Browsing by discipline "Kasvatustiede"

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.

This study analyzed the workplace learning processes of Non-commissioned officers (NCO) in the companies of the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF). Workplace learning was studied using the theoretical tools provided by cultural-historical activity theory and knowledge-creating trialogical learning. The theoretical framework was summarized in the concept of sociomaterial learning-network, defined as the set of relations between the individual, his/her community and the material artefacts formed around the common object of activity. The aim of the study was to understand how the NCOs learn through their work and how the learning is guided. The sub-questions approached workplace learning through the concepts of agency, networks and tools. The study was conducted as a case study in three companies of one brigade-level unit of the Finnish Army. The data was gathered from the unit-commanders (n=5) and the NCOs (n=10) of the studied companies with semi-structured interviews consisting structured interview parts. Additionally an egocentric network interview was conducted with the NCOs. The interview data was analyzed with abductive content analysis. The egocentric network-data was visualized with Cytoscape-software. The results suggest, that despite certain expansive features, the studied companies were mainly restrictive learning environments. The workplace learning of the NCOs was based on their own active agency and the support of their personal learning-networks. Additionally the material aspects of the activity, such as different standardized written documents and learning-materials, had a major influence on the NCOs' learning processes. A distinctive feature of the guidance of learning was the aim to standardize and unify the learning processes. A contradiction in the goal-setting of workplace learning was identified. The activity guiding standard operating procedures of the FDF emphasize comprehensive development, but the learning-practices in the unit are primarily guided by the obtaining of certain licences needed in activity.

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.

The main subject of this Master Thesis is to study the importance created by the expat parents towards schools which operate abroad and serve Finnish language studies for expat children. This research is strongly theory based, where parenthood, Finnish-expats and the dimensions of Finnish-schools operating abroad is studied. The main goal has been to understand the meaning of Finnish-schools abroad to expat-families. There is only limited amount of previous studies concerning Finnish-schools abroad, so there has been a clear research gap. The topic was investigated by electronic surveys, where parents could freely tell about their experiences and feelings about the Finnish-schools abroad, under the guidance of the researcher. This research is qualitative in nature and the research method has been hermeneutic. Data was collected from 11 parents, whose children study at Amsterdam's Finnish School during the spring 2016. On top of that, researcher has been present in Amsterdam's Finnish School in order to understand the topic better. The results from the study are in with the research questions. Parents felt that the importance of Finnish School is mainly social, for both themselves and for the children. Finnish School was seen as a social environment, from which it was possible to find Finnish-speaking friends and also to communicate in Finnish. Cultural and linguistic education was also part of the results but it was seen less important than the social-aspect. It was also found that parents do a lot of voluntary work for Finnish School and everyone wanted to participate to these activities. It can be seen from the results that the importance of Finnish School to parents is very high. Through the Finnish School the Finnish-culture and language could be maintained through the whole family and the school also provided peer support. These were also aspects, which help Finnish-expats to maintain their mother-tongue and to cherish their cultural identity, within both children and adults. Finally, it could be concluded that investing to Finnish Schools and maintaining those schools is very important part of supporting the Finnish expats.

In different sectors of education percentage of school drop outs is highest in upper secondary vocational school even though dropping out has decreased in recent years. When discussed about dropping out, it's essential to recognize when it's about increasing risk of alienation and when it's necessary for individual's life. The purpose of this research it to offer a new point of view that considers life choices and turning points as process that continues individually and multidimensionally. In this research interest focus on agency behind dropping out and situational actors that lead to decisions to drop out. The theoretical framework concentrates changes in youth and working life, situational actors behind school drop outs and agency as individual's power to shape their life circumstances by choosing their actions. The research was carried out qualitatively. The data was collected in October 2015 and is based on open interviews that were analyzed using content analysis. In this research nine individual interviews were used. Interviewees were young persons who had quitted at least once in upper secondary vocational school and started another education or got employed after dropping out. Interviews indicated human agency as active operations that contain ability to picture alternative course of actions and possible future outcomes. In narrations agency can be seen as interaction that is strongly combined to time. Decision making is influenced by the past, present and future. As active and planned decision making, narrations show that agency is limited or allowed by structural and social actors that guide individual's actions and decision making. In narrations situational actors that lead to quitting, appeared to be set of various actors that eventually lead to limited agency and quitting school.

