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Clothes play an important role in development of person’s identity. Children’s clothes build identi-ties of both children and their parents’. Clothes are one way of communication. Brand clothes might have different message than clothes that you can buy in any store. Some might think that the price and quality go together. Recycling brings another view to cloth’s qualities; how ethical and ecological clothes are. Internet allows people to recycle and interact in any time and place. Children’s clothing, especially branded, might invoke some discussion and opinions amongst par-ents. Children’s brand clothes are fascinating and at the same time those might make you irritat-ed. There are lots of researches about children’s clothing, branding of children’s clothing and par-ents’ consumption to children; conspicuous consumption. Most of the previous studies have been conducted as qualitative interview studies. This study investigates who are recycling children’s brand clothes, what kind of opinions parents have about children’s brand clothes and why they are recycling children’s brand clothes in the internet. This study is a quantitative internet survey. Study method was selected in order to find out how bigger amount of responses reflect the results of previous qualitative studies. Study was made in the tide of 2017 and 2018. Quantitative data was total of 566 answers from which 557 were includ-ed and analyzed with statistical software SPSS 25. In addition to quantitative questions survey had some open questions which gave deeper insight to the results. Results of this study give an insight of how parents, especially mothers are very interested and highly informed about children’s brand clothes. Usage and recycling of children’s brand clothes is seen as an ethical and ecological choice. Parents say that they recycle children’s brand clothes based on their children’s needs. When parents think about usage of brand clothes on other par-ents’ children they think it might be only because they want to be seen.

From an ecological perspective, school can be seen as a protective factor for students with adverse home conditions. Although previous theory and research show that the school has potential for supporting students with adverse home conditions, research shows that there are challenges in how this works in practice. The aim of this research is to examine what methods school staff use to identify students with adverse home conditions, find out how school staff experience their role when meeting these students and how the multi-professional collaboration is implemented in schools when supporting students with adverse home conditions. This is a qualitative research. Semi-structured interview was used as a method. 1 principal, 1 special class teacher, 4 class teachers and 1 school counselor shared their experiences. The informants worked in Swedish-language schools in Southern Finland. Data from the interviews were analyzed through thematic analysis. Being observant was perceived as a prerequisite for identifying students with adverse home conditions. According to the informants, it is easier to identify these students when students show changes in behavior, they become anxious and are acting out. It is more difficult to identify adverse home conditions in students who are quiet, calm, and independent. Respectful approach was experienced as important with both students and parents of students with adverse home conditions. Creating trust in students and parents was perceived as a prerequisite for successful collaboration and something the school should put effort into. There was a lot of local variation regarding how the informants experienced the multi-professional collaboration. The results of this study emphasize that the role of the teacher is significant for a student with adverse home conditions. The results of the study also show that a good contact with the home, which is based on mutual respect and trust, is significant when it comes to supporting students with adverse home conditions.

The goal of the research was to examine how a beginner learns when he/she joins a new community. As theoretical context I used Jean Lave's and Etienne Wenger's theory about Communities of Practice, according which learning will occur when a beginner gradually turns into a full member of the community. The research problems were: how and what team members talk about, how they build and maintain culture in the community and what kind of a significance it has for a beginner's ability to learn. I collected the research material through observing and recording speech during practice and games of a women's floorball team in autumn of 2013. In addition I interviewed three players. Two of whom were beginners and one that had played floorball for several years. The material was analyzed by using methods of discourse analysis. The research material shows that the players' views about learning process of a beginner and what influences it is similar to Lave's and Wenger's ideas. It was seen as very important for learning for the beginner to be able to observe and gradually attend activities in the community of practice. For this to be possible the beginner has to be committed to the community and on the other hand the community has to give the beginner justification to attend all common activities. According to results the community which was in the focus of my research should give a beginner more space and opportunities to attend conversations between team members to be able to create the best possible circumstances for the beginner to learn. The results of the research are adaptable to any kind of community of practice.

