Browsing by master's degree program "Kasvatustieteiden maisteriohjelma"

The purpose of this master’s thesis is to examine professional agency in self-managing work teams. The developmental processes focusing on work stress the ability to manage own work, therefore assessing these possibilities is essential to comprehend the ability of individuals and organizational structures to enable these demands. The theoretical framework is based on examining flexible and agile organizational structures, which emphasises self-management and self-managing teamwork as a focal part of the way flexible organizations operate. Furthermore, the theoretical framework consists of the theory regarding professional agency. The understanding of professional agency is based on a subject-centered socio-cultural approach. The research questions are 1) how do the interviewees describe their professional agency and 2) what kind of themes occur in self-managing teamwork that support professional agency? This thesis is a qualitative interview study, and the research material consists of eight employees’ interviews who work in self-managing teams. The analysis was carried out as a theoretically guided content analysis, in which the material was categorized as central themes. The results showed how professional agency in self-managing teamwork was described by directional factors, participation and inclusion, as well as the development of work and competence. The results also indicated how self-managing teamwork supported professional agency by the themes of developmental mentality, power structures, and the quality of work community dialogue. The interviewees had good opportunities to influence their work and participate in decision-making, but these were determined by the employees’ unprompted actions. Therefore, self-managing teamwork can be interpreted to support professional agency. However, taking in account the context-specific nature of self-managing teamwork and the complex nature of professional agency, further research is required to consider varying work communities.

The purpose of this case study was to research the path to employment from graduating from vocational studies to employment of young people with special and demanding special needs. The aim was also to find out how important the vocational education was to the young people researched in this study from their own perspective. The factors that could be conducive to the employment of the young people with special needs were also studied by interviewing four professionals that were attached to the young people in this research. Previous studies have shown that workplace learning is significant when it comes to the employment of young people with special needs in vocational education. It has also been addressed that young people in general are more interested in entrepreneurship than before. Most of the young people also think the future is in their own hands. Previous studies have also shown that employers think financial support is a good way to foster the employment of the young people with special needs. Four young people that were employed during vocational education or after graduation took part in this research. One of them had participated in vocational education for special needs and three for demanding special needs. In addition, four professionals that were connected to the employment of the young people in this study were interviewed. The professionals consisted of two employers, one work coach and one responsible teacher. All in all, eight persons were interviewed in this study. The study was carried out in a project called Tulevaisuuden Työelämän Starat which was financed by social fund of the European Union. The material consists of eight half-structured theme interviews. In addition, some backround information have been collected from a questionnaire that the young people filled as they were graduating from vocational education. The results of this research show that workplace learning has significance for the employment of young people with special needs. At the same time, the need of special education does not necessarily stand out in working life. The young people in this study feel confident about the future being in their own hands and they worry about general subjects regarding to their future such as accidents or being exhausted from work. Two of the young people that were interviewed in this study were interested in entrepreneurship in the future.

Faculty: Educational Sciences Degree programme: Master’s Programme in Education Study track: Special Education Author: Sirpa Juusola Title: Study skills at a university of applied sciences Level: Master’s thesis Month and year: April 2023 Number of pages: 80 + 13 Keywords: study skills, study ability, need for support, learning difficulty Supervisor or supervisors: Lotta Uusitalo, Henri Pesonen Where deposited: Abstract: Objectives. This thesis had three main objectives: to find out how students at South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences evaluate their own study skills in different areas, to compare study skills between different groups and to get information about students' wishes regarding the development of study skills. The study ability model developed by the Finnish Student Health Service (FSHS) and the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health was used as the theoretical basis in the thesis. Methods. The research material was collected with a Webropol survey aimed at students in Oc-tober 2022. 758 students responded to the survey. The survey was compiled using existing in-struments for measuring study skills. The questionnaire consisted of seven background infor-mation questions and ten sections which included statements that were answered using a five-point Likert scale. An open question was used to gather information about the students' wishes related to support needed for developing study skills. The collected data was mainly quantita-tive, and it was analysed using the SPSS program. Results and conclusions. Of the ten sections measuring study skills, Study Orientation and Motivation received the highest rating, and the lowest rating was in the section Reading. There were statistically significant differences between the groups divided according to the back-ground variables. For example, the average scores of those with a higher education back-ground were higher in many sections compared to those coming from upper secondary level education. Also, the students being over 30 years old, had higher average scores compared to younger ones. There were no statistically significant differences between the fields of study. According to the survey, 26.4% of the respondents had learning difficulties. Almost 30% of the respondents hoped to receive support for developing study skills, such as support for devel-oping learning methods and techniques, scheduling, and basic reading and writing skills. Also, more personal guidance was hoped for. The results of the research can be used in the devel-opment of guidance services at South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences as well as in the planning and organization of various activities that support students’ study skills.

