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  • "Olen parhaimmillani tavallaan aina" : viides- ja kuudesluokkalaisten käsityksiä parhaimmillaan olemisesta ennen ja jälkeen positiivisen pedagogiikan vahvuuskeskeisen intervention 
    Malinen, Jenni (2018)
    Objectives. The first objective of this study was to find out how the fifth and sixth graders, who participated in an intervention of positive pedagogy with an emphasis on character strengths, describe themselves being at their very best. The second objective of the study was to discover the potential changes in their understanding on the matter, during the intervention. Methods. The intervention took place in spring 2015 with 93 students involved. The empirical material of this study consists of the before- and after-essays on the matter of "Me at my very best" of 54 students among the original participants. The material has been analyzed in the spirit of the grounded theory -method, where applicable and with the help of the computer program ATLAS.ti. Results and conclusions. The students found a gratifying amount of reasons in their selves and their lives to be happy or proud about. The bulk of the student's descriptions of being at their very best involved a sense of achievement in hobbies or schoolwork, especially in competitive sports. Also, helping others and bringing joy to them was regarded very rewarding. In the essays that were written after the intervention, character strengths and other immaterial experiences were more appreciated than material things. The strongest changes occurred among the students, whose self-image or status in their family/schoolclass, according their essays, used to be somewhat weak or unstable. The students, who already before the intervention had a strong, positive self-image and/or did competitive sports, expressed little change in their essays or none at all.
  • ”OLEN SISIMMÄLTÄNI KAUNIS” : Lasten käsityksiä itsestään positiivisen pedagogiikan intervention myötä 
    Huttunen, Anette (2022)
    Objectives. The aim of the study is to describe students’ perceptions of themselves and to provide information on the impact of a positivie pedagogy course on perceptions. The goal of positive pedagogy is to positively influence a child’s wellbeing in the school context and help them utilize their own strengths. Central to my own research are the dimensions of students’ perception of the self and the changes that take place in them. Methods. 1 fifth grade and 1 sixth grade participated in the study. There was a total of 35 students in the study. My study was a data-driven qualitative development study. The material was collected with a questionnaire and analyzed using the analysis steps of the phenomenographic research tradition. Results and conclusions. According to the study, students described themselves mostly positively. Different dimensions emerged from the material related to students ’perceptions of themselves. I described these dimensions as categories that were 1) my skill and area of interest, 2) me as a learner, 3) I as creative, 4) people relevant to me, 5) my external qualities, 6) I am life-affirming, 7) I am conscientious, 8) I am as an active actor, 9) as an insane, 10) as a friend, 11) as an empathetic, 12) as a profound thinker, and 13) the negative aspects of the self. The most important changes I observed were three changes, which were the lengthening of the answers and the increase in the vocabulary of strength, the change in perceptions to be more positive, and the focus of the answers more on oneself and one's own characteristics. Based on my research, I conclude that by utilizing the methods of positive pedagogy, one can influence the development of students ’positive self-perceptions.
  • ”Olen uskaltanut aloittaa ohjelmoinnin opetuksen” : ohjelmoinnin täydennyskoulutuksen vaikuttavuus luokanopettajien kokemana 
    Luhtala, Julia (2019)
    Objectives. Understanding programming is considered an important part of technological literacy. Computational or algorithmic thinking is regarded as a fundamental skill for everyone. These are some of the reasons why programming became part of the curriculum in autumn 2016. This also increased the need for further education in programming. The purpose of this thesis is to analyse and interpret how the continuing education affects the programming teaching of class teachers. In addition, I also examine how the class teachers themselves think they will carry out programming teaching before continuing education course, after it and in the future. Methods. The material consisted of questionnaire replies from 101 class teachers on how to teach programming. All the subjects had completed at least one programming related continuing education course. The subjects were selected out of a broader data set based on that all of them had responded to two different surveys, which allowed examining the change. In addition, respondents were united by the fact that everyone taught grades 3–6. The material was analysed using data based content analysis. Results and conclusions. The study revealed that class teachers carried out more programming lessons which were also more versatile after participating in the continuing education. The class teachers also reported using different learning environments, robots and cooperation with their colleagues before and after the continuing education and in the future. The positive effects of the continuing education were mentioned much more often than the negative effects by class teachers. Some of these effects the teachers reported were increased knowledge and skills, increased enthusiasm and that working felt easier. These results can be used in arguing the usefulness of continuing education. In addition, the results can be seen as a resource in developing continuing education of programming.
