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The goal of the study is to examine how pedagogical personnel in Fenno-swedish elementary schools in Finland's capital region perceive the appearance of social norms among the students, as well as how the personnel themselves handle these social norms and whether or not they feel that materials and tools for education regarding social norms are made readily available. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with participants based on a fenomenological approach, and uses a thematic content analysis to clarify the answers given to the interview-questions. The study aims to answer following questions: How do pedagogical personnel handle the reigning hetero- and cis-normativity? How do pedagogical personnel experience the social norms regarding gender and sexuality that are established in the school? How do pedagogical personnel experience the availability of material for education regarding norms and the LGBTQ+-dimension? The pedagogical personnel experiences that the schools where they work has an open discussion-climate regarding social norms touching on gender and sexuality, and that the municipalities in general do good work with further education and creation of possibilities to education regarding social norms. They experience some discomfort or reluctance among a minority of pedagogical personnel regarding the subject, but mean that the majority is open and willing to learn more. Among the students, the personnel experience a high level of awareness regarding social norms on gender and sexuality, but older thought-patterns and also name-calling touching on gender and sexuality remain and are often used even when students do not know what the words mean. An active work is done with the students to increase their understanding for what the words they use mean. The pedagogical personnel also experiences that although material and tools exist and are available, they need further support from the student healthcare, which is made difficult when positions in that sector are being cut down.

Objectives. We live surrounded by increasingly diverse media and visual culture, which chal-lenges and enables different methods to teach and learn. The purpose of this study is to find out the fundamentals for using pictures taken by students. This study tries to find out, what meaning does the picture have for the students themselves and in addition, what pedagogical grounds can be given for the use of photographs in teaching. Methods. The participants of this qualitative study were 24 third graders with their teacher and two student teachers. The empirical research material was collected during November-December 2017 by observing the multidisciplinary learning modules and by interviewing six students, the teacher and the two student teachers. The interviews were themed semi-structured interviews. The material was analysed using theory-based and theory-driven content analysis. Quantification technique was used on parts of the material. Results and conclusions. The results of this study indicate that students might give different meanings to a photograph, which appeared as roles depending on the area of the field that was in question. These fields were Field of Working, Field of Thinking and Learning to Learn and lastly Field of Experimentalism. Category “other” comprised of; the misleader, the one who brings up problems and the one who emphasizes the importance of the group. After the third round of interviews we could add to the same category the one who commemorates the occa-sion and the one who is vague. The results also showed that the students are able to use photo-graphs to determine for themselves meaningful ways to learn. The study also produced one in-teresting method, which I think can be used in teaching, for example to improve multiliteracy.

In my thesis I examine the educational discourse in the Finnish media represented by the Koulukorjaamo series which was part of the media uproar around teacher Pekka Peura in spring 2016. The research material consists of nine digital newspaper articles published by Yle News as part of the Koulukorjaamo series. My aim is to discover how and why school and education reform are constantly topical issues in the media. Previous international research has pointed to an agenda-setting function of the media in public educational discourse. Not only institutional practices but also concepts such as primary definers and authoritative voices have been argued to be responsible for the construction of educational discourses in the media. (Thomas 2006.) Educational historian Jari Salminen (2012) contends that the constant adaptability expected of education creates crisis and progress discourses that warrant school reform. Educational sociologist Hannu Simola (2002) points out that there are few studies on the discoursive nature of school reforms. Thus, the main question in my thesis is how the articles in the Koulukorjaamo series discuss pedagogical reform. Furthermore, I offer an interpretation of this discussion via the “steps of rhetorical analysis” outlined by Joan Leach (2000), i.e. the rhetorical situation, the types of persuasive discourse and the five rhetorical canons. The rhetorical analysis shows that the discourse of pedagogical reform in Koulukorjaamo is based on epideictic discourse, which praises the new, individual learning model. The articles aim to persuade the audience that this model is the best way to reform pedagogy and school. The aim is supported by forensic and liberative rhetoric, the latter of which invokes the benefit to students and persuades the audience to update their idea of ideal learning to embrace the objectives of mental well-being and learning to learn. The persuasiveness of the discourses is covert as the audience is invited to participate in a discussion that merely appears open and unbiased. Unique rhetorical features of the Koulukorjaamo articles, such as unexpected metaphors and definitions of good learning have been undiscussed in previous research on educational discourse, and thus form a fruitful starting point for further investigation.

