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The purpose of this study was to investigate explaining among third grade primary school students undergoing inquiry-based science project. Secondly, the aim of the study was to observe the ways with which the teacher sought to promote and scaffold explanation development by students. Previous studies have shown that self-made explanations have an impact on learning outcomes. Explaining has a particularly important role in science education in which the starting point for teaching should be in utilizing students' own experiences, skills and knowledge. This is a qualitative case study written from a socio-cultural point of view using video research as a method. The class in question had 18 students. Material was collected during the spring 2008, when a science project was carried out in the class. In this study I analyzed 6 classes all related to the project. I categorized the explanations using a modified literature-based classification system. These categories were descriptive and developmental intuitive explanations, descriptive and developmental unifying explanations, descriptive and developmental scientific explanations and unclassified explanations. In order to find out the possible methods the teacher used as scaffolds, I further analyzed all the developmental scientific explanations made by the students. I analyzed discovered scaffolding methods using transcribed examples of the classroom discourse. The results indicated that students' explanations changed during the monitoring period. Intuitive explanations and unifying explanations had a relatively high share in the first lesson, after which it decreased. Nevertheless, this category of explanations did not totally disappear either. The number of descriptive scientific explanations stayed relatively high throughout the analyzed period but the share of the developmental scientific explanations increased. By using certain methods the teacher seemed to support the creation of developmental scientific explanations. Those methods were teacher-led questions, mediating conversation and invocation of students' experience and expertise. The study offers examples of what kind of a role explaining has in practical school work, as well as ways how teachers can support students' explanation development during the classes.

In this Master’s thesis I researched teachers’ experiences on dog-assisted interventions. This thesis’ two research questions were: 1) How dog-assisted pedagogy supports teachers’ professional development and profession as a teacher? 2) What kind of positive effects dog-assisted pedagogy has to pupils’ studying? Frame of references includes inspection of teachers’ profession and inspection of what kind of effects animal-assisted interventions has to child’s mental, social and physical well-being. I explore teacher’s profession from concepts of teaching philosophy, professional development, professional identity and motivation. I interviewed four teachers, who use dog-assisted interventions in their teaching. Interviews were half-structured. All of the teachers were dealing with special needs in their work and trying to respond to the needs with dog-assisted pedagogy. Three of the teachers were special education teachers and one of them was class teacher. All of the teachers had completed self-motivated, official course about dog-assisted interventions (10 credits). I analyzed the interview data with phenomenography. I also reflected my own position as an interviewer, so I could make this thesis more reliable. I present research results in two different chapters. In first chapter I reported results of how dog-assisted pedagogy supported teachers’ professional development. Dog-assisted pedagogy was central part of the teachers’ teaching philosophy. With dog-assisted interventions, teachers could combine their hobby with dogs and work. There was five features that were typical to teachers’ who develop themselves professionally: positive orientation to risk taking, openness to change, willingness to do experiments in the classroom and openness to criticism. Dog-assisted pedagogy and feedback from pupils and parents motivated teachers at their work. It took time, money, planning and effort to use the dog-assisted interventions at their teaching work. In the second chapter I reported results of how the dog effected pupils’ studying. Teachers reported that the dog had positive effects on pupils’ emotions: dog’s presence calmed children, made class’ atmosphere better and contributes joy and happiness to studying. According to analyze the dog-assisted pedagogy motivated pupils to study, served pauses to classes and school day, effects on concentration and increases action-based teaching. The challenges of the dog-assisted teaching were related to colleagues and work community. Based on former large mass of international research and this thesis results, I propose that dog-assisted pedagogy could be motivational, action-based and effective intervention and tool to teachers. Dog-assisted pedagogy could also be a good tool with pupils with special needs.

