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Higher education is seen to be a part of the global educational market nowadays. In order to stand out on this market, universities work for accreditations so that they can prove the level of their quality. Accreditations are preceded by long processes during which the university has to show that is meets all the requirements. There is quite a lot of research on accreditations as such but less on how they effect the internal power relations at a university. In this research, the aim was to study the effects of an accreditation process on internal power relations at a university. The theoretical starting point was Risto Heiskala's power theory which combines resource theories and structuralism and Hannu Simola's grid of the effects of a power mechanism. Simola's grid is based on Heiskala's theory. The aim was to analyse how accreditation processes present themselves a university from the power aspect and also how accreditation processes are talked about and how they are regarded. The material was collected at Svenska handelshögskolan (Hanken) where they were working towards an accreditation. The material consisted of 26 protocols and 6 interviews. All the interviewees worked in the university management. The analysis was based on Simola's grid and the material was analysed using critical discourse analysis. The results of this research show that a lot of power is used during accreditation processes. During these processes, many power relations seem to change, either momentarily or more permanently. At times, the use of power seems to be conscious while at times it seems to be more unconscious. The effects of power that is being used seem to cover all the four areas in Simola's grid, namely resources, position, identity and self-regulation. According to the results of this research, the effects seem to be more complicated than the grid suggests. In some research papers, accreditations have been mentioned as a new form of steering. According to the results of this research, this steering mechanism seems to cover the whole university and its staff and this is why there should be more research on the internal effects of the processes. The material in this research represented mainly the point of view of the management. In order to get a broader picture of the situation in future research, the material should cover also the research and teaching personal. In this research, the material was collected in a small university but it would be interesting to see whether the results apply also for a larger organisation.

Previous studies have shown that social-emotional skills can be taught in schools. The purpose of this study was to plan and conduct an intervention that can successfully develop students' social-emotional competence. The goals of the intervention were to answer to the students' individual needs and influence the social problems of the class as well as shape the social field of the classroom. The intervention was executed in the context of a research practicum. The research question that guided the study is; what kind of development in students' social-emotional skills and sociometric status can be found due to the implemented intervention, and how does the teacher of the class assess the intervention. This study was carried out by using a mixed methods approach. The focus group that took part in the intervention consisted of the students of one classroom (N = 24) and their teacher who also oversaw the research practicum. The quantitative data of the study was collected by using a multisource assessment of social competence scale. The data of self and teacher ratings was then analysed by using a paired samples t-test. The qualitative data of the study consisted of the interviews of both the teacher and the students. The acquired material was analysed by using content analysis and factual analysis. The students also took a sociometric test before and after the intervention. The results of the analysed quantitative data showed no statistically significant improvement on the student's self ratings of social competence. The teacher's assessments showed significant development on only one dimension of the scale. This was explained by the size of the sample and the students' developed understanding of social-emotional competence. However, the sociometric results showed substantial development in the status of peer rejected students and showed that no child was systematically excluded from the peer group after the intervention. The interviews also attested that both the students and their teacher found the intervention to have greatly improved the situation of the class. The teacher also found the contents and overall execution of the intervention practical and solidarity improving. The results were consistent with the findings of previous studies.

The aim of this study was to examine the validity and reliability of the social engagement scale among students at Finnish comprehensive schools. Another aim was to examine the interaction effect of social engagement and introversion on self-esteem, schoolwork engagement and burnout. The purpose of this was to understand how introverts with higher social engagement perform in terms of their self-esteem, schoolwork engagement and burnout in comparison to introverts with lower social engagement. The theory of this study focused on social engagement, which has been suggested the fourth dimension of school engagement. Social interactions help students’ learning, and enhance critical thinking and problem solving. Introversion was selected for this study as introverts are usually stereotypically seen as unsocial and unwilling to work with other people. The data for this study were collected through questionnaires of the Mind the Gap Research Group of the University of Helsinki in 2013–2016. Sample size was 862 students. The analytical methods were confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and hierarchical multiple regression. The results indicated that a two-factor model best fit the social engagement scale. These two dimensions were named the social engagement approach and social engagement avoidance. When examining self-esteem, the interactions between the social engagement approach and introversion were significant. This suggests that introverts with high social engagement have higher self-esteem than introverts with low social engagement. Interaction terms for the social engagement approach and social engagement in terms of schoolwork engagement and burnout were not found.

