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(2017)Objectives. The media has the power to define and modify our thoughts and speeches. One of the bases of this study was a theory which states that media acts as an intermediary, for example between decision-makers, teachers and parents. Mass communication has the power to create an arena of social interaction in which we all communicate, create values and form social groups. Thanks to our media culture, our curriculum has also become mediated into our society. The research objective was to find out what kind of information Helsingin Sanomat newspaper tells about the National core curriculum for basic education 2014. The author searched for things that were highlighted in the media coverage of the reform and the perspective that the reforms were presented. Methods. The research materials were 120 newspaper articles. The articles were published in Helsingin Sanomat between 3.11.2011 and 30.5.2017. Those were mainly news and opinion articles. Articles were found in Helsingin Sanomat online archive with researchers own account. The material was categorized for analysis based on themes and critical media literacy. It was divided into to four themes: process, economic, change and learning speech. Process speech focused on the administrative and political aspects of curriculum work, economic speech on economic aspects related on the curriculum, change speech to the social changes underlying the curriculum and the learning speech in everything from learning to school. The usage and the language of the themes were analyzed with discourse. Results and conclusions. The curriculum discourse in Helsingin Sanomat focused on the change and learning speech. Newspapers curriculum was oriented towards the future. It was represented as very digital, communal and beneficial reform. As a conclusion can be said that the Helsingin Sanomat news defines the new curriculum changes as innovated, digital and challenging. It has high expectations. Changes in the curriculum plan are expected to have an impact particularly on the coordination of theory and practice and on the way that members of the school community will be able to work in the future.
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(2024)The aim of the study is to enhance understanding of the construction of multispecies motivated educational consciousness and how knowledge, emotions, and relationships with bees can concretize this construction. The term multispecies and the associated term animal turn refer to a paradigm shift in which other animals are no longer seen as resources available to humans, but as historical and intrinsic beings. Multispecies thinking assumes interdependence between species. Multispecies educational consciousness enables not only the consideration of worldviews and ethics, but also the implementation of multispecies pedagogy. The study falls within the realm of theoretical and conceptual research, with an emphasis on a hermeneutic research approach. Through methodological hermeneutic interpretation, the framework of the study was constructed from the perspectives of multispecies and educational consciousness. The synthesis of multispecies and educational consciousness frameworks in the study not only guided the hermeneutic interpretation of the research, but also supplied a ready-made hermeneutic spiral for the development of individual teachers' educational consciousness. In the light of the study, multispecies thinking and education are not seen as ending anthropocentrism, but rather as a transforming force. Multispecies educational consciousness is developed through diverse ways of knowing, meeting, feeling, staying with, and speaking to other species. Based on this research, it can be argued that the development of multispecies educational consciousness is an important part of avoiding ecological catastrophe, addressing the eco-crisis, improving the rights of other animals in educational contexts, and generally diversifying one's worldview and relationship with the world. Further research is needed, especially on the following topics: university curricula as facilitators of multispecies motivated educational consciousness; the role of technology as a mediator between other animals and the world in the development of educational consciousness and multi-species pedagogy; and a more comprehensive understanding of the meanings of different forms of empathy as part of multispecies educational consciousness and pedagogy.
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(2016)The purpose of this study was to examine teachers' perceptions about their work in the context of integration training for adult immigrants. In Finland integration training is frequently put out to tender and immigrants' employment is emphasized in the goals of integration training, which reflect neoliberal politics. The theoretical framework of this study was based on theories about neoliberal governance, and my aim was to study teachers' narratives and show how neoliberal governance affects both students studying in integration training and teachers working there. The Finnish National Board of Education published a new framework for integration training in the spring of 2016, after I had already started this research process, and those frameworks became and an essential part in producing data and analysing it. My study was a qualitative research. I conducted six interviews with teachers who work in integration training for adult immigrants. I analysed the data with narrative methods. My main interest was in small stories the teachers told about their daily work, encounters with other people and future. Since integration training is going through extensive changes that affect teachers' work, I focused more on the future than on the past in teachers' stories. In the teachers' stories, neoliberal governance seemed to cause weakening of collectivity in integration training. Because of the new framework published for integration training, the learning environment is about to change and students will be learning more on the Internet, in work places and vocational institutes. The teachers were concerned about what kind of an impact more individualised study paths would have on language teaching and career counselling. For teachers, changing work environment, increasing vocational contents in curriculum and tendering indicated that they have to keep on educating themselves and be prepared to move from one teaching environment to another in the future. For immigrants, vocational education was one of the main factors that defined their worker citizenship, since in the new framework for integration training, vocational education is considered as the main asset in promoting labour market integration. However, in the teachers' stories, the most important factor that defined immigrants' worker citizenship was Finnish language skills, but teachers wanted to emphasize that immigrants should not be seen only as a workforce but individuals who have diverse and personal needs.
