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Introduction: The aim of the present study was to examine the associations between school principals’ workplace social support and their job satisfaction. The second aim was to determine whether these associations vary according to the school principals’ age. The relationship between job satisfaction and social support were examined within the framework of social capital theory. Previous research has found statistically significant associations between job satisfaction and social support, therefore, it was hypothesized that job satisfaction and social support would yield statistically significant results. Additionally, the study explored the associations between job satisfaction and social support across different age groups. With regard to age groups, it was hypothesized that the group under 40 years old will get statistically significant associations. Methods: The data used in the study is part of the Principal Barometer 2023 survey. The data is part of the international Principal and Wellbeing research project, which examines the health and well-being of Finnish school principals. A total of 416 principals responded to the survey, of whom 35.1% were male, 63.9% female (1% missing data). The respondents age varied between 30 to 67 years, with an average age of 52.3 years. The data was analyzed using linear hierarchical regression analysis. Results and conclusion: The results of the linear hierarchical regression analysis indicated that principals’ job satisfaction was positively associated with workplace social support. Significant differences in job satisfaction and social support were observed across age the groups. Based on these results, social support received from the work environment and colleagues is positively related to principals’ job satisfaction. In conclusion, it can be stated that social support plays a positive role in principals’ job satisfaction, and the significance of social support may vary according to age.

Craft workshops and workshop events have become more common in our society. Functionality, Do It Yourself mentality is being made use of in many ways. The goal of this study was to examine different kinds of open workshops and to look at workshops from different angles. There were three points of views observed: Participants, instructors/organisers and customers. The objective was also to study what makes a good workshop and what goes in to planning one and to see how creative learning shows in workshops and how it can be supported. The study's research method was research interview. Collection of data was done in two different methods and analysed by Grounded theory. In the first phase of the study data was collected with an internet questionnaire. The questionnaire had common questions and questions where one can give their own view. The questionary was open to the public for one month from which 59 answers where gathered. In the second phase of the study data was collected with half structured theme interviews. People for the interviews were gathered through the questionnaire and through direct contact. The interviews were held four times and 6 people were interviewed in total. Different views were attempted to include in the theme interviews also. Interviewed were, one participant, one producer, one museum lecturer, two culture producers and a director of an art house. The internet questionnaires answers were analysed statistically and the open questions and interviews by content analysis. Different angles of the data where compared through Grounded theory. The saturation point between both data sets was looked at. The study concludes, that workshops are functional and their interaction is ongoing in real time. Workshops are being held from many different points of views and they can have different goals at their base. A good workshop is possible when goals are known and thought out with care. Development of creativity is possible in workshops and can be woken up when the facility, materials, atmosphere and of course instructions are supporting creativity. Craft workshops can work also as a means of learning and give its participants sensations of success and social interactions. These can advance the wellbeing of a participant in many ways

Both touch and classroom management in school are topics that have been discussed in public debate in recent years. This thesis participates these discussions by examining teacher’s touch when disruptive behavior occurs in the classroom. The study focused on hand-on-shoulder touches where a teacher uses the touch to request pedagogically relevant behavior from a pupil. The aim of the study was to examine how the teacher’s hand-on-shoulder touch sequences were constructed and how the teacher used these touches in classroom management. By examining these topics, the aim was to gain a better understanding of the phenomena of touch and classroom management in school. The study examined video recordings from lessons in the preparatory class of a primary school. The video recordings were from the larger longitudinal material of the Long Second -project. The data for this study consisted of a total of five lessons and was analyzed multimodally through conversational analysis. The study was conducted as a part of Touch in school -project. The study showed that the data’s hand-on-shoulder touch sequences are prototypically constructed from three steps: 1. the pupil behaves disruptively 2. the teacher responds to the disruptive behavior with a hand-on-shoulder touch, and 3. the pupil responds to the teacher's request for pedagogically relevant behavior by orientating oneself towards a given task. This disposition is called the basic sequence in the study. Examining the multidimensional examples in the data, the basic sequence was supplemented so that in step 2, the teacher could also attach a verbal request to the hand-on-shoulder request, and in step 3, the pupil did not always respond to the request, prolonging the disruption sequence. From a teacher’s perspective, the hand-on-shoulder touch proved to be a common, and particularly effective, practice during the verbal teaching sequences, as it allowed deactivation of the disruption without interrupting the speech. Instead, touch between the two verbal teaching sequences and touch interrupting the speech were less common in the data. Overall, the hand-on-shoulder touch worked well as a request for pedagogically relevant behavior, as the teacher was able to use it to restore pedagogically relevant focus in most of the examples.

