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Early childhood education teachers' competence and its development guarantee the implementation of high-quality early childhood education. The aim of this study was to examine early childhood education teachers' experiences of participating in in-service training. The goal was to find out what kind of reasons motivate them to participate in continuing education and what kind of benefits they have received from it. The other purpose of the study was to find factors that early childhood education teachers consider important when it comes to the implementation of in-service training. Altogether nine early childhood education teachers from the eastern early childhood education areas of the city of Helsinki participated in the study. The participants' work experience as an early childhood education teacher varied from three and a half years to 38 years. The study focused on continuing education experiences that the participants had found to be successful. The data were collected through thematic interviews and the material was analyzed using qualitative content analysis methods. The division of the dimensions of professional development by Bell and Gilbert (1994) was used to form the themes and factors. The motivation and benefit factors were divided according to the dimensions into professional, personal, and social factors. The research results concentrated on three different dimensions: motivational factors for participation in continuing education, benefits obtained from continuing education and features related to the implementation of successful continuing education. The factors that motivated most to participate in continuing education are the development of pedagogical skills, their own objects of interests, and regional needs. The participants reported a total of 23 different factors of the benefits obtained from continuing education, of which the increase in reflective thinking, sharing information with the work community, and putting theory into practice were the most frequent in the materials. The participants felt that the continuing education improved their skills, children's participation, and general well-being at work. Regarding the implementation of continuing education, the subjects most liked the trainings organized as face-to-face teaching, where there was an opportunity for networking and learning in a group.

Learning environments in schools are changing into a more learner-centered direction, which changes the roles of both students and teachers. Currently there is not much knowledge about how teachers support students in novel, student-driven learning environments. The aim of this study is to analyze teacher interventions in students’ joint work in a novel digital design and making environment. This study examined which kind of situations caused teachers to intervene in students’ joint work and which intervention strategies teachers use when intervening. Previous research suggests that teacher interventions can support joint problem solving and improve students’ thinking skills (Hofmann & Mercer, 2016; Ding, Li, Piccolo & Kulm, 2007). Maker education in turn promotes students’ creative problem-solving (Bevan et al., 2016) and enables the growth of relative expertise that refers to students developing expertise relative to each other through social participation (Stevens et al., 2016). The data were collected by videoing lessons in a primary school, which had introduced a new design and making environment (called the FUSE Studio) in the fall of 2016. The lessons were held for 9 to 12-year-old students. The data consisted of 85 hours of video material. The video data were analyzed by using the techniques of Jordan and Henderson’s (1995) interaction analysis. The intervention strategies of the analyzed teacher interventions were modelled after Hofmann and Mercer’s research (2016). The results indicated that teacher interventions in students’ joint work occurred in response to many different situations. A total of 55 intervention episodes were classified into five categories: (1) STEAM-challenge related, (2) disciplinary, (3) material related, (4) technology related, and (5) motivation related interventions. Interventions were initiated by both teachers and students. While STEAM-challenge, material, and technology related interventions were mostly student initiated, disciplinary related interventions were mostly teacher initiated. Motivation related interventions were entirely initiated by teachers. Eight of the intervention episodes were analyzed further to examine the intervention strategies that the teachers were using. The strategies were modelled after Hofmann and Mercer’s study (2016) and included: (1) authoritative, (2) initiating, and (3) continuing interactive strategies. Examples of all strategies were found however none of the teachers used purely features of continuing interactive strategies when intervening. Authoritative strategies were found in disciplinary interventions and when guiding students through a new task. Initiating strategies supported by continuing interactive strategies appeared to promote peer collaboration and joint problem solving between students. Teacher interventions seem to be an effective way of supporting relative expertise within novel, student-driven learning environments as long as the teacher is able to use the appropriate intervention strategies according to the objectives of the learning environments.