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(2019)People with a refugee background are much less likely to participate in higher education than the general population. As Finland seeks international competence, equity in higher education opportunities and an increase in the number of university graduates, the academic potential of many refugees remains unrecognized in contradictory ways of speaking and practices. This Master's thesis examines speech on refugees’ higher education and accounts that attempt to make the question of refugee access to higher education understandable. Research focuses on the foundations of social constructionism and the discursive analytical research tradition, whereby reality is seen constructed and renewed in systems of meaning structured in speech. Meaning systems arise in the research material through the concept of interpretative repertoire. The research material consists of 13 theme interviews collected for the EUCRITE project. Interviewees are staff from Aalto University learning services and from SIMHE services of two other Finnish universities, as well as students with a refugee background from Aalto University. As a result of the analysis of the data, six different interpretative repertoires were identified: victim repertoire, threat repertoire, individualistic repertoire, equality repertoire, utility repertoire and humanistic repertoire. Through analyzing the interrelationships and power relations between the repertoires, one can conclude that the most prevalent repertoires were those that define refugees as passive victims (victim repertoire), explain access to higher education as dependent upon individuals’ own activity and self-direction (individualistic repertoire), and ignore refugees’ starting points vis-à-vis higher education (equality repertoire). On the basis of the research results, it is worth asking how international knowledge potential becomes recognized. In addition, this leads us to question how the starting points of applicants with a refugee background could be taken into account in higher education institutions, not as a threat to equality but rather as a means to achieve it.
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(2020)Digital learning environments were introduced in the 1990s and have since then become a well-established part of today´s education. This study is written as the use of virtual learning environments increases rapidly, although it is still surrounded by challenges and uncertainty in regard to experiences, results and efficiency. Simultaneously, our society demands more of Finland´s educators than ever before, and the teaching staff is in greater need of support to manage the complexity of their work. The need for flexible, well-functioning in-service training was evident already at the beginning of the 2000s, which this study and the larger project are a response to. The aim of this study was to examine the efficiency of in-service training in a virtual context, to bring light to the challenges the participants still face, and to examine how the participants experience meaningful learning. The theoretical basis was Ausubel´s theory of meaningful learning, with additions by Jonassen as well as Ruokamo and Pohjolainen. The experience of meaningful learning was examined by five categories: commitment to teamwork, interest for the subject, discussion, professionalism and evaluation. The study is a part study in the LUMATIKKA-project, which is a cooperation between the Finnish National Agency for Education and a large number of universities. The data used in this study was gathered in 2018, through a survey sent out to participants in five courses within the project. The survey was completed three times per course to measure the experience of the participants and was filled out by N= 102 individuals. The statistical programme SPSS was used to process and analyse the material. The results showed that the participants had a positive experience in the LUMATIKKA-project, although the means of the categories commitment to teamwork and discussion declined during the courses. The participants who took part in the courses targeted at their specific school level were more satisfied than their colleagues in the general courses. No differences were found between the sexes. Differences were found in regard to age, showing that the younger participants were more negative than their older colleagues. Differences were found in regard to educational stage, stating that the teachers in grades 7-9 were more negative than their colleagues. Despite the differences in the sample, all participants were overall positive and stated that the courses felt meaningful to them. By offering well-functioning in-service training to teachers, we can support them in their profession and increase their competencies needed to educate the people of tomorrow.
