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Objectives. The importance of safety in the learning environment has been recognised in both legislation and research literature. Research literature has identified safety as a factor in academic success as well as well-being. Legal texts leave safety open to interpretation, but the normative text suggests that safety also covers issues of equality, such as accessibility. Safety is therefore a fluid concept, which often remains undefined in research. The study examined the meanings given to safety in research literature, other social discourses and the produced data related to higher education and educational sciences. In Finnish research literature, safety has rarely been associated with issues concerning marginalised groups. In particular, the study describes and interprets responses in the data in relation to discourses of safety related to inequalities, such as safer spaces, content warnings and the ethos of resilience and vulnerability. Methods. The data were generated by means of a four-item open-ended text questionnaire. Respondents were asked to define what safety in the study or work environment means to them and what experiences of safety and insecurity they have had on the university’s spaces. The questionnaire was answered by 48 members of the Faculty of Education at the University of Helsinki. The majority of them were students and the rest were staff members, doctoral researchers or recent graduates. The material was approached by means of dialogical discourse analysis. Results and conclusions. Safety is an ambiguous concept for which there is no clear definition. In both international literature and the data, safety was associated with issues such as insecurity, external threats, violence against women, bullying, microaggressions, discrimina tion, racism and the climate and discussion culture in the faculty. In Finnish research litera ture, security was not associated with issues related to marginalised groups or accessibility. Attachment to security as a conceptual tool may contribute to a better discussion culture but does not necessarily contribute to dismantling of broader structures of oppression.

Research deals with teachers’ agency experiences in a school located Helsinki, where the new digital learning environment, FUSE Studio, was introduced. The point of view of the re-search is based on the definition of temporal agency, which reflects the experiences from the past and is influenced by the future objectives, but always takes place in the present. The research introduces an interesting aspect to observe teachers’ agency experiences in a new learning environment and explains, what is the aim of the teachers’ professional agency. The research assists to understand how the teachers react to the change and their own progression in a professional context. The purpose of the research is to examine what kind of temporal agency experiences the teachers face in a new digital learning environment (FUSE Studio). In addition, the research examines what kind of possible agency forms appear from the teachers’ experiences and what kind of features the different agency forms comprehend in the FUSE-Studio. The material consisted of four semi-structured interviews of four different teachers. The teachers were interviewed for the first time in May of 2016 after the FUSE Studio introduction training and for the second time in January of 2017, when the FUSE Studio learning environment had been in use for one term. Qualitative content analysis was used for analysing the mate-rial. Three different forms of agency were found from the teachers’ experiences: 1) exploratory teacher’s agency, in which the teacher studied the phenomenon together with the students, guiding them to the adequate direction. 2) Supporting teacher’s agency, which was associated strongest with the teacher-student interaction relationship. 3) Adapting teacher’s agency, which enabled and supported students’ spiral learning, building and deepening new information beside the information learned before. Each agency form has its own features. They are not mutually exclusive, but they rather aim at the same result. All the agency forms found from the material have the same goal to achieve self-guiding students. This is related to the understanding how the teachers’ agency is structured, where resources, environment and circumstances are taken into account and where the agency is formed both through and within.

This study was made to find out how the teacher students' comprehend the role of the teacher during the school meals service. It was believed that there was a lack of earlier studies concerning the matter. Although the topic is valuable and under the lens of the ongoing discussion about health and welfare of the nation. The earlier study has come to show that teacher's role in the school meal service is essential. The motive for this study is to recognize the opinion of the teacher students' over this matter. This study was conducted to acknowledge the need to understand current comprehension in the field. The study will serve a future study in the means to illustrate the prevalent situation. The study is qualitative, with parts fashioned by the quantitative research, such as frequency analysis. The data was collected using a static web query. 83 candidates answered and all the material were analyzed. The research material got read, and categorized in groups. The groups were formed by their qualities to model a role of a teacher. Content analysis was applied to set the types, which depicted a role the best. The practice of frequency analysis was used in this study to count how many times the roles were mentioned in the whole sample. It shed a new light to the study in the form of understanding the essence of a teacher during the school meals service. The research result was that the teacher students mentioned four roles for the teacher during the school meals service. The roles are in order based on the commonness of the role; The teacher as a nutrition educator, The teacher as an example, The teacher as a good manners' and etiquette teacher and The teacher as a supervisor and also fifth theme was Other aspects of School meals service, such as not having a role at all. The other part of the study was to focus on the teacher's role's activeness and social side and educative view. It got studied with a result of teacher being active, sociable and educative, viewed by the teacher students. Exploring the views of the teacher students' also means, that the answers are subjective. Therefore it is harder to make an epitome general concept of the matter.

