Browsing by study line "Kotitalousopettaja"

The aim of the thesis is to find out the views of fathers on mental work. The study highlights the views and experiences of fathers alongside those of women and mothers, which are highlighted in previous research and general discussion related to mental work. Mental work and housework are closely related. Mental work is preparatory, predictive and related to planning (Daminger, 2019). Without mental work everyday life in the home and doing housework would be less fluent and controlled. The mental work can be challenging to recognize, as it is not always concrete. This is why it is often invisible in everyday life. Because of its invisibility, it is also challenging to study. Mental work has been studied in relation to home work, but there is a research gap in the field of research into mental work itself in the everyday life of a household and its everyday operations. Previously, metal work has been studied in the field of sociology. This research follows the qualitative tradition. The data consists of seven semi-structured theme interviews of fathers, conducted in the autumn of 2023. The fathers studied had at least one child under the age of 18 living at home. In addition, the fathers were in a hetero-sexual relationship, which allowed for the reflection of gender differences. The fathers stud-ied were of different ages, they had different lengths of experience in managing work and everyday life in the home and as a father. The data were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. The study results showed that fathers did mental work in varying degrees in the families studied. Even fathers who do a lot of home mental work at home did not experience a bur-den of mental work in their everyday life. In addition, it seems that fathers may view mental work with a more relaxed attitude than their wives, according to a previous study. Fathers' comments featured value choices in striving for equality concerning the mental work at their homes.

Home economics is a multidisciplinary field of study which is interested in studying issues related to families and the well-being of the household. According to the familistic concept, the family is a unit that comes before everything else. However, families with two living standards differ from this ideal, as they emphasize more individualistic features and are the focus in this research. It is known from previous studies that the uneven distribution of financial resources within the family can cause differences in well-being among family members and at the same time lead to conflicts and dissatisfaction. Data for the research was collected by publishing an invitation in Facebook to join a survey in early spring 2023. It was open for three weeks. 96 people replied. The respondents were asked to tell in their own words what kind of emotions the two different living standards evoke in them and how it manifests itself in their everyday life and well-being. Majority of those who responded to the invitation to write were women. The narratives written by the respondents were analyzed using theory-driven content analysis. Allardt's different dimensions of well-being: having, loving, doing, being, and the objective and subjective indicators derived from them by Martela were used as a reference. According to the results, there were a large amount of negative emotions such as anxiety, unfairness, inferiority and shame in families of two living standards. The feelings remained the same, regardless of whether the respondent was a member with a lower income, a higher income or a member who offered the child's perspective. In addition to negative emotions, the well-being of families was weakened by many other things. By analyzing the stories, 24 subcategories were created, which told their own story about how the different living standards affected a family. Subcategories were created under each dimension of well-being. For example, the “having” dimension can be connected to being left out of society's support networks and the fear of intergenerational transmission, and the “loving” dimension, on the other hand, can be connected to a lack of appreciation and emotional violence. Weak opportunities for self-realization can be associated with the “doing” dimension and mental health challenges with the “being” dimension. This study increases the understanding of families with two different living standards. In these families, the person in a better financial position has more power to decide on family matters. At worst, there could be indications of financial and emotional violence in the families. The phenomenon affects more women, because of the structures of society. Women tend often bear the responsibility of caring for their children and the expenses incurred by them. Based on the research, however, it can be concluded that family members should also bear responsibility for each other's financial prosperity, as it impacts all areas of well-being.

This study discloses practices born with the COVID-19 pandemic, to which consumers have had to adapt on short notice. Earlier research has recognised that consumers have experienced changes in how they buy and eat food during the pandemic. Buying food online increased and in-person grocery shopping habits changed to evade the risk of illness. Eating shifted from eating varyingly in different places to eating at home. Consumers also started to pay interest in food and food preparation. This study examines how consumers experience buying food and eating during the pandemic. Research material consists of social media comments (n=133) made anonymous. The comments were published in October 2020. The comments were replies to a question asking what changes you have experienced in food related functions during the pandemic. The research material was analysed using qualitative methods and content analysis. Phenomenological tradition guided the whole of this study. In phenomenology experiences and their meanings are fundamental. The COVID-19 pandemic changed buying food and eating in four different sectors. Buying food was planned more, executed more cautiously, and carried out more often through online services. Eating happened more at home. This increased eating with family and eating alone. Eating more often at home also increased interest in food preparation. The social aspect of eating was perceived as important. People missed eating with loved ones and colleagues. The pandemic might permanently modify the ways we buy food and eat. It has already accelerated the digitalisation of buying food, as consumers have started to buy food online. Under-standing the effects of this global pandemic is important, as is the ability to prepare for them in the future.

