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The goal of the study was to find out how Jewish cultural heritage can be used in craft teaching, and what this process is like from the perspective of the teacher and the students who participated in the study. The research was carried out at the Jewish School of Helsinki whose central task, in addition to the contents and goals of the national curriculum, is to support the students' Jewish identity and to pass on the cultural tradition to future generations, i.e. to preserve the Jewish cultural heritage. The research aimed to find out whether such a project can support the formation of the students' Jewish identity and what kind of reflections the project arouses in the students about their own cultural identity. The study is a qualitative school ethnographic study that used storytelling as a reference for the craft project. The research lessons were held in the spring semester of 2022 as part of the seventh graders' craft lessons, and 9 students participated in the research. During the craft project, the dramatic story of the biblical Joseph and his family was read, in parts, from the book titled Tooran tarinoita juutalaisen tradition mukaan (Torah stories according to the Jewish tradition), and the topics that emerged from the text were discussed together with the students. As a craft project, the students designed and completed "Joseph's overcoat" using different craft techniques. The research material was the observational material collected by the researcher teacher, such as notes and reflection, interviews of the students participating in the research, and the students' products created in the craft project. The material was processed and analyzed using the qualitative research method. The study showed that the Jewish cultural heritage is suitable for a project that combines crafts and cultural education, when the study module is planned and implemented carefully. The starting point of the project must be a topic brought to present day and made meaningful and interesting for the target group. The subject is then worked on functionally and with versatile methods and techniques. Storytelling and discussions add rhythm and structure to lessons, which promotes motivation and peace of mind in the class. The students mostly had a positive attitude towards the project, but the craft project was not found to have a significant effect on the students' perceived cultural identity.

The purpose of this study was to describe the sixth-grade students' perceptions of strengths. The importance of strengths, as well as more broadly positive pedagogy, has recently been emphasized, and various projects have sought to address the curriculum gap in how the subject is concretely addressed in the classroom. This study is interested in what kinds of aspects the students themselves think are important and want to highlight in the strength debate. The material of this study consisted of video interviews conducted by students and questionnaires completed in preparation for them. The interviews followed the principles of peer interviewing and the students interviewed each other without the presence of a researcher. Questionnaires were completed individually. The material were produced by six sixth grades in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The survey included 85 questionnaires and 38 videos. The material was analyzed using material-based content analysis. The results showed a diverse set of individual perceptions of strengths and strength teaching. Students' perceptions were classified into categories based on their content. The largest category was the hobby and school world as a context for strengths. In the answers of this category, the pupils saw their strengths primarily as a competence in school subjects. Alongside this category, many students also mentioned the strengths learned in the project. The material was invariably very positive about strengths and studying them at school. In conclusion, it is challenging for some students to extend their strength thinking beyond the school world, with strength teaching and such research taking place in such a close school context. As a whole, students were able to reflect on the topic of strength analytically and in depth, and to justify their views and the meanings they gave to strength teaching. The attitudes and diverse perspectives of the students who participated in the study show that it is also fruitful to give voice to the students, the target group for strength projects, and to explore the strength theme in different contexts. It is also important that the societal debate also has a many-sided research-based perspective.

Aims: The older the youngsters are, the more important role hobbies and leisure time activities have in their life. That is why various activities organized by the non-profit organizations have an important role concerning the development of food habits of youngsters. This study has three main themes. The themes and their respective study questions are: 1. The youngsters' conceptions on healthy eating and food choice: What kind of food do youngsters consider as healthy? How do they see their own eating habits from this point of view? 2. The youngsters and the significance of everyday food-related information: How do the youngsters perceive the role of different actors and these actors' role regarding their own food habits and food choice? 3. The possibilities of the organizations that work with youngsters to improve their food habits: What kind of role do the non-profit organizations have on the youngsters' food habits and healthy food choice? Methods: This study comprises of two types of data. First, a quantitative internet-based survey (N=582) was used to collect data on the 9th graders conceptions and understandings. The data was analyzed with the SPSS-program. Means, cross-tabulations, Pearson's correlations and t-test were calculated from the data. The qualitative data was collected using interviews. The respondents were 12 experts from non-profit organizations. The interviews were analyzed with the qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions: The non-profit organizations studied have good possibilities to communicate with youngsters through their hobbies. As part of their activities these organizations are able to influence on health-promoting lifestyle and food habits of youngsters. In order to reach more youngsters, these organizations should actively act e.g. in virtual societies of youngsters. Youngsters will participate when activities are voluntary and exhilarating. From the point of food habits doing, learning and identifying are the most important factors to engage the young. Also the models of peers and adults are important. Non-profit organizations should offer youngsters activities but these organizations should also influence on society.