Objectives. The aim of the study was to examine early-career craft teachers’ conceptions about classroom discipline and how they prevent and solve classroom discipline issues. The study also examined craft teachers’ attributes related to self-efficacy, especially from classroom discipline’s point of view. Angle throughout the study was craft teachers’ novice state. Theoretical background is combined of two main areas. First, concept of classroom discipline, causes behind classroom discipline and classroom discipline issues as well as means to intervene challenging classroom situations are examined. Second main theory was Albert Bandura’s (1977) theory of self-efficacy and related factors, which in this study was connected to examine teachers’s experiences of solving classroom discipline issues. Methods. Data was collected during April and May of 2021 using online inquiry. The inquiry consisted of standardized open questions. The inquiry form was distributed deliberately in internet and social media to locations where the targeted novice craft teachers were reached. Twelve respondents, who had less than five years of teaching experience, took part in the study. Methodological approach to this study was qualitative phenomenography. Collected data was analyzed with phenomenographic analysis and content analysis. Results and conclusions. According to the respondents, classroom discipline is a state where teaching is not distracted. Classroom discipline was said to enable concentration and fluent work. Positive and safe atmosphere was also mentioned as an attribute of classroom discipline. In managing classroom discipline, craft teachers favor preventive methods over corrective methods. Encouraging students to follow rules was the most common preventive method to manage classroom discipline. The most common unverbal corrective method was waiting the class to be silent before beginning teaching, whereas the most common verbal corrective method was reminding existence of rules, using positive phrases in teaching and one-to-one conversations with students. The most used punishments for discipline disruption was taking the student to separate space from others and contacting parents. Craft teachers felt that their survival and self-efficacy experiences related to classroom discipline management were mostly influenced by modeling (for example practices of more experienced colleagues) and social support.

The goal of this study is to find out how class teachers define an ideal working environment in a classroom, how they maintain this ideal working environment and how they react when it's disturbed. An ideal working environment is something every class teacher has to deal with in their job and it plays a great role in it. There's no absolute definition to what an ideal working environment actually is and every teacher creates the definition themselves. In this study knowledge about class teachers' definitions of the term was assembled in a configuration where the interviewed class teachers were experts of their own teacher being and their educational philosophy. The aim was to gather answers from class teachers without making any generalizations depending on the answers. Eight class teachers were interviewed for this study on the area of Uusimaa. Six of them have graduated within the last five years and two of them over 20 years ago. The interviewed teachers were chosen randomly for the interviews. In this study it occurred that the definitions for an ideal working environment that the teachers defined bore a resemblance to one another, even though the theme isn't discussed in the teacher education at the university. It seems that the atmosphere in the classroom plays an important role in the formation of the ideal working environment and so does the teacher's attitude. The teachers have various ways to prevent issues that can disturb the ideal working environment they have built in their classroom, to maintain it and to react to the disturbances. The teachers have taken many of the measures into their repertoire after having heard or read about them elsewhere.

The purpose of this study is to find out what kind of learning is required to work as an f2f-fundraiser. In previous studies, f2f-fundraising is mainly examined from the perspective of it’s fundraising performance. What kind of work f2f-fundraising is and what kind of learning it requires has not yet been studied. However, such a study would be necessary because the phenomenon has provoked much debate in Europe, e.g. with regard to its prohibition. Learning in f2f fundraising is analyzed in this study using edge-emotion theory, which is a theory developed by Mälkki (2011) to conceptualize different dimensions of learning. The main concepts of the theory are meaning perspective, comfort area, edge-emotions and reflection. To complete the research task, two research questions were prepared: 1) What kind of learning objects do f2f-fundraisers encounter in their work? 2) What means do f2f-fundraisers have to address these learning objectives? The purpose of this question set was to provide information on f2f-fundraising from a pedagogical perspective that could be utilized in the management and training of f2f-fundraisers. The research material was collected by interviewing six f2f-fundraisers who worked for a Finnish Development Cooperation Organization in the summer of 2017. Only F2f-fundraisers who had worked in the position for at least one month and achieved the performance targets set in it at least moderately were selected for interview. The aim was to ensure that the interviewees had sufficient knowledge of f2f-fundraising. The analysis of the collected material was based on phenomenographic research approach and was carried out as a theory-based content analysis. The analysis framework was formed using edge-emotion theory. As a result of this study, five learning objects encountered by f2f-fundraisers in their work were found: 1) Approach of strangers 2) Sales situation management 3) Result pressures 4) People’s ignorance and 5) Nasty encounters. Of these, items 1 and 2 of learning form their own class, the internalization of f2f fundraising, where the process of reflection had begun and ended with work. Learning objects 3-5 formed their own class, the nature of f2f-fundraising, where the reflection process remained active through the work of f2f-fundraisers. A variety of solutions were found for both of these categories. With regard to the internalisation of F2f-fundraising, the importance of conscientiousness and responsibility, as well as various interaction skills such as active listening and the use of humour, were highlighted. Regarding the nature of f2f-fundraising, the importance of working as a team member as well as handling individual emotions and attitudes to work were found as solutions. The importance of a positive mindset was emphasized in the attitude to work and to have fun with the work. Previous successes and a good mood, as well as various ways of self-motivation, such as emphasizing the importance of development cooperation, were important. The results of this study highlight a number of issues that should be considered in the management and training of f2f-fundraisers. In addition, it provides new information about a previously little-studied phenomenon and at the same time serves as a leap forward in learning research to a completely new research topic.