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'Mennään metsään!' : aikuisopiskelijoiden odotuksia ja kokemuksia oppimisesta villivihanneskurssilla (2018)Aims. The usage of wild edible wild plants is trendy nowadays, affordable, healthy and ecological. This study focuses on how adult students during a course on wildedible plants of Helsingin työväenopisto experienced the course. The aim of the study is to collect information on what kind of expectations and learning experiences the participating students had. Methodology. This thesis is a case study. Empirical data were obtained by thematic interviews of the eight participants of the course. Additional data were collected by questionnaires which were handed out before and after the edible wild plants course. Results and conclusions. The edible wild plants course has a strong emphasis on co-operative, social and experiential learning, and it also provides the students with strong theoretical knowledge. The expectations and experiences of the course par-ticipants were partly similar to those of the course planner/researcher. The course participants had different kinds of learning objectives. Some of the course partici-pants took part with the aim to get new ideas for their daily cookery. Some of the participants wanted to learn how to recognise eatable plants in the wild. The learning objectives were fulfilled during the course. The use of edible wild plants in food preparation was regarded as a relatively easy and ecological way to diversify one’s diet. The participants’ understanding of their immediate surroundings improved and the interest in the use of ecological food increased. Ecosocial knowledge of course participants increased during the course. The course participants thought their friends and family how to use eatable plants. Some of the course participants want-ed to learn more about the subject after the course. Courses of wild edible plants are popular. The popularity of that type of courses are based partially on experiental learning in the woods.
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(2019)Pre-primary and early education can be seen as a very significant time period in child’s life. It has been addressed that there is a need for improving the curriculum for the continuation of pre-primary and early education. One of the most central forms of this development trend is the so called flexible pre-primary and early education. New development projects have started to emerge in Finland, with the goal of discovering new solutions for children’s early education. This research examines one of these projects. The task of this research is to describe what kind of experiences class teachers have about the “Alkuluokka” -development project that has been initiated in Southern Finland. The objective of this research was to survey the class teachers’ experiences and examine ways to improve the “Alkuluokka” -model based on that information. My research was a qualitative case study that examined the “Alkuluokka” -development project that was started in Southern Finnish municipality. The research was conducted by interviewing three class teachers in a semi-structured format. I analyzed the material using thematic analysis and visualized the results with thematic networks. “Alkuluokka” is a class form where pupils of pre-primary and early education are assigned to the same learning group. “Alkuluokka” can consist of both preschoolers and first- and second-graders. “Alkuluokka” is taught jointly by class teacher and kindergarten teacher. The main themes for describing the class teachers’ experiences were the following: teaching in the “Alkuluokka”, learning in the “Alkuluokka”, and improving the “Alkuluokka” model. The class teachers’ experiences were very favourable and they felt positively about collaborative teaching. They also deemed the opportunity for individual advancements in studies as one of the major advantages of “Alkuluokka”. It was noted that communality and peer learning are well emphasized in the model. Class teachers raised some questions about the administrative sector.
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(2016)Aims. The purpose of this research study was to examine the different kind of learning experiences mentors experience during a mentorship and how these experiences influence the mentor's way of working as a kindergarten teacher and as a member of the working community. Previous research has shown that during a mentorship both the mentee and the mentor learn. However, the contents of the mentors learning are yet to be discovered in greater detail. There is hardly any research on how being a mentor influences on one's work. While there is some research done on mentoring teachers, research concerning the mentorship of kindergarten teachers is very limited. This research study was done as part of the University of Helsinki project Koulutuksesta valmistuminen ja työssä pysyminen lastentarhanopettajan työuralla. Methods. This study is a qualitative case study with a phenomenological approach. The data was collected in two different stages. The first half of the data was collected by the University of Helsinki project and the second by a semi-structured theme interview on four mentors. The collected data dealt with the learning experiences of the mentors. The collected data was analysed by using a theory-driven thematic analysis. Results and conclusions. The mentors felt they had learnt four different things: interaction and communication skills, management, new ways of operating and more professional confidence. The mentors felt that their new skills influenced their work as kindergarten teachers. Improved interaction and communication skills allowed them to take others into consideration more. Advanced professional confidence appeared as better knowledge of the contents of one's work and improved capability to address different issues. Mentors cut back on their high goals and shared work more in their teams. Mentors learned some new ways of working but these did not influence their work as kindergarten teachers that much. This research gives some new empirical knowledge about phenomena that has been studied little before in Finland. The study also demonstrates important themes for further studies and development.