School lunch is an important aspect of food education. A school meal provides energy for the school day, but it is also meant to teach healthy eating habits and good manners. On the other hand, it is a respite in the middle of schoolwork and pupils’ free time along with friends. The basics of the national curriculum outline that school meals are part of the teaching and can also be used to support the adoption of a sustainable lifestyle. However, skipping school lunch is common among high school pupils. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the adolescents’ eating and eating-related practices at school. The focus is on high school pupils who often skip school meals. The aim is to increase the understanding of the phenomenon of non-participation in school lunches. Understanding food-related practices and the justifications for food practices from pupils’ perspective can support the development of food education in a way that better supports adolescents' participation in school lunches. The research topic was approached by means of qualitative research. The data was collected in the beginning of 2017 at one of the schools that participated in the Own Choice -project, funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and implemented by the Youth Academy. The material consists of theme interviews with ten young people aged 13–16. The transcribed data was analysed using thematic analysis and the concept of accounts was used in the interpretation. According to the study, skipping school lunches was associated with many school practices, such as rules, temporal and spatial arrangements, the example of teachers, and the way meals were organized. Living for the moment was characteristic to the pupils' food-related activities during school day. Adolescents explained non-participation in school lunches mainly with personal reasons. The desire for social belonging was a key justification for skipping school lunches, but even more often it led pupils to participate in school meals. Involving students in everyday school practices in a stronger and more diverse way would support participation in meals, but attention should also be paid to the role of teachers as food educators. More effective tools should be developed for teachers, parents, and canteen staff to enable them to support children and youth in different ages to participate in school meals.

Objectives: The aim of this research was to study the building of the everyday life of the young peoples in the age of 16–17 years studying in vocational collages and to gain understanding in challenges of everyday life present society. In addition the aim was to gain description on the base of young peoples describing everyday life of those factors which promote proceeding of studies or appear as a threat to proceeding of the studies. Today every fourth young people interrupted the vocational studies. As many as 110 000 young people under the age of 30 years is lacking vocational education which is worrying when it is known that the lack of education is one of the factors that increase of the risk exclusion. In this research the building of everyday life is reviewed as a sequence structure (Korvela, 2003). The sequence structure gives possibilities to study different phases an actions of the day of which the weekday is built by. It has been found that the familiar routines and recurrence of everyday life brings safety and anticipation and promoting the attachment in the rhythm of traditional society. Methods. The research data was gathered with the photo elicitation interviews from eleven young people under age of 16-17 studying at vocational collages at the capitol region. The data was analyzed by qualitative methods. The building of the everyday life of young people was reviewed first as theoretically as sequence structure and after that an analysis of content was made. The features of discourse analysis were also used in analyzing the being together phenomenon. The gathering review of the data was conducted by holistic thinking and the understanding of the diversity of everyday life. Results and discussion. In this research it was observed that the everyday life was relatively regular for the majority of the young people. It was observed that the everyday life was irregular for part of the young people, which was revealed as being late from lessons or going late to sleep. The obvious consequence of this was the tiredness during daytime. The days within the studying week consisted of five to six sequences. The sequence of media-time at evening was shown in the research. The problems in trying to delimit the media time was shown among the young people having irregular everyday rhythm. The lack of friends and problems of rhythming the activities of free time was shown in part of the young people. On the basis of the results it is clear that especially the young people living in period of transition need support in time management. The sequence method developed by sequence structure could be used as a tool in promoting the studies and in supporting the everyday life of young people.