Students’ challenging behavior is of significant concern to teachers and principals in Finland. Youth’s challenging behavior at school has negative effects on teachers’ classroom management, classroom climate and other students. To manage behavioral challenges at school, different school-wide approaches are used. The Multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) is one of these school-wide approaches. With three tiers, this model focused on the early detection of learning issues, early intervention and collaboration between school personnel. This thesis explores tier one (Universal behavioral support). This research provides a national picture of primary schools’ teachers’ and principals’ views in Finland with regards to addressing students’ behavior. This study answers three research questions: (1) How do teachers and principals compare with regards to their views on using school-wide components to address students’ behavior, (2) how do teachers and principals compare in their views of teachers’ responsibility to promote appropriate youth behavior and (3) how do teachers and principals compare with regards to their views on identifying and supporting students that are not responding to universal behavioral support. A sample of 88 teachers and 101 principals from comprehensive primary schools in Finland participated in this study. A series of independent t-test, ANOVA and Chi-square were utilized to determine if any statistically significant difference existed between teachers’ and principals’ views. It was discovered that no statistically significant difference existed between teachers’ and principals’ views except in two items of the survey: participants’ views differed about teachers’ responsibility to encourage students to behave as expected and about using Interventions as a behavioral support approach for students that are not responding to universal behavioral support.

Multicultural learning environments are increasing at schools, where the inherent diversity in groups working in collaboration triggers situations of conflict due to students having different worldviews and opinions. While conflicts have traditionally been seen as negative, research shows that when resolved constructively, they have the potential to develop multiple skills and create richer learning experiences. The path to achieving constructive conflicts in a classroom largely depends on the development of the skills needed for conflict resolution in students and conflict management strategies. Nevertheless, although research shows inconsistency in methods and guidelines to achieve constructive conflicts, it is agreed that holistic support from schools is crucial. Therefore, this study aims to explore the strategies implemented by schools to promote constructive conflict resolution among students, as well as the specific approaches used during conflict situations. This study collected data through online qualitative surveys of in-service teachers at international schools worldwide. Participants shared their beliefs and practices regarding conflict resolution through open-ended questions, and responses were analysed using an inductive approach of content analysis to answer the research questions of this study. The results offered a holistic view of the practices in school settings, dividing the findings into two themes depending on the time of implementation: before or during the conflict. On one hand, preparing students for conflict resolution highlighted the development of SEL skills in the classroom through teachers' practices and curriculum approaches. Specifically, the embedding of SEL in the curriculum, collaborative learning methods and conflict resolution training were significant in preparing students for conflict resolution. In addition, prevalent conflict management strategies included collaborative conflict resolution strategies and teachers’ mediation, while inter-disciplinary support with third parties appeared as crucial for teachers. This study concludes that schools must develop methods at every level of school communities, curriculums need to embed SEL, and multi-disciplinary professionals at school are needed. Finally, there is a need to unify teachers’ practices to further develop teacher training on conflict resolution, so students will achieve constructive conflict resolution independently.

The multivoiced and shared activity of teaching staff participation in school project design was researched. Currently The Finnish national board of education instructs that there is a representative of the users of the school present in the design of a school building. In the current study the users, including the teaching staff, was represented in the user meetings by the property manager of the Premises center of the city. As there were not members of the teaching staff present in the user meetings, it was of interest how their voices are heard by the design team in the process. The research questions are: 1) How did the teaching staff contribute to the design of the school? 2) What was the content of the teaching staff's contribution to the design of the school construction? 3) How were the comments from the teaching staff to the designers processed and how were the decision based on these comments made? The research data comprised of an audio recording of an interview with representative of the user and nine video recordings of user meetings, where the design team assembled. All of the data was transcribed and speech episodes regarding the teaching staff's comments were analyzed. To answer first research question the interview with the representative of the user was utilized. To answer the second research question the speech episodes were categorized for their topic and percentages calculated for each topic. To answer the third research question four topics were chosen and the decision making process of the design team followed by building a trajectory for each topic. The teaching staff commented on the designs by writing and drawing directly on the 2D-paper plans. The representative of the user forwarded these comments to the design team. In rare occasions the school principle would approach the design team directly via e-mail. A major share of the teaching staff's comments considered furniture and equipment. These are familiar, important and tangible topics for the teaching staff. The decision making process of the design team was often lengthy. The teaching staff's comments very rarely had an effect on the made decisions. The reasons for this were structural, financial and on occasion ideological. The participation of the teaching staff could be enhanced by utilizing 3D-modeling.