The main subject of this Master Thesis is to study the importance created by the expat parents towards schools which operate abroad and serve Finnish language studies for expat children. This research is strongly theory based, where parenthood, Finnish-expats and the dimensions of Finnish-schools operating abroad is studied. The main goal has been to understand the meaning of Finnish-schools abroad to expat-families. There is only limited amount of previous studies concerning Finnish-schools abroad, so there has been a clear research gap. The topic was investigated by electronic surveys, where parents could freely tell about their experiences and feelings about the Finnish-schools abroad, under the guidance of the researcher. This research is qualitative in nature and the research method has been hermeneutic. Data was collected from 11 parents, whose children study at Amsterdam's Finnish School during the spring 2016. On top of that, researcher has been present in Amsterdam's Finnish School in order to understand the topic better. The results from the study are in with the research questions. Parents felt that the importance of Finnish School is mainly social, for both themselves and for the children. Finnish School was seen as a social environment, from which it was possible to find Finnish-speaking friends and also to communicate in Finnish. Cultural and linguistic education was also part of the results but it was seen less important than the social-aspect. It was also found that parents do a lot of voluntary work for Finnish School and everyone wanted to participate to these activities. It can be seen from the results that the importance of Finnish School to parents is very high. Through the Finnish School the Finnish-culture and language could be maintained through the whole family and the school also provided peer support. These were also aspects, which help Finnish-expats to maintain their mother-tongue and to cherish their cultural identity, within both children and adults. Finally, it could be concluded that investing to Finnish Schools and maintaining those schools is very important part of supporting the Finnish expats.

In this research the technical functionality, quality and demands made on endurance runners' running suits in winter conditions were studied. The aim was also to find out how smart clothing and wearable technology are adopted in endurance runners' practise. Referring to previous studies the subject was approached in the theoretical part by studying the profile of endurance running, sports wear and the technology to wear as well as the smart clothing from the point of view of endurance running. The basis of subject was the interest of smart materials and the connection between technical structures and functionality. In the science of handicrafts smart clothing is rarely researched which made it even more interesting for the author. This research was carried out by the principles of the usability research. Usability means the suitability of product to its intended meaning. In the research both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. Researched persons were active competitive long-distance runners and also the long-distance runners doing it as a hobby, 35 male and 12 female runners. User information was gathered by the internet forms which mainly was based on the multiple choices but also included few open questions. Gathered information was considered by using both quantitative and content analysing methods. The functional long-distance running practice suit in winter conditions consisted of layered look which considered the possibilities of functional and smart materials. The Practise suit was humid transformable, easy care and light also comfortable to wear. These suits were hoped to be more functional than the current ones. The future running suit was described to not to feel or notice during running. It will not be too tight or sweltering. The functional abilities of clothing materials were believed to be developed further more. Even if the new technical materials are adopted for the running suits the technology to wear is not even though half of the researched runners used pulse indicators. The runners hoped the technology to wear to change more invisible and easier to use. Some of the runners wished the technology to wear to be integrated straight to the clothes which would reduce the number of devices carried with while running. The rare use of Polar Adidas AdiStar Fusion practise system and some other similar systems for endurance running was surprising. According to the results the smart clothing would not make a big brake through in the near future. In the point of view of the researched persons developing of clothing materials was a good and necessary thing, but integrating too much technology to the hobby smears the main purpose of sports and focuses wrongly on the metres and others minors .

There is very little research on the effects of memory illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) on the linguistic performance of congenitally deaf sign language users. With spoken language users the effects of AD are often first found in semantics and pragmatics. Deteriorated naming skills are often an early symptom of AD. As the disease progresses the linguistic skills are widely affected and communicating becomes difficult. When studying sign language users results have shown that people with AD have corresponding difficulties of comprehending and producing signed language as spoken language users with Dementia have with spoken language. The aim of this research was to study how two Finnish Sign Language (FSL) users with AD perform in object and action naming tests. The participants were evaluated with the Boston Naming Test (BNT) and the Action Naming Test (ANT) in two consecutive years. Of each performance, the researcher recorded the total score, the number of immediate answers, the time the participant spent on the task and how the answers were given. An analysis of naming errors was made. As a result it was noted that both object and action naming skills of the participants deteriorated as Dementia progressed. Action naming skill were less affected than object naming skill. The participants made more errors and gave less immediate responses in the BNT than in the ANT. Both the signed responses and the method of answering varied with the FSL users with a memory illness: the answers were given either in varying signs, by speaking only or by both speaking and signing simultaneously, or with signs created spontaneously in test situation. Most of the errors were Other errors, especially "I don't know" –answers in both tests. As a result of this study it is clear that there is a need for assessment tests which have been translated into sign language, since the existing naming tests are not necessarily suitable for testing signed language users without a culturally-sensitive translation. This study is the first longitudinal study in Finland focusing on evaluating Finnish Sign Language users with Dementia and the changes in their linguistic skills. It is also one of the first studies internationally on the linguistic changes of sign language users with a memory illness.

