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Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract Objectives. The aim of this study was to investigate how the goal of household activities; well-being, manifests itself in the comic series Calvin and Hobbes. The theoretical framework of the study examined the function of the household, well-being theories, and comics as part of culture. The research problems were structured using the components of Allardt's well-being theory: living standards, community relationships, and forms of self-realization. Previous research has shown that popular culture can be seen both as reflecting the world and as actively influencing the formation of perceptions of the world and ourselves. Perceptions of household activities are part of these processes. Methods. The material for the study consisted of Calvin and Hobbes, comics by Bill Watterson. Initially, the data was reduced according to the household view presented in the theoretical framework of the study. With the help of theory-driven content analysis, the material was further themed and delimited. The themes were cross tabulated with the components of Allardt’s well-being theory. The study material consisted of 26 strips. The analysis of comic narrative was performed using two parallel traditions of semiotics. An analysis by Peirce of the relationship of signs and objects, which represents pragmatic tradition, aided in revealing icons, indices, and symbols describing household activities from the strips. Using the actant model of Greimas, representing structuralist semiotics, the pictorial and verbal story presented in the comic strips was analyzed. Results and conclusions. Housework related to living standards was seen in the cartoon child’s eyes as annoying, boring, or to be avoided. On the other hand, housework represented care and love. Housework was mainly the responsibility of the mother of the cartoon family, so that the mother doing housework became an icon and a symbol of housework. In addition to everyday issues, the comic dealt with subjective matters of quality of life. Great stories were found in the cartoons about how the support of loved ones helped the child deal with difficult things and grow as a person. The members of the cartoon family longed for their own and shared time, as well as being valued, but these needs were not always met. The cartoon family could be defined using different family concepts. Looking at the standard of living, the family represented a familistic concept of the family. When describing relationships, the family instead acted as a team family. The manifestation of forms of self-realization was further characterized by an individualistic concept of the family. The conclusion of this study is that the comic series reflects housework as a producer of well-being, and an atmosphere of caring that covers all the areas of well-being

Goals. According to Warr's (1999) and Hakanen's (2011) models, the different states of well-being at work can be perceived through four key concepts. These include job satisfaction, burnout, stress and work engagement. Although teachers are mostly satisfied with their work, well-being at work has developed in an alarming direction in recent years and the stress experienced by teachers has increased. There has also been much public debate about the pandemics effects on well-being. Based on previous research, teachers have experienced more stress than normal during the exceptional circumstances caused by the coronavirus. The aim of this master's thesis was to find out how classroom teachers have experienced their well-being at work during the COVID-19 pandemic and to increase understanding of what factors contributed to well-being. In addition, the study sought to find out how classroom teachers well-being at work was promoted at that time. Methods. The study was conducted as semi-structured thematic interviews. The data consists of interviews with eight classroom teachers and one special classroom teacher. The data was analyzed using theory-guided and data-driven qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions. The COVID-19 pandemic affected teachers well-being at work in many ways. Teachers found the distance learning period particularly stressful. Stressors included an increase in workload, uncertainty and the combination of work and free time. On the other hand, for some teachers the distance learning period increased work engagement and job satisfaction. Some felt that towards the autumn 2020 the situation had recovered close to the time before pandemic, while some felt that exceptional circumstances were still having a strong impact on well-being. The most important support for promoting well-being at work came from the work community, which provided empathy, shared gatherings, and assistance in planning and teaching. Teachers also felt the empathy received from their principal important. Teachers themselves tried to separate work and free time, to exercise and to stick to their basic task. Teachers expressed dissatisfaction with the activities of municipalities and political decision-makers.

