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The tasks of this research are to identify different types of loneliness among academic students, clarify what kind of meaning loneliness is given in the students life and what kind of interpretation repertoires the student is using when talking about loneliness. In the study was identified social loneliness, emotional loneliness, fenomenological loneliness, normative loneliness, existential loneliness and physical loneliness. Typestories were constructed on the basis of Gergen and Gergens (1988) categorization of development of the plot of the story in regressive, progressive and stable plots. Students used following interpretation repertoires talk about fighting, talk about being a looser, talk about isolating herself and talk about being separated. The data consists of online discussions of loneliness on Nyytis website. Recommended measures are to improve affinity/fellowship among students and to develop activity which could prevent loneliness

Tiivistelmä - Referat – Abstract This Master's Thesis originated with an assignment from LUMA2020-program to create mathematics materials to primary education. Previous studies have shown interest to be a major factor in learning mathematics. Therefore, the goal of the material is to be interesting. This thesis leaned on the model by Aunio and Räsäsen (2016) about the development of mathematic skills in children under the age of 8, so that the material could be developed to fit the zone of proximal development. This thesis examines the factors that influence interest in mathematics material. The goal of the thesis is to create interesting mathematical materials for children in primary education. This Master's thesis has been implemented as a design research. Empirical problem analysis has collected data on the aspirations of mathematics materials from teachers and educators who participated in the LUMA2020 program in primary education. The poll was sent to 126 people in total. Based on the responses to this survey (total of 18) and previous research, I created the first design solution. This design solution was assessed as a case study by interviewing the five people who tried the material. Based on the results of the interviews, I created another design solution. According to this master's thesis, meaningful and interesting mathematics material aimed at children in primary education is of the right level and it makes it possible to stream pupils. Functionality and an interesting story that makes actions logical increases interest towards the material. Good and clear instructions for children and adults affect positively to commitment and interest towards the material.

The aim of this study was to investigate the connection between teachers' burn-out and professional development. In addition, the study aimed at clarifying teachers' conceptions of the significance of in-service training on work-related well-being. The theoretical starting points of the study were based on a model of burn-out (Kalimo & Toppinen1997) and a model of teachers' professional development (Niemi 1989). Present study can be seen as an independent follow-up study for a working ability project called "Uudistumisen eväät" that was followed through in Kuopio. The study was carried out in two phases. First, the connection between teachers' burn-out and professional development was charted with the help of a quantitative survey study. 131 teachers participated in the survey. Some of them were from schools that participated in the working ability project and the remainder were from other schools in Kuopio. The questionnaire consisted of self-constructed instruments of burn-out and professional development. According to the results, burn-out and professional development were strongly correlated with each other. Burn-out was summed up in three factors: emotional exhaustion, feelings of depersonalization and low feelings of personal accomplishment. Professional development was summed up in four factors: personality and pedagogical skills, learning-orientation, social skills and confronting change. Personality and pedagogical skills and skills of confronting change were correlated strongest with burn-out and its symptoms. A teacher, who has not found his/her own personal way of acting as a teacher and who considers change as something negative, is more likely to become exhausted than a teacher, who has developed his/her own pedagogical identity and who regards change more positively. In the second phase of this study, teachers' conceptions of the significance of in-service training on well-being was investigated with the help of group interviews (n=12). According to the results, the importance of in-service training was significant on the well-being of teachers. It appeared that in-service training promotes well-being by providing teachers with motivation, professional development and the possibility of taking a break from teaching and cooperating with other teachers. It has to be based on teachers' own needs. It has to be offered to teachers frequently and early enough. If teachers are already exhausted, they will neither have enough resources to participate in training, nor will they have the strength to make good use of it in practice. Both professional development and well-being are becoming more and more essential now that society is changing rapidly and the demands set on teachers are growing. Professional development can promote well-being, but are teachers too exhausted to develop themselves? Professional development demands resources and teachers may regard it as a threat and an additional strain. When the demands are so high that teachers cannot cope with them, they are likely to suffer stress and see reduction of commitment to their work and its development as a means to survive. If teachers stop caring about their work and their own development, how can we expect them to promote pupils' learning and development? It should be considered in the planning and implementation of in-service training and in arranging teachers' working conditions, that teachers have enough time and resources to develop themselves.