Objectives. In 2011, Finland has reformed learning and schooling support which is divided to three steps: general, intensified and special support. Based on students' equal rights, every student should have the same opportunity to learn and learning support. The purpose of this Master's thesis is to find out how much there are students in intensified and special support in last school year in different regions based on Learning to Learn Assessment in 2017. Students in intensified and special support in this dataset are compared to Finnish official statistics of learning and schooling support needing students. Finally, the aim is to find out if there are regional differences in how the provision of intensified and special support has changed from 2012 to 2017. Based on earlier researches, students' equal rights seem not to be fulfilled and there are regional differences in support systems. Methods. Learning to Learn Assessment were executed in spring 2012 and 2017. There were 7 779 9th graders in 2012 and 9 241 in 2017 in that Assessment from different regions. Actual sample of this thesis was 6 383(2012) and 7 563(2017) because some students' information of their support status was missing. Data from official statistics from fall 2011 and 2016 were used as well. Regional comparisons were done by independent sample t-test separately to both forms of support. The change from 2012 to 2017 was analyzed with Repeated measures ANOVA and non-parametric Wilcoxon test. School-level changes were analyzed by Paired Samples t-test. Results and conclusions. There were regional differences in intensified and special support. Most support was provided in Northern Savonia and least in Satakunta. Especially Satakunta differed statistically significantly from other regions in both forms of support in the learning to learn data. As the difference was not as large in the official statistics, it seems that students with support needs were divided unevenly between schools there. Results indicated that learning and schooling support system does not meet up its goals. Learning to Learn Assessment sample were alike with Finnish official statistics for intensified support's part. For special support's part, there were differences between those samples. This will be explained by lacking special schools and special classes in Assessment sample. In some regions, transform in support groups from 2012 to 2017 were major but transforms weren't statistically different. On the other hand, transform in intensified support differs statistically on school level.

Goals. In the special education strategy, the support given to pupils was divided into three stages; general, intensified and special support. The three-tiered support was introduced at the end of year 2011. This study examines what goals are set for the children, with what pedagogical solutions are the children supported and how the progress is evaluated based on learning plans for intensified support. Child´s participation has been emphasized in both pre-primary and basic education curricula. In this study I also want to research how child´s participation can be seen in the pedagogical solutions of intensified support. Methods. The material for the study included documents concerning intensified support for children born in a medium-sized city in 2008 during both pre-primary education and the autumn of the first grade. The material consisted of pedagogical assessments (pre-primary education 60 pieces, first grade 16 pieces) and learning plans for intensified support (pre-primary education 69 pieces, first grade 51 pieces). The planning sections of the learning plans for intensified support (need for support, goals, means and evaluation) were categorized using content analysis. Child´s participation was also researched based on references in the pedagogical solutions (means in the forms) using content analysis. Results and conclusions. The pre-primary documents had varying criteria for starting intensified support. The pre-primary and first grade teachers had differing opinions on what the purpose of the plans was. A part of the plans was mainly filled out to transfer information between teachers and they used broad terms and the text was scarce. The pupils’ goals had been copied word for word to several children’s plans. There were uncompleted documents still in December in the first grade. Intensified support was focused in large measure at developing linguistic and mathematical skills. The child was mainly described as an object of actions by adults in the means of the learning plans, i.e. pedagogical solutions. The child was described as an independent agent in only 0,41% of the references made in the learning plans. Evaluation of the plans mainly consisted of observations in the everyday life.

