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The purpose of this study was to discover primary teachers' conceptions about singing and vocal control education and student assessment. The study was aimed to find out what kind of a role and status singing and vocal control education has in general and in relation to music education. In addition, the study examines what the teachers consider singing and vocal control education and what kind of teaching methods they used in their teaching. Furthermore, the study explores to the teachers' experiences with the teaching of singing and vocal control education. Finally, the study aims to map the student assessment methods teachers used and the challenges and opportunities these methods brings with them. The data were collected trough an Internet questionnaire. The study involved 31 primary school teachers from 15 different schools in Espoo, all of which had their own class. 87 % of the examinees were 30 years or older and 77 % had worked as a teacher for at least 6 years. 14 examinees did not teach music during the research and five of the examinees did not have any kind of music related hobbies. The research was a qualitative survey. The analysis was theory-driven content analysis. The study revealed, that half of the teachers would increase the amount of time spent on the teaching of singing and vocal control, and the other half would retain the present situation. In the teachers' opinions, the singing and vocal control education should begin in early childhood or primary education, at latest in the 3. Class. Only half of the teachers were able to explain how the singing and vocal control education was taken into account in their school's policy. The teachers mentioned 17 contents of singing and vocal control education, and teacher-led methods of teaching. Singing and vocal control education also appears in the native language lessons and in everyday school life. The teachers taught music because of their own enthusiasm and specialization on music education, and because of the principal's order. Half of the teachers felt that they had not received enough training to teach singing and vocal control. Methods for assessment of singing have been replaced by students' personal singing tests and observation. The student assessment is a challenge because of the large numbers of students in the groups. Teachers wish to receive a coherent student assessment criteria.

Objective. The aim of this research was to examine primary school teachers' conceptions of gender and sexuality, and how they explain the sexual education they teach to the students. It has been shown that sexuality and gender are very complex phenomenon, and they can be divided to several areas. I focus on the physical, mental and social areas on both sexuality and gender. Research showed that sexuality and gender are a vital part of humans' life. Both are present through the whole life, and their development should be supported. In this research I examine if the teachers' conceptions of gender, sexuality and sexual education are equivalent to other research and curriculum. Methods. The research frame of this research is case study to a single primary school from Helsinki, and the research material consists of eleven teachers. I sent a questionnaire to every teacher in the school and invited four teachers to separate interviews afterwards. The questionnaire consisted of multiple choice questions and some open questions. The interviews were based on the questionnaire and they were meant to just give some more insight to the themes of the questionnaire. I divided the answers into sentences or words, and divided them under certain themes and groups. Some of the themes were based on the research theory and some on the material. Results. The teachers experienced many difficulties considering sexual education. They could name and specify the areas of sexuality, but their knowledge about gender was inferior. The teachers explained that they teach the suitable contents for each age group. The subject of the research was considered sensitive. The teachers emphasized the role of everyday situations as a vital material in sexual education. The contents of sexual education in curriculum were not clear to the teachers, and teachers were not at one about the contents. The teachers need more information of gender and sexual education, and this can be achieved with guide books, education or with changes in the teacher education system.

Aims and objectives. The purpose of this study is to define what primary school teachers find important in food education and how it is present in school and in class. As well as the aforementioned the aim of this study is to, based on the teachers' experience, find out what kind of support and added value primary school teachers get from the Ruuan reitti -learning material, published by Ruokatieto Yhdistys and how the material could be developed further. The theoretical context of this study is compounded of home economics education, the curriculum of home economics education, examination of the learning environment and materials as well as the multidimensionality food education. The research questions are: 1. a) What subjects within food education are important from primary school teachers' point of view? b) How food education is present in their school and in their class? 2. How the Ruuan reitti -learning material supports food education in primary school and what added value does it bring? 3. How would primary school teachers want to change or develop the contents and methods within the learning material? Methods. The nature of this study is qualitative research, which conforms to the principles of case study. The material was compiled using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and observation. Nine primary school teachers from three different schools in the Uusimaa region took part in the study. Analysis of the dataset was executed as a meta-combination of context analysis and systemic textual analysis. Results and conclusions. According to the interviewees the most important aspects of food education are healthiness, food behaviour, environment and day-to-day life of a child. In schools food education is present during school meals, within the curriculum and in class. In class teachers mainly effectuate the themes they themselves find important. According to the results the learning material is a valuable asset and it applies well in to teaching. As the main development proposal teachers were hoping for more complete material and various electric applications like games, tests and videos.