Tiivistelmä - Referat – Abstract The goal of this ethnographic research is to bring out the mechanisms of a classroom’s moral order. The study is based on a thought which considers the moral order to be a tool in deconstructing the power structures of the school system. The moral order brings forward all the kind of behavior which is considered right or wrong in the classroom or good or bad. The study is rooted in poststructuralist equality research. The background theory in this study is Deleuze’s rhizome theory. The rhizome theory is a target state of the moral order. In the target state the moral order would be flexible and ready for change therefor one wouldn’t need to compare the differences between students in a negative way. Previous studies about moral order in Finland have mainly focused on adult education. International studies and articles in sociological education sciences have aimed to deconstruct moral orders but failed to give any means to the deconstruction project. The data of this study has been conducted in southern Finnish elementary school with ethnographic observation and interview. Observation period lasted for one month and the interviews were conducted during the one month field period during the year 2017. The research data included of five group interviews of pupils and one interview of the class’ students. Analysis used was episodical analysis in which observation and interview data are been read across using both data while it brings more variation and reliability to the research data. The study shows moral order of the studied class is been guided by the confrontation of the opposite sex. A small variation inside gender group is also been seen. Previous studies have showed that the confrontation of opposite gender is one of the greatest challenges of the school institution. To bullying pupils, react by not telling to the teacher but by wanting to solve conflict between students.

The study examines sensitivity in the everyday interactive situations with multicultural children under 3 years of age in early childhood educational context. The research problem focuses on figuring out in which ways sensitivity occurs and what are the contextual factors related to sensitive and non-sensitive situations. Sensitivity refers to early childhood educator’s ability to detect and take into account the emotional needs of the child (Laevers according to Kalliala, 2008). The study was conducted in collaboration with the University of Helsinki LASSO project and a kindergarten in Helsinki, where the research material was collected by videorecording three early childhood educators and two children in their everyday life at the kindergarten. The research material was colleted between the late autumn 2014 to early spring 2015. The qualitative data were analysed by utilizing theory-driven approach. The basis of the analysis is in AES (adult engagement scale) and especially the sensitivity part of the scale, as well as EA (emotional availability) scale. LIS-YC scale was also used in observation of children (Kalliala, 2008). The results showed that sensitivity is a small part of everyday interactive situations. Differences in results were seen in the quality of the interaction. The majority of the interaction with the first participant was neutral, and more than half of the interactions were sensitive. In contrast, only half of the other participant’s interaction was neutral, and also half was non-sensitive. The differences were also found in the ways in which the sensitive and non-sensitive situations appeared in the participants' everyday life. For the first participant, the sensitivity was constructive, and adults made huge efforts to interact with the child. The insensitive moments were not numerous, but they could not be classified as accidental. The second one’s sensitive moments were supportive in nature but relatively rare. Insensitive situations were somewhat accidental, and for some reason, educators failed to notice the child’s needs. Based on the results, a study related to sensitivity between educators and children comparing Finnish and multicultural children would be important to conduct.

The subject of this study are the social media conversations concerning the right for the subjective day care for children. Objective of the study is to look at what kind of discourses parents have about the day care itself and about the right for it in the 2000s. Areas of interest are those conversations through which the right for subjective day care are discussed. The theoretical part describes the history of day care and takes a look at the VIA-related determinants, day-care system and the multi-professional working community and their educational background. The theory section also addresses the 1972 Parliamentary positions of the home-care and day-care center from 1973 until the completion of day-care law. The Nordic comparison of the day care provides international perspective for this study. The research questions are as follows: 1. What kind of interpretative repertoires are formed from parent's comments about the subjective right to day care? 2. What kind of duty is set on day care in parent's discussions about subjective right to day care? This study represents a research method of qualitative research, and an actual discourse analysis method was chosen. Thus, the theoretical frame of reference is formed by discourse analysis and social constructionism. In this study, the reality is constructed through linguistic interaction. Attention is drawn to the formation of reality and meaning by constructing the text. Purpose of this study was to examine the discourse of parent's assumptions of day care in the 2000s. The research was approached through a variety of interpretive repertoire. Data for this study consisted of three "Baby"- magazine online discussion forum. Based on the analysis result of this research three different dimensions, which are called interpretative repertoires, were formed. These were supportive interpretative repertoire, opposing interpretative repertoire and, thirdly, a neutral interpretation of the repertoire. The results of a subjective right to day care was seen as a social service, nursing service, and to some extent also in early childhood education. Adult aspect was predominant in the discussions of this study.

