Browsing by Title

A prerequisite for high-quality early childhood eduction is high-quality early chidhood leadership. There is no formal qualification training for becoming a leader of an early childhood education unit, which is why the researchers have been worried about the unbalance between the level of education and the demands of the job. Starting a new job is burdensome, but how to tackle the challenges that a new leader of the early childhood education unit could come across without any training for the job. The purpose of this study is to provide a general overview of starting as a novice leader of an early childhood education unit, and also to examine the received and required forms of support in the induction phase (of the career). In the field of early childhood education, the induction phase has been researched mainly by teachers’ point of vies; the studies concerning the leaders of the early childhood education units are few. Therefore, this study tries to describe and identify the subject as well as to awaken the interest for further investigation of the subject. This study is a qualitative case study that examined the induction phase and perceived support of the careers of early childhood unit leaders using a narrative research approach. The research material was collected as individual case reports and semi-structured thematic interviews. The interviews were conducted as telephone interviews. The research material consisted of five telephone interviews with the leader of early childhood education unit, which were conducted in the spring of 2020. The material was analyzed using narrative content analysis and theory-driven content analysis. According to the research results, the leaders of the early childhood education units explained that they had generally done well in the induction phase of their careers. Self-initiative and activity in applying for support were seen as a prerequisite for success at work. Leaders said they had generally received support, but had to be active in advancing it. The issues that leaders said they received support included training, various forms of mentoring, other actors in the work community and experience. In particular, training seems to be strongly linked to working as a unit leader. Leaders who had applied for leadership-related studies on their own initiative found the studies as a strong form of support, while leaders who had not attended leadership-related studies longed for them. Based on this results, it would be necessary to consider the training or coaching of unit leaders. The positivity of the results is contradictory with the discussion on the media which is why it is important to look critically at the image constructed by the media.

The importance of work ability management is increasingly recognized in different organizations. This is the result of legislative reform and a systematic investment in work ability research. Work ability is understood as a systemic which includes the constant search for balance. According to the work ability house model the individual's resources are in relation to work, the work environment and the social relationship and eventually society (Ilmarinen, 2006, pp. 20, 23). The research questions were (1) which kind of discourses work ability and work ability support models are based on and (2) how the goals of work ability support are authorized and justified discursively. The material consisted of ten (10) written documents, which were the work ability support models used by working life organizations. The material was analyzed as part of the social reality they produced. The aim of the research was to describe how the perceptions of work ability, work ability support and the goals of work ability management have been discursively constructed and to mirror them in previous work ability research. The written material was analyzed by discourse analysis. The analysis focused on how work ability and work ability support models are understood in different workplaces and how work ability measures are justified discursively. For the first research question, discourses describing work ability support were located in the material: intervention, caring, project and continuous negotiation. For the second research question, the goals of work ability support, the discourses were constructed using the repertoires of productivity, cost, humanism, social responsibility and legal. The main result is the localization of the hegemonic discourse of individualization and individual responsibility. The problematic nature of the hegemonic discourse appears on the basis of previous research results, as the factors found behind the effectiveness of work ability management are located in the community and structures instead of the individual. The results can be applied as a part of developing work ability management.