The purpose of this study has been to investigate the views of elementary school teachers on teacher expertise and the effects of social change on expertise. The aim of this study has been to determine how experienced teachers perceive teacher’s role and the changes that have taken place, focusing on teachers’ professional growth and the development of expertise. The significance of teachers and schools in society is evident. Education has been on display in the social discourse recently, focusing on the challenges brought by social change. The demands placed on teaching can be seen to have increased, and teachers view the social changes as a challenge to the implementation of the teacher’s and school’s primary task. By examining the construction and changes of teacher expertise, information can be obtained about the work of teachers in the present day and the meeting of demands and resources, so that the teacher’s professional development can be supported. The research was conducted as a qualitative study, using theory-guided content analysis methods, aiming for phenomenological inference. The data was collected by performing semi-structured interviews for six elementary school teachers, each of whom had worked as a teacher for over ten years. The participants of this study saw teacher expertise being formed by expertise in education and training, which includes professionalism and humanity. Teachers emphasized the building of expertise on a foundation of knowledge and, increasingly, educational skills, where the significance of an individual teacher has grown. Social change was seen to bring challenges to education, which require increasingly more thinking and decision-making skills. Teachers emphasized the need to adapt to a diverse world in times of social change through professional ethics and pedagogical expertise. A special challenge for expertise seemed to rise from the limited opportunities to influence one’s work and its implementation.

Finnish elementary school has been the solid foundation for Finnish education for decades. While the elementary school's name has stayed the same it has still been in a continuous process of change. Our elementary school is a time-related institution that changes and evolves together with the curriculum, teachers and pupils, and the prevailing culture. The environment and the people living in it are always interacting with each other and together they create a social or relational space. The school building and its surroundings are a special social space. The relation between people and the school makes the building a school and turns the people into teachers and pupils. Despite the fact that the school is an important social institution that has been created especially for children and their learning, there have been few studies about school from the children's perspective. This study aims to find out what is the social space of school like for pupils. How do the pupils display physical or social space in their photographs and texts? How does power divide between teachers and pupils? What kinds of feelings do the pupils attach to the photographs and texts they produced? The study involved seven sixth-grade pupils. They photographed their own school days for four consecutive days. After each photograph the pupils filled out a questionnaire in which they reported things regarding the photograph such as who was in charge at the time and how did the pupil feel at the moment. The study consisted of 122 photographs and texts related to the photographs. The material was analysed with the Collier & Collier visual content analysis. The study showed that the pupils photographed the school's physical rather than social space. Most pupils took photographs of different teaching aids such as text books on their desks. Social space was displayed in photographs taken during recesses when the pupils were playing with their friends. The pupils took very few photographs of the teachers. The most common answer to the questionnaire's question about who is in charge was "the teacher" though in many cases said question was left unanswered. This means that the pupils did not really pay attention to the teachers' use of power. The most common feelings of pupils during school hours were joy and tiredness.

Objectives. The aim of the thesis is to unravel the challenges primary school teachers face in physical education of visually impaired children. My goal is also to explore how primary school teachers would develop the physical education of visually impaired children. Earlier studies have shown that a visually impaired child joining sports class can cause uncertainty and sense of inadequacy among teachers. Due to the prevailing ideal of inclusion, children with visual impairment mainly attend school as a part of general education. Therefore it is important to reasearch the experiences of teachers, and thereby strive to develop the exercise opportunities of visually impaired children in general education. Methods. The method used in this thesis was a case study. The material consisted of five in-terviews with teachers that had taught physical education in primary school. Among the five interviewees there were three primary school, one special education and one physical educa-tion teacher. The interviews were partially structured and conducted in the spring of 2020. The analysis was based on qualitative methods, where emphasis is on content and thematic analysis. Results and conclusions. Several challenges became apparent from the interviews. The challenges were divided into three themes: workload of teachers, organization of high-quality teaching and barriers due to the impairment. The teachers’ views of the targets of development were again divided into four themes: teacher training, separation of classes, attitude of the teacher and planning of the lessons. The interviewees felt that teacher training does not prepare teachers to organize physical education for children with visual impairment. The teachers emphasized the value of additional training. The results show that there are still many barriers in physical education, but with sufficient support measures it is possible to overcome them and provide equal opportunities for all children in general PE.

Objectives. This study examines career change into early childhood education (ECE) teaching. According to research literature, second career teachers differ significantly from first career teachers. In the field of ECE, the phenomenon has not been examined before. The purpose of this study is to find out second career ECE teachers´ career choice motives; examine the fulfillment of their expectations of ECE teaching and satisfaction of their career change; and investigate factors that increase their job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The theoretical framework is based, among other things, on the Factors Influencing Teaching Choice -scale (Watt & Richardson, 2007) and Herzberg's motivation theory (1957). According to previous studies, the career choice of ECE teachers is influenced by internal motives, such as teaching as a calling and the desire to work with children. Children, the social dimension of work, perceived autonomy at work and skilled leadership increases teachers' job satisfaction. Job dissatisfaction is caused by insufficient resources, unclear job description, the structure of ECE and dysfunctional teamwork. Methods. This research was carried out as an electronic survey research (n=76). The data was collected on Facebook through groups of the student organizations of the universities of Helsinki and Tampere and two groups on early childhood education. In addition, the survey was sent to second career teacher students at the University of Helsinki. The data was analyzed using data-based content analysis, cross-tabulation and Spearman's correlation coefficient. Results and conclusions. The most significant career choice motives of second career ECE teachers were interest, meaning, employment prospects and stress from previous work. Interest towards ECE teaching acted as a protective factor against new career change intentions. The second career ECE teachers were quite satisfied with their career changes, and their expectations of the work as an ECE teacher had been fulfilled quite well. Still, 46% of second career ECE teachers considered changing fields again. The most significant factors leading to job satisfaction were children, job description, positive feelings related to the job and social factors. Job dissatisfaction was experienced because of insufficient resources, salary and high job demands.