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(2020)Focus. The focus of this thesis was to get a deeper understanding of what the mentors have to gain by participating in a mentorship programme. It was also in this research´s interest to how the mentorship programme can help mentors in their personal and professional development, since mentorship was originally developed as a method for competency development. Therefore the goal of this thesis is to find out what the mentors of Arcadas mentorship programme have gained, what the mentors consider important for the mentorship, how the mentors define competence and what competences are needed to be a mentor and finally how the mentorship programme has helped the mentors in their own personal or professional development. Research method. This thesis is qualitative to its nature and is hermeneutic in its approach. The thesis was conducted in collaboration with Arcadas mentorship programme, which was launched as a pilot for the project ‘Stora Komet’ by föreningen Luckan in the fall of 2018. Four semistructured thematic interviews where done with the mentors that participated in Arcadas mentorship programme. All mentors that completed the mentorship program participated in the interviews. The interviews where held during the fall of 2019 and lasted from one to one and a half hours. The interviews where then transcribed and analysed using the hermeneutic circle and qualitative content analysis. The analysis resulted in a coding framework for each presented research question. Results and conclusions. The mentorship had a great impact on the mentors. The mentors gained a lot by working with their mentees. These gains where personal satisfaction, competences and personal contacts. The mentors pointed to the matching of mentor and protégé, the set-up for the mentorship and protégé development as particularly important for the mentorship to be considered successful. The mentor need particular mentor competences for this to be possible. The mentors identified both specific traits and skills to be a good mentor. These traits where curiosity, openness, sense of responsibility and an interest in helping people. The skills needed where guidance skills, people skills, experience and the skill of knowing the mentor role. The mentors did not think that the mentorship programme had helped them in their personal or professional development, even though they described clear ways how they have used the things they gained being a mentor in their current work. Therefore the conclusion can be drawn, that the mentorship has to be more clearly connected to the workplace for the mentors to recognize the things learned as personal or professional development, so that they can be used in the mentors work.
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(2015)This thesis is part of a broad research project funded by Academy of Finland, in which the Finnish and Chilean mathematics teachers have given lessons focusing on problem solving for three years. The aim of the study is to describe, analyse and interpret the students' solutions to an open-ended problem and to find out what kinds of problem-solving strategies students use to reach the solution. In addition, the aim of this thesis is to analyse the students' problem-solving process under the guidance of the teacher. The theoretical frame of this study is based on defining mathematical problem solving and describing the problem-solving process. The theory also consists of the definition of problem-solving strategies based on LeBlanc's (1977) research. The research material of this study consists of the answer sheets of six Finnish classes and the videotapes of four of these classes' problem solving lessons. Firstly, the answer sheets were analysed using data-driven content analysis. Then, to find answers to the second research question, data was analysed using theory-driven content analysis. The videos were analysed using theory-driven content analysis. The pupils' solutions to the open-ended problem varied very much, especially the amount of rectangles students had drawn to find the solution. On the other hand, almost all the answer sheets included rectangles 10 cm x 5 cm and 1 cm x 14 cm. In addition, it is noteworthy that the right solution was found in just five answer sheets. Among the fifth-graders, there are big differences in what kind of problem-solving strategies they can use. The pupils used three different problem-solving strategies. Experimentation was clearly the most common, and systematic listing of possible solutions the second most common strategy. Only one class of students had tried to find patterns in the problem. The problem-solving process of the students was clearly affected by the problem-solving strategy they decided to use. The pupils' problem solving process was cyclical and the teacher influenced the process significantly the whole lesson.