Previous studies indicate that early numerical skills develop cumulatively, meaning that old skills form a base for the new ones. As a result, teaching these skills thoroughly in the first grade is crucial. In Finland mathematics education has been found to be textbook-centered, therefore the textbooks used in teaching have a significant impact on students’ learning. Especially after the year 2006, when the PISA scores dropped, the attention has increasingly focused on mathematics education and its textbooks. The aim of this study is to explore, how first grade textbooks differ in teaching early numerical skills. Additionally, the research examines whether the curriculum has an impact on teaching early numerical skills. This study has been conducted as a part of the MOPPI research project that examines mathematics textbooks. The research data consisted of four first grade textbook series published during the last three curriculums. The chosen textbooks were Tuuma 1, Tuhattaituri 1, Laskutaito 1 and Mieti ja laske 1. The analysis was divided into two phases. In the first phase, the analytical units were marked in the textbooks. In the second phase, the theory-driven content analysis was conducted, where the analytical units were marked with the equivalent main category and possible subcategories of early numerical skills. The textbooks differed in their approach in teaching numerical skills and emphasizing them. There were differences in emphasizing symbolic and non-symbolic number sense as well as in every subcategory of understanding mathematics relations except for operational symbols in mathematics. There were also differences in every subcategory of counting skills and basic skills in arithmetic. All textbook series began their teaching of numerical skills with early mathematical-logical principles which are important for developing other mathematical skills. Tuhattaituri and Laskutaito started teaching symbolic and non-symbolic number sense before other textbooks. The significant differences in understanding mathematical relations were in arithmetic principles, operational symbols in mathematics and place-value and base-10 system. Tuuma was the only textbook that didn’t teach number symbols up to one hundred. Tuhattaituri began teaching number word sequence before the other textbooks. The textbooks proceeded to addition and subtraction with different approaches. For example, Mieti and laske was the only textbook that taught addition and subtraction simultaneously. The curriculum partially impacted the way textbooks taught numerical skills. The clearest connection between the curriculum and the textbooks was with Tuuma. The connection was to early mathematical-logical principles and decomposing numbers. There were also connections between the teaching of number word sequence and the curriculum. Some differences weren’t connected to the curriculum. Although Laskutaito and Tuhattaituri were both published during the same curriculum, the textbooks didn’t teach numerical skills similarly in every category. Additionally, for example Tuuma and Tuhattaituri had similarities in their teaching, despite being published during different curriculums.

The aim of this qualitative research was to study how colours are used in Finnish rya rugs and the semiotic meanings they communicate through the rugs. Throughout history, colours have played important and meaningful roles in textiles. This also applies to rya and it is seen as a significant aspect of Finnish rya tradition. The three dimensional texture of rya provides fascinating possibilities of colour usage. Rya is a Nordic craft technique that is traditionally seen as a wall hanging but it was originally used as an utility article rather than a decorative textile. It was only later that it was recognized as a valued art textile with its richness of colours. The current study was undertaken using semiotic visual analysis based on visual data on ryas. 48 secondary data was collected from the literature of this field. The artefacts were divided into three historical eras which were; decorative ryas (1779–1898), interior ryas (1899–1939) and art ryas (1940–1979). The analysis utilised a colour analysis framework developed by the researcher based on Itten’s seven colour contrast scheme and themes that emerged from the researcher’s own observation of the current study using ATLAS.ti. The framework can also be applied to other textiles colour research. Red ryas were most common in the beginning, after which beige and brown took over. In the latest era, after the Second World War blue emerged as a popular newcomer in addition to previously preferred red and brown. At first the colours were sharp, distinct, graphical and performative but colour usage most drastically changed in the latest era as the colours became increasingly artistic, free-formed and abstract. The colour areas grew larger and the hues became darker even though white was found increasingly. The early rya consisted of a high hue contrast which was notable as popularity in red-green complementary contrast combination became evident. Even though the hue contrast became more subdued later, the size of the hue chart became larger. The first era’s colours symbolized the owner’s social position and the power of church whereas in the mid era colours symbolized nationalism, modernization and the appreciation towards visual art. In the latest era, colours symbolized more, the designer’s artistic expression and psyche as well as upturn and advanced chemical industry after the war. The findings of this study indicate that colours were heterogenic and were clearly employed to represent the specific era and its cultural signifance in the society the item was made. The study is significant as it highlights the importance of colour in ryas as previous studies have paid much less attention to the aesthetics of colours.