The main goal of this study was to explore experiences induced by playing digital games (i.e. meaning of playing). In addition, the study aimed at structuring the larger entities of gaming experience. This was done by using theory-driven and data grounded approaches. Previously gaming experiences have not been explored as a whole. The consideration of gaming experiences on the basis of psychological theories and studies has also been rare. The secondary goal of this study was to clarify, whether the individual meanings of playing are connected with flow experience in an occasional gaming situation. Flow is an enjoyable experience and usually activities that induce flow are gladly repeated. Previously, flow has been proved to be an essential concept in the context of playing, but the relations between meanings of playing and flow have not been studied. The relations between gender and gaming experiences were examined throughout the study, as well as the relationship between gaming frequency and experiences. The study was divided into two sections, of which the first was composed according to the main goals. Its data was gathered by using an Internet questionnaire. The other section covered the themes that were formulated on the basis of the secondary aims. In that section, the participants played a driving game for 40 minutes and then filled in a questionnaire, which measured flow related experiences. In both sections, the participants were mainly young Finnish adults. All the participants in the second section (n = 60) had already participated in the first section (n = 267). Both qualitative and quantitative research techniques were used in the study. In the first section, freely described gaming experiences were classified according to the grounded theory. After that, the most common categories were further classified into the basic structures of gaming experience, some according to the existing theories of experience structure and some according to the data (i.e. grounded theory). In the other section flow constructs were measured and used as grouping variables in a cluster analysis. Three meaningful groups were compared regarding the meanings of gaming that were explored in the first section. The descriptions of gaming experiences were classified into four main categories, which were conceptions of the gaming process, emotions, motivations and focused attention. All the theory-driven categories were found in the data. This frame of reference can be utilized in future when reliability and validity of already existing methods for measuring gaming experiences are considered or new methods will be developed. The connection between the individual relevance of gaming and flow was minor. However, as the scope was specified to relations between primary meanings of playing and flow, it was noticed that attributing enjoyment to gaming did not lead to the strongest flow-experiences. This implies that the issue should be studied more in future. As a whole this study proves that gamer-related research from numerous vantage points can benefit from concentrating on gaming experiences.

Aims. Aim of this qualitative study was to examine how Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) fits for physical education in elementary school, according to the year 2014 curriculum. This study examined what parts of the physical education curriculums tasks, aims, evaluations process do Teaching Games for Understanding fulfil. Especially it examined elementary schools physical education curriculum for grades 1-2 and 3-6. This study aims to give teachers tools to develop theirs teaching to be more play like and more motivational for kids. There are no prior researches but the hypothesis was that Teaching Games for Understanding fits well with the curriculum criteria because it is one of preferred teaching styles by National Board of Education. Methods. The study method was qualitative grounded theory text content analysis. Data of the study consist of texts of the curriculum, physical education based theory and Teaching Games for Understanding model based theory. Results and conclusions. The results showed that Teaching Games for Understanding does fit well for physical education in elementary, according to curriculum of the year 2014. With the TGfU-model the tasks and aims of the physical education could be achieved. Evaluation process also followed the same guidelines in TGfU-model and in the curriculum. The results reinforced the perception that the model fits for teaching that follows the curriculum and teachers should use it for enhancing student’s motivation and satisfaction in physical education. In the future it would be interesting to examine how much Teaching Games for Understanding model is being used now in the elementary schools and what kind of thoughts teachers have about it. Interesting topic to examine would also be that how has the teaching of ball games changed through new curriculum or has it stayed the same as before.

Goals. This study focuses on a game and playing as a method of supporting the student’s independent language production in the beginning of language learning. For long games have been used to facilitate language teaching, and lately, they have gained academic interest. Whilst the majority of studies deals with digital games and applications, this study the focuses on interactional and non-digital games played in groups. The theoretical basis is functional and usage-based view on language learning, together with the idea of grammar learning as an implicit-driven process that ensues language usage. The view is in the initial stage of language learning and development of oral language profiency. This study explores a traditional method of language learning through new data and current theory. This study examines what kind of structure does the game provide for the interaction of language learner, what kind of speech does language learner produce during the game and what is the role of teacher in the game session. Methods. The study was carried out as part of the project Meeting in the middle at the University of Helsinki. Research data was collected in a preparatory classroom in Helsinki. The study was a qualitative case study that examined a game session where four preparatory class pupils and an instructor play an educational game called ‘Fish Game’ for 20 minutes. The video data was analysed with microethnography and with simple quantitative mapping. Findings and conclusions. The game appeared vital in supporting student’s own language production and verbal communication in the target language, Finnish. The factors that supported students to understand and produce new language were identified: the structure, rules and visual and physical clues of the game, the familiarity and frequency of interaction, the lingual schemas of other players and a frequent phrase. In addition to the actual game phrases, the interaction consisted searching for words and simultaneous conversations, expressions of turns and negotiations of the rules. The teacher’s presence appeared meaningful to the practice of playing, as she coordinated and guided the pupil–pupil interaction, helped pupils when needed and answered their question, solved conflicts and problems, created positive atmosphere and formed connections in between the pedagogic goals and playing. In comparison to previous research, this study emphasizes teacher’s role as a lingual model, support for language production and language corrector. According to these data, it seems that affordances appear continuously during the game, but teacher’s presence and actions among other things affect on how the pupils make use of the affordances.