  • Oletko kartalla? : neljäs- ja kuudesluokkalaisten karttamainen maailmankuva mentaalikarttojen ja Euroopan karttatehtävän perusteella 
    Rissanen, Aku-Petter (2016)
    The purpose of this study was to examine the geographical image of the world of fourth and sixth graders. In addition, the thesis studies how the students' geographical image of the world is changed between the fourth and sixth grades and how the students are familiar with the map of Europe by identifying the European states. The study involved 46 fourth grade and 36 sixth grade students from one primary school in Helsinki. The data consists of mental maps of the world which pupils were asked to draw from memory, and European map task to which pupils named the states. For background information it was asked about the students' travelling experiences as well as information related to their experiences from the use of different types of maps. Mental maps were classified to five basic map types based on the classification by Patrick Wiegand. The results were compared between the age groups. Students' mental map results were also compared to their background information. It was also evaluated how the students identified European states on the map of Europe. Pupils' mental maps were Eurocentric, and Finland and its neighboring areas were emphasized. There were broad variations between the individuals within the age groups. More than half of the sixth graders included almost all the major areas, such as continents, into their mental maps. More than in half cases it was possible to identify the fourth graders mental maps as representations of the world mainly based on the names of the continents and states. However, the fourth-graders often drew Finland's neighboring areas very well. Students with more travelling experiences drew a bit better mental maps than students with less travelling experiences. Also the interest in examining the maps was interrelated to results: Students, who said that they were interested in examining the maps, drew better maps than students, who were not interested in maps. Finland and its neighboring areas were most often identified on the European map task. The differences between the age groups were relatively small in the European map task. Based on the results, students' knowledge about the maps corresponds the level defined in national curriculum.
  • ”Oli metrin kasvanu henkisesti nää lapset.” : Laadullinen sisällönanalyysi esteettömän viestinnän interventiosta varhaiskasvatuksen henkilöstön kokemana 
    Ruohonen, Anni (2022)
    Objectives. The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of early childhood education staff in accessible communication intervention. The aim was to sort out the views of the early childhood education teachers and caregivers involved in the intervention on the implementation of the intervention and its possible effects on individual children and groups of children through interviews. In the light of previous research, various methods of accessible communication (AAC) have been found to support and enhance the opportunities for interaction and inclusion of children struggling with language and communication challenges. This study provides important first-hand information on the content and implementation of a communication intervention and its effects on individual children and groups of children from the perspective of the adults working with children. Methods. This study was qualitative research and research perspective was phenomenology. The research interviews were conducted with six people working in early childhood education in Turku, five of whom worked as early childhood education teachers and one as early childhood caregiver. The interviews were conducted as thematic interviews through Teams in December 2020 and in April-May 2021. The individual interviews were videotaped and transcribed. The obtained material was analyzed using the methods of material-based content analysis and interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA). Results and conclusions. The results of the study showed that in the implemented intervention, the children's perspective emerged in a positive light in the experiences of the early childhood education staff through motivation, enthusiasm, involvement, and experiences of concreteness and one's own thing. Intervention-related information and resources became the biggest challenges in the study to the experience of a successful intervention. The interviewees most often felt that the information was either incomplete or contradictory, but in some of the interviews it was also found that the information was sufficient. In terms of resources, ratios in particular seemed challenging from a staff perspective: their own presence in the intervention was even perceived as unnecessary and there was concern about the success of the rest of the group during the interventions. Although the intervention as an experience seemed positive, especially from the children's point of view, its application as an everyday small group activity seemed challenging in the light of the ratios. With regard to the intervention, several positive effects in children were identified: openness, courage, mental growth, listening, increasing self-esteem, creating new friendships, and bolder use of language. On the other hand, the analysis of the effects caused by the intervention was challenging due to everyday development and the overlaps between speech and occupational therapy.