Aims. The aim of this research was to find out whether there is an association between mindset (growth or fixed) and epistemologies amongst students in Helsinki University and Aalto University. In addition, the aim was to find if there is a difference between different student groups and also between different majors. It was hypothesized based on past research that there would be an association between mindset and epistemologies. Methodology. This research was conducted as a part of a larger RYM Oy Indoor Environment (IE) research. The data was gathered from students from five different majors in Helsinki University and Aalto University via a questionnaire. This research utilized two parts of the research: Epistemic beliefs (collaborative knowledge building, reflective learning, valuing metacognition, certain knowledge and practical value) from MED NORD -questionnaire (Lonka & al. 2008) and fixed mindset. Results and conclusions. Based on this research there was an association between reported epistemic beliefs and fixed mindset. Fixed mindset was positively associated with valuing metacognition, certain knowledge and practical value. On the other hand, collaborative knowledge building, reflective learning and valuing metacognition were negatively associated with fixed mindset. In this research the participants where categorized to three different groups based on their epistemologies: collaborative knowledge creators, fact-oriented practitioners and individualistic knowledge acquires. It was observed that teacher students and collaborative knowledge builders reported lower fixed mindset than other groups or students with other majors. In general, students reported very low fixed mindset. The fixed mindset questionnaire needs further development because of the bias of the results.

Already a fetus can learn different auditory stimuli. Learning can be seen in newborns' processing abilities: they, for instance, recognize their mother's voice and remember different voice stimuli from the fetal period. In this study newborns' brain activity to a repeated pseudoword stimulus was measured using EEG (electroencephalography) to study their learning of the pseudoword and habituation to it, which means a diminishing reaction to stimulus as the repetition continues. The effect of fetal exposure on short-term learning of a speech stimulus or habituation to it has not been studied previously using electrophysiological techniques. The newborns were divided into two groups from which the other had already heard the pseudoword from the beginning of the third trimester to birth. The first time the other group of newborns heard the pseudoword was during the experiment. EEG was measured in the hospital's maternity ward from 23 healthy few-day-old newborns as they were exposed to the pseudo-word. During the measurement the babies were asleep. Because some of the babies had already heard the stimulus, it was assumed that reaction to it differs between the groups. Additionally, differences between the groups in learning the pseudoword or habituation to it were expected. Results show that those newborns that had already heard the pseudoword had different reactions to it compared to the babies that had never heard the pseudoword. Habituation defined by diminishing of reactions occurred in neither of the groups. Instead, minor changes occurred during the experiment in processing of the pseudoword and they were different in the two groups suggesting different learning processes. The effect of fetal exposure on newborns' processing abilities has previously been shown in only a few studies. These results expand the field of electrophysiological measurements in newborns. In the future, it may still be interesting to assess how newborns' learning and habituation take place in electrophysiological studies.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe how the phenomena of agency and control occur in an action research study of school satisfaction. The main focus is on the description about agency and control given by pupils as they contemplated the satisfaction of transitioning to lower secondary school. Another area of interest is action research as a method that supports the agency of the pupils. A sixth grade from a village school that emphasizes the learnercentred pedagogy took part in the research in the spring of 2016. The action research consisted of four stages: introduction and conceptualization, data collection, analysis and individual reflection. In this thesis, the data consisted of a group discussion of the analysis stage and the pupils' individual reflection tests. Content analysis was used in analysing the discussion and texts of the pupils when examining what kinds of occurrences of agency and control could be detected. When finding out what kinds of initiatives of agency the pupils took in interactive situations, the analysis of interaction was used in analysing the group discussion with a focus on initiatives. In the conversation of the pupils, the most essential matters concerning control were the school rules and teachers who made sure that the rules were followed. Control was seen as a restriction to creativity but also as something that brought safety. The talk about breaking the rules together was an essential thought that reflected agency through opposition. Freedom and independence for studying as well as for transport was hoped for. The answers reflected the youth's need for independence and its meaning for each individual's school satisfaction. The initiatives varied and changed quickly in the interactive situation of the action research. For example, the pupils would take initiatives of supporting each other's ideas by repeating the same idea. However, in constructive initiatives they started to modify an idea presented by someone else. In group discussion, dividing and opposing initiatives took place, which occurred, for instance, by focusing too much on the details or rejecting another person's idea. There is a pedagogical contradiction in everyday school life. On the first hand, pupils should be guided to become independent agents but on the other hand, a safe school environment should be maintained for everyone. The purpose of this study was to bring this pedagogical paradox to the fore and to clarify in a concrete way what kind of agency and initiatives concerning it can occur in everyday life, and how all these matters are interwoven into the pupils' school satisfaction.

