to find out the views and experiences of teachers with emotional and interactive skills about the role of a teacher in a traditional school. Underlying the study was previous research on how the dominance of the student-teacher relationship is questioned when teachers study emotional and interaction skills. At the same time, the teacher also becomes more aware of his or her own position and role in the school. Indeed, the theoretical part, which deals with the role of the school, the role of the teacher, and the manifestation of socio-emotional skills in the general school discourse, leads to this research. The study was conducted by interviewing eight teachers with NVC or Nonviolent Communication skills. NVC is one of the emotional and interaction trainings available to teachers, and with it made it possible to limit the research to a specific and concrete method of emotional and interaction skills. The interviews were conducted as thematic interviews in January-February 2020, and their analysis was done by means of discourse analysis. The analysis focuses on how the interviewees use different teacher positions in the interview situation. All teacher positions produced in the interview speech have been classified and presented prior to the actual analysis. Traditionally, the integration of emotional and interaction skills into schools uses the so-called utility discourse. In this research it came up that the teachers interviewed did not refer in their speech to the superficial utility discourse but justified the use of NVC in the context and its meaning. Indeed, NVC and its humanistic values emerged in the first analysis of the interview speech. However, the second interview speech analysis revealed how utility discourse and empirical discourse eventually were highlighted in the speech of the teachers interviewed. In the end, NVC itself left space mainly for teachers to cope at work, which can be seen as representing the typical therapeutic ethos of our time, i.e that individuals have to shape themselves to manage the consequences of structural problems, for example for their own (work) well-being. With the results, the study finally considers change and where there is room for it. When teachers are influenced by educational policy discourses in which economic benefits and efficiency play a guiding role, individual choices and decisions do not always seem to work. Indeed, research ultimately puts the teacher's agency in the limelight.

Goals. The aim of this study was to examine the occupational well-being of Finnish primary school teachers in the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020 by viewing their work engagement and basic psychological needs. This study also examines teachers’ self-assessed digital skills and gender connection to work engagement. Earlier studies indicate that there is a positive connection between teachers’ work engagement (vigor, dedication and absorption) and basic psychological needs (autonomy, competence and relatedness). Methods. Data is a part of the national Bridging the Gaps -research and teachers have answered to it anonymously in spring 2020. The data included 717 primary school teachers of which 613 were women (85%) and 101 men (14%). Age of the participants varied between 23 and 65. The data was analyzed using correlation and hierarchical regression analysis. Results and conclusions. The results showed that autonomy and competence were positively associated with vigor, dedication and absorption. Relatedness was not associated with vigor, dedication and absorption. High digital skills were associated with vigor. Women experienced higher level of work engagement than men. In the future, would be important to promote teachers feeling of relatedness since fulfilling basic psychological needs should support their work engagement.

The aim of this study was to examine what kind of motivational groups can be identified in vocational education students, whether these groups differ in terms of school engagement and school burnout, and if so, how. In order to improve the completion of education and prevent dropping out, it is important to be able to target support measures effectively. With the reform of vocational education, teachers' efforts have shifted from group-based contact teaching to the planning of individualized curricula. Therefore, secondary goal of the study was what kind of students would prefer to study in their own familiar group and for which students individualized study programs are important. The data used was obtained through an online questionnaire in the autumn of 2019, the participants were students at a vocational college in southern Finland (N=786). Well-being was measured by school engagement with the OKI and RAPS instruments, school burnout with the BBI-10 and motivation with the achievement goal orientation instrument. In addition to variable-centric methods, a person-centered approach was utilized to obtain information about students’ individual profiles and how the groups formed differed. Four motivation groups were identified: mastery-oriented, success-oriented, indifferent and avoidance-oriented. Differences between groups in school engagement and school burnout were examined using the Kruskal-Wallis U-test. According to the study, the different motivation groups showed significant statistical differences in terms of school engagement, with the highest engagement being mastery- and success-oriented and the least engagement in indifferent and avoidance-oriented students. Similarly, they differ in terms of school burnout: the mastery-oriented students experience the least school-burnout and avoidance-oriented students the most. There is no difference in the desire to study in the same familiar group between different motivation groups, as the majority of students in all groups would like to do so. Individual study programs are the most important for students who are mastery or success-oriented, strongly engaged to school, and experience the least school burnout. Based on the results, it would seem to be an advantage for schools to identify students who are motivated, school engaged or burnt-out in different ways. Avoidance or indifferent orientation, poor school engagement and school burnout may accumulate for the same students. It might be reasonable to offer support measures to these students. The results also support the idea that differently motivated students benefit from different kinds of support. For example, the indifferent and the avoidance-oriented would benefit from a greater effort to promote engagement to school, while the success-oriented should be counselled towards the joy of learning for the sake of learning.