The study's aim was to find out how the Makumestari food event affected the food habits of the visitors. Previous studies have shown that the diet of Finnish children does not meet the nutrition recommendations. One major lack is in the daily intake of vegetables. Because food habits are developed in early childhood and they influence not only an individual's wellbeing but also the whole society's wellbeing, healthy habits should be taught at a young age. Information is a crucial factor of change but information alone is not enough. The Makumestari event offered joy of food and the opportunity to explore food items using the "makukoulu" technique. The data was collected using an online questionnaire. 124 visitors of the food event responded to the questionnaire. The questionnaire contained multiple-choice and open-ended questions so different kinds of analysis methods were used, such as calculating key ratios and correlation coefficients, principal component analysis and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The data collected via the open-ended questions was analysed using content analysis. The study shows that the Makumestari food event affected the food habits of approximately 30 % of the families who responded to the questionnaire. Variety in foods and more vegetables were added to the diets. Families also reported more conversations on food topics, trying out new recipes and using their senses while evaluating food. Principal component analysis and Kruskal-Wallis test results state that the visitors who responded to the questionnaire where interested in food or nutrition and had no need to change their daily diets because their diets were already healthy. People who wanted to eliminate something from their diets felt the key to the change was in their own hands and they only lacked motivation. Those who wanted their diets to become more diverse felt they needed more knowledge and better skills in order to execute these changes. The food event influenced the food habits of the visitors by giving them a personal experience on healthy eating.

Goals: Gender differences have been found in terms of e.g. certain abilities and interests, and working life remains partially segregated based on gender. According to the empathizing-systemizing theory, the reason for all gender differences lies in average differences in cognitive styles: women have been found to empathize more, which is useful in understanding people, while men have a stronger tendency to systemize, which means interpreting different phenomena as rule-based systems. The term "male brain type" refers to a heightened tendency to systemize, while "female brain type" means a tendency to empathize. Prior research has not addressed the people who do not fit these typical brain types: male brain type women and female brain type men. The goal of this study was to find out whether male brain type women have other qualities more typically associated with men, and whether female brain type men have other qualities typically associated with women. The qualities investigated were occupational or educational field, parents' occupational fields, school grades in physics and mathematics, hobbies, cognitive empathic ability, social connectedness, and sex role identity. Method: 3084 people participated in an online study consisting of surveys and tests. Female and male brain type groups were identified among both male and female participants. Comparisons between the groups were conducted for both genders, and the predictive values of the different qualities in terms of brain type were investigated through logistic regression analysis. Results and conclusions: Differences were found in the majority of the comparisons between the male and female brain type groups in both sexes. Female brain type men exhibited more qualities typically associated with empathizing or femininity than did male brain type men, and male brain type women exhibited more qualities typically associated with systemizing or masculinity than did female brain type women. The largest differences were seen in social connectedness and female sex role identity. The results show there are male brain type women and female brain type men, who are characterized by qualities more often associated with the opposite sex, and who have not been reached by prior research and commonly conducted comparisons between men and women. Instead of looking for average sex differences, a more fruitful direction for research may be investigating differences between the brain types.

A swatch has an important role to make knitting process successful. You have to con-trol a yarn tension well to shape a knitting density and keep it stay as stable as possible throughout a whole knitting process. Basically, in a yarn band they have informing a good knitting density to the yarn and the needles which are suitable to it. But is it possible to get knitting density staying just the same like every time? This is a trouble of this study, and in supporting of study is formed a question: In which ways the yarn tension and knitting density changes will influence to differences of loop tension and course tension, and how these differences will be diverging the information of knitting density of the yarn band? The purpose of this study was to research to two the most important measuring parameters: the yarn tension and knitting density. This study was carried out as a quasi-experimental study. The material of this study has included 240 swatches, which have knitted by a researcher herself. Swatches were knitted from different yarn ma-terials and thickness of yarns varied. The sizes of needles were primally chosen ac-cording to recommended for yarn bands. But there were some cases too when the choice didn't follow recommended needle sizes. A colour code meter was built for this study and it included eight different colour codes. Via swatches, the effects of yarn tension in the formation of knitting density were analysed, and the results were also closely compared with the yarn bands. On the grounds of results on this study you can not to control yarn tension perfectly. Because there are lots of different variable factors, which will influence more or less to the knitting process, yarn tension will change every time. Also, the different knitting sur-faces affect the fact that the knitting density of the swatch is different from that of the yarn band’s knitting density. For this reason, the model swatch is very important to knit to make sure of the correct knitting density and to achieve what will aiming through knit-ting.