  • "Olin ajatellut, että olisin surkea, mutta ope auttoi ymmärtämään muuta" : kuudesluokkalaisten ja luokanopettajien käsityksiä itsetunnon kohottamisesta liikuntatunneilla 
    Eteläsaari, Laura (2017)
    According to previous research, self-esteem has a connection with well-being, behavior and learning of a person. Well accomplished physical education enables supporting positive self-concept. The aim of this research was to study how pupils describe the ways class teachers have supported their self-esteem during physical education classes and to compare the answers to class teachers' methods they had used to build pupils' self-esteem in physical education. Theories and models related to self-esteem, as well as physical education at school, were examined as a theoretical framework. Five-dimensional model of self-esteem by Borba was chosen as the guiding theory of the study. The dimensions are security, selfhood, affiliation, mission and competence. 95 sixth graders participated a questionnaire, which had open questions and statements about building self-esteem in physical education classes. The answers were compared to 19 class teachers' answers about the same subject. In the study, the open questions were analyzed using theory-guided content analysis as a method. The study shows that according to sixth graders class teachers have succeeded to support pupils' self-esteem with several different ways, which also matched well with Borba's theory of building self-esteem. The sixth graders and class teachers had quite similar ways to describe the methods of supporting self-esteem. The corresponding methods were positive attention and feedback, setting easier goals, avoiding competition and emphasizing the significance of exercise. The review of quantitative statements showed that both pupils and their teachers considered creating secure feeling during physical education classes the most successful component. The results are useful when teachers consider methods to support self-esteem of pupils in physical education classes.
  • ”Oli niin kivaa, voidaanko olla uudestaan?” : Etnografinen tutkimus leikin käytöstä 4.–6. -luokan ympäristöopin opetuskokonaisuudessa 
    Haverinen, Sonja (2021)
    Children have an intrinsic motivation to play, and play is an essential part of the versatile development of a child. A child learns, for example, social, emotional, motoric, and cognitive skills through play. The same skills are taught in Finnish schools. It is justifiable that play is a visible part of the Finnish elementary school curriculum, in which play is encouraged to be used as one of the methods in teaching. The significance of play decreases in the curriculum for the 3-6th graders even though that age of students are still children who play. The aim of this research was to study how play appears in 4-6th graders’ actions and speech in the school context, to give a voice to the school children. In addition, the aim was to study how play appears in learning and motivation, and how it appears in the building of the sense of community in a new group. This master’s thesis is qualitative research, and it is conducted through an ethnographic method. The data was collected from a class of 25 students in grades 4-6th in a Finnish ele-mentary school in August and September of 2021. The collected data had field notes, video material, photos, and interviews. The data was analyzed by coding it in themes to answer the research questions. The concluded themes discussed how play appeared in the school con-text and what kind of role play had in the building of the sense of community. The research results indicate that the students experienced play to be an inspiring and moti-vating way to learn. The students felt that play was a refreshing break from the ordinary book-oriented studying even though they were also studying while playing. The results also show that the teacher had a significant role in building both the sense of community and the learn-ing of the students. With the teacher’s support, the students learned while playing and had the courage to play with the classmates who they did not know before.
  • Olinko minä liian ankara : Kaarlo Juho Vitalis Ollila – Klaukkalan Metsäkylän kyläkoulun johtaja 42 vuoden ajan 
    Rantala, Sirpa (2015)
    This qualitative Master's thesis is a narrative case study which examines life of an elementary school teacher who worked for 42 years in the same school in a municipality located in Uusimaa region in the early 20th century. The study began from the researcher's interest in village school teacher's role, status and long work history in the same village school where the researcher herself was working on the end of the same century for 27 years. The investigation determines who Kaarlo Juho Vitalis Ollila was and what he was like as a teacher and educator. The study aims to answer what kind meaning Ollila's teaching had to his students and their parents. It is also being pointed out how teacher Ollila's life and development of the village could be seen and experienced in the village, and what role teacher Ollila's family had in the development of the school and village. Previous studies show that the village school teacher has been quite alone and separate from the villagers when entering teacher's position in the village community and the villagers were expecting good teacher's signs from the new teacher. Villagers also required the teacher to participate in the development of the village. 16 villagers born in the years 1908 – 1941 were interviewed in this study. Nine of the interviewees were men and seven were women. All the interviewees were lively older people motivated to interviewing. Data was gathered as theme interviews which took place mainly in the interviewees' homes. Data were transcribed by the theme.
