Browsing by master's degree program "Master's Programme in Education"

Objectives. The purpose of this research is to design a structure for an online course on sustainable fashion, which explores the elements of sustainable fashion and aims to give the course participant a holistic understanding of the current situation of the fashion industry. The research studies the ways in which critical and transformational pedagogies can be used in an online learning environment. The idea for this research was born from a personal and business-related need during the global Covid-19 pandemic, when many small businesses had to close their doors or pivot their strategy towards the online marketplaces. Sustainable fashion has been recently researched a lot from different points of view, but none of the previous studies has addressed the subject from the point of view of a small clothing business aiming to teach a course for their customers. Methods. The Design-Based research included a literary review consisting of three distinct kinds of theoretical backgrounds: information about the fashion industry, theory on critical and transformative pedagogies, and theories about online learning environments. Two rounds of online surveys were made: a general one with 112 respondents and a more specific one with 6 respondents. The course structure was designed in two developing cycles. Results and conclusions. The online course structure was designed to include six 10–15-minute videos covering information about ecological, social and economic issues as well as sustainability efforts in the fashion industry. The videos include dialogical and conversational elements, and in addition, a platform for shared discussion between all participants was added to the course structure. Reflection and dialogue are important parts of critical and transformational pedagogies and help people in understanding and changing their values and actions, which is the goal of the online course.

Working life has changed over the last few decades and the demands placed on the employee have increased. The well-being of working-age people in Finland has weakened and one in four Finns are at risk of burnout. This challenges the implementation of corporate social responsibility in a sustainable way. The psychologisation of society and individualism is emphasized which enables the use of therapeutic ethos in our society. The objective of this thesis was to investigate the manifestation of therapeutic ethos in the corporate world, specifically in corporate responsibility work. The focus was on the ideal of employee extended to the ideal of citizenship, for which I created a new concept, hybrid citizenship, based on theoretical framework. My research questions were 1) How is therapeutic ethos manifested in the sustainability reports of professional services companies? 2) What kind of hybrid citizenship is conveyed in the sustainability reports of companies provoiding professional services? The data of the thesis consisted of the sustainability reports of four international companies provoiding professional services and operating in Finland. The documents covered the companies’ sustainability activites in the previous year or the previous financial year. These reports are from the time period 2021–2023. The thesis was conducted as a qualitative study using discourse analysis. The thesis results showed that the corporate sustainability reports of the companies reflect the ideal of hybrid citizenship and indicate the realization of therapeutic ethos in the operations of these companies. Hybrid citizenship was expressed as an ideal of a healthy, committed and courageous top performer, whose realization demanded excellence, continuous self development and well-being. The therapeutic ethos was manifested through the methods of free liberal governance revealed in the documents. These findings can be used to plan corporate social responsibility measures. In addition, the thesis can help companies to look at sustainability objectives and measures from critical perspective and develop the effectiveness of social responsibility components in terms of the company’s responsibility in achieving the sustainability development goals at both company and societal levels.

The MeToo movement struck like a flash of light through social media worldwide in 2017. Since then, the dialogue concerning sexual harassment has continued, despite the discussion remaining subdued in several places. The deep-rooted culture of silence seems to choke the words in our throats. How should the prevailing silence be broken? The purpose of this research is to investigate the forms of sexual harassment that occur at Finnish workplaces and the consequences these harassments have for individual victims and entire work communities. Furthermore, I am interested in how sexual harassment is prevented in Finland. The theoretical framework consists of definitions of sexual harassment and the MeToo phenomenon as well as an examination of current legislation, previous research and the construction of the culture of silence. The research was conducted as a qualitative study with a phenomenographic research approach. In addition, an educational-feminist perspective has been used, which is illustrated as the perception that knowledge is produced collectively and is context-bound. The material consists of five semi-structured interviews. The material collected from the interviews was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The results revealed that the informants ask for clear practices for action when there is a suspicion that sexual harassment takes place in the workplace. Further, different ways of harassment are described as well as workplace cultures, which enable harassment, discrimination and the current culture of silence. The consequences of sexual harassment vary between individuals, two of the informants sought outside help, two did not mention the topic at work and one did not experience the harassment at work as particularly anxiety-provoking. With my research, I want to highlight concrete practices through which Finnish work communities can effectively fix and prevent the occurrence of sexual harassment.

Purpose. The law on equality between women and men forms the basis of the schools' gender equality work. The law also aims to prevent discrimination on the grounds of gender identity or expression. Previous research has shown that to conduct successful gender equality work it is not sufficient that teachers have a personal interest in gender equality since this often leads to temporary and random efforts and great confusion about how gen-der equality work should be done. The purpose of the study is to describe, analyze and interpret how gender is expressed in schools' gender equality plans, as both the Act on Gender Equality and the curriculum foundations can be considered to require a diverse gender perspective in all school activities. Methods. The survey was conducted as a critical discourse analysis by analyzing the gender equality plans of seven Finnish Swedish primary schools. As an analysis model, Fairclough's three-dimensional analysis model was used. Results and conclusions. The survey culminated in three gender discourses: the gender inequality discourse, the two-gender discourse and the discourse of fear. The texts showed a clear division between girls and boys and a lack of gender diversity. A fear of making mistakes in the work on gender equality also emerged. The survey shows that gender equality work focuses on girls and boys and that those who do not identify themselves as girls or boys remain invisible.