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(2019)The aim of this master’s dissertation was to look into the affective practices that took place and affected the work in the equality work groups at the university. In this study I will explain how through affective practices and layers the affects become entangled into the patterns of equality work shaped historically and culturally. In my theoretical approach I follow Sara Ahmed’s and Margaret Wetherell’s work and their understanding of affect, affective practice and emotion. I was working in an equality project at the University of Helsinki, and it seemed that certain regularities were affecting the equality work. I started to ask how to get a closer look of those regularities and patterns. I noticed that looking for affective practices could be the key to get a closer look into those patterns. I wanted to find out what possibilities the concept of affect could bring into the current research of equality work. I implemented my research by ethnographic observation and interviews in different groups that were working with the themes of equality and diversity in the faculty. I collected data during the semester 2018–2019, and interviewed three university employees. My methodological approach was post structural nomadic ethnography, which first and foremost meant constantly moving in the thought process. Uncertainty was present not only in the observation and interviews but also in the written report. I found that affective practices were present in all those places where equality was promoted. Especially the themes of individual-based expertise, silences, appreciation and goals of equality work collected several affective layers. Those layers had material consequences which I will further explain in this study. Based on my research equality work is rich in affective practices. Affects can be a force of change, but affective layers can also hinder the work with the regularities and patterns that follow affective practices. I have identified and named four affective layers, and studied the effects of those layers in the equality work groups of the university. The results of this study can be utilized in the further research and development of equality work.
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(2018)Aim of the study. Writing of master’s thesis plays a key role in university studies and is often considered as the most demanding assignment in the master’s degree. Therefore, understanding students’ perspectives related to the master’s thesis process is important. Previous studies have suggested that both individual factors and factors related to supervision are essential in a thesis process. Previous studies related to master’s thesis process have not explored these factors simultaneously. The purpose of the present study was to find out which individual and supervisory factors students identify important in master’s thesis process and which ones they consider as enhancing or impeding factors. The research questions were: Which individual factors do the students report significant in master’s thesis process? Which supervisory factors do the students report significant in master’s thesis process? What kind of student profiles can be identified based on the individual and supervisory factors? Methods. The data consisted of semi-structed theme interviews collected from nine educational science students who had completed their studies. The theme interviews dealt with enhancing and impeding factors in the thesis process, time management and thesis seminar and supervision. The interview data were qualitatively content analysed by using an abductive strategy. Based on the analysis of individual and supervisory factors, four different student profiles were identified. Results and conclusions. The results suggested that essential individual factors in master’s thesis process according to the students were motivation, self-efficacy, self-regulation and factors related to research process. Students described the factors related to self-regulation as the most significant in thesis process and reported them partly enhancing and partly impeding factors. Time management was especially considered as a challenging factor related to self-regulation. The students considered individual and group supervision as the most central of the supervisory factors, whereas peer supervision was not viewed important. Individual supervision was mostly considered as a resource in the thesis process, whereas group supervision was party viewed in negative light. Based on the individual and supervisory factors, four different student profiles were identified. The profiles indicated that the individual and supervisory factors interact with each other in the master’s thesis process. Supervision can strengthen motivation and endorse self-regulation. Considering both the individual and supervisory factors is important in developing the master’s thesis process and supervision practices.
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(2015)Aims: My main problems of research are: How neoliberalism is producing obediant citizens through special pedagogy? How discourse of exclusion as a apparatus power and a result of collective mentality of governing strengthens the hegemony of neoliberalism and special pedagogy? How special pedagogy as a tool of neoliberalism produces social exclusion and inequality? The aim of my study was to find out, in a foucauldian way, with the help of the speech of special pedagogists, how discourse of special pedagogy as a tool of our neoliberalistic state, produces inequality, social exclusion and obedient citizens. The structure of my study consisted on special pedagogy, theory of Foucault, neoliberalism, empirical material and the phenomenon called social exclusion which encompassed also the thematic interviews of teachers. These forementioned five elements were interacting with each other in the analysis producing new knowledge about action of discourses in our society. Methods: With digital recorder I interviewed five special pedagogists by halfstructural method. My theme was social exclusion in our society. After written down the interviews I analyzed the texts with the help of foucauldian theoretical concepts. In this way I was able to deconstruct different discourses and "naturalities". In the field of qualatative methods my method of research represented the foucauldian way of analyzing the empirical material. In this manner the producers of the speeches were seen as representatives of certain discourse. Those producers of speeches were seen, in turn, as producing and reproducing certain kind of discourse and discoursive talk. Results and conclusions: Analysis of the material engendered following results; special pedagogy produced, pathologized, normalized and categorized its objects as obediant and vulnerable monolithic subjects which were to be stored as socially excluded proletarian labour force for our neoliberalistic nationstate. Medicalization, therapization, and psy-sciences as products of neoliberalism were addressing individual "liberties". Together with the discourse of special pedagogy they created inequality and social exclusion. This was made possible by making people to believe in their individual and "innerborn" qualities instead of seeing the changing and dynamical structures of our neoliberalistic society which produce and reproduce injustice.