Expanded expertise research is more considerate of the perspective of community and is more interactional. Work has changed on a societal scale and Finnish football coaching culture has changed, for example athletecentered coaching is more emphasized. The purpose of this study is to research, understand and delineate, the interviewed football coaching experts’ thoughts and understanding regarding 1. the expertise of a football coach and coaching in general, 2. the change in Finnish football coaching work and the required competence and 3. the development of a coach’s expertise. This qualitative study was conducted based on data of seven interviews. At the time of the interviews the participants of the study had coached between five to thirty-one years and were currently employed by some Finnish football club or organization in the footballing world. The first research question about the expertise of a football coach and coaching in general was analyzed by theory directional content analysis. The second research question about the change in Finnish football coaching work and the required competence and the third research question about the development of a coach’s expertise were inductively analyzed by databased content analysis. The football coaches’ expertise and coaching expertise were understood as both individual and distributed expertise. Individual expertise consists of different competencies and it depends on operational environment. The quantity of experience did not solely define expertise. The aim of the expertise development could be also the specializing in some field of football coaching or in a specific age group. Distributed expertise consisted of perceptions about the competence and skills of coaching teams and coaches and it partly included by using technology. The work of the football coaches and the required competence had changed in many different areas, according to the interviewees. Among those areas were pedagogic skills, information evaluation and management, technology and planning skills, leadership of the coaching team and knowing oneself. The range of different coaching methods and styles has brought both challenges and opportunities. Expertise is developed in many ways, but continuing learning, coaches’ self-guidance and interactional ways of learning were highlighted in every interview.

The range of tasks in shoe repair is wide and there is little researched or published information on the subject. The purpose of the study is to respond to the lack of teaching and training material for occupational safety by identifying the risks associated with work tasks and phases according to the experience of the shoe repairers. The study also takes into account the machinery and functions related to the machinery used for work tasks and phases. In addition, the aim of the research is to identify the factors present at a shoe repairers’s work from the perspective of the safe execution of the work. Based on the research results, the sections that should be researched and addressed in the implementation of the teaching and training material to be compiled in the future will be identified. The study was conducted as a quantitative questionnaire survey in the spring of 2022. A web-based questionnaire was developed for the study and distributed to shoe repairers with the assistance of collaborators. A total of 47 respondents participated in the survey, most of whom had long work experience in the field. The research results were processed by quantitative methods using statistical analysis methods. The results of the study show that the shoe repairers didn`t experience more than moderate risks associated with work tasks and phases. The research results highlighted the risks of operations related to the machinery and machine-related functions. Based on the results, distinct work phases and machines or machine-related functions required for implementation were identified, which should be taken into account when developing material suitable for training. In addition, teaching and training materials should draw particular attention to the maintenance and operation of working equipment and machinery.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how the concepts equality, gender equality and diversity are discussed in equality plans within university education in Finland. My research questions follow the purpose; what kind of discourses, regarding the three concepts, are found in the documents. My research is based on critical theory and critical discourse analysis. Previous research shows that legislation often plays a central role in equality plans. Research also shows that the concepts might sometimes be used for marketing purposes by organisations and institutions. Using Fairclough's (1992) critical discourse analysis, I analysed four Finnish universities' equality plans in Swedish. The research was a case study, and the sample was based on that the plans must be available in Swedish. The plans were reviewed as a whole, and in total they consisted of 96 pages. The equality plans were publicly published on the websites of the universities during 2018 – 2021. I focused on how the analysed concepts took shape in larger contexts within the documents. With the help of various linguistic analysing tools, I read through the plans several times, took notes, and highlighted relevant sections in the documents. Finally, I categorized the highlighted sections. The legislative discourse in the equality plans was evident. However, an interpretive discourse and signs of market discourse also appeared in the documents. The results showed that equality, gender equality and diversity were viewed as overarching goals for the universities. Gender differences were emphasized within specific problem areas, while equal treatment was used when discussing the organisation as a whole. In terms of diversity, internationalization was often pronounced. Discourses regarding Othering were also found in the documents. As a conclusion, it can be stated that the universities comply to equality and gender equality values that are based on equal treatment and equal opportunity. However, they simultaneously compete on a competitive market which lead to contradictions in the way they expressed themselves. Since the language in the equality plans reflects the universities’ values and operations, it is important that the wording is consistent and comprehensible, not only for the sake of the reader but mainly for the organization to have a distinct and clear vision of what it is pursuing.

Research shows that women are treated differently than men in news reporting, and sports reporting is no exception. Female athletes are underrepresented in media and are often de-scribed in terms of other attributes than their performances. Research exists regarding how equally media reports about sports, but there is a lack of research regarding the way, in which newspapers write about gender equality in sport, and whether such research perhaps would lead to a more equal reporting. Agenda-setting journalism can affect readers’ views on sports and may thereby contribute to maintaining the lower status of women’s sports. Because newspapers are part of one’s informal learning, agenda-setting journalism can indirectly have an impact on one’s informal learning. The purpose of this thesis is therefore to examine how two daily Finnish newspapers write about gender equality in sports, by analyzing all articles that have been published in 2020 that deal with aspects related to gender equality in sports. The thesis assumed a qualitative research approach. In the gathering of the data, altogether about 100 articles were identified in the two newspapers, whereafter the identified articles were analyzed thoroughly using qualitative content analysis. In the analysis seven themes emerged, which were then analyzed and interpreted to answer the research questions. In 2020 HBL and HS reported about gender equality in sports on a broad spectrum. The re-sults showed differences in the newspapers’ sports reporting. HBL wrote more frequently and comprehensively about gender equality in sports, they reflected upon their responsibility and how the situation could improve. HS had several journalists among the analyzed articles than HBL. Many articles in HBL were defined as opinion pieces which touched upon injustices fe-male athletes experience and brought attention to problems, HS had no opinion piece. Con-clusions that can be made are that HBL to a larger extent highlights existing injustices and brings attention to problematic situations and unequal terms. HBL reflects upon their own role and acts through for instance their project where the goal is a gender equal sports journalism. HS doesn’t as clearly take a stand on unfair terms and doesn’t consider their responsibility as a big newspaper with power to influence people. An agenda-setting journalism has large part in how the readers regard (women’s) sport, and to not clearly promote gender equality can re-sult in that one’s informal learning is affected. It can lead to readers being unaware of the ex-isting situation.