  • ”Olin rohkea ja erilainen tyttö epäreilujen lasten seassa” : mielenterveyskuntoutujien peruskoulukokemukset ja kouluhyvinvointi retrospektiivisesti tarkasteltuna 
    Heinonen, Sanni (2019)
    The aim of this study was to explore the well-being and school experiences of people recovering from mental illness. Previous research has provided conceptual models of school well-being, instruments for measuring it, and knowledge about factors associated with it. Interconnections between school experiences and mental health have also been studied. However, the research about these topics has been quite varying in regard to concept use, approaches, and research methods. Furthermore, only a few studies have investigated students’ perceptions and experiences about school well-being. In this study, the essence of school well-being is interpreted based on the narratives of people recovering from mental illness. Different narrative types are also examined. 36 adolescents and adults recovering from mental illness took part in the research by answering anonymously an online questionnaire. The respondents evaluated retrospectively their school well-being during comprehensive school, and narrated their school experiences and things that affected their school well-being. The data was analyzed using hermeneutic phenomenological and narrative methods. The school well-being of most of the respondents had been low at least at some point during comprehensive school, and it was common that the school well-being had decreased over the years. Negative experiences and the factors lowering school well-being were especially related to bullying and adults’ indifferent or evasive attitude. It seems that the lack of social support, low school well-being, and mental health problems are all intertwined with each other. Based on the respondents’ narratives, the components of school well-being are safety, togetherness, being seen and heard, a sense of meaning, and experiences of success. These findings suggest that instruments measuring school well-being should also take into account the eudaimonic aspect of well-being, which includes for example self-realization and meaning. Despite the negative experiences, many of the respondents told heroic stories in which difficulties were eventually overcome. However, the overcoming of difficulties must not be left to the students alone, but school staff must aim at preventing the accumulation of negative experiences.
  • ”Olin tänään matikan tunnilla sinnikäs” : kuudes- ja yhdeksäsluokkalaisten kokemuksia onnistumisesta ja omista luonteenvahvuuksistaan sekä toisen kannustamisesta 
    Alin, Mariel (2019)
    Social debate and a number of studies take care of children’s and adolescent’s well-being; approximately 10–20% of children of all ages suffer from mental health problems. Supporting the well-being of children is also included in the national curriculum, which assigns schools a teaching and educational role to support students’ positive identity, development and well-being. Particularly important is the recognition of pupils’ own strengths and specialities. Over the past decade positive psychology and character strength interventions have been seen as one of the possibilities to support pupil’s well-being in schools. However, there is still little research on student experiences. The aim of this study was to describe the experiences of 6th and 9th grade pupils about their own strengths and success and the encouragement of another. In order to understand the pupils’ experiences, the second theoretical framework of this study is the development of the self as a part of identifying one’s own strengths. The purpose of this study is to give an indication of how necessary the use of positive pedagogy can be seen. A total of 175 pupils participated in the study, of which 107 were 6th graders and 9th graders 68. The study material was secondary and part of a broader research project at the University of Helsinki. The material consisted of three open questions that explored pupils’ experiences of their own strengths and success. Also the encouragement of others was investigated. The material was analysed by qualitative content analysis. Recognizing the strengths of children and adolescents, the experiences of their success and the encouragement of the other came to the fore in school and leisure contexts. However, about one-third of the students were unable to tell about a situation where they had succeeded or used their strengths. One of the strengths mentioned was the need to help others. Success was felt especially in school work. Pupils encouraged others to succeed. Pupils know more often about the situation in which they have encouraged others, rather than their own strengths and experiences of success.