This master’s thesis explores vocational education students’ experiences of immersive virtual learning environment. The thesis focuses on experiences of learning vocational skills in an immersive virtual learning environment that is designed for the field of profession. The research method of this study was qualitive. Research data was collected by observing the students whilst studying and in semi-structured interview. The observation was to support the interview data. The participants were five vocational students who have been using im-mersive virtual environment as one of the study environment during their vocational studies. Data analysis was done by using content analysis. According the results the students do experience that immersive virtual learning environment supports the development of their vocational skills as a part of students’ individual learning path. Some students experience that immersive virtual learning environment supports their vocational skills transfer to working life and some students experiences that immersive virtual learning environment supports mainly theoretical studies. Students experienced also various challenges, both technical challenges and challenges to use the virtual environment.

This research clarifies managements perceptions of employees’ job satisfaction in distance work during the Covid-19 pandemic, and how this job satisfaction has been supported. At the transition to distance work caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a change in the working environment for many employees. Previous research shows that change in working environment can also cause a change in job satisfaction, therefor research in job satisfaction during the Covid-19 pandemic is relevant. This research was carried out as qualitative research, with semi structured interviews and thematic analysis. The sample consisted of four (4) respondents, representing management either as CEOs or HR-managers. The respondents have worked in their position both before and during the Covid-19 pandemic and can therefor compare and give insights about employees’ job satisfaction both before and during the pandemic. All organisations were small and medium enterprises and sales organisations. The organisations had previously taken part of a work well-being questionnaire. For these attributes it was expected that the organisations had been faced with similar challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that the management had similar prior knowledge about their employees’ job satisfaction. The results of this research show that in the cases where employees’ job satisfaction had not decreased after the transition to distance work, there had been many diverse types of supporting actions. In these cases communication had prioritised, and there was a strive for similar type of communication as the communication before distance work. With distance work becoming a more common alternative form of work, even post Covid-19 pandemic, it is important to be able to support distance work in an appropriate way. Furthermore, this research show that interpreting employees’ well-being is challenging, even in direct questions and discussion. Future research in how to interpret employees’ well-being and job satisfaction is needed.

The purpose of this research was to figure out how COVID-19 has affected food purchases, making everyday meals, and using restaurant services amongst families with kids. The theoretical framework consists of execution of everyday dining and planning, formation of food choices and food shopping and also importance of eating out. According to previous studies, everyday dining is usually quite a busy and it demands quick solutions. Eating with family in peace is more common at weekends than on weekdays and planning has been shown as important factor in everyday life. In addition, the theoretical framework deals with eating out and the importance of school or work catering to Finnish food culture. Although COVID-19 is quite new as a research topic, theory of this research consists also of some of the most important effects of the Corona pandemic, for example from the perspective of consumption. The need for this research is the topicality and importance of this topic. The research questions were: What kind of effects the Corona pandemic and its limitations have had on eating in everyday life? What kind of effects the Corona pandemic and its limitations have had on food purchasing on everyday life? What kind of effects the Corona pandemic and its limitations have had on the usage of restaurant services? This study was carried out with qualitative research and the data was collected using a thematic and stimulus interview. The respondents were mainly found from a Facebook group, that is targeted for families living in the center of Helsinki. The interviews were carried out using Zoom and there were five mothers and one father in the study. The research data was first transcribed and then analyzed with thematizing and content analysis. According to results of this research, there was need for making everyday life easier during the Corona pandemic. Food planning has increased, as well as food preparation and its demands. There were also new methods for buying food and motives for usage of restaurant services. Increased planning and cooking were experienced as burdensome. To make everyday life easier, families typically used semi-processed food products and food delivery services, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. Motives for eating out were different than before COVID-19, because eating out was more likely to make everyday life easier. Results shows that ordering groceries was more common among the studied families but demands for cooking have also increased during the pandemic. These effects require important skills, for examples planning, control of everyday life and craftsmanship which are taught in home economics lessons. The changes in food purchases and food choices in unexpected situations, like the Corona pandemic, may also gain more value in the future’s home economics teaching.

Food is associated with many social practices and symbolic meanings that are culturally bound, separating and connecting members of culture. By studying food cultures, one can gain a deeper understanding of the society of the country in question, the deep structures of the culture and the history of the country. As culture constantly changes with society, so does food culture and its manifestations. As communication technology takes over the sector as a form of social interaction, food cultures are also increasingly shifting to social media as food images serve as a means of communication. This research falls into the fields of cultural research, visual culture research, and food culture research. The aim of the study is to try to find features typical of Finnish and Japanese food culture in social media food images. As the research material consists of a list of pictorial materials, it is also rewarding to look at the aesthetic content that food images contain and how the layout and content of the image are affected by the fact that the food images have been produced for publication in social media. The study emphasizes the cultural-historical approach as the factor that has most shaped Finnish and Japanese food culture. The research material consisted of food images produced by 6 people, of which there were a total of 30. Half of the research subjects and food images represented Finnish food culture and half Japanese food culture. To support the analysis of the images, the subjects' own comments on the food images of their choice were used. This is a qualitative study in which the material was analyzed by means of content analysis. Content analysis was combined with semiotic image analysis, in which reality is interpreted based on the characters and codes present in the images. An even more marginal aspect of socio-semiotics is represented by the social nature of the research material as part of the ways in which people communicate in social media. Despite the small research data, the research provided indications of typical elements that occur in Finnish and Japanese food culture. These include typical ingredients, food rations, cooking methods, and aesthetic perceptions. In Finnish food culture, emphasis was placed on simple dishes that have taken a lot of influence from other countries. Japanese food culture emphasized the preservation of traditions and the use of domestic raw materials.