The aim of this study was to research how diversity of representation and inclusivity was shown in finno-swedish children’s literature. The study researched the frequency of how diversity was presented in children’s literature aimed at the age group of 9–12-year-olds. The aspects of diversity which were highlighted in the analysis are: disabilities, ethnic, religious, and socio-economic diversity. The goal is to raise the awareness and competency among primary school teachers, so that they can choose literature to be read aloud in class which supports norm-critical thinking. The survey is about analyzing and finding descriptions that best fit the aforementioned aspects of diversity. Prior studies that have been done outside of Finland, such as Bruijn, Emmen and Mesman (2021) and Adam and Barratt-Pugh (2020), show that diversity is poorly represented in children’s literature. Even the media, look to for example Svenska Yle (2020), advertises the positive effects of diversity in children’s literature and what the lack of diversity can affect individuals and Finnish society. The study answers the question of how representative the finno¬¬-swedish children’s literature is. The study analyzed nine works of finno¬¬-swedish children’s literature, all published between 2017-2021. The data consisted of a complete sample when the all the publications met the study’s criteria and were included in the analysis. The study had a qualitative approach, and a content analysis was used when the results were produced. The study shows that the analyzed literature frequently included perspectives of diversity, but that varied representation is lacking. The children’s literature more often included only a modicum of cases of diversity that were presented in a multitude of ways rather than having varied representations of diversity shown throughout the publications. Study results show that the finno¬¬-swedish children’s literature had the largest amount of representation within the aspect of socio-economic diversity. The religious diversity was the by far most underrepresented in comparison to the other aspects of diversity. The results enrich the knowledge of the finno-swedish children’s literature and provides the facilities for continued research within this area.

In Steiner schools, there are class teachers who do not have a background in Steiner education. This study examines how a class teacher experiences working in a Steiner school and how Steiner schools familiarize class teachers with the Steiner pedagogy. The data for this narrative study consists of narratives from five class teachers in three different Steiner schools. The data was analyzed narratively. The study demonstrates the significance of orientation in adopting Steiner pedagogy. According to the research findings, class teachers often come to Steiner schools with limited knowledge of Steiner pedagogy and generally receive fragmented orientation. Class teachers report feelings of inadequacy, and their teacher identity is experienced as divided. The results indicate insufficient support through orientation in Steiner schools. Collegial support and mentoring emerge as desired aspects of orientation in the narratives of classroom teachers. The narratives convey a perceived difference in teaching. On the one hand, working in a Steiner school is portrayed in the narratives of class teachers as a growth and learning experience. The findings of the study can be utilized in the planning and development of orientation and continuing education in Steiner schools, at the Snellman University College and at the Steiner Education Association: orientation providers should be able to guide and support class teachers in a more long-term and interactive manner. Orientation that meets the needs of teachers could facilitate the transition of many class teachers to Steiner schools, thereby enriching the functioning of Steiner schools. Based on the results, it can be recommended that personnel working in Steiner schools complete the recommended 25-credit orientation package on Steiner pedagogy by the Steiner Education Association (2022).

Research aims. The aim of the study is to examine what types of conflicts arise within first and second graders in primary education and how teachers experience these conflict situations and the process of resolving them. Numerous conflicts arise within first and second graders in their everyday school activities that require teacher’s attention. Previous studies have shown that these types of conflicts and the process of resolving them create a significant amount of stress for teachers. This study examines these conflict situations and how they come to existence in a school setting. Furthermore, teachers’ well-being at work and ability to manage work-related stress is being investigated together with questions such as which factors create stress for teachers, how stressful do teachers experience conflicts and the process of resolving them, what types of coping skills do teachers have for handling the stress arising from these conflicts and where do teachers acquire resources for their work. Methods. Five teachers who had experience on working with first and second graders in Helsinki region were interviewed for this study. Three of them were highly experienced whereas two were in the beginning of their teaching careers. Semi-structured interviews that were later carefully transcribed were used for data collection. Method of study was data-driven content analysis. All transcribed data was initially read through for an overall view. Later content that was most essential for research purposes and questions was inspected in more detail. The analysis was categorized to match research question of the present study as well as categories from previous studies and also connected to a broader research on the field. Finally, after describing the conflict situations and forming categories analyzing teachers’ experiences and coping skills, the most pivotal results were gathered. Results and conclusions. The conflicts within first and second graders emerged mainly in situations in which there was no adult supervision, when moving from one place to another or during class. The reasons behind these conflicts were often based in relationships, individual personality traits or specific situations that occurred in fast-phased school environment. According to the teachers, the most challenging part of the conflict resolution was the feeling of inadequacy. The less experienced teachers found these situations more challenging compared to those with more teaching experience as the latter often had better tools not only for resolving these conflicts but also for preventing them. Tools that the teachers used for resolving these conflicts were mostly resourceful and solution-focused.