The objective of my study was to examine the policy of youth self-responsibilitation in neoliberal ethos. Young people and youth have been in part of societal debate which focus on society adhesion and concerns about social exclusion. There have been also expectations and demands by society to young people, but at the same time social exclusion is seen self-responsibility-based problem. In this study I asked how youth is located and how the ideal youth is produced by the political programs. The policy of youth self-responsibilitation is examined by how it is appearing and what meanings it takes in political programs. The perspective of this study is based on neoliberal ethos and societal change. The study data consist of two political programs about youth policy which one represents the ministry of education and culture in Finland and the other is European union youth policy report. I examined these reports with the critical discursive research. The analysis based on critical thinking, challenging conventional way and highlights that things can be done and said in "other way". In the political programs youth were located with tensions, conflicts and problem-orientation. The ideal youth was produced by targets of active citizenship, participation and management one's own life. The self-responsibilitation of youth was appearing the way that focus to individually-based in young people, whose ability and capacity should be improved and utilized. At the same time the structural conversation was minimal and shallow. Social and societal problems, such as unemployment, were dealt individually by blaming young people. The self-responsibilitation of youth were meaningful as part of diversity politics. There were many different youth policies which were specified and listed, but young people situation as a whole and profound were not represented. This study concludes that young people and youth should be seen more dignified and humane way which means the transition to youth intensification to dignified and humane youth.

The aim of this study was to find out how classroom teachers who teach physical education support task-oriented motivational climate in the 5th and 6th grade physical education classes in a primary school in Helsinki and what are the challenges in the climate creation. The theoretical framework of the study is based on previous research on self-determination theory, goal orientation theory, and motivational climate – all having an impact on pupils’ exercise motivation. Epstein's (1989) Target model was used as a basis for studying the task-oriented motivational climate of teachers. The study was conducted as a qualitative case study using the content analysis method. The data was gathered in semi-structured thematic interviews that were guided by a complete interview framework. Five classroom teachers teaching physical education were interviewed and the collected data was analyzed inductively and deductively per research question. The results show that the classroom teachers of the studied primary school supported task-oriented motivational climate in physical education classes in each of the six areas of the Target model. As challenges, the classroom teachers experienced low perceived competence by pupils, problems related to pupil behavior, the impact of social status and external challenges caused by the operating environment, such as insufficient exercise facilities. The findings show that teachers’ activity in physical education classes mainly support pupils’ basic psychological needs and enable the creation of a task-oriented motivational climate despite the above-mentioned challenges

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to examine perceptions of evaluation of learning and feedback among teachers and students of mechanical engineering at the Helsinki University of Technology. The differences and similarities between the perceptions of these two groups were also studied. Course feedback was examined, and a target was set to rationalize the collation and exploitation of the feedback data. The theoretical background for the evaluation of learning was based primarily on the theories of Brown (1997), Karjalainen (2001) and Rowntree (1977, 1988). The Biggs (2003) model on aligned teaching was used as an example of quality university education. Feedback practices were examined through the theory of Ramsden (1992) and many recent research articles. Methods. The qualitative study was executed by examining the evaluation of learning and feedback practices of the courses in mechanical engineering at the Helsinki University of Technology. The data was gathered by interviewing the teachers responsible of basic and postgraduate studies, as well as students taking their basic studies. Four group interviews were arranged for both teachers and students, each with three participants. The data from these themed interviews were analyzed by means of content analysis. Result and conclusions. This study showed that teachers and students have similar perceptions of evaluation of learning and feedback excluding a few significant differences. The most essential difference in evaluation of learning was that students perceived the evaluation of the examinations to be inaccurate. Teachers on the other hand thought that the existing practice for the exam evaluation is working fine. Students also felt that they are not giving enough information on the opportunities to get feedback. Teachers instead expected students to actively ask for feedback. Students perceived the need for exploiting the course feedback for course development purposes more than before. Teachers saw foremost the challenges and problems in the exploitation of the feedback. In the future, more effort must be put on the research of the evaluation of learning and feedback, as the quality assurance and continuous improvement of the teaching calls for new data.