  • Olipa kerran kestävä käsityö : kehittämistutkimus tarinallisen verkkomateriaalin luomisesta 
    Perttula, Janita (2017)
    Sustainable craft means that you will pay attention to the sustainability of your craft process. Sustainable development is a complex concept and it is not always easy to act in accordance with the sustainable values in our everyday life. The aim of this study was to find out is it possible to create a learning material about sustainable craft by using the method of storytelling. The theoretical framework of the study consists of psychological theories of motivation and what moves people to change their behavior. This study wanted to find out answers to the following questions: What does the term sustainable craft actually mean and what do knitters and other craft-oriented people think it means? How can you use storytelling to create learning material? What do the users of the learning material think about it? The method of this study was a development research. First phase of the study was a systematic literature review. The material of the review was selected with care out of literature dealing with sustainability in crafts and fashion as well as sustainability of consumer behavior. Second phase was a survey study. Group of knitters and other craft-oriented people were asked to answer a questionnaire of a sustainable development in crafts. The third phase was the development phase which included creating the learning material and the usability testing of the created material. The literature review showed that the sustainable craft is a complex concept and there is no simple definition for the term. In different stages of the lifecycle of a product sustainability has different criteria. The survey showed that some aspects of the sustainable craft are well known whereas others are not known almost at all. The learning material was created based on these findings. The usability test showed that storytelling is a good way to learn about sustainability in crafts
  • ”Olisi helpompi, jos lapsella olisi jalka poikki” Autismikirjon oppilaiden vanhempien kokemuksia lastensa koulunkäynnin tuesta 
    Jukakoski, Tiina (2023)
    The goal of my research is to find out which factors affect the success of elementary school-age pupils with autism spectrum in schooling in the general education class and which factors prevent success. This study was carried out as a qualitative study using a phenomenological research sample, because this method is well suited for exploring experiences of the research participants. The data was collected in the spring of 2023 by interviewing five parents of pupils on the autism spectrum. The answers of the interviews were analyzed in search of factors that would help satisfy the three basic psychological needs defined by self-determination theory. Based on the experiences of the interviewees, the reason for the delay in getting help for children on the autism spectrum was often that school was waiting for the child to receive a diagnosis. Getting tested and getting a diagnosis can be a process lasting many years. If the child does not get the support he/she needs at school during this time, it will have a negative effect on his/her well-being and ability to attend school. Cooperation with families and meeting the child was clearly influenced if the teacher has previous experience with pupils on the autism spectrum or understanding of these different pupils. Factors facilitating the cooperation were the school staff's understanding of the child and family, the teacher's positive attitude, the effective interaction between home and school, and the tailoring of support measures according to the child's needs. Obstacles to cooperation were radically different views on the child's need for support, seeing the child and the family in a negative light, and meetings, the end result of which was that the child was still left without the support he/she needed.
  • Olisiko minusta yrittäjäksi? : persoonallisuuden rooli nuoruuden yrittäjyysaikomuksissa 7. luokalla ja lukion 3. luokalla 
    Lönnrot, Susanna (2020)
    Objectives. Entrepreneurship is the future of work and the need for entrepreneurial skills is increasing with any type of work. But who can become an entrepreneur and does it require a certain kind of personality? The objective of this study was to increase the understanding about the role that personality has in entrepreneurial intention during adolescence. The study was conducted by analysing the differences in personality traits between 7th grade and high school 3rd grade students, examining how personality traits explain entrepreneurial intention and comparing different personality profiles based on entrepreneurial intention. There has been little research about entrepreneurial intentions among adolescence. Furthermore, the results from previous research have shown mixed results on the association between personality and entrepreneurial intentions, making the topic interesting. Methods. The data for this study were acquired as a longitudinal data from Mind the Gap -project that was funded by the Academy of Finland. The data were collected in 2014 (7th grade n=1310) and 2019 (high school 3rd grade n=751). Personality was measured using Big Five personality traits: neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, openness and conscientiousness. The paired t-test was used to analyze the differences in personality traits between 7th grade and high school 3rd grade students. The associations between personality traits and entrepreneurial intention were examined using regression analysis. Cluster analysis was used to form personality profiles and the differences between profiles based on entrepreneurial intention were analysed using one-way analysis of variance. Results and conclusions. There were no statistically significant differences in the personality traits between 7th grade and high school 3rd grade students. Openness was the only personality trait that explained entrepreneurial intention of 7th grade students. Neuroticism (inverted) and openness explained entrepreneurial intention of high school 3rd grade students. The effect size was low on both measurement points. The participants were classified into four profiles based on their personality traits: 1) Entrepreneurial, 2) Amicable, 3) Creative introvert, and 4) Reserved. Participants with Entrepreneurial profile reported more entrepreneurial intentions than participants with Amicable and Reserved. The findings suggest that even though personality was significantly associated with entrepreneurial intention, the role of personality was not major. This means that most of the variance of entrepreneurial intention can be explained with other variables. The results can be applied especially to entrepreneurial education in schools where adolescents can be encouraged to consider entrepreneurship regardless of their personality traits.