This thesis examined food education within children's food-themed television programmes. The aim of the thesis was to analyse the content and pedagogical elements of food-educational scenes in the programmes and to consider the potential they offer for the development of children's food skills. The theoretical framework of the thesis was based on the concept of food sense, developed within home economics, which approaches food learning through the aspects of understanding, situational applying, and redefinition of action. In this context, food learning is understood as a three-leveled and gradually deepening process. The data of the study encompassed all children's programmes available in Finland via streaming services,which could be identified as food-related based on the cover image and introductory text. There were a total of nine series that met the criteria. For each series, three episodes were randomly chosen for further examination. The final data consisted of 27 episodes. The method of analysis used in the study was dialogical thematization. The data were first thematized in relation to the three levels of food sense. Within these levels, the data were then organized further into themes related to the implementation of food education. The results of the study indicate that children's programs utilize tensions in accordance to the food sense framework in food education. The tensions were caused by hygiene, time, food characteristics, eating, and food aesthetics. Related applied solutions in the series included sharing of information, technological solutions, verbal communication, and applied cooking. The solutions caused learning, as well as changes in ingredients, attitudes, and preferences. Tensions were most commonly individual- centered, focusing on feelings or inadequate interaction skills of single characters. The solutions were more communal, such as asking for help from other people or jointly brainstorming solutions. Based on the results, the programmes aim to integrate the educational content into practical and everyday activities. However, the programs also make use of magic and non-realistic aspects in their content, such as anthropomorphic characters and imaginative technological inventions.

The year 2020 changed our everyday life. The exceptional circumstances with Covid-19 have suddenly affected people’s everyday life. The purpose of this study is to observe how meal box service can help everyday cooking habits during the exceptional situation. Meal box service consists of food items, premeasured, and accompanied by a set of recipes. Meal box are mostly delivered home, or you can pick it up from special store. This study analyses what consumers appreciate when using meal box service and how it helps everyday life. People who took part in this study have used the meal box service during corona situation between autumn 2020 and spring 2021, when everyday life felt normal again after the crisis-like nature during spring 2020. This research applies qualitative methodology. The data were collected by using the theme interview method with both face to face and remote access. The interviews were made during February and March 2021. Nine adults took part in the interview, age range 26–56 years. All interviews were living in one- or two-people’s households without children. The interview records were analyzed using qualitive content analysis. The results of this analysis can be divided into three main categories as following, everyday life routines, services during the exceptional situation and change of everyday life. The results of this study show that meal box service helps everyday life by saving time from grocery shopping and meal planning and giving more time to do some other tasks. Covid-19 situation shows that people wanted to support companies by using meal box service. During the exceptional situation people have spent more time at home, which increased the need to prepare more food at home. This is one of the reasons people wanted to choose meal box service. Meal box service helps by diversifying eating habits and lowers the need to do grocery shopping. Other positive effects were discovering new recipes and ingredients. Difficulties using the service were that it didn’t remove the need for grocery shopping altogether. Special diets where also founded to be quite challenging when using meal box service because it didn’t take all diets inconsideration. Some people thought that weekly subscription was too captivating, because they didn’t want to use the service every week.

This research studies the views and actions that students from Helsinki associate with recycling of food packaging. In addition, the aim is to study whether products are chosen based on ecological packaging. Previous research has concluded that highly educated individuals recycle more than those who have a lower level of education. Regarding the choice of food packaging, research has found that consumers have an increasing desire for sustainability also in terms of packaging. Whether a consumer engages in recycling depends on the information and skills that the consumer has, whether they find recycling important as well as easy access to facilities designated for recycling. Consumers’ knowledge on sustainable development and the related recycling skills can be influenced in school for example in home economics classes. The research was conducted as an online survey and it had 31 participants. 16 participants were male and 15 were female. The age of participants ranged from 19 to 28 and they were all students from Helsinki. The respondents were found through private groups and they studied in different disciplines within the University of Helsinki and Aalto University. The method of content analysis was applied to the responses. Through the technique of thematization, the responses were divided into different categories which were then used to answer the research questions. The results of this study show that almost all survey participants considered recycling as an important task. Students recycle many types of waste, the extent of which is based on the recycling possibilities provided in the waste management facilities of their housing. The challenges related to recycling are for example the lack of plastic waste containers, which prevents recycling of plastic. Another challenge is the limited space designated to waste management, which leads to all sorts of waste put into mixed waste containers. Most of the respondents claimed to occasionally pay attention to the sustainability of packaging when choosing products. Recycling is seen as an important act as it can diminish the overall amount of waste on this earth. Other reasons for the importance associated with recycling were protecting the nature and environment. In order to get even more people to recycle, the importance of education and teaching of home economics must be acknowledged; many respondents said to have learned recycling skills at school.

When moving to a new dwelling, residents try to make it a home or feel like one. This is done by customizing the space, getting used to it and the surroundings, decorating the apartment with their own things and finally by living there alone or with others. The result of this process is called feeling of home. Home making as is home and family in general is considered feminine. However, men also move and make homes, either alone or with someone else. In this study I look at the formation of the home and the feeling of home of men, as well as their roles at home when they move to live with their companion. I tell three different stories about moving in together: a couple moves into a new dwelling, a man moves into a woman's home and a woman moves into a man's home. The study is narrative in material and in analysis. The narrative analysis is made applying a model by Heikkinen (2018), in which a new wholesome narrative is constructed from fragmented material. The material consisted of three stories of heterosexual couples moving in together, presented in an audiovisual form on Muuttopäiväkirjat -reality show on Finnish public media service Yle. In the analysis I formed new narratives from the short scenes scattered between episodes, describing the formation of home from the man's point of view. I review these narratives comparing them to the theoretical background formed on home, relationship and the role of men, among other things. The results are narratives that construct social knowledge. They are based on my interpretation of the moves presented in the reality-tv series. The narratives are perspective-widening analysis rather than the truth about the moves presented in the series. The narratives I have formed tell about three different situations in which a man’s position in their home and relationship is formed in different ways: 1. A young couple’s expectations of home do not match each other 2. A man’s feeling of home gets broken and rebuild as a woman moves to his home 3. The man moves in with the woman and finds a home from the family