Objectives. This research describes the different stages of problem solving that occur while primary school children solve a mathematic problem. In addition, the research also describes the perception of feelings in the different stages of problem solving. Earlier researches has shown that the process of problem solving consists of a variety of stages, where the solver has to associate earlier information in new ways. Earlier researches has also noticed that dur-ing the process of problem solving, varieties of feelings occur – both positive and negative. Methods. The method used in this research was a qualitative approach by observing six pri-mary school children, who solved an open-ended question in pairs. The research data used was recorded videoconferences in which I observed the different stages and variety of feel-ings through problem solving. I described the different stages of problem solving through a case study. In addition, I drew attention to the feelings risen in different stages of the problem solving. Results and conclusions. In this research, it was noted that the process of problem solving among primary school children is a three-staged process. The stages partially overlapped. The children began the process by analyzing the problem. Then they engineered and pre- pared the answer to the problem. These two stages were difficult to separate from each other. Feelings observed throughout the research were mainly joy and frustration. When the children learned a new answer to the problem or received positive feedback, they felt joy.

The aim of this study was to find out how volunteers working in reception centres around the capital area see the volunteer work in these centres. Volunteers have been studied mostly for their motivation to participate in volunteer work, and the experiential dimension as well as the reception centres seems invisible. In this study I used both phenomenology and phenomenographic approach to define the phenomenon studied and clarifying the actual object of this study. The used method was content analysis with some features from, phenomenographic analysis. The data was collected through partly structured theme interviews. In total six volunteers were interviewed, and they all volunteered in reception centres around the capital area. The youngest respondent was 22 and the oldest just over 60. The respondents were from different life situations, some still studying while others already graduated or retired. From the collected data four categories were formed: the motivational dimension, the functional dimension, interpersonal dimension and outsider's reactions. The most relevant motivational factor was the desire to help others and to influence and facilitate the situation. The reception centre employees and residents reacted mainly positively towards volunteers, but the interviewees felt that action should have been organized better from the start. Volunteering was seemed pleasant and volunteers were thinking about ways to continue activities after the centres are closed. From the interviews also problematic paradoxes raised between the volunteers good aiming willingness to help and attitudes interpreted as even racists.

Goals. The main focus of my Master's thesis was to discuss knowledge management as a part of activity and learning in the networked and diverged business. The research sites composed of two companies operating in separate (packaging and energy) branches. Thus it was interesting to study what possible influences and consequences diverse branches, products (package and electric component) with their life cycle and production processes might have in knowledge management. The aim was also to comprehend similarities and differences in object of activity, knowledge management and network in order to see the possible impacts on the development of the company's operations and activities as well as learning of the personnel. Theoretical framework. The thesis is based on developmental work research which has its roots in cultural-historical activity theory. The core concept of the framework is object-oriented, culturally mediated activity. It is an approach which combines scientific study, practical development work and learning. Essential is the role of the object that motivates human activity and its development. The key notions, knowledge management and network, have been discussed in the light of economics and educational sciences. The concept of learning in the thesis rests on expansive learning and investigative learning. Methods. The data for my thesis was gathered in dialogical workshops which are based on the socio-technical theory and method called work conference. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used for the analysis of the data. Quantitative analysis was used to become familiar with the structure of the discussion in the workshops. The themes of research questions' - object of activity, knowledge management and network were analysed using qualitative analysis. The comparison of the two companies was carried out also by qualitative method. The thread of my analysis was to connect the findings into the production processes and the common object of the companies' activities. Results and Conclusions. The products of the researched companies proved to be technically demanding and competence-based items. The package is a separate product where as electric component is one part in an energy production entity. The life cycle of these products were different which meant that knowledge management related to them was diverse. The stress of knowledge management was in the phase of product design in both cases. The need of knowledge shrank when the package moved to the production phase. In case of the electric component the knowledge management was essential through the product life cycle since the development of the electric component continued also in the production phase. The customer's role as a knowledge producer is of paramount importance, also in case of knowledge held by the customer's other partners. External networks were stratified including the company's internal net, the external immediate net and the external remote net. Furthermore in the Electric company there was a bipolar internal net around which the knowledge management was intertwined. Expansion and deepening of network collaboration came up clearly as one way to improve knowledge management. Product and activity concepts showed also to be possible methods to develop networks and their knowledge management in order to support collaboration within network partners. The internal networks can be developed in a similar manner. The development of the concepts as co-development with network partners would make it possible to share competencies in order to contribute learning and expertise. The motives of learning would be embedded in the motives and interests of the common activity as the motives gears the learning actions.