The objective of this thesis was to look at how ICT affects test results in the PISA 2022 cycle in Finland, Belgium, South Korea, and Sweden. The focal point of the analysis was to find statistically significant factors that influence student academic performance in mathematics, reading, and science, one way or the other. The four countries selected for observation were chosen based on their similarity to Finland under certain pre-determined parameters. The goal was to choose countries homogeneous to Finland, to ensure the validity of the results and make them as comparable as possible. The analysis was conducted as a two-level hierarchical regression model and run individually for each country, first with replication weights and then without them. A total of eight independent variables (ICTEFFIC, ICTENQ, ICTHOME, ICTSCH, RELATST, STRATIO, GENDER, ESCS) were picked for the model based on their significance in previous research and their applicability to answer the research question of this thesis. The analysis was conducted in RStudio. The results indicated that the independent variables were statistically significant at least in one country and subject, often in more than one. Two variables were consistently positive and statistically significant in every country and subject: Economic, social, and cultural background (ESCS) and the quality of student-teacher relationships (RELATST). The different ICT factors had varying results based on the country and subject. Self-efficacy in ICT was the only variable with a consistently positive impact, though it wasn’t statistically significant in all cases. ICT availability and usage at home and school had differentiating results in statistical significance and depending on the country, the effects were positive or negative. Using ICT for enquiry-based learning activities had similar results. In conclusion, variables with a consistent, positive impact – ESCS and RELATST – on student academic performance should be considered as priority by policymakers, schools, and teachers. To solve the reasons behind the between-country differences, further research is required. This includes additional investigation on the learning methods and environments between different countries.

The aim of this study was to examine what type of assumptions leaders working in central government agencies and institutions have when it comes to the qualities and abilities of a manager as a coach. The other aim was to observe its effects on well-being capital. The study introduces a current issue because modern organizations are more interested than ever in taking their leadership culture one step further and going into an interactive and individualized working environment. Managerial coaching provides an implement for this need. This study’s qualitative material was collected in the spring of 2021, with the use of theme interviews. The material included interviews of eight leaders, working in central government agencies and institutions. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the dialogical thematic analysis method. It provided the theoretical insights and earlier research results to interact with the collected material as well as with the researcher’s own assumptions. The formed categories (28) were created from the interview material, and the analysis ended up with five themes. These themes described the viewpoints, qualities, and abilities of managerial coaching as well as its impact on competence development and coaching interaction. The well-being capital formed a theme of its own, including the examination of the extended view on the intellectual capital. The results of this study were found through the dialogue of the materials from the interviews and the earlier theory and research findings. The five themes described the viewpoints on the managerial coaching qualities and skills, such as value systems, the importance of feedback and the emotional skills. The competence development was treated as a fundamental part of managerial coaching processes and it was associated with the phenomena of productivity and well-being. Interaction was considered as a special enabler of the managerial coaching processes and it was also attached to the praxes of well-being at work. The factors attached to well-being capital were also recognized both from the study’s material and from the theory context. This study was commissioned by a coaching company so the results of this study can be used in the field of managerial coaching education in the future. It also provides insights to the leadership development of the central government, due to the interviews of the eight leaders working in central government agencies and institutions.

The aim of the study was to describe climate change in primary school 5th and 6th grade environmental studies textbooks and teacher guides. In addition, the aim was to find out what ways do they provide to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Climate change is one of the biggest environmental problem that requires urgent action. The aim of climate education is to guide students towards more sustainable lifestyle and to find ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Previous studies have shown that climate education in schools is quite limited. Teachers need more high-quality and diverse materials related to climate change. Textbooks play a key role in schools and are the framework on which learning is often built. This study examines information on climate change in textbooks and teacher guides. Research material in this study consisted of 5th and 6th grade environmental studies books. The material consisted of 6 textbooks and 6 teacher guides. The material was analyzed using theory-guided content analysis. According to the results, the textbooks clearly differ in the amount of information. Some of the books deal with climate change much more than others. Textbooks and teacher guides address climate change through causes and consequences. The biggest causes of climate change are human action and industry. The consequences were described, for example, through melting ice and rising sea levels. The mitigation measures were the use of renewable energy sources and energy saving in general. Climate change mitigation was particularly evident in assignments that emphasized students own actions through, for example, video production or campaigning. One of the biggest shortcomings of the books was that they do not provide enough ways of mitigating climate change.