The early childhood education and care (ECEC) and Basic education introduced a new national Core Curriculum by the Finnish National Agency for education in 2016. Both national norm curricula can be found confluence, and since ECEC transformed under to Finnish National Agency for education in 2015, ECEC, preschool education and basic education becomes an integral part of the lifelong path of growth and learning and of the continuum of curricula. The purpose of this study is to clarify ECE leaders’ and basic education leaders’ views on curricula and curriculum leadership. The research questions are following: (1) How does Curriculum appear in ECE leaders and basic education leaders discussion? (2) What discourses can be identified in both discussions? (3) How does Curriculum Implementation appear in both discussions? This study was conducted using qualitative methods and the used data consists of theme interview collected in the Eduleaders project training. The training involved 10 interviewees working in the context of educational leadership. The material was analyzed by a using discourse analysis with the aim of defining curricula discourses in leaders’ discussions. Four significant discourses were mentioned and can be identified as the following: 1. The discussion about curriculum as a framework 2. The discussion about curriculum as a vanguard. 3. The discussion about curriculum as a challenge. 4. The discussion about curriculum as an enabler. The research results show that both early childhood education leaders and basic education discuss about curricula within the same framework and with the same concepts. The results reveal the curriculum to be in reformation phase in which the old and the new curriculum are confronted. Furthermore, the national curriculum gained a central role as a fundament of work. The distributed leadership and pedagogical discussions occurred in the discussions of both leaders as ways to implement the curriculum. In the discussions about curriculum as challenge the leaders pointed out it being difficult to implement the curriculum in classrooms or child groups, where teachers prefer rather traditional teaching than the alternative methods of the new curriculum. Eventually the slowness and extent of development as well as short-sightness in the field were identified as challenges. However, the discussion illustrates the curriculum positively in terms of child orientation, opportunities to try new things and co-creation.

Objective. The association of depression with inflammation has been well established. Nevertheless, it is still unclear how age or gender affect the association or do unhealthy lifestyles mediate the association. The association of anxiety and specific anxiety disorders with inflammation has been studied much less and current results concerning this association are conflicting. Some results suggest that only the somatic component of anxiety, anxious arousal, is associated with inflammation. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether depressive and anxiety symptoms are associated with markers of inflammation, namely C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, at population level. The effect of health and lifestyle related variables are adjusted. Also, possible interactions between gender and inflammation as well as age and inflammation on depressive and anxiety symptoms are examined. Methods. The data is from a national sample gathered in the United States of America between 2004 and 2005. The subjects (n=1137) were 34–84 years old, the mean age being 54,28. 56,4 % were women. Blood CRP and IL-6 concentrations were gathered and analysed. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Inventory (CES-D). The Mood and Anxiety Symptom Questionnaire (MASQ) was used to measure two anxiety symptom groups: general anxious distress and anxious arousal. Results and conclusions. The results were that higher levels of IL-6 and CRP predicted more depressive symptoms as well as symptoms of anxious arousal. General anxious distress was not associated with inflammation. This study implies that depressive and some anxiety symptoms are associated with inflammation at population level. However, all of the significant associations were partly (IL-6) or completely (CRP) explained by lifestyles. Causal relationships between lifestyles, depression, anxious arousal and inflammation remain unclear and require more research. These results support the hypothesis that inflammation is only associated with the somatic arousal component of anxiety. Supporting former results the association of anxious arousal with CRP was found only in men.