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(2020)The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze children’s relationship to the forest. Forest relationship of Finns has been a lively debate in recent years, and there is a debate about what kind of forest relationships Finns have. Studies have shown concern about the distance between children and nature – children's freedom of movement has narrowed, children's leisure time has become more adult-led indoors, and concerns have been raised about children's poor skills in identifying plant species. The theoretical starting points of this study are in environmental education. I examine the forest relationship through the observed, experienced and shared dimensions. The material of this study consist of the writings and drawings of Helsinki's fifth-graders about their memories in the forest. Thirteen students participated in the study. All participants in the study and their guardians were asked for written permission to participate in the study. The material was analyzed according to phenomenographic analysis. The research results show that the forest relationship of children is multidimensional. The stories of the fifth-graders emphasize the experienced (subjective) and shared (social and cultural) meanings of the forest. Demonstration of observed (scientific) knowledge was emphasized only in some reports. Forest memories are often made possible by adults, but also independent interaction with the environment are sought in the forest. The forest is described and valued through personal meanings. The forest is used for leisure and being together with others. The results show that environmental education deserves special attention, especially in the areas of environmental information and environmental protection. Not all students’ forest memories convey a knowledgeable, close, and caring relationship to the forest. More up-to-date research data on the state of children's forest relations are needed to develop environmental education.
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(2017)Aims. Previous studies have shown, that an environment that supports the fulfilment of basic psychological needs such as autonomy, competence and relatedness, has a major impact on human's well-being. Those studies have also found out that spending time in forest environment decreases stress, increases energy and enthusiasm, improves attention and concentration, and also enhances team spirit and willingness to relate with others. The aim of this thesis is to study how well pupils experience autonomy, competence and relatedness in natural science lessons. The study also explores how teacher's pedagogical choices in classroom and in forest can create circumstances that support the fulfilment of basic psychological needs of the pupils. Methods. This thesis is a case study about well-being of 4th grade pupils in natural science lessons. The study was conducted in one school in southern Finland in the spring of 2016. There were 25 pupils participating in the study. During the research period, the data of this mixed methods -study was collected by two ways. Pupils were given questionnaires that measured the fulfilment of their basic psychological needs, and their teacher kept an informal diary about the lessons. Statistical methods were used to describe the data collected by questionnaires, and non-parametric tests were used in analysis. Teacher's diary was analysed by a qualitative theory-based content analysis. Results and Conclusions. In this study, the basic psychological needs of the pupils were fulfilled reasonably well in all lessons. When comparing the learning environments, the results were a little bit better for those lessons that were held in forest environment. The connection between competence and learning environment was found to be statistically significant. In this study, plenty of circumstances were found to contribute to the fulfilment of basic psychological needs. In conclusion, the well-being of pupils can be enhanced by activating them and encouraging them to participate, and by offering them opportunities to have an impact on the issues that are important to them. In addition, the well-being of pupils can also be enhanced by offering appropriately challenging tasks, and by fostering safe and approbative atmosphere.