This research is focused on the schooling experiences of non-binary transgender people. The aim of the study is to produce information on how gender variation has been taken into consideration while the 1994 and 2004 reforms of the Finnish national core curriculums for basic education were in effect. Based on these data, the aim is to speculate how gender variation is considered in schools today. The analysis was focused on how interviewees created subjectivity in their narratives and how (gender normative forms of) the hidden curriculum appears in these narratives. The results can be used to help develop the school institution into a more sensitive direction, and to be aware of different genders and the dynamics between them. The theoretical base examines the concepts of non-binary transgender and gender variation. Secondly it provides an overview of the power of gender norms. Thirdly the theoretical base introduces some of the relevant topics of the Finnish national core curriculums for basic education established in the years 1994 and 2004. It then offers some information on the invisible power of the hidden curriculum. The final section of the theoreti-cal base addresses discourses, discursive practices and subjectivities, which are essential in the analysis of gender norms, the hidden curriculum and the interviews. The research was conducted by interviewing seven non-binary transgender adults. They had attended basic education while the 1994 and/or 2004 Finnish national core curriculums were in effect. The interviews were conducted using an adaptation of the autobiographical narrative interview method. The data were analyzed with a data-based discourse analysis. The results were construed using a critical feminist perspective. The analysis produced three hegemonic discourses: outsider, gender normative school, and non-normative gender. Based on these discourses, the results showed six strong subjectivity positions: an outsider and different, an illegitimate woman or a man, nonexistent, agender or feminine-masculine, an agonist against norms, and a victim. The presence of the (gender normative) hidden curriculum occurred especially when the interviewees spoke about the support and safety of school, school control and teaching/learning situations, students’ responsibilities, and school environmental issues. The findings of this research indicate that non-binary transgender people must form a self-image mostly with-out any existing discourses. They become positioned as oppressed or as agonists against oppression. The control of the hidden curriculum was proved strong and very gender normative. Based on that, there is a major paradox between actual school policies and the national core curriculums. The findings would imply that the situation may not be any better nowadays despite the core curriculum reforms. The knowledge of gender variations and gender sensitivity must increase in the future. It is also necessary to offer teachers support and information on how they should meet and treat students of any gender.

It has been found usually to talk in the early childhood education in connection with the creativity about arts and skills and about play. In this treatise, the creativity is approached besides play but also from the point of view of the creativity of the everyday. The starting point for the study is the view according to which the creativity is complex interaction between a creative person and an environment. The theoretical body of the study is the Componential theory of creativity of Amabile (1996). The process which is open and product which is new and suitable or acceptable were defined creative. In the opinion of many researchers, the creativity is a phenomenon that has determined in a certain time and place so the creativity is examined from the point of view of the social constructionism. As creative processes in the day nursery it has been defined pretend play, child's involvement and children's agentive perception which is based on the Children's agentive perception theory of Reunamo (2007). The purpose of the study is to clarify how the child's personal factors and the social environment affect the creative processes of children in the day nursery. This Master's thesis is based on the Children's agentive perception uncovered study led by Jyrki Reunamo (2010) which was carried out in the spring of 2010 in Keski-Uusimaa and in Hämeenlinna and Taiwan. From the study, a name has also been used "on the sources of Orientation", a research project and development project. The study includes the children's evaluation sector, the observation sector, the children's interview sector and the evaluation sector of the pedagogic environment. 891 Children 1-7 year-old by age participated in the study. All the sectors which belong to the study of Reunamo were utilized in this treatise and the Finnish day nurseries or preschool groups which had participated in the study were marked off as the target group. The main component analysis, sum variables, the correlation coefficients, Mann-Whitney's U-test and Kruskall-Wallas test were used for the statistical examination of the quantitative material. In this treatise it was noticed, both the personal properties of the child and a social environment, that they affected all the examined creative processes which also had a significant connection with each other statistically. The definition of creativity was filled best by the participative answers. However, the number of the participative answers was only 8% in the questions concerning adults. That raised the question whether an attempt should be made to have effect so that the children's better participation also in the interaction with the adults would be possible in the educational culture of the day nursery. In the further study, the conscious building of the social environment which supports the creativity from a social constructionism point of view could indeed be an interesting task. The treatise is suitable for an examination of the interaction between the child's person and a social environment especially from the point of view of the creativity.