Finnish educational leaders (FELs) experience high levels of stress in their work, which has prompted interest in their psychological wellbeing. Research shows that they have various roles and responsibilities, which can lead to poor psychological wellbeing. Most studies have focused on occupational resources, in line with the Job Demands-Resources theory when investigating how psychological wellbeing of FELs can be improved. Previous research highlights an association between sleep and stress, and how they have both been affected by COVID-19. This study examines the role of sleep as an external resource and its association with the stress of FELs as an indicator of their psychological wellbeing, and cognitive stress, before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study has three research questions with the following hypotheses. Firstly, that there is an association between sleep and psychological wellbeing of FELs. Secondly, that COVID-19 has had a negative effect on the psychological wellbeing of FELs. Lastly, that COVID-19 has had a negative effect on the sleep of FELs. The research sample in this study were FELs who were part of the Finnish school principal’s association and completed the Finnish Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Wellbeing Survey. The sample consisted of 1727 FELs over four years of data collection from 2019 to 2022. The measures of sleep, stress as an indicator of psychological wellbeing and additionally cognitive stress were collected using the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire II as part of the wider survey. The data was analysed using Jamovi v.2.3.21 and the types of data analysis used were Pearson correlation, linear regression analysis, comparing means and One-Way ANOVA. The study showed that this sample of FELs are generally stressed. The results showed a statistically significant association between sleep and psychological wellbeing. Sleep was also found to have an association with cognitive stress to a lesser extent. However, there were no significant findings for gender and year of study, in the association between sleep and psychological wellbeing. The results indicated that there was a slight decrease in stress during the COVID-19 pandemic, and a slight increase in sleeping problems, but these were not statistically significant. The study contributes to an understanding of the association between sleep and psychological wellbeing of FELs. The study highlights that further research is required to explore the association in more depth, and that FELs could consider practical strategies to sleep and wellbeing, whilst schools could consider strategies to lessen demands.

The objective of this research was to study elementary school teachers’ iPad use as part of their music education. Subject was viewed relative to elementary school curriculums fundamentals and musical objectives in content areas within it. Furthermore, it was investigated how iPads motivated students from the teacher’s perspective. Deci and Ryans self-determination theory, which is considered as the mainstream theory in 21st century motivational studies, was used on the background. Research also considered the amount of preparedness teachers have in using iPads. Theory considers, in addition to motivation, widely also the concept of mobile learning and its manifestation in Finnish education and studying. The research considers possibilities of using iPads in elementary school music education and gathers different ways to utilize mobile technology as support to education and studying. Research also contemplates the suitability of using iPads in music education. Prior research has shown that with the help of mobile devices, it is possible to differentiate education and widen the learning environment to outside classroom. Devices have also been stated to act as a motivating factor to all kinds of learners. The research was carried out on spring of 2018 with qualitative methods, as a case study, by interviewing five elementary school music teachers around the Helsinki area. The teachers that took part in this research were either music class teachers, or class teachers teaching music. Interviews were carried out as theme interviews, in which the themes were based on the research questions. Interviews were recorded and held in each teachers’ own classroom. The interviews took from 40 to 70 minutes after which all material was transcribed coded in inductive content analysis’ methods. Findings were scrutinized theory bound, by comparing them to previous researches and theories. Composing and making of other creative output were the main utilizations. The research gave hints that it is possible to differentiate music education and provide positive experiences especially to musically inferior students with iPads. Based on the research, using iPads motivates students of all skill levels, when used in periods of a few weeks. Teachers would utilize the devices even more, but bad availability and different technical problems are often a problem.