The purpose of this study is to examine close peer coworker relationships and work commitment as well as to explain the meaning of peer coworker relationship closeness in work commitment. Previous studies on work place communication have emphasized supervisor-subordinate relationships and the research on work commitment has been very scattered. Research literature has given even conflicting results concerning commitment and connections between coworker relationships and commitment have not been researched very much. This thesis was carried out using mainly quantitative research methods. The research material was gathered on the Internet using a survey and all in all 111 office workers responded. The survey was composed of four different parts: respondents' background information, experiences about the work place atmosphere, feelings about the closest perceived peer coworker relationship and perceptions about one's own work commitment. The material was gathered in February 2015 and it was analyzed quantitatively using statistical tests and also qualitatively using classification and content analysis. The results of this study indicated that special peer coworker relationship closeness does not strengthen one's work commitment but lack of any close peer coworker relationships might weaken one's work commitment. Also, it was found that the demographic features of a worker are more connected to the ability to feel absorption and dedication but the vigor of a worker might be related to how much the organization is willing to encourage workers to engage in informal communication and coworker relationships. The results of this study increase knowledge on non-hierarchical communication and work commitment. This study helps operationalizing the terminology of these phenomena. The results give new insight in coworker relationship research and its significance in organizations and work commitment. The results can be applied as indicative guidelines to organizations when they want to specify what kind of commitment is expected from their employees, and in what sort of matters encouragement should be provided when aiming at employee engagement.

Aims. This study aimed to find out how the factors limiting the agency of unemployed persons appear in the public service system and its threshold. In the study, the agency is approached through social capital and trust, participation and loneliness, and different forms of power, such as different ways of speaking. Unemployment is an issue in our society for which solutions have been looked for in recent years, for example, from the activation model and now, in turn, the local government pilots on employment. An unemployed person has been considered as a passive agent for whom a stiff public service system does not create a sufficient framework for success in employment. In this study, professionals working with unemployed persons have been interviewed for their views on the agency of unemployed persons in the public service system. Methods. The research material consisted of four semi-structured interviews with professionals from different backgrounds working in the public service system. At the time of the interview, the interviewees worked in different positions and organizations compared to each other. The qualitative analysis of the material was carried out material-based content analysis, in which the aim was to find equal meanings for the factors limiting agency. Results and conclusions. The social dimension in enabling the agency of an unemployed person was central, even a prerequisite. Therefore, with various forms of support, an individual would have access to resources, with the support of which s/he would have the opportunity to strive towards working life as an active agent. In the various factors limiting agency in the public service system, there appeared both not confronting the unemployed persons and consequently lack of appreciation. The results of the study emphasize the unemployed persons’ need to experience appreciation, which increases their own willingness to act and use the support available. When planning different employment services, the already characteristic stage of life of the unemployed person should be taken into account and offer the opportunity for service models that improve individual confrontation.

This study has been carried out in the form of an article. Objectives. Previous research has shown that the reasons for employees attendance on MOOCs differ from other participants. There are multiple reasons for this which vary from course to course. Participants also experience the effects of the courses in differently, but many participants have described them professionally useful. Utilization of the skills learned in the MOOC course are also influenced by the extent to which the employer and work community support the application of new skills. The purpose of this study was to find out why people in the working life attend MOOC courses in the ICT-field and what kind of impacts participants report on the courses. In addition, the way in which employer support is related to the reasons for attending the course and the perceived benefits of the course was also investigated. Methods. The data collection of the study was carried out with an online survey in 2019. The respondents were employed course participants (n = 589). The analysis of the data was carried out by qualitative and quantitative methods. The analysis of the open-ended answers to the questionnaire was performed with a theory-guided content analysis. From the answers to the multiple choice statements of the form, five factors were formed by exploratory factor analysis, which described the reasons and effects of participation in the course. Further analysis of the data included two-stage cluster analysis and analysis of variance. Results and conclusions. The reasons for participants to attend the course were divided into six categories: interest, understanding, benefit for work, promotion of studies, recommendation from others, and flexible execution. The effects experienced by the participants were also divided into six categories: increased understanding and learning of new skills, benefits in current work, benefits in studies, increased study of the topic, career benefits, and increased interest. A quantitative analysis of the data showed that the participants could be divided into a profile of the four beneficiaries through clustering. Widely supported and recognized by the work community, the effects were felt to be more significant than those that utilized working time and were not supported in relation to career advancement, career plans and work or study.

The aim of this study was to research girls' and boys' attitudes towards mathematics and compare the results with each other. The other aim of this study is also find out girls experiences of a positive attitude towards mathematics. Previous research studies have shown that girls' attitudes towards mathematics are starting to deteriorate since elementary school despite of the fact that both boys' and girls' are managing mathematics just as well. This study had a mixed methods approach, so it contains both qualitative and quantitative methods for the data analyses. First were search what kinds of attitudes sixth grades boys' and girls' had on mathematics. After taking the attitude survey three girls were selected for interview. The attitude surveys were analyzed by independent samples t-test and the interviews were analyzed by the content analysis. The findings indicate that boys' like mathematics more but girls think mathematics are more useful for them. The differences between overall average with girls' and boys' mathematical attitude were not statistical significance. Girls who had a positive attitude towards mathematics explain their attitudes for having parents, especially dad who have helped them and because they have had lots of positive experiences about mathematics during the years.