Aims. This study aims to find out what kind of views vocational teachers working on second level have about their job, entrepreneurship education and actualizing entrepreneurship education. Previous research has shown many changes in vocational teaching during past decades. Changes in labour market have made entrepreneurship education more significant in education. Research questions are: 1) What kind of challenges does vocational teaching include?, 2) What kind of views do vocational teachers have on entrepreneurship education? and 3) How is entrepreneurship education part of vocational teaching? Methods. Data for this study was collected by semi-structured interviews during spring 2010. Five second level vocational teachers working in South Savo were interviewed. One of the interviewees no longer worked on second level education. Research material was analyzed by qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions. Teachers experienced two kinds of challenges in their work. Firstly challenges rose from heterogeneity among students and big role of "raising" the students (e.g. good behaviour). Secondly challenges were caused by changes in work and lack of resources. Entrepreneurship education was viewed as necessary and beneficial, and it was part of teaching in forms of learning contents, teaching methods and learning environments. As a term entrepreneurship education was viewed problematic since it is often misunderstood as entrepreneur education (how to be an entrepreneur). For entrepreneurship education to be implemented in all teaching, should the aims and practices of entrepreneurship education be clarified to all teachers.

This qualitative study examined professional agency during teacher studies in the context of part time special education. The study aims to answer following questions: How does professional agency occur in the context of practical training in teacher studies? What kind of dimensions does professional agency consist of and how do these dimensions relate to each other? Agency can broadly be described as an ability to act intentionally defined by autonomy, will, freedom and choice. Professional agency occurs when professional subjects make choices, use their possibilities to influence and take a stand in ways that effect their work and professional identities. Professional agency is implemented purposefully, and it is defined by dynamic factors of the workplace. Professional agency does not occur merely as accommodation to external demands but also as realistic and critical understanding of personal boundaries and acting in accordance with them. Professional agency has been suggested as a tool for teachers to face educational reforms as it has been seen to enable cultivation of new work forms. Previous research claims that teachers’ agency should be defined in more detail. Teacher training and first years at work are significant phases in cultivating professional agency, yet research in this context is narrow. In addition, Finnish studies regarding part time special education are few. Research material consisted of 13 reports written by teacher students. Reports were produced as a part of the compulsory practical training in the pedagogical studies of special education teacher training between spring 2020 – fall 2021. The study was conducted using qualitative theory driven content analysis. In the context of special education practical training professional agency manifested in four dimensions that were agency in the workplace framework, agency in the immediate social community, agency as identity work and agency as emotional work. Furthermore, professional agency occurred in two levels, community level and individual level, within which agency has divergent goals. At the community level professional agency appeared to aim for a functional work community and pupils’ learning. At the individual level it appeared to aim for teacher students’ professional development and personal wellbeing. Results suggest that interaction in the immediate social community and emotional factors are central to the enactment of professional agency. Results are in accordance with previous studies that claim professional agency to manifest in the framework of dynamic factors at both community level and individual level. The results of this study suggest that more research on the relation between community and individual level as well as on the importance of immediate social community and emotional factors are needed.

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.

The reform of vocational upper secondary education is mentioned to be one of the biggest development project in the field of education in Finland. It targeted to transform and update vocational upper secondary education comprehensively for instance by renewing funding system and reducing the amount of vocational qualifations. My main focus was in the questions of equality in this project and I used Capability approach as a tool for that. Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum have introduced the approach and they argue that societies that are seeking equality should offer the basic capabilities for all citizens. Inequality and deprivation are seen as an outcome of lacking enough capabilities. In Finland the approach is a new way of viewing the aspects of equality in education. One of the goals in this thesis was to figure out what are the capabilities that vocational education has to offer. The field of vocational education is wide. I focused on the viewpoint of young people who are studying vocational upper secondary qualifications. The aim of this master’s thesis is to examine how the changes that influence on younger students are constructed in the speech of reforms development phase and how the capabilities are constructed in the speech, especially the capabilities that vocational education offers to young students. The Ministry of education and culture have launched a YouTube-channel that shares video material on the current projects in education. I used the material on the reform of vocational education as the data of this research. The material includes videos that introduce the guidelines of reform and shared conversation of them. Material also shows recordings from the workshops that were held during the development process. Experts on vocational education were participated in the development phase and the data is based on their speech in recorded workshops. I analysed the data using discourse analysis. As a result I constructed five hegemonic discourses that were improved competence, educational market, individuality, offered abilities and offered possibilities. In these discourses were constructed a future where young students will be able to achieve enough capabilities and better competence, although there were many aspects of equality that weren’t discussed at all. Conclusions of this theses is that equality in vocational education still needs attention.