Paramedics meet critically injured patients and deliver advanced pre-hospital care. The profession requires comprehensive knowledge and education. A worry for patient safety and an increase in the popularity of learner-centered education has increased the use of simulation in paramedic education. Simulation enables students to safely practice on, for example, acute situations and teamwork. Despite that simulation is nowadays widely used in education of paramedics, and is viewed as an effective method for learning, there are few studies conducted in Finland of how students experience simulation. In previous international studies, it is shown that a higher satisfaction leads to an increase in engagement, learning, competence and finally better care for patients. Higher self-confidence can enhance critical thinking skills, leadershipskills and identification of knowledge gaps. The aim of this study is to explore and describe how paramedic students in a university of applied sciences experience satisfaction and self-confidence concerning simulation. Previousstudies of satisfaction and self-confidence and the model conducted by National League for Nursing and Pamela Jeffries is used as theoretical background for this study. The data was gathered via an electronic survey which was distributed to the paramedic students, a total of N = 92. The survey was answered by N = 29. A quantitative, descriptive method was used for this study and all group comparisons were measured with nonparametric tests. The results show that paramedic students are generally very satisfied with simulation. They also perceive high self-confidence. Some students experience disadvantages with fidelity in simulation and some experience levels of stress, but these do not have a negative effect on the overall level of satisfaction and self-confidence. The inexperienced students were more satisfied with the teacher than the experienced students. Work experience was significant with levels of satisfaction with debriefing. Debriefing seems to be an important factor which leads to students being satisfied with simulation.

Many researchers suggested that home-school collaboration has a positive impact on immigrant children's integration into new country. In this thesis conceptions and experiences of collaboration with immigrant parents were studied from classroom teacher's perspective following the Epstein's theory of educational responsibility. Epstein's framework of six types of involvement was used to define the quality of home-school partnership and the school's role in home-school collaboration. Eight first and second grade classroom teachers were interviewed based on the hypothesis that the parents and teachers collaborate most closely at that stage of children's education. The interviews were recorded, transcribed and the results were analysed using phenomenography method. The results indicate that the teachers see home-school collaboration as a target-oriented partnership based on equality, that relies on interaction with the parents, and that is coordinated by the teacher. The teachers understood that they educate a child beside parents but emphasized different educational responsibilities of school and parents. Their main expectations towards immigrant parents was support for both the child and the teacher and openness towards Finnish culture, while the main challenges were language barrier, religion, differences in cultural values and fear of Finnish culture. The teachers engaged in diverse types of home-school collaboration, but there were very few targeted directly at the immigrant parents.

Goal: Inclusion is an increasingly popular and current theme within educational sciences. In earlier studies, inclusion as a term has evolved from a relatively narrow definition consisting primarily of pupils with special needs towards a wider spectrum taking all members of a school community into account. According to various theories and official documents used as sources for this thesis, inclusion additionally looks at a person from a primarily intersectional perspective. In this study, the primary goal is to look into how inclusion is percepted from the standpoint of teachers, investigate how inclusion takes its place in school on a daily basis and find out what teachers would need to be able to implement inclusion as part of their daily teaching methods. Another goal of this research is to compare the perception teachers have of inclusion to the inclusion that is presented in theories and official documents that are commonly used guidelines for inclusion implementation. Method: The methodology chosen for this qualitative research is phenomenology. Semi-structured interviews were used as the method and the interviews were supported with a predesigned interview guide. The structure of the interviews was built around the most significant themes in this research. A total of eight (8) Swedish-speaking comprehensive school teachers were interviewed. All of these interviewees were officially qualified teachers, and they were employed either in the region of Uusimaa or Pohjanmaa. The interviewees had different professional and academic backgrounds. Some of them had been active in the profession for up to 20 years, while others had less than five years of work experience. Some of these teachers had studied more special pedagogy that what is usually included in teacher studies. The research material was analyzed through a theme content analysis forming a result that was then divided into separate categories. Results: The perceptions on inclusion varied quite substantially, with some giving it quite a narrow definition and others percepted in as being a broader concept such defined by Ainscow & Booth (1998) in their book. Work experience and educational history had an impact on how the teachers defined inclusion in their schools. All participants considered inclusion as an important theme in the school world. Good co-operation and a culture of acceptance and participation were seen as important aspects to ensure successful inclusion. A lack of resources, the sense of diversity amongst pupils and their own skillset in inclusion were aspects that they felt hindered inclusion. The unified culture amongst Swedish-speaking Finns was also brought up as an example of a theme that can turn into a barrier for inclusion. In addition, some other specific features Finnish school culture were seen as problematic. Based on the research, it can be stated that the acceptance and commitment to diversity is crucial for the successful implementation of inclusion. Updating the skillset of teachers, building a stronger cooperation between various stakeholders and pushing for a cultural change in the school world are concrete examples of ways to strengthen the development of inclusion. This can be established based on both the research, but also on the theories and official documents used the build the theoretical background of this thesis.