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors supporting the work of a novice class teacher. Earlier studies have shown that novice teachers find the first working years as challenging and more and more wind up changing their professions. The significance of support is emphasized at the beginning phase of the working career, and the successful transfer to working life has an important role in the commitment to the teaching profession and its enjoyment. The aim of this study is to highlight those factors which make novice teachers to remain working as class teachers despite the stress of the first years of work. The study also examined the support the novice teachers received from the work community and school management. A novice teacher in this study is defined as class teachers who have been working for less than three years (Berry, 2009). The theoretical reference framework of the study is based on an examination of early phase of the career of the novice teacher, as well as the theory of self-determination of Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. This study is a qualitative study that examines the novice class teachers' own experiences. The research material was collected by interviewing seven class teachers working in the Helsinki metropolitan area and its suburbs who had less than three years of teaching experience. The data collection involved a theme interview, which was conducted as individual interviews. The collected material was examined from the point of view of the research questions, in order to find answers to the questions that are relevant to the research. The material was analyzed by content analysis methods. The research results show that novice teachers are supported themselves in their work by teaching and students. Successful experiences and the relevance of work become an important factor in staying in teaching. The opportunity to develop in one’s own work was also considered to be important. Support from the work community and school administration proved to be of paramount importance, even though shortcomings were felt most of all in the support received from the supervisor. Novice teachers felt they received support most of all from mentoring and working in pairs at work. The results also highlighted the lack of systematic orientation and the gap between education and the reality of work.

Aims. The aim of this Masters' Thesis was to study 21st century skills through teachers' perceptions. 21st century skills are described fairly similarly in futures research, home economics sciences, educational sciences and the Finnish national core curriculum for basic education. Knowledge and skills, actions and will, as well as attitudes and values all fit in to 21st century skills. In this study I am going to answer three questions: (1) What is teachers' futures awareness like? (2) What are the target schools' teachers' perceptions of the skills needed in the 21st century? (3) How can teachers promote 21st century skills in the school? Methods. I implemented the study with a qualitative research strategy and a phenomenographic research approach. I interviewed ten (10) teachers of the same united school of basic education (grades 1–9) using focused interview (1 group interview and 8 separate interviews). I recorded and transcribed the interviews (79 pp., Times New Roman, font size 12). I analyzed the interviews with theory-driven content analysis using ten skill categories as a structure for the analysis. I formed over all 560 reductions of expressions and 98 subcategories. Results and conclusions. There were differences in the futures awareness of the teachers and not all of the teachers thought of the future very long-sightedly. Good self-knowledge and everyday life skills, finding relevant information and critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills and learning to learn, described the teachers' perceptions of the 21st century skills. They promoted these skills by using group work systematically, being present and facing the pupils as well as setting boundaries and giving responsibility to pupils. Promoting 21st century skills requires a community-based operational culture, visibility of teachers' values in their work and teachers' progressive attitude towards their work.

The subject of this study is flexible basic education, also known by the acronym JOPO®. Purpose is this study is to explain methods, principles and impacts of JOPO®. This study tries also find out differences between KUUMA-municipalities and how original JOPO® venture is currently used in each area. Included are insights from employees of JOPO® classes, school principals and high-level officials in education, on the future of JOPO® classes and how JOPO® fit into the new curricu-lum. The study was conducted in seven of the ten KUUMA-municipalities that surround the Greater Hel-sinki area. A total of nine pairs of JOPO® employees were interviewed for the study. The study also includes an email questionnaire that was answered by three principals of JOPO® schools and four high level officials in education. Research material was based to qualitative method which means that both theory and structured practice was in scope. The operation of the JOPO® classes in the KUUMA-municipalities did not differ remarkable from the original JOPO® venture, started more than ten years ago. The largest differences in operation be-tween the municipalities studied were whether eighth-graders were chosen as well as ninth-graders, what kind of educational background the teacher’s working partner had and how many opportunities the schools had to take advantage of learning environments outside the school itself. Differences between classes appear in general teaching practices, the participation level of the teachers and the amount of on-the-job learning. The most common outcome was that there should be more JOPO® classes, as well as flexible basic education should begin at the eighth-grade level in all the KUUMA-municipalities. The interviews re-vealed that the JOPO® classes had been ahead of their time in being in alignment with the new cur-riculum. The principals and the education officials also agreed that the new curriculum does not bring changes to the operation of the JOPO® classes. The people interviewed in the study explained that the JOPO® classes of the KUUMA-municipalities played a major role in enabling students to achieve graduation and move onto the secondary educa-tion stage. The importance of the system was especially well explained by one interviewee: “There has never been such a student who did not benefit from attending a JOPO® class.”