Purposes of the study The purpose of this study is to understand phenomenologically the experience of the communication anxiety among university students during speech communication special course. In addition, the purpose of the study is to discuss how the speech communication teachers can deal with the communication anxiety of the students. Anxiety among university students has been noted as a problem for their studies and future career. Within the branch of communication studies the communication anxiety has been conceptualized in many ways, and it's been highly noted field of study for decades. The aim of this study is to understand the communication anxiety as an experience: How is the experience formed, and how does it change during special course? In addition, this thesis views how speech communication teachers understand students experience of communication anxiety when trying to influence the experience pedagogically. Method For the purposes of this study six university students and four university teachers were interviewed. All interviewees participated a special course as a student or a teacher. In addition, 21 learning assignments written by students at the end of the special course were analyzed. The thesis pursues a phenomenological research approach. The data collected were analyzed by phenomenological method. Results and conclusions The experience of anxiety narrated by students was considered to be an experience of being an outsider. The experience lived changed during the special course. The certain communication situations that earlier had aroused anxiety, were considered not to isolate the student from the others any more. The results indicated that the teacher of the special course cannot understand the experience of anxiety lived by the student. However, via the communication of the student group and by his/her own teacher role, the teacher is able to influence the experience. Both the students and the teacher are able to build an approval of the experience of communication anxiety within the special course. The experience of communication anxiety lived in a special course is a layered phenomenon related to peer support, self-approval and pedagogical decision making.

The aim of this thesis was to find out how textile care appears in home economics textbooks. Textile care is considered as an essential area of focus in home economics education and an important everyday skill. The study examines what topics are associated with textile care, in what order they are presented, and what terms are associated with the different stages of the textile care. In addition, the study exam- ines how environmental aspects are merged with textile care. The environmental perspective is im- portant to consider in everyday activities so that they are sustainable and do not contribute to climate change. The research was conducted as a qualitative textbook analysis using theory-driven content analysis. The materials utilized in this study were six home economics textbooks published within the 21st cen- tury. A table of analysis was used to categorize the different themes found in the textbooks. In addition to the text contained in the books, images, additional information content, and possible attachments in the books were also included in the analysis. Clothing care, laundry, as well as pre-and post-treatment of laundry were recognized as the main themes among the researched materials. These concepts and themes are described in more detail in the theoretical section of the thesis, as well as within the research results. In all the researched textbooks textile care clearly appears as its own area of focus. The magnitude of the content has some influence on the extent to which the various stages of textile care have been covered in the textbooks. Sustainable aspects of textile care were also found in other sections of the book. The themes related to sustainable development were raised in a few books in sections related to consumer education, addressing especially the circular economy and sustainable decisions when pur- chasing clothing. The four main themes used as basis for the study were found in all the books and were mainly presented throughout the books in the same order. The most notable differences in the different stages of textile care were found in the contents related to clothing care. In more recent text- books, sustainability was clearly an integral part of the textbooks’ other content and was considered in all stages.

Background and objectives. The aim of this study was to clarify the usage of the concept of continuous learning. Another aim was to understand what conditions or expectations were set for continuous learning in different settings. These questions were examined by reviewing scientific research and reviews to identify themes in which the concept of continuous learning was used. Continuous learning is in the centre of Finnish government programme with expectation to correspond to the needs of changing working life and to enable longer careers for individuals. Corporates are also leaning on continuous learning to minimize business risk and enhance profitability by offering training or job rotation for employees. Bonding the concept of continuous learning to specific models or targets creates a contradiction to fundamentals of learning which is continuous regardless of context. Based on this setting the concept of continuous learning is reviewed from the angles of lifelong learning, political aspiration, and financial interests, for example the enhancement or change of working life. Methods. This research was conducted as a systematic literature review. This method was recognized to be the most informative when investigating the usage of the concept of continuous learning as previous meta-analysis brings out the different angles and context in which the concept was used. Data was collected from three databases and sixteen articles or reviews were included in this research. Results and conclusions. The concept of continuous learning was connected to theoretical framework of this study which included lifelong learning, political discussion, and financial interests. Especially remarks considering working life and its demands stood out from the data. These were tightly connected with political and financial interests from individual as well as societal perspectives. Continuous learning can be viewed a necessity to prosper in working life and life in general. This perception narrows down the fundamental meaning of learning as a continuous process.