Goals. The purpose of the study was to investigate the University of Helsinki student teach-ers' ideas of the importance of research knowledge in the field of Education. In addition, do students think they will need research skills in the future in working life and whether they would be interested in doing the research themselves. Lastly, do students find compulsory methodology studies challenging. This study focuses as well as students' opinions in general, that the differences between the major groups. Methods. The data of the study was collected from the teacher students of the University of Helsinki in the form of an e-form in connection with the compulsory methodology course (n = 492). Teacher student's educational programme in either class teacher education, the major subject education, class teacher education, the major subject psychology, early childhood education, master's degree programme, kindergarten teacher education, special education as a major subject, craft or home economics teacher education or other. The study is quanti-tative in nature and the data is analyzed by quantitative methods. In essence, the interest is to find statistically significant correlation factors from the data, subsequent intergroup aver-ages were examined by variance analysis and perceive students main opinions about the subject. Results and conclusions. The students' ideas of the importance of research knowledge in the field of education are very positive. However, a significantly smaller percentage of stu-dents believe that they themselves need research skills in the future as a teacher, qualitative or quantitative. In addition, most of the participants felt that the pressure due to urgency dur-ing the methodology courses even prevents the learning. As a result, the intentionality of the courses falls away.

This Master's thesis for the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Helsinki researched the expectations and values expressed by Finnish students studying for a university degree in Australia. The study considered the reasons and values named by these students by asking why the students are motivated to complete a university degree in Australia. The phenomena investigated focused on both Australian study-based immigration and the value choices made by the young to achieve their personal internationalization goals. The study was conducted as a qualitative research with semi-structured interviews for seven Finnish degree students studying at Australian universities in September-October 2020. The analysis of the transcribed interviews followed the framework of the expectancy-value theory by Eccles and Wigfield (2002) especially for the categories of perceptions, expectations for success, and subjective task values and associated costs. Of the students' subjective task values, the utility values, expenses and psychological costs of studying in Australia were particularly emphasized. While studying in Australia was considered expensive, it was also considered useful. The emphasis on internationality, language skills for future professional life and, in particular, a longer-term residence permit in the country seemed to be significant factors in a student's choice to pursue a university degree in Australia. Beginning tertiary studies appeared to be linked to the country's visa regulations, with the possibility of a permanent residence permit and eventually the chance for a citizenship. The price of the degree influenced the choices of some students who chose a cheaper university or a field of study, even when they would have preferred otherwise. The students’ experiences in Australia showed growth in self-esteem and self-ability to cope with their studies as a contrast to the initial low expectations they set for their own success. Contrary to Eccles and Wigfield’s (2002) expectancy-value theory, the goals set by the students about studying in Australia did not appear to have been influenced by the expectations, behavior, or attitudes of the student’s family and friends in Finland. Even though they may have been against the student’s choice to study in Australia, the student still decided to pursue it. Australian studies seem to attract young people with their exoticism, but they also require the student to have a strong risk-taking ability, wealth and belief in their own abilities. Australian studies can be an important investment for a student for building an international career and life in Australia.