Objective of the study. The goal of the Finnish government is to solve all kinds of problems related to complex phenomena that occur in our society. These phenomena should be approached in a holistic manner. There’s a long history in the structure and procedures of the Finnish government but they don’t often match with the challenges that our global information society has brought us. This requires phenomenal-based working. The focus of this study is to clarify what kind of perceptions Finnish public officers have about phenomenal-based working. The aim of this study is also to find out which factors increase and decrease phenomenal-based working from the viewpoint of public officers. Methods. Nine public officers participated in this study. 7 public officers had a position in a Finnish department whereas 2 participants worked for a bureau or a public institution. The data was collected by interviewing the participants. After collecting the interview data, it was qualitatively content analysed using both inductive and abductive analysis. Results and conclusions. Based on the results of this study, the perceptions of the public officers of phenomenal-based working highlighted the structures and control mechanisms used in the government such as budget and government programme. Megatrends, systemic apprehension, collaboration with different public organizations and the ability to look at things from different perspectives were also emphasized in the perceptions of the intervieews. The public officers saw that cooperative projects across the government, work rotation, experimental culture, diverse expertise, network management, participatory collaboration and agile processes played a big role in phenomenal-based working. The communication and facilitation skills were appreciated in the government. Hidden agendas and the competition between the public organizations were rooted deeply in the culture of the Finnish government. The aforementioned factors made the collaboration of the organizations difficult in different domains.

The objective of this research is to study cultural imagery within inclusivity driven learn-ing environments, particularizing in visual aid and the representation of diversity. The subject of the research is visual aid pictures found in the learning environments of public day care centers in Helsinki. The focus of the research is to examine what kind of visual aid pictures are selected to be used in the public areas of the day care centers and if they portray their user. The user be-ing a diverse customer group, based on the values of inclusive early childhood education suitable for all. Do the visual aid pictures depict the features of the majority groups, or are disparities disclosed in the imagery selected? Diversity and disparities are defined accord-ing to prior theory taking into consideration the perspectives of the narratives. In which ways are the majority groups or deviation from it portrayed in Finnish early childhood education and is the opposition of these concepts visible in the selection of vis-ual aid used in the learning environments? Prior theory states that the main values in in-clusive early childhood education revolve around a child’s sense of being seen and heard. In order to produce a sense of being seen and heard for all children, the chosen imagery must also depict this. All children have the right to be seen and accepted for who they are and experience social cohesion within inclusive early childhood education regardless of their heritage, physical features and abilities, gender, illness, disability or belonging to any other minority group. The data was compiled between December 2022 and February 2023. The data collection was executed by photographing visual aid pictures inside of public day care centers in five different ECE districts of Helsinki. The data was analyzed by using qualitative content analysis and quantitative coding. Empirical information was formed by means of coding, responding to the research problems about the quantity of diversity visible. The research hypothesis is that the diversity visible in the used visual aid pictures varies between different ECE districts, according to the customer base and employees. If the em-ployees are qualified and adequately educated, it can be presumed that the pedagogically selected visual aid is of good quality and portrays values of inclusion well. If the customer base of the day care center is diverse, it can be assumed that diversity is seen as the norm in the visual aid pictures. The availability of visual aid pictures can be presumed to have an impact on the selection. If the results indicate that visual aid pictures are selected from a sparse source base, it will reduce the quantity and extent of diversity and disparities. The main hypothesis of the research is, that visual aid which a child relates to and reminds a child of itself increases the experience and sense of being seen and heard, advancing the actualization of the values of inclusive early childhood education.

Aim of this study was to investigate the connection between children’s self-regulation and temperament. Additionally, the aim of the study was to determine whether a child’s age, gender or mother’s level of education modified the associations between temperament and self-regulation skills. The research material was collected in 2017 in kindergartens in Salo (N=29) and Riihimäki (N=3) as part of the DAGIS project. Data consisted of questionnaire material collected during the baseline measurement of the project. The subjects (N=802) were 3–6 years old children and their families. Children’s self-regulation skills were measured using PikkuKesky survey (challenges in self-regulatory skills) completed by early childhood education teachers or other professional (N=757). Also, parents filled a form that measured child’s cognitive and emotional self-regulation skills separately. Children’s temperament was assessed using Children’s Behavior Questionnaire (very short form). This questionnaire was filled by parents. The relationship between child’s temperament and self-regulation was analysed using linear regression analysis. In addition to that, regression analysis was used to examine whether a child’s age and gender or maternal education level had an interaction effect with temperament on self-regulation. The results of the research showed that there was a connection between children’s temperament and self-regulation. Children with high levels of surgency had more challenges in their self-regulatory skills, while better effortful control meant that the child had fewer challenges in self-regulation. This study did not find connection between challenges of self-regulation and negative affectivity. Children with high levels of effortful control as well as those with more surgency was associated to better cognitional self-regulation. In contrast, children with high levels of negative affectivity had weaker cognitive self-regulatory skills. Children with high levels of surgency or negative affectivity had weaker emotional self-regulation skills, while children with high levels of effortful control was associated to better emotional self-regulation. In this study, age, gender and maternal educational background, had no interaction between temperament and self-regulation. Children’s personal temperament needs to be taken into account when developing child’s self-regulatory skills and pay attention to supporting the self-regulatory skills of children with different temperaments - especially surgency ones - at an early stage.