In Finland, no matter what the person’s upper secondary education is, has a right to study in university. Still, it is rare to apply from vocational school to university. For that reason, the phenomenon needs to be examined more clearly. In this thesis the aim is to examine how the university students, who’s earlier educations are vocational education, got interested of university and how they describe their studying in university. The focus is to find out what kind of meanings they give to their life course and what kind of stories they tell. The thesis was done in 2018 and six students participated. The material was collected by narrative interview and the research results were analysed by using narrative thematic analyse method. The focus of the analysis was to examine interviewee’s stories about those moments that they thought was meaningful in getting interested of university. The research results were showing that in the student’s life course had happen some specific moments that were starting to move they closer to university. Those specific moments in their life course did brought their lives to a point that they got interested to study in university. The results were also showing that their road to university has had many different phases and some sad moments too. Students also told that they had felt being outsider because of their educational background and they had doubted how they are going to perform in the studies. The results of the research were found to be consistent with theories that were underlying this research. Especially the Levinson's life course theory of the eras and transitions were part of the results of this study too.

Goals. The purpose of the study was to find out how ethically sensitive teachers, teacher students and financial people themselves are evaluating and whether there are differences between these groups in ethical sensitivity. The study also investigated whether differences between the sexes exist in ethical sensitivity. The theoretical background of this study is the theory of four components of ethical activity, of which ethical sensitivity is studied in this work. After Darcia Narvaez's (2001) operative concept of ethical sensitivity in seven different areas, Kirsi Tirri and Petri Nokelainen (2007, 2011) have developed a meter of ethical sensitivity in their own research. Methods. The survey was carried out as a quantitative survey and the relevant material from bank employees was collected by e-form in August 2015 from a banking group operating in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. There were 183 respondents, of whom 77.6% were women (N = 142) and men 22.4% (N = 41). Reference material from the teachers was obtained from the University of Helsinki research group (Kuusisto Elina, Tirri Kirsi). The total number of respondents was 864, of which 60.4% (N = 522) were teachers and 39.6% (N = 342) teacher students, women 77.2% (N = 667) and men 22.8% (197). The material was collected in 2011. All students were at the beginning of their studies at the material collection stage and studied at the University of Helsinki. Subsequently, the material was combined with the SPSS statistics program. The ethical sensitivity scale questionnaire consisted of 28 claims, which were answered in the 5-step Likert scale. Seven sum variables were formed, each of which was counted as Cronbach alpha. Only the sum of single sum variables alpha (ESSQ_1 α = .544) was below the recommended>. 060. Subsequent intergroup averages were examined by variance analysis and differences between genders by t-test. Results and conclusions. Teachers received the highest average of seven in four areas, with the results being statistically significant as well. Bank employees received the highest averages in two areas, although the results were not statistically significant. The students got the highest average in only one area. In this study, however, the best ethical sensitivity variable was gender, with women having a higher average in six of the seven areas.