Aims: The aim of this research is to describe home economics teacher students’ experiences on teaching quality at home economics teaching degree programme at the University of Helsinki. Little research has been conducted on the matter of the experiences of teaching quality and previous research on this subject has mostly been quantitative, not qualitative. This research bases on research about pedagogy in higher education, teaching quality and student satisfaction. Research on those subjects highlight the context in which teaching is given at the University of Helsinki for that it is important to understand the subject and its context that is under quality assurance. Methods: The research data consists of ten semi-structured theme interviews that were collected from home economics teacher students at the University of Helsinki. The interviews were insider interviews due to the fact that both the interviewer and the interviewees belong to the same insider group. The interviews were analysed by using inductive qualitative content analysis. Based on the analysis, eight themes were identified and divided into two themes, factors related to the teacher and factors related to the teaching. Results and conclusions: The results indicate that good quality teaching according to the experiences of home economics teacher students consists of teaching that is student oriented, academic, diverse, up-to-date, and combines theory, practice and teaching. In good quality teaching the teacher must be competent and excited about the subject they are teaching. The results indicate that eight different factors affect the experiences on the quality of teaching. The students that were interviewed had various experiences on the quality of teaching and majority of the students were mostly satisfied on the quality of teaching. On the experiences on quality of teaching teacher’s pedagogic skills and practises together with the didactic and pedagogic choices were emphasized. The results of this research increase the understanding of students’ experiences on the quality of teaching and the results of this study can be used when developing teaching.

This thesis examines how sustainable food education in schools can make the pupil more aware of food waste if there are there appropriate teaching materials to support teaching about food waste. Previous home economics educational research shows the potential of school meals, home economics and class teaching in supporting students' food waste skills through sustainable food education. In addition, from the perspective of the home economics education phenomenon, it can be stated that teaching material on food waste can be found to support teaching, but textbooks on food waste as part of sustainability education are still scarce. The aim of this thesis is to examine teaching and teaching material on food waste through ethnographic methods. The research material has been obtained by observing and interview-ing classroom teachers and home economics teachers. The observation took place in a prod-uct development workshop for classroom and home economics teachers, where teaching ma-terials on food waste were devised to support teaching. The observation material consisted of documents and a text diary. Interviews were conducted as semi-structured theme interviews with three classroom teachers and three home economics teachers. The views of classroom teachers and home economics teachers about food waste and its teaching materials were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Sustainable food education related to food waste was seen as an essential part of school meals and home economics in primary education. Pupils’ food waste skills can be promoted by taking appropriate teaching materials of food waste and its use in teaching into account. Collaboration between the school staff as food educators and motivating, age-appropriate teaching materials were considered to play a key role in teaching about food waste. However, the multidimensional definition of food waste and the lack of appreciation of food can be seen as a challenge to evolving pupils’ food waste skills as part of sustainable development.

In the spring of 2020, following the recommendation of working remotely issued by the Finnish government, about one million office workers moved to work in their homes. This resulted in uncertainty about the availability of lunch food during the working day. The social and nutri tious respite from the working day had disappeared from the daily rhythm. The dissertation examines how the lunching of office workers has changed with the Covid-19 pandemic. The phenomenon is studied as a combination of work and home functions in the same space with a home economics research approach. The workplace restaurants prepare and serve lunches in accordance with the nutrition recommendations of the State Nutrition Advisory Board. Eat ing in them has made it possible to eat according to the plate pattern on weekdays and to maintain a regular meal rhythm. Research questions are 1. What factors are related to the nutritional quality of lunch for people who are working remotely? 2. What factors have an impact on the social side of an individual’s lunch eating during remote work? The research material has been collected as an electronic survey, which included structured as well as open-ended questions (n = 130). In addition, the lunch meal pictures sent by the respondents (n = 72) were compared with the recommendation made by the State Nutrition Advisory Board in 2014 about the plate model. Dialog thematization and comparative photo analysis were used as methods of analysis of the research results. In addition, lunch meals were described by using an application derived from the Engeström´s (1990) operating sys tem model. The study made it visually visible what is eaten on remote workdays. With the shift to remote working, the changes have focused on where work is done and how lunch is implemented. Working remotely is associated with one-sided dieting and maintaining a meal rhythm can be challenging. While working remotely eating is most often done alone, which shortens lunch breaks. Combining work and eating lunch is common. There is a need for separate nutritional recommendations for lunch when people are working remotely, and the promotion of healthy eating habits should be integrated into companies' occupational well-being measures.