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(2022)Aims. The aims of this master’s thesis were to find out why the new generations are still choosing hunting as their hobby and the significance of the game meat in the hunters’ households. Also, one interest was how important hunting is seen in the future during these unstable times. The Finnish hunting culture has changed over the time and hunting is not seen as an obligatory lifeline for the families rather than a relaxing hobby. On the other hand, hunting and the game meat can be seen as part of the self-sufficient household. The research questions of this thesis were: 1. Why some people of the new generations still choose hunting as their hobby? 2. How significant role does the game meat have in the hunters’ households? Methods. This thesis was carried out according to the qualitative research methods. 15 interviews of the topic were done in the summer 2022 and the informants were adults who hunt as their hobby. All the material collected during the interviews was analysed by using material-oriented methods. Results and conclusions. Finnish hunting culture has remained quite stable over the years because the new generations are still adapting hunting as a hobby. It is not only seen as a family tradition anymore and can also be inspired by friends or spouses. Meaning of the hunting has also changed because more often people are only looking for spending relaxing free time with friends which includes eating and drinking well, sauna and discussions with similar minded people. Even though hunting is more of a relaxing hobby than a mandatory activity, the appreciation towards the nature and the animals is extremely high. The game meat is used in different purposes, often it is offered during celebrational feasts and some use it as a protein supplement in their everyday, mostly vegetarian diet. For some people the game meat means self-sufficient household and being able to get rid of the meat produced by the livestock industry.
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(2017)Immigration has increased in the capital region of Finland. It is predicted that the number of immigrants will continue to rise in the future. Nature and green areas are easy to be found in Finland, also in the capital region. Previous studies have shown that nature can enhance psychological, physiological and social well-being. However, we know little about the relation between nature, integration and immigrants' well-being. In addition, it remains unclear how immigrants relate to nature, and what nature means for people from different cultures. The purpose of this thesis was to describe, analyze and interpret the meaning of nature for eight immigrants living in the capital region. One of the goals of this thesis was to analyze how immigrants would see nature as a place for enhancing well-being, and that way, possibly support the process of integration. This study was carried out as a case study research in August-September 2016. The participants were eight adult immigrants living in the capital region. The participants' ages varied between 30 to 55 years and they had lived in Finland from 2 to 12 years. This thesis included theme interviews and three guided nature walks in the capital region. The data consisted of theme interviews done before the nature walks and feedback forms filled in the end of the last walk. The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. According to the content analysis, the immigrants seemed to have mainly positive and everyday relation to nature. Immigrants also told that moving to Finland had had an impact on their relation to nature by waking it up or making it stronger. Nature close by was thought to be a meaningful place for rest and relaxation, and a significant source of day-to-day well-being. According to immigrants, moving in and learning about nature could have a positive impact for the integration process by supporting social and cultural integration, enhancing well-being, and introducing new places. Participants also brought up that both cultural and practical topics related to nature could be more significant part of the integration education.
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(2018)The aim of this study was to find out about men’s motives in dressing themselves. The study aimed to answer two questions: : What kind of motives man has in dressing? What are the thing that effect into man’s clothing and style? The study uses the distinction theory of Pierre Bourdieu and applies it into describing men’s motives to dressing. There aren’t too many Pro gradu- studies about this specific theme, the previous similar study is done in 1993. The study material was obtained during one week by online survey (N=312). Most of the respondents were from southern Finland and aged between 28 and 38. The highest obtained schooling was upper secondary school among most of the respondents and most of the respondents worked as a specialist. Most of the respondents’ salary was between under 1500 euros and 2999 euros per month. Answers were handled and analysed with SPSS-program. Analysis methods were means, modes, correlations and principal factor analysis. The study’s reliability was determined with Cronbach’s α. The principal factor analysis produced four principal factors as motives for men’s dressing: aesthetic motive, conservative motive, socioeconomic motive and ecological motive. The respondents were interested in clothing and dressing, they knew their own style pretty well and preferred to shop cloths on their own. The four factors found went well together with Pierre Bourdieu’s distinction theory. Theory’s concepts could be applied in describing the motives for men to dress up themselves. It could be assumed that men who have been exposed to versatile culture were naturally interested in clothing and their appearance, as the men whose expose to versatile culture has been lesser were not that interested in clothing and their appearance. Also, the motives to dress seemed to be different depending on the social status the man has or wishes to have. In further studies it is important to put great emphasis on respondent’s childhoods social status– in what kind of social situation he has been growing up, what did he’s parents do etc. This survey didn’t gather any information about that, so more information is needed to make this study’s results more convincing.