  • Ollakko vai eikö olla lastentarhanopettaja? : valmistumisvaiheen lastentarhanopettajien työelämään siirtymistä suuntaavat tekijät 
    Harjula, Emmiina (2017)
    In Finland there has been a lack of qualified kindergarten teachers for a long time. International research on newly qualified teachers has shown that feelings of insufficiency and insecurity are common and the induction phase in the workplace can be a vulnerable time for novice teachers. This study examines what kind of factors affect kindergarten student teachers professional development and job commitment. There were three research questions: (1) Which factors affect the career choice of becoming kindergarten teacher? 2) Which factors affect students work engagement during the early childhood teacher education? (3) Which factors affect students job commitment after the early childhood teacher education? This study is part of the University of Helsinki's study "Koulutuksesta valmistuminen ja työssä pysyminen lastentarhanopettajan työuralla". 14 of the essays used as research data in this qualitative study were collected from the kindergarten student teachers of the University of Helsinki during their last practice. The data was analyzed using content analysis. The results of the study showed that the occupational calling to work with children and events in life such as having a child are linked to kindergarten student teachers carrier choice. Early childhood teacher education created reflection but there should be more practicum experiences. Findings indicated that the practice periods appear to be highly influential for professional development. During the critical incidents there were usually another kindergarten teacher present. Temporary post as a kindergarten teacher during the education increased insecurity about job commitment. Resources, problems on work descriptions, lack of kindergarten teachers, job esteem and salary level decreased work engagement. Students felt that they need support during induction. Feeling of resilience seemed to link with the desire to continue to the profession. The results of this study can be used to develop kindergarten teachers work conditions and promote the early childhood teacher education and induction into the working life.
  • "Oma entinen on palannut takaisin elämään" : kuntoutuksen vaikuttavuus aikuisena kuuroutuneiden henkilöiden elämänhallintaan ja psykososiaaliseen hyvinvointiin 
    Autio, Anu (2011)
    Objective The objective of this study was to learn about the psychosocial well-being and life management of Finnish adults with late deafness or hearing loss and to observe the effectiveness of the rehabilitation courses they participated in. Methods For my study I used indicators which were suitable for the evaluation of life management and psychosocial well-being of late-deafened adults. The first part of the study was conducted during 2009 as a questionnaire on three rehabilitation courses in Kopola, a course center of the Finnish Federation of Hard of Hearing. The follow-up study was done at the third period of the courses during 2009 2010. The questionnaire contained both open and structured questions. The questionnaire consisted of five areas concerning life management and psychosocial well-being: sense of coherence (life management), human relations and social support, mood, self-esteem and satisfaction with life. I also asked the participants to reflect on their experiences of group rehabilitation. Results and conclusions The participants consisted of seven women and three men. They were approximately 63 years old and were all retired. Loss of hearing was described to have affected their social life, free time, and in general made their lives more difficult. From the course the participants hoped to gain new skills such as signed speech and lip-reading, uplift their mood, accept their loss of hearing and experience peer support. After the courses they replied that they had more close relations with whom they also were a little more in contact with. More participants were satisfied with e.g. their ability to take care of themselves, their free time, financial situation, family life, mental resources and physical shape. Majority of the participants showed symptoms of depression when the courses started, but at the end of the courses these signs had moderated or disappeared for most of them. The participants felt that during the rehabilitation they had been heard, respected, accepted and been taken care of. The course provided the possibility for confiding, and the discussions gave the participants support and consolidation. In conclusion, the course affected positively on the acclimatization to the hearing loss and the empowerment of the participants. The results of this study can be utilized in disability services, the development of rehabilitation and in the social- and health services of senior citizens.