The purpose of the present multiple case study was to examine how highly regarded expert consultants specialised in design and development of digital products and services, reflect on the nature of their professional expertise. The study focused, further, on qualitatively tracing personal social networks of the key experts and their ways of developing and cultivating their expertise in their network-centric organization. Organizational consultancy is creative knowledge work taking place at inter-organizational contact zones. Because technological and social innovations are interdependent, consult work is closely related to organizational learning, transformation, and change. The theoretical foundations of the study were provided by Senge’s theory of learning organisations, Nonaka’s theory of knowledge-creating companies, Engeström’s theory of expansive learning, and theories of social networks. The study was carried out within a Finnish consultancy company, developing digital systems for supporting public and private organizations in transformation of their workflows and practices. Interviewees for this study were selected by asking employees of the organization to nominate colleagues who they see to be experts in consulting and team-building. Two people who gained the most mentions in each skill area were invited to take part in the study, whom all agreed. Interviews were conducted via video call. Beyond background information, the participants were asked to reflect on the nature of their own expertise, active efforts of developing expertise and building of personal network. They were also asked to report critical incidents they saw to have a positive impact on the development of expertise. A personal network was drawn by the experts with the instructions of the interviewer, using an infinity board tool, and analysed qualitatively. Gathered data was first coded and then analyzed by relying on qualitative analysis of content. The results indicated that each expert consultant had unique and sophisticated expertise, and it was connected to their professional identity. The results revealed that the experience years of the experts were a relevant factor while considering how confident the experts were with their own expertise. Experts felt that both skills were difficult to define but they appeared to value similar aspects while defining these skills. Experts appeared to learn the most while working on a project. The significance of mentors was also important, especially in the early phases of a career. Different challenges and solving them with various methods appeared to be significant in developing consulting and team-building skills. The size of the personal network emerged not to be the determinant factor of the development of expertise. Experience and current work description appeared to affect what kind of personal connections experts value. Each expert approached the active development of one's skills differently, and only one expert felt that he was not actively developing his skills. Challenges regarding the cultivation of these skills appeared to relate to communication and unclear career paths. The expertise of consultants is a complex entity. It comes to life in the processes and conventions between consultants, clients, and organizations. The origin of this expertise is hard to track, and it requires time and effort to build it. This study scratched the surface of how experienced consultants develop and cultivate their skills. Shedding light on this matter is necessary so that the steps to begin further examination become visible.

Finnish school choice policy is primarily an urban phenomenon. In practice, it is only possible in a few municipalities that have sufficient infrastructure for school markets. The municipalities in the capital region in particular face challenges of growing segregation manifested in socio-economic disparities, residential areas, and schools. The municipalities in the capital region have ended up with very different solutions when evaluating the most suitable school choice environment for their respective municipalities. One significant recent factor in shaping the current state of Finnish school choice policy is the Basic Education Act of 1999, which has partly enabled the development of various school choice environments between municipalities. The focus of the study is on the types of solutions that have been made in the municipalities of the capital region regarding the school choice environment, the desired future of the school choice environment in the municipalities, and how these goals are justified. For my Master's thesis, I used interview data collected in the School Markets and Segregation - The Societal Cost of School Choice research project. The data is the most recent interview material available, and it includes interviews with educational policy actors in the capital region. A total of nine educational policy actors from the capital region were interviewed for the study. Of the interviewees, three hold senior positions in metropolitan municipalities, three are in administrative positions in different municipalities, and three are members of municipal education boards. In analyzing the interview data, I employed two concepts by Kenneth Burke: "the Idea of the Negative" and the "Dramatistic Pentad" as analytical tools. Overall, the school choice environments in the examined municipalities differed from each other, and the current school choice environment seemed to be linked to the desired future school choice environments in the municipalities. The new frameworks for school choice environments formulated by the interviewees in the interview data varied to some extent based on the current school choice environment in the municipalities. The new frameworks for school choice environments outlined by the municipalities differed from each other. However, despite the current frameworks for school choice environments, there were a few common aspects that connected all municipalities regarding the new frameworks as well. None of the municipalities desired the public disclosure of school-specific learning outcomes or a completely unrestricted and unregulated new school choice environment.

For decades, the Finnish education sector has suffered from a lack of qualified early child-hood education (ECE) teachers. If qualified applicants are not available, it is possible to deviate from the eligibility requirements and recruit an unqualified applicant. One of the reasons behind the shortage of labour is the stature and appeal of the profession. Although the im-portance of ECE is widely recognized, frequent changes to its requirements and core func-tions have affected the stature and education of the staff. In fields with shortage for qualified labour, the competition between employers naturally intensifies. This increases the importance of employer branding and well-functioning recruitment process, and some employers attract more applicants than others. This Master's thesis examines how employer branding can be seen in recruitment announcements and what expectations the announcements set for the applicant. The thesis also identifies some of the key challenges faced in the recruitment by the day-care managers and different approaches to facing them. For the thesis, 31 recruitment announcements for ECE teacher’s position were analysed. The announcements were collected from the website of the Ministry of Employment and the Economy and from the recruitment service for the Helsinki metropolitan area. From the analysed announcements, four recruiting day-care managers were selected for interviews for deeper insight into the process. The announcements showed a lot of variation both in terms of content and length. Some announcements did not include any information about the job or requirements for the applicant. In the interviews, managers' responses highlighted challenges with labour shortages and different approaches to overcome those. A diverse perspective to recruitment as well as the manager's own actions in the process can affect the number of applicants. Careful preparation of the recruitment notice, together with creating a smooth recruitment process from the applicant’s viewpoint are critical in a sector suffering from labour shortage.