Responsibility and responsible consumption can be seen as one of the trends in consump-tion these days. The definitions and experiences of responsibility are diverse and extensive which can affect the actual consumption habits. The purpose of this study is to analyze what kinds of ideas consumers have about responsibility and what they consider as responsible consumption. The study also examines factors that influence consumption decisions. In addition, the study aims to explore how consumers' efforts to consume responsibly and their actual consumption behavior differ from each other. The method applied in this study is qualitative and the data was collected through interviews. Before participating in the interview the participants had kept a consumption diary in which they had written down forty products they had purchased. In the interview, these products were used as stimuli, on the basis of which the discussion about responsibility took place. Nine young adults between the ages of 24 and 35, who all are employed, participated in the study. The material was analyzed using material-based content analysis. The results of the study indicated that the key responsibility factors were the locality of the products, necessity, durability, recyclability, healthiness, and the animals’ and workers’ conditions. The basis of responsible consumption was considered to be needs-based consumption, which is based on the information about how to consume responsibly. According to the results of the study, the most significant factors behind the consumption decision were money, product characteristics such as taste and quality, and locality. The decisions were also influenced by factors that strongly rely on responsibility, such as preventing food waste and reducing meat consumption. Also, the decisions were guided by the interviewees' own preferences, habits, and needs. The study also showed that responsibility was considered important and the general experience was that responsibility is realized moderately in one's own consumption. However, money, ignorance, and own habits were felt to be the biggest obstacles to more responsible consumption.

Goals: The purpose of this study was to examine the profiles of socio-emotional skills related to task performance among upper elementary school students. Socio-emotional skills related to task performance, such as responsibility, persistence, and self-control, were examined through the OECD framework of socio-emotional skills. The second aim was to determine how the identified profiles differ in terms of gender, socio-economic status (SES), and growth mindset. There has been no previous research on forming profiles of socio-emotional skills related to task performance and, therefore, this was the first study examining such profiles. Methods: The data used in the study was part of a survey data collected in 2019 for the OECD's socio-emotional skills study, which surveyed the socio-emotional skills of students born in the Helsinki area in 2003-2004. The participants (N=2466, 52.1% girls, 45.2% boys, 1.9% other genders, and 1.6% missing information) had an average age of 15.7 years when responding to the survey. The profiles of the dimensions of the task performance skill area were formed through a two-step cluster analysis. Differences between groups regarding the variables were studied using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey’s test was used for comparing the differences between groups. Result and conclusions: The study identified four profiles of socio-emotional skills related to task performance: High socio-emotional skills profile (33.8%), Responsible-Persistent profile (23.7%), Low socio-emotional skills profile (21.9%), and Restrained profile (20.5%). There was no statistically significant difference between the profiles in terms of gender. The highest socioeconomic background was reported by students belonging to the High socio-emotional skills profile, while the lowest socio-economic background was reported by students belonging to the Restrained profile. In terms of growth mindset, all profiles were significantly different from each other. The level of growth mindset was highest in the High socio-emotional skills profile and lowest in the Low socio-emotional skills profile. The profiles only explained 3% of the variation in a growth mindset in the sample.

Speech is a sum of a complicated, multifunctional neurological and motor action. By changing the articulatory setting, the resonance properties of the vocal tract change and a new sound is created. Speech can be described as a continuum of articulatory manoeuvre; each manoeuvre has its own function and they're added together to gain the target articulation. Ventriloquism is speech without visible speech manoeuvres. Previously only few studies about ventriloquism have been published. Studies have focused on articulation, expiratory air pressure, fundamental frequency, laryngeal action, perceptual voice quality and simulation of compensating sounds of a ventriloquist. This study wanted to find out about the articulatory strategies of ventriloquists. Nasality, fundamental frequency, duration and the actual ventriloquism as a speech technique were examined – the writer learned the art of ventriloquism during research. Results show higher fundamental frequency, more nasality and longer duration compared to normal speech. However, differences between the participants were found. We can also rename ventriloquism as velar speech technique by the results obtained from the study. The results show, that velar speech technique may have a potential rule in helping those with structurally disturbed articulators. e.g. oral and throat cancer patients during post-operative speech therapy.