  • Oman äidinkielen opettajien näkökulmia kielen opettamiseen 
    Koivusalo, Nelli (2022)
    Multilingualism is a phenomenon which is increasingly visible in society. The number of persons who speak so called foreign languages in Finland has been clearly increasing every year and this can also be seen in the school institution. The demand and need for teaching students’ own languages has increased. The Finnish national curriculum (2014) for comprehensive schools emphasizes multilingualism, language awareness and importance of students’ mother tongue. The aim of this research is to clarify what is the situation of teaching mother tongue in the early 2020s. I examine teaching from the mother tongue teachers’ point of view. I am interested in how teachers teach the language and what things are important to the teachers in the teaching. This research is qualitative content analysis. The research material consisted of nine interviews from mother tongue language teachers. The interviews were semi-structural thematic interviews. The interviewees were four Russian teachers, a Japanese teacher, a Thai teacher, a Bulgarian teacher, a Dari teacher, and a Finnish teacher. The research material has been collected both from Finland and abroad. The material analysis method was content analysis. The interviews were transcribed and after that transcribed material was coded. As a result, I found four themes that teachers saw important in teaching mother tongue languages and five themes which seem to be otherwise important to the teachers in their job. The results of this research indicate that mother tongue language classes are usually based on the national curriculum, but it is sometimes hard to adapt same curriculum to all languages. Teaching is strongly influenced by learning material and there are huge differences in the availability between languages. According to this study teachers emphasize literacy skills, writing and master the letters of the language in their teaching. In the classes students are studying mostly independently because studying groups are strongly heterogeneous. Functional teaching methods have important place in classes because they are applicable for all the students regardless their age or language proficiency. Most of the teachers experience that it is challenging to evaluate the learning outcome in mother tongue language. In addition, the results of this research indicate that mother tongue teachers experience that important things in teaching are meaning of culture and identity, benefits of be able to use mother tongue, family’s support in studying mother tongue and valuation to their job. All in all, mother tongue language classes need assistance and resources in the early 2020s.
  • Omavalmentajien kehittyvä asiantuntijuus – Osaamisen vahvistamisen (Medusan) verkosto 
    Stolt, Anneli (2023)
    Abstract This study examined the networked expertise and transformative agency of employment professionals in a local government pilot on employment. Employment coach is a new profession title, which was created for the use of local government pilots on employment in 2021. In this study I focused on one team inside a local pilot. I wanted to find out what kind of networks this team has built and how professionals in this team are using their networks to create new work practices and build the job description of this new profession employment coach. I viewed employment coaches in this team also by looking into their level and possibilities of participation and network building depending on their organizational background. I also wanted to bring into attention the effects that working remotely with digital technology and platforms have made to a government work team´s professional learning. This study is based on the sociocultural view of professional learning and cultural-historical activity theory. The study relied on qualitative methods and the data was collected using semi-structured interview and egocentric network assignments. The sample consisted of individual interviews of employment coaches (N=10) working in the local government pilot of employment team that I studied and of the network assignments (N=13) which were collected from volunteer team members separately. The interview data was analyzed by using qualitative theory-driven content analysis and Atlas TI -analyzing program. The egocentric network assignment data was analyzed using Geph 0.10.1 coding and visualizing program. The results suggested that the networked expertise in the team of local employment pilot has been built through using the knowledge and practices that the team members shared together in Teams meetings and conversations. The professionals in the team have built very strong networks inside the team and the networks also reached to other teams in the local pilot, as well as employment office professionals. The study indicated that the studied team has benefitted from small groups creating practices and facing problems and that coworking can be seen as transformative agency inside the team. At the same time, using digital technology seems to have affected the team´s network building and networked expertise by silencing some of the team members. The study also shows that the professionals, who had municipality as their organizational background, felt that they did not have access to all the resources, and also felt somewhat less members of the team. Based on this study, team member´s transformative agency should be supported better by organizational means, such as resources and bringing the ideas from the joint developing and creating better into practice. The sociomaterial aspect of agency should be taken into notice, when using digital technology, so that the agencies of professionals could become more visible. That requires new approaches and stronger practices in organizational level to using for example Teams as the main channel of networked expertise in local government pilot on employment.
  • Omavaraisuuteen pyrkivän kotitalouden arki ja sen merkitykset : miten arkea rakennetaan suhteessa moderniin yhteiskuntaan? 