The purpose of this study was to examine how students perceive their employability and generic skills at the time of graduation. In addition to students' perceptions, aim was to find out how individual factors explain the development of employability and generic skills. Therefore a theory-based analysis model was formed based on prior research (Yorke 2006; Sampson, Reardon, Peterson & Lenz, 2004). Structuring the model was conducted with the objective of understanding the different dimensions that affect individual employability: self-efficacy beliefs, self-regulation skills, strategic competence and motivational factors. The data consisted of twenty interviews of graduates from University of Helsinki. The study utilized both inductive and deductive methods processing the qualitative data. Inductive content analysis was used to explore the subjective experiences related to employability and generic skills. Deductive analysis was done to help understand the variations between the graduates via using the theory-based model and to explain how the individual factors affect the development of employability and generic skills. From the standpoint of transition phase between university education and working life, the results consisted of five student profiles: academic oriented, work-life oriented, self-developers, difficulties faced during the transition phase and major difficulties faced during the transition phase. Results emphasize the role of self-efficacy beliefs, self-regulation skills, future goals and the ability to find utility value in the development of individual employability. The study offers a broad and reciprocal way of understanding the link between the phenomena of employability and generic skills. In conclusion, universities should focus on improving internship and job opportunities for students. Therefore, it is important to offer career guidance and to promote skills needed for future working life. The development of individual self-efficacy beliefs and self-regulation skills should also be supported.

The purpose of this Master's thesis is to explore the vocational education teacher's visions of the future working life in the teaching field and the working life skills needed there. The purpose is also to find out how the teacher in his or her work takes into account the change needs of the future and how he or she teaches and prepares students for the working life of the future. The focus of the review is on the vocational education school teacher's views on the future working life of the motor vehicles sector and the working life skills needed to work there. In this thesis the concept of “future” means the situation after next ten years. The thesis focuses on three research questions: 1) What will the working life of the field to be taught be like in the future? 2) What working life skills do students in the field of teaching need in the working life of the future? 3) How will a vocational education teacher prepare students for the working life of the future? A semi-structured theme interview has been used as a method of data collection in this thesis, and the data has been collected by interviewing 6 from vocational education in the motor vehicles sector. The interviews were conducted as individual interviews via video call over remote connections. The method used for the analysis of the material was thematic content analysis, theming the material on the future prospects of the motor vehicles sector, the future working life skills needed in the field, and the guidance and preparation of the teacher's current students for the working life of the future. The material was also typed into two further subsections, the themes of which were related to the renewal of teaching work required by changes in working life and the everyday challenges of teaching work. The theoretical framework of the thesis consists of a literature review, the topics of which consist of the drivers of change in working life, future working life skills as well as the objectives of vocational education and training and, in general, vocational education in the motor vehicles sector in Finland. The research results found that vocational education teachers are professionally minded and interested in following the changes in the field being taught, and they aim to take into account changes in the motor vehicle sector and new competence needs in working life in their work. The results of the study show that the automotive sector is undergoing a transformation and that there will be more and more demanding jobs in its future working life and they will require employees to learn learning ability and new skills. The future time span for a vocational education teacher in the automotive sector is short, extending to the near future, because it is the teacher's duty to train students to become professionals in the current working life. Although the competence needs of the change in the working life of the future are known, there is no possibility to reach further into the future in the everyday life of teaching. In addition to teaching, challenges for the teacher are created by heterogeneous student groups, the safety concerns raised by new technologies, such as the electrification of cars, and the disruptions in teaching situations and educational challenges that have increased with the expansion of compulsory education. With new technologies, it is necessary to update the teacher's own competence and, due to busy work, renewing one's expertise would require a fresh attitude and the use of one's free time to learn new things.

Objective of the study. Previous research has shown that students learn generic skills during university studies both in formal and informal learning environments. According to them universities’ task is to develop students’ generic skills. The connection between generic skills and learning environments which support their learning needs more research. Objectives of this study were to find out students’ experiences on learning generic skills during university studies, which learning environments supported their learning of the generic skills, and how students experienced to learn generic skills in different learning environments. This study’s aim is to increase understanding of students’ learning of generic skills and to get perceptions of the learning environments which support the learning of specific generic skills. Methods. The semi-structured theme interview material (n=58) collected at the Centre for University Teaching and Learning at the University of Helsinki was used in this study. The interviews collected from the students at the Faculty of Arts (n=20) were selected for this study. The results were analyzed by using abductive content analysis. Results and conclusions. Learning of skills related to forming academic knowledge and thinking skills was highlighted clearly in the results. Furthermore, learning of social and communication skills was emphasized in the results. According to the results, both formal and informal learning environments supported learning of generic skills. Learning of skills related to forming academic knowledge and thinking skills in university studies generally was highlighted in the results. Learning of social and communication skills was emphasized in working life generally in the results. Learning of specific generic skills is essential during university studies, even though it is not always easy to recognize learning them. In the future, students’ learning of generic skills could be studied for example by investigating the relation of some pedagogical approach to students learning of generic skills. In this study, students mainly described learning of generic skills in university studies generally. Moreover, students’ experiences on learning generic skills in the beginning of their studies could be compared to their experiences after completing Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees.