Tiivistelmä - Referat – Abstract Aims. Diverse responsibilities and expanding work environments demand teachers to learn continuously in constantly changing conditions in Universities of Applied Sciences. It is important to investigate how teachers learn at work and elaborate the most opportune learning situations. The purpose of this study is to find out how teachers at Universities of Applied Sciences learn in their work environment and how they regulate their learning in various situations. This study aims to answer the following research questions: 1. What kind of meaningful learning situations do teachers at University of Applied Sciences describe? 2.Which aspects of self- and co-regulated learning do the teachers demonstrate in these situations? 3. Which aspects of self- and co-efficacy were related to the learning situations described by the teachers? 4. How were the aspects of self- and co-regulated learning and self- and co-efficacy related to the key learning situations? Methods. The data consisted of semi-structured thematic interviews collected from eight teachers working at the University of Applied Sciences. The interviews contained questions about positive and negative learning experiences and the goals teachers set in terms of their learning and work. The interviews also aimed to find out how teachers seek to develop their own competences, to ascertain the relationship between colleagues and their own learning and competence as well as describe the factors that increase and decrease their self- and co- efficacy. The interview data were qualitatively content analysed by using an abductive strategy. The relationship between regulation and efficacy in the learning situations was then examined. Results and conclusions. The most relevant learning contexts for teachers in University of Applied Sciences were professional community, teaching context and informal learning situations. Reflection appeared as a significant component of regulation of learning among teachers. Other evident components were the substantial use of different strategies and monitoring. Examination of the relationship between regulation of learning and efficacy clarified the relationship and helped to construct a more profound understanding of teachers’ learning in various learning contexts.

The research focuses on the views and experiences of professional youtubers and about where they have acquired their knowledge and skills. Also, how they develop their expertise is at the heart of the review, as there is no actual training in the profession of a youtuber. The aim of the study is to outline the different dimensions of knowledge and the areas that a person needs in his / her work. The context of the research is competence, competence development and new work. The labor market of the future requires updating skills, and through this research it is possible to look at the demands of the skills of such a new work represented by the youtubers in this study. The material consists of four interviews in which the most successful tubers in Finland tell about their own work and describe the related skills and areas of expertise. The analysis proceeds according to content analysis, where I summarize the categories of different competencies emerging from the interviewees' stories. On the basis of the analysis, four top classes describing the skills of professional youtubers were gathered: Technical skills, self-management skills, professional skills and networking skills. Under these four upper classes, there are even more sub-categories that define the skills required in the work of youtubers. The categories of competence are not intended to cover the skills and requirements of the entire profession, but to gain access to the individual's own expertise and development. Through the results, it is also possible to get more information on about the youtubers work, that represents new manifestations of worklife. The results show how new ways of working have come to stay and there is no return to the old bureaucratic organization style of work in these young people's expectations. Expertise and its development were seen as a self-contained factor. The future as a professional youtuber was seen as unstable, but still unlimited and bright. New forms of work and the changing attitudes of young people towards work require more research at a single level. New larger phenomena are often formed through micro-phenomena and when these micro-phenomena can be accessed early enough, greater changes could be better anticipated.

Everyday racism is a term used about racism in common social situations, which results in racial oppression. Previous studies have found that everyday racism is difficult to detect, and that people may unconsciously produce racism and thus maintain a hierarchical race system. Everyday racism can be categorized into (a) antilocution, (b) naming, (c) offensive gestures, expressions and gazes, (d) avoidance, (e) discrimination and isolation, and (f) physical attack (Puuronen, 2011). Institutional racism is also a part of everyday racism. Different institutional processes maintain the inequality of minority group members, which reflects on everyday racism and vice versa. This Master's thesis is a qualitative and quantitative study. Its purpose is to find out what kind of everyday racism was present in kindergartens during the term of 2017-2018 and how it has been intervened. The study was divided into three parts; everyday racism faced by workers or trainees and families who have an immigrant background and intervention on racism. The purpose of the study is to demonstrate the different forms of everyday racism in the work community and the culture of early childhood education. Thirty-two Finnish teachers of early childhood education participated in the study. The material was collected through an electronic questionnaire. Theoretical content analysis was used as the analysis method. The analysis utilized the everyday racism classification created by Puuronen (2011) to create categories from the data. The majority of the respondents, 84% had reported everyday racism in kindergartens. The most common forms of everyday racism were antilocution, naming, and avoidance. Institutional racism occurs unequal practices, which resulted in the exclusion of migrant-background families and workers outside the kindergarten community. Lack of time, limited resources and a stressed working community sustained racist practice. 28% of Finnish teachers in early childhood education had interfered in employee’s racist acts. The interventions included note taking, correcting misconceptions, holding meetings, and talking to the kindergarten’s supevisors.