This Master’s thesis delves into the world of dance education. The objective was to examine a teaching method in which children act as teachers. The intervention study performed focusses on children who teach their own parents. The study aims at exploring this new method of teaching and learning. There are not many studies that have been conducted in the field of dance education, a field which provides many opportunities for developing a new concept for teaching. The new curricula devised for day-care, preschool and basic education challenge teachers to increasingly involve learners in the learning process. The possibilities to increase the physical activity, performance skills and self-esteem of children as part of the learning process are the reason why ballet education has been chosen as the context of examining the new learning method. As far as is known, a study like the present one has not been carried out before. There is not much research data on ballet instruction for young children. Children teaching their parents is also a subject on which no previous studies are available. As a researcher, I applied the pedagogics of ballet and dance instruction, the pedagogics of learning and teaching, as well as related research data to the study of various themes that arose during the research.   A Ballet Teaching Workshop was held in January 2018 at Tanssila Dance School in Helsinki. The study examines the thoughts of nine children and their accompanying parents concerning the ballet class included in the workshop. The material consists of preliminary interviews with the children and their parents, forms completed by the parents and post-research interviews with the children. The researcher’s reflection on her own role as a teacher in the framework of the ‘children as teachers’ teaching method forms an important part of the study.   According to the study, the adults mainly regarded their children’s chance to act as teachers as a positive experience, despite some conflicting views. Several adults considered it important that the children experienced a sense of achievement while acting as teachers. Some adults were unsure about the effectiveness of being taught by children, while others felt that the joy of doing things together with their children was the most important benefit of the workshop. Many of the adults expressed their surprise of the children’s good teaching skills. The study revealed a number of different aspects related to teaching. The things considered important included the teachers’ skills in dance routines and their use of voice. According to the parents, the demonstration in front of the group was the most important and most useful channel of learning when the children acted as teachers. During the workshop, half of the parents discovered new facets in their children. The observations were varied and ranged from the children’s courage to reflection on the performance of certain ballet routines by the children. The children’s feelings about acting as a teacher varied from pleasant to embarrassed. Teaching alone in front of the others was felt to be exciting. The children thought that the adults were mostly good learners. Several of the children later wondered about the numerous questions asked by the adults on dance techniques. The children had also noticed quality fluctuations in the performance of dance techniques by their parents. For many children, it was important to point out how they were much more skilled than their parents. The researcher’s reflection raises benefits of the ‘children as teachers’ teaching method for application to other uses in the sphere of teaching.

The Big Wheel education reform, downsizing and restructuring processes has left the university of Helsinki in a confused state. The goal of this study was to better understand the reasons and justification of the Big Wheel and to examine the process as part of a neoliberal university scene. In this context, neoliberal university is seen as an institution driven by global economic and market forces. Neoliberal universities emphasize on global markets, individual freedom of selection, degrees based on expectations set by working life and resource-efficient practices. In this study I will examine the discourses and speech of the reasons and justification of the Big Wheel. My research tasks are 1) What are the reasons and justifications for the Big Wheel education reform? and 2) What discourses are produced in the speech on reasons and justifications. I collected the data on Flamma, which is the intranet of University of Helsinki. My data consisted of all the bulletins and materials that dealt with the Big Wheel reform (N=32). As my research approach, I chose discourse analysis that I utilised in constructing the discourses. By discourses, I mean different manners of speaking, that are used in construing a social reality. I analysed the data and construed three hegemonic discourses. The dimensions of the discourse of internationality are recruiting best students, renewing marketing, profiling (University of) Helsinki and attractive education programs. The discourse of effectiveness composes of resource-wise planning, perfusion of students and freedom of choice. The discourse of employability is about the employability of degrees, know-how based degrees and taking into consideration the changing working-life. The fourth discourse, the discourse of knowledge as an instrumental value, summarized the first three and was seen throughout the data. According to this study one can conclude that the Big Wheel education reform produces and reproduces neoliberal university policies.