The deteriorating occupational well-being of teachers is an internationally recognized phenomenon and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on teachers’ work further increased its media coverage. In Finland, the promotion of teachers’ occupational well-being is one of the objectives of OAJ, The Trade Union of Education. It publishes the magazine Opettaja 22 times a year and claims all teachers, supervisors and decisionmakers in the field of education as the magazine’s target group. Due to the organization’s role, the magazine’s writings can influence the readers’ perceptions of the organization as the protector of their interests and of the situation in the education sector, as well as on the education policy. In my research I aimed to find out how the teachers’ occupational well-being is being talked about in the editorials of Opettaja magazine. In the study, the teachers’ occupational well-being was examined by utilizing the Job Demands-Resources Model and specifying the most typical demands and resources in teachers’ work environment. The research is qualitative and is based on the social constructionist understanding of knowledge as being constructed in the interaction between people. The material consisted of 47 editorials of Opettaja magazine, which dealt with teachers’ occupational well-being. The basis of limiting the data was the arrival of the coronavirus in Finland, so the studied material was gathered from magazines between a period from January 2020 to August 2022, when the analysis was started. Discourse analysis was used as a method to identify different ways of speaking of teachers’ occupational wellbeing in the editorials. As a result of the research, three discourses were identified, the ill-being discourse, the responsibility discourse, and the meaningful work discourse. In the ill-being discourse teachers’ occupational well-being was portrayed as weak and their working conditions challenging in many ways. In the responsibility discourse the occupational well-being was discussed in a solution-oriented manner, and the main focus was on obliging various parties to take care of it. In the meaningful work discourse the occupational well-being was described as something teachers earn for their important work and as a prerequisite for Finland’s success now and in the future. Based on this study, information obtained from well-being research is widely utilized in the occupational well-being speech of Opettaja magazine’s editorials, which most likely promotes the union’s image as an expert on the subject. Efforts to influence the readers can also be distinguished from the speech. Each discourse can be interpreted as having its own function in the speech of the trade union from the point of view of both groups of readers. By taking their potential effects into account, it is possible to better understand and anticipate, for example, solutions that teachers make regarding working in their profession.

Tämän työn tavoitteena oli luoda työhyvinvointia mahdollisimman kattavasti mittaava kysely ja toteuttaa se valitsemassani organisaatiossa. Tavoitteena oli myös tuottaa tutkimustuloksiin perustuvia kehitys- ja toimenpide-ehdotuksia henkilöstön työhyvinvoinnin ylläpitämiseksi ja parantamiseksi kohdeorganisaatiossa. Tarkastelin työhyvinvointia kuormituksen ja uupumisriskin, psykologisten perustarpeiden täyttymisen, työn imun kokemisen sekä työn vaatimusten ja voimavarojen näkökulmasta. Loin työhyvinvointikyselyn aiemmissa tutkimuksissa käytettyjen, erilaisia hyvinvoinnin osa-alueiden tutkimiseen luotujen mittareiden pohjalta. Toteutin kyselyn kohdeorganisaatiossa koko sen henkilöstölle ja analysoin tuloksia kvantitatiivisin menetelmin. Kokonaisuudessaan työhyvinvoinnin tila näyttäytyi kohdeorganisaatiossa hyvänä: psykologiset perustarpeet tyydyttyivät ja työn imua koettiin hyvin, minkä lisäksi työn voimavarat olivat työn vaatimuksia vahvemmat. Työhyvinvoinnin osa-alueiden väliltä löytyi tutkimuskirjallisuutta tukevia yhteyksiä. Työn voimavarat korreloivat positiivisesti psykologisten perustarpeiden toteutumisen ja työn imun kanssa. Työn imu korreloi puolestaan negatiivisesti kuormituksen määrän kanssa. Työn vaatimusten kasvaessa myös kuormitus kasvoi, kun taas psykologisten perustarpeiden toteutumisen vahvistuessa kuormituksen määrä laski.