The aim of the study was to examine the role of customer learning in the co-development process of a product or service. The customer's learning is an essential part of the co-development process. With the help of research, the aim is to find possible learning challenges and to deepen the customer's learning path and its meaning. Companies should be able to enable customer learning even better in the future because customers are constantly demanding more and more individualized services and products. The frameworks of the research were the co-development process and customer learning. The customer's learning perspective was further deepened with the theories of trialogical learning, Bloom's taxonomy, and flipped learning. The research was carried out using design-ethnographic methods, using versatile material, collected from the company's customers and employees. The data were semi-structured interviews with customers and employees and other material from the co-development process, such as presentation material. The material was analyzed using thematic analysis methods. The results showed that the role of the customer's learning plays a very strong role during the co-development process. If the client's learning remains at a light level, the result of the project usually does not match the desired goals. In the customer's learning, special attention should be paid to the customer's motivation and enthusiasm, different participatory working methods, the utilization and cross-pollination of the different expertise of the customer group, and the general coordination of the project, for example, the guidance of workshops and the coordination of interim tasks. The study gathered together tips on different ways of working and learning in the co-development process.

Objective. The aim of this thesis was to map how teachers in Åland experienced the new, integrated subject of religion and worldview education, its pros and cons, and to find out what the rest of Finland could learn about the transition from the previous teaching method to the current one. In 2021, Åland transitioned to a common subject of religion and worldview education where all students are in the same teaching group regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. Previously, Åland has the same form of religious education as the rest of Finland, where students are taught in different groups depending on their religious affiliation. According to Finnish law on religious freedom, students are entitled to non-denominational religious education of their own affiliation in school. Students who do not belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church or who do not have more than three representatives from the same religious community study worldview education. According to Eero Salmenkivi and Vesa Åhs (2022), Finland needs to renew its approach to religious education as the current approach is not sustainable in an increasingly diverse and pluralistic Finland. Salmenkivi and Åhs (2022) presented three possible models for the future teaching of religion and worldview subjects. Åland’s approach to religious education corresponds to model B out of Salmenkivi and Åhs (2022) three models. Method. Four teachers from Åland who teach the new integrated subject of religion and worldview education participated in interviews conducted on Zoom. the interviews were recorded and transcribed, and then analyzed through phenomenographic analysis. Results and conclusions. Participants had a positive experience with the new teaching method. Collaborative teaching allowed for open dialogue, and the participants viewed the discussions and equality as a strength in the new integrated subject. Challenges included the vagueness of the curriculum, unclear instructions and also the lack of teaching materials were seen as a challenge. To create inclusive religious and worldview education, religious literacy and minority representation are needed both in the planning process of the curriculum but also in the planning of the transition. Finland can learn from Åland the value of providing training during the transition and the importance of highlighting minority voices.

The purpose of this studie was to research what kind of practical tools the pedagogic staff in one unit of early childhood education feel they have to meet the needs of children with externalizing behaviors. The study also looked at what kind of tools the ECE-staff used in daily interaction with these children and how the children's needs were taken into consideration in the daily activities. Recent studies have shown that externalizing behaviors has become more common among children in early childhood education, and therefore the subject is current. According to Ahonen (2017) the children who show externalizing behaviors are at risk of later challenges in life and it would therefore be important to support these children at an early age. To adequately support the children the ECE-staff needs to have a good understanding of the background factors to the behaviors and also awareness of the central tools to support the children. The data in this studie consist of five individual interviews, two group interviews and 17 hours of observations of the ECE-staff in the groups. The studie was conducted in two ECE-groups in one Swedish speaking Finnish ECE-unit during the fall of 2021. The data were analyzed with the method qualitative content analysis. The result of the study shows that the ECE-staff experience the children's externalizing behavior difficult when they do not know the cause of the behavior or when the behavior is unexpected. They felt it was easier once they had found methods and tools that worked for the child. Another challenging factor was if there were many children with externalizing behavior or if there were shortages of staff. The ECE-staff in this study all met the children with warm interaction and were all aware of the importance of warm interaction. They also divided the children into smaller groups and used visual aids to support the children's executive functions. The ECE-staff mainly worked by handling the situation after it occurred and by forming the activities and environment so that the behavior decreased. In the data there was little that indicated that the personnel actively worked to strengthen the children's skills and competencies to give the children a chance to learn to handle the situations. The ECE-staff mentioned that they felt that the teaching material they had to support socioemotional development was not adequate to their needs. The ECE-staff in this study did not feel they had gotten enough information about the subject or tools in their own education programs. The main source of information about tools and methods had been collegially support and mentorship between colleagues.