Objectives. The objective of this thesis was to examine and analyse the experiences of youth workers concerning the use of audit and self-assessment model.The focus of this the-sis was to examine how the model was used and described as a method in developing youth work. Evaluation and assessment are part of working life. The expansion of evaluation has happened especially in public sector. In youth work there is not much research about evaluation or assessment practices. One of the objectives of this thesis was to find ideas how to develop assessment practices. Methods. Data was collected by two focus group interviews. There were altogether nine par-ticipants who all work as youth workers in capital region. They all had used audit and self-assessment model and part of them had also been with when the model was developed. Content analysis was used when analysing the data. Results and Conclusions. The attitude towards audit and self-assessment model proved diverse. Youth workers consider the model as useful method when assessing youth work, but they were choosy concerning individual criterion and utilization of audit result were partly in-complete. Audit and self-assessment model was considered beside assessment model also as a tool which helps to clarify the content of youth work.

Today's learners need the skills to meet the challenges of the future. These 21st-century skills include, among other things, collaboration, and interaction skills, but also understanding and mastering digital technologies and learning to learn skills for the student. Self-assessment skills belong to the latter and are part of formative assessment. Formative assessment takes part during learning and its aim is to develop student’s learning skills. 21st-century skills can be practiced as part of various multidisciplinary entities, such as invention projects based on invention pedagogy. Invention projects are wide-ranging entities that combine learning technology skills along with craft skills. In these projects students have the opportunity to be part of the process of co-invention. Invention projects are organised in handicraft classes. Practicing self-assessment skills supports the student's learning in invention projects. It is also part of the formative evaluation of projects. Both self-assessment and invention projects have been studied to some extent in Finland. This study utilises the division of self-assessment types developed by Saarnilahti, Lindfors and Iiskala (2019) into evidence-based, affirming, reflective and pragmatic self-assessment. This study was conducted as a case study. Its aim was to map out what kind of assessment the students would manifest within the project and how students express the types of self-assessment during their verbal interaction. Another interesting topic was how these verbal self-assessments occur at different stages of an invention project. The research material was collected in spring 2019 as part of the Growing Mind research project, and it included videos of teaching sessions (14 teaching sessions), videotaped material of interviews with researchers (3) and learning portfolios of invention project groups (3). The data was analysed in a theory-driven manner. In the videotaping of the lessons, the analysis of the material was guided by “making-process-rug” analysis method. The videos of the interviews and lessons were analysed by means of interactive analysis. Content analysis was used in the analysis of learning portfolios. The results of the study showed that the material of the invention project included expressions from all types of self-assessment. Expressions of reflective and evidence-based self-assessment were more common than others. Expressions related to self-assessment appeared at different stages of the invention project, but the largest number occurred at the end of the project as part of the evaluation phase or the written final evaluation. Of the materials in this study, self-assessment expressions were most common in interview videos, in which researchers from the Growing Mind project asked students questions related to the project. Assignments and discussions with teachers are important factors for pupils' self-assessment activities.

The aim of the present study was to examine how ninth graders’ self-reported anxiety symptoms are related to their time on task and task performance in low-stakes assessment. The aim of the present study was also to examine if there are gender differences in how ninth graders’ self-reported anxiety symptoms are related to their time on task and task performance in low-stakes assessment. The relation between self-reported anxiety symptoms and time on task and task performance in low-stakes assessment, has presumably not been studied before. However studies show, that in most cases, anxiety correlates negatively with cognitive processes and task performance. The present study’s data is a part of MetLoFin longitudinal data that was collected in Helsinki metropolitan area in 2011 and 2014. The study examined lower secondary school pupils’ learning to learn, achievement, well-being and their relations. The first phase of the main data was collected in the fall of 2011 when the pupils were at seventh grade. The second phase of the main study was collected in the spring of 2014 from the same students, who at the time were at ninth grade. In the present study, only the data from 2014 was used which consisted of 5813 pupils from ninth grade. Anxiety symptoms were measured with three different indicators that measured emotional difficulties, academic pressure and somatic symptoms. The data was analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics 25. The study showed that when examining the whole data, emotional difficulties and academic pressure correlated negatively with time on task and task performance. The relation between somatic symptoms and time on task and task performance was weak and conflicting when examining the whole data. The study also showed that with boys, the self-reported anxiety symptoms correlated negatively with time on task and task performance. With girls, the relation between self-reported anxiety symptoms and time on task and task performance in low-stakes assessment was notably weaker.