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(2016)Background: Theory of mind (ToM) refers to the ability to perceive and interpret the mental states of self and others, such as desires, intentions and beliefs. ToM problems have been observed both in people suffering from chronic schizophrenia and in patients with first-episode psychosis (FEP) as well as at-risk populations. Therefore it has been thought that ToM deficits could predict the beginning of psychotic illnesses. Object: This study was the first to examine the ToM measure Hinting task in a Finnish population. The study compared the performance of FEP patients (n=42) and controls (n=38) on the task. The aims of the study were to explore group differences in Hinting task performance when controlling for neurocognitive factors as well as investigate the potential impacts of symptom severity on task performance. Data: The data is a part of an on-going project of the National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL), the Technical Research Center of Finland (VTT Oy), the University of Helsinki and Aalto University. For this study participants who had completed the Hinting task before September 2014 were selected. Results: As hypothesized, FEP patients performed significantly worse than controls on the ToM measure. Patients who met the DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia performed weaker than other patients. There was also a significant group difference on the Hinting task between patients operating better and worse on the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. The performance of the best operating patient quarter did not differ from the control group. The linear regression analyses revealed that the general neurocognitive deficit associated with FEP - especially problems in episodic memory and executive function - explained most (64 %) of the variance between the control and patient groups on the Hinting task. Within the patient group, neurocognition only covered 26 % of the variance between the two groups differing in overall functioning (GAF). Conclusions: These results support the growing evidence that ToM deficits can be seen in the early phases of the psychotic illness. The means and standard deviations of the patient and control groups on the Hinting task in the current study are consistent with previous findings. However, this study showed great differences in Hinting task performance between both groups and individuals. The findings of this study do not give an unambiguous answer to whether ToM problems are secondary to the neurocognitive deficits observed in FEP and symptom severity in the acute phases of the illness or whether ToM deficits can be seen as a more general and independent feature of the illness.
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(2020)The aim of this study was to examine what is relevant to education regarding adolescents' experiences in relation to mental health protective and risk factors, and how their speech reflects their future plans. This study examined factors that are related to well-being and mental health, which were adolescents' strengths, successes in school, experiences and atmosphere in upper comprehensive school, friendships, teacher-student relationships, and future plans. This study was conducted in collaboration with This life of mine -project. The study is qualitative and its data was collected from two schools in the Uusimaa region through free-form questionnaires (n=16) and thematic interviews (n=4) in 2019. Adolescents' in this study consisted of 8th and 9th grade students who have earlier participated in the This life of mine -workshops. Thematic design was used as the method of data analysis. The results indicated that there were many protective and risk factors of mental health in adolescents' experiences. Protective factors included the presence of friends at school, ability to name one's own strengths and successes, positive school experiences and the presence of an adult at school that adolescent can discuss with. Mental health risk factors included lack of friends at school, stress, negative school experiences, for example due to poor teacher-student relationship or too easy school assignments, and the inability to name one's own strengths and successes. It is a sign of wellbeing for adolescents' to plan their future, and most of the people in this study were able to name some of their future plans. Although 65 % of the adolescents' in this study had many protective factors in their lives, it should be noted that up to 20 % had multiple risk factors in their experiences, and 15 % had something in between. Also links between different themegroups emerged. For example, there was a clear connection between naming one's own strengths and experiences of success. Those who named their own strengths were also linked to positive and diverse plans for their future. Teacher-student relationships also had a connection with the positivity of the school experiences. Those adolescents' who did not have a close adult in school also had negative school experiences. As a conclusion there should be more strength-teaching in schools, and versatile feedback methods should be used in all school work. This would help adolescents' in the process of noticing and naming own strengths and successes at school, which would have a impact on the school experiences and well-being. Investing in teacher-student relationships also supports the well-being of students. In addition, the level of school assignments should be adjusted to the needs of each student so that the assignments would support the adolescents’ learning.
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