    Vuorio, Hanna-Kaisa (2019)
    The aim of this thesis was to study the everyday life in self-sufficient households and to explore how do the pursuits of self-sufficiency appear in those households. The focus was especially in self-sufficient lifestyle compared to prevalent modern lifestyle. Theoretically this thesis was constructed by studies and thoughts of researchers of modernity and everyday life. The key themes were especially consumerism and efficiency. Everyday life was explored in a sense of meaningfulness and it’s rhythms. This thesis was a qualitative study. The material for the study was collected using half structured interview and questionnaire with open questions. There was altogether five interviews and five filled in questionnaires. I also used my notes from the interviews as a backup when writing this thesis. Analysis method was qualitative content analysis. Households aiming at living partly self sufficiently found their lifestyle meaningfull and living that way made them feel that they are following their values of life. Those values were especially: admiration of traditional lifestyle, ecological values and family values. Modern society evoked conflicting thoughts. Many of the respondents saw that it is important to reduce consumption. Total off grid living was seen difficult and not everyone even wanted it. What the respondents wanted the most was living at least partly without paid work and using less supermarkets for buying food. Many of the respondents were still willing to use social benefits and services of welfare society. According to the results of this thesis the respondents are active actors who believe that the choices made in everyday life are meaningful both in individual and also in a wider scale. It is difficult to create a standard of self sufficient household because they vary so much and everybody is reaching out for the level of self sufficiency that they have chosen themselves.
  • Omedvetenhet och motstånd : finska lärarstuderandes diskurser om interkulturell pedagogik vid lärarutbildningen 
    Niemi, Kia-Maria (2020)
    Despite an increasing need for intercultural education, a lack of successful implementation seems to prevail both in Finland and internationally. This thesis offers insight into how student teachers talk about intercultural education in their respective teacher education pro-grams. Based on Gorski’s instructional challenges and previous research on student teachers’ perceived resistance towards intercultural education, this thesis seeks to examine and analyse current discourses among student teachers in Finland. To accomplish this, Gee’s model of discourse analysis was used to examine interviews with 25 student teachers, from four different teacher education programs across Finland. The interviews were conducted as semi-structured interviews in the beginning of 2016, and they were either group interviews or individual interviews. The findings of this study echo previous research, mirroring student teacher’s resistance towards and the use of intercultural education. Student teachers seem to view intercultural education as an abstract concept and something they must teach students as a subject matter, rather than an approach to teaching. The results, however, indicate that existing resistance originates from superficial learning experiences regarding intercultural education and misconceptions, as student teachers almost without exception use ethnicity and intercultural education interchangeably. Implications, including international collaboration between teacher education programs and mandatory substitution periods are additionally discussed
  • "Om man har en jättebra stämning i klassen så behöver man inte fokusera på den biten utan man kan fokusera på det relevanta" - Grundskoleelevers upplevelser av gruppdynamikens inverkan på studiemotivationen. 
    Törnqvist, Linda (2022)
    Mål. Syfte med denna studie var att ta reda på hur elever i årskurserna 5–6 upplever gruppdynamikens inverkan på studiemotivationen. Tidigare forskning visar att en grupp som består av motiverade och positivt inställda elever har en positiv inverkan på lärandet. Gruppdynamik är också i en central roll för gruppens trivsel, hur gruppmedlemmarna samarbetar och presterar. Studien tangerar även elevers upplevelser och åsikter om en bra gruppdynamik, deras egen studiemotivation och skoltrivsel i både skolan och den egna klassen. Metoder. Studien har gjorts i form av en kvalitativ intervjustudie. I studien deltog fem (5) grundskoleelever från ett lågstadie i södra Finland. Materialet för studien samlades in genom semi-strukturerade intervjuer. Materialet har först transkriberats och sedan analyserats enligt grunderna för en tematisk analys. Resultat och slutsatser. Studiens resultat visar att eleverna upplever att vänner både i skolan och den egna klassen påverkar positivt på deras skoltrivsel. De lyfter fram att de har gemensamma intressen med klasskompisar och alla blir accepterade som de är. Gällande studiemotivationen ansåg alla deltagare att de drivs an en inre motivation. Deras största motivationsfaktor är att få lära sig. Resultaten visar även att alla deltagare tycker att de har en bra gruppdynamik i klassen, och de anser att en bra gruppdynamik är viktigt. Eftersom alla ansåg sig ha en bra gruppdynamik i klassen, var ingen av den åsikten att gruppdynamiken har en negativ inverkan på studiemotivation. Till motsats lyfte eleverna fram att en bra gruppdynamik gör det lättare att fokusera på det relevanta och att lära sig, i stället för att behöva grubbla över stämningen i klassen.

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