The purpose of the thesis was to explore the opinions about authenticity in the attire of Living Historists that is to say, People, who have Historical Reenactment as a hobby. Living history is a popular hobby, and brings a lot of knowledge about textile, wood, and metal craft, as the attire often are home-made. Due to this, an important part of the research consisted of what craft techniques are being used, and what kind of research goes into making a “kit” for reenacting. Earlier research about re-enacting attire, in particular is rather scarce, so new perspectives were a goal at the start. The gathering of material was done by questionnaire, spread in suitable groups on Facebook during the spring of 2018. There were 182 people answering, of different ages and re-enacting background. The questionnaire consisted of both qualitative and quantitative questions, so the analysis was done with Mixed-Method, combining the data from both groups only at the last minute. Living history was found to be a multiform hobby, where authenticity has its own place. It does not, however, define the scene, but provides opportunity for personal or group-wide development within the re-enactment scene. Historical handicrafts are a large part of the hobby and could also be considered their own scene within the whole of living history.

The aim of the thesis is to find out the views of fathers on mental work. The study highlights the views and experiences of fathers alongside those of women and mothers, which are highlighted in previous research and general discussion related to mental work. Mental work and housework are closely related. Mental work is preparatory, predictive and related to planning (Daminger, 2019). Without mental work everyday life in the home and doing housework would be less fluent and controlled. The mental work can be challenging to recognize, as it is not always concrete. This is why it is often invisible in everyday life. Because of its invisibility, it is also challenging to study. Mental work has been studied in relation to home work, but there is a research gap in the field of research into mental work itself in the everyday life of a household and its everyday operations. Previously, metal work has been studied in the field of sociology. This research follows the qualitative tradition. The data consists of seven semi-structured theme interviews of fathers, conducted in the autumn of 2023. The fathers studied had at least one child under the age of 18 living at home. In addition, the fathers were in a hetero-sexual relationship, which allowed for the reflection of gender differences. The fathers stud-ied were of different ages, they had different lengths of experience in managing work and everyday life in the home and as a father. The data were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. The study results showed that fathers did mental work in varying degrees in the families studied. Even fathers who do a lot of home mental work at home did not experience a bur-den of mental work in their everyday life. In addition, it seems that fathers may view mental work with a more relaxed attitude than their wives, according to a previous study. Fathers' comments featured value choices in striving for equality concerning the mental work at their homes.

In The United States there has been developed a system to divide immigrant generations into different categories to clarify the statistics and to provide information about integration and language skills. Generations are divided into seven different categories. The second generation is divided into generations 2,0 and 2,5. The 2,5 generation, children of international partnerships are in my special interest and my research subject. In studies it have been found that the 2,5 generation's position is weaker in their own mother tongue teaching than the 2,0 generation's position. Finnish as a second language seem to be not so important for generation 2,5. Parents' language choices and the child's mother tongue registration was instead in a crucial role in supporting multilingualism and multicultural identity both at home and at school. The aim of my Master's Thesis was to study the language choices of families and the reasons for these choices, different mother tongue education participation and the role of the school and the kindergarten in supporting the multilingual and multicultural identity. I carried out the Master's Thesis as a qualitative case study. I interviewed five international family's mothers by the theme interview method. The purpose was to obtain information on children's lingual pathways from early childhood to the present day and how the parents' language choices impact to these pathways as well as how the school and day care center offer support in this process. I analyzed the data by narrative analysis method. The family language choices were affected by the family's own decisions, activity of the relatives and environmental attitudes. In this casestudy especially mothers were active in supporting multilingualism. Finnish skills were quite good, so there was no need to the Finnish as a second language teaching. There was only one family, whose children had participated from the beginning to the teaching of the mother tongue and they were also the only one whose mother tongues were equally strong and who felt that the school and the kindergarten have been actively supporting multilingualism. 2,5-generation children's language resources are valuable capital for both the individual and society in general. Parents also need more support and encouragement in order to use the valuable language resources. The simplest would be the registration of all native languages instead of one and if the teaching of the mother tongue would be compulsory.

Into Family examines how family is constructed in opinion pieces of Finland's most popular newspaper Helsingin Sanomat in 1990–1994 and 2010–2014. The research aim was to study what kind of discourses are constructed in the opinion pieces referring to nuclear family. The aim was also to compare discourses between years 1990–1994 and 2010–2014. The research method was critical discourse analysis which focuses on how societal power relations and inequality are constructed and reinforced through the use of language. The research questions are: how family is constructed in the opinion texts in Helsingin Sanomat and how discourses in 1990–1994 differ compared to 2010–2014 concerning equality? Studies show that heteronormative nuclear family is usually seen as "normal" family. In the beginning of this study, I assumed that discourses of nuclear family would reveal intersecting ideas of family. Therefore the context of the study was put up with discourses concerning nuclear family. The data was collected from the electronic archive of Helsingin Sanomat using all different forms of the keyword nuclear family. The analysis was made using critical discourse analysis to find out how societal power relations were constructed concerning family. Heteronormative nuclear family was constructed as self-evident family. It held hegemonic position in the discourses of both datas. Even so, family discourses, that had different ideologies about values clashed with each other. These differences constructed with conservative and liberal values. The comparative study showed that discourses of family had transformed to be more polyphonic and equal. Anyhow family discourses constructs and reinforces inequality by treating heteronormative nuclear family as normal and ideal. In any case family discourses have transformed to be more equal.