The multilingual turn has reached also Finnish schools, as more and more students speak other languages than the native language Finnish (or Swedish or Sámi) as their mother tongue. In the field of study, they are called F2-students, which refers to Finnish as a second language subject. Many F2-students has lived in Finland since they were born, and others may be recently moved here. They all are still multilingual students. When they participate to Finnish pre-primary school or primary school, they will start to learn literacy in Finnish. Regardless of the pupils’ mother tongues, similar Finnish assessment material is usually used to survey the student’s literacy readiness. In this research the goal was to find out what kind of assessment materials and means of inquiry teachers have used to examine the literacy readiness of their multilingual, F2-students and what kind of experiences teachers have about using those materials. The goal was also to find out what kind of developmental needs the teachers regard as necessary, as they gain information about their students’ literacy readiness. The research was implemented by qualitative research, and it also had features of design-based research. The research material was collected by qualitative methods, with questionnaire and semi-structured theme interviews. 25 respondents participated the research by answering the questionnaire. In addition, two pre-primary teachers, one kindergarten director and two special education teachers were interviewed. The research materials were analyzed by content analysis and thematic analysis. The participants of the research had experiences about many different assessment materials for literacy readiness. In addition to the assessment materials or instead of them teachers had also used many other optional ways to survey literacy readiness from F2-students. Alongside the working and positive factors teachers brought up some needs for development. Those developmental needs were about the contents of the assessment materials, and how to use them. They also thought that the teachers who do assess literacy readiness from pupils, should know more about multilingualism, literacy development and how to support these factors. Based on findings of this research, it is obvious that the teachers would like to have a new tool to examine literacy readiness. Optimally, the new tool should take into consideration all the different fields of literacy readiness. It should also contain a part for practicing skills for literacy.

Objectives: Are serious games enjoyed by the students, are they effective for learning and who exactly benefits from them? These questions are raised by the scientific evidence on enjoyability and effectiveness of serious games being contradictory. In parallel, there is a practical need to ensure that everyone has similar opportunities to thrive in school. The purpose of this thesis was to compare learning with serious games and traditional instructional style. Temperament and enjoyment were decided to take into account in the analysis, as both possibly play a role in learning with either of the instructional styles. Enjoyment has also been claimed to play a role considering the effectiveness of serious games, and it is also important from a student satisfaction point of view. Hence, it was also investigated which instructional style (game or traditional learning) students enjoy more. Lastly, the connection of temperament and enjoyment was investigated. Methods: Altogether 66 Finnish fourth grade students participated in the study, 31 in the control group and 35 in the intervention group. Class teachers were instructed to either take up a serious game website called Loru Games for learning multiplication and division (intervention group) or keep teaching as normally (control group) for the period of two weeks. In both groups, teachers were sent links to pre- and post-tests assessing multiplication and division skills. Teachers also filled in temperament (EAS: Emotionality, Activity, Sociability) questionnaires about the students. Paired samples t-tests were run to investigate which instructional style was enjoyed more. Correlational analyses were run to examine the connection between temperament and learning with either instructional style and the possible connection between enjoyment and temperament. Results: The participants in the intervention group rated game learning significantly higher compared to the traditional instruction. It was also found that there was no association between enjoying either of the instructional styles and temperament. Lastly, it was found that the participants’ learning scores (post-test scores) were not associated with temperament or instructional style. Based on this study It seems that serious games are an enjoyable learning method for the students and it does not seem that there is a need for concern about only some students reaping the benefits of either of the instructional styles, at least where temperament is concerned.