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The aim of this study was to examine what type of assumptions leaders working in central government agencies and institutions have when it comes to the qualities and abilities of a manager as a coach. The other aim was to observe its effects on well-being capital. The study introduces a current issue because modern organizations are more interested than ever in taking their leadership culture one step further and going into an interactive and individualized working environment. Managerial coaching provides an implement for this need. This study’s qualitative material was collected in the spring of 2021, with the use of theme interviews. The material included interviews of eight leaders, working in central government agencies and institutions. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using the dialogical thematic analysis method. It provided the theoretical insights and earlier research results to interact with the collected material as well as with the researcher’s own assumptions. The formed categories (28) were created from the interview material, and the analysis ended up with five themes. These themes described the viewpoints, qualities, and abilities of managerial coaching as well as its impact on competence development and coaching interaction. The well-being capital formed a theme of its own, including the examination of the extended view on the intellectual capital. The results of this study were found through the dialogue of the materials from the interviews and the earlier theory and research findings. The five themes described the viewpoints on the managerial coaching qualities and skills, such as value systems, the importance of feedback and the emotional skills. The competence development was treated as a fundamental part of managerial coaching processes and it was associated with the phenomena of productivity and well-being. Interaction was considered as a special enabler of the managerial coaching processes and it was also attached to the praxes of well-being at work. The factors attached to well-being capital were also recognized both from the study’s material and from the theory context. This study was commissioned by a coaching company so the results of this study can be used in the field of managerial coaching education in the future. It also provides insights to the leadership development of the central government, due to the interviews of the eight leaders working in central government agencies and institutions.

Bicycle model on climate change education is a model recommended by the Finnish Board of Education. It combines current climate education and offers a way to educate children about climate change. The goal of the model is to be involved in solving the climate crisis, one of today's biggest issues. This study examines the thinking contained in the bicycle model from the point of view of ideology criticism. Its goal is to investigate how the bicycle model promotes or avoids facing the Real of the climate crisis, the contradictions that fundamentally challenges the current order of humanity. The research method is Žižek's critique of ideology, which consists of interpreting the symptoms of ideology and traversing the fantasy. The study shows how the bicycle model approaches the Real of the climate crisis to some extent, but ends up avoiding it through an ideological operation, according to which the climate crisis can be solved by environmental responsibility. Based on the study, the bicycle model offers means of consumption to change the consumption-oriented worldview and contains the fantasy of "Nature" as a coherent entity that interacts with the individual. The Study presents an alternative attitude towards the climate crisis based on Žižek's philosophy.

The aim of the study was to describe climate change in primary school 5th and 6th grade environmental studies textbooks and teacher guides. In addition, the aim was to find out what ways do they provide to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Climate change is one of the biggest environmental problem that requires urgent action. The aim of climate education is to guide students towards more sustainable lifestyle and to find ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Previous studies have shown that climate education in schools is quite limited. Teachers need more high-quality and diverse materials related to climate change. Textbooks play a key role in schools and are the framework on which learning is often built. This study examines information on climate change in textbooks and teacher guides. Research material in this study consisted of 5th and 6th grade environmental studies books. The material consisted of 6 textbooks and 6 teacher guides. The material was analyzed using theory-guided content analysis. According to the results, the textbooks clearly differ in the amount of information. Some of the books deal with climate change much more than others. Textbooks and teacher guides address climate change through causes and consequences. The biggest causes of climate change are human action and industry. The consequences were described, for example, through melting ice and rising sea levels. The mitigation measures were the use of renewable energy sources and energy saving in general. Climate change mitigation was particularly evident in assignments that emphasized students own actions through, for example, video production or campaigning. One of the biggest shortcomings of the books was that they do not provide enough ways of mitigating climate change.

Objective of the study. The goal of the Finnish government is to solve all kinds of problems related to complex phenomena that occur in our society. These phenomena should be approached in a holistic manner. There’s a long history in the structure and procedures of the Finnish government but they don’t often match with the challenges that our global information society has brought us. This requires phenomenal-based working. The focus of this study is to clarify what kind of perceptions Finnish public officers have about phenomenal-based working. The aim of this study is also to find out which factors increase and decrease phenomenal-based working from the viewpoint of public officers. Methods. Nine public officers participated in this study. 7 public officers had a position in a Finnish department whereas 2 participants worked for a bureau or a public institution. The data was collected by interviewing the participants. After collecting the interview data, it was qualitatively content analysed using both inductive and abductive analysis. Results and conclusions. Based on the results of this study, the perceptions of the public officers of phenomenal-based working highlighted the structures and control mechanisms used in the government such as budget and government programme. Megatrends, systemic apprehension, collaboration with different public organizations and the ability to look at things from different perspectives were also emphasized in the perceptions of the intervieews. The public officers saw that cooperative projects across the government, work rotation, experimental culture, diverse expertise, network management, participatory collaboration and agile processes played a big role in phenomenal-based working. The communication and facilitation skills were appreciated in the government. Hidden agendas and the competition between the public organizations were rooted deeply in the culture of the Finnish government. The aforementioned factors made the collaboration of the organizations difficult in different domains.

The purpose of this Master's thesis was to find out what kind of role after-school clubs play in supporting the daily life and well-being of the child and family. The objective is to highlight the factors that are part of a high-quality after-school club. After-school clubs, as well as its connections with well-being support, have been little studied. However, previous research has shown that there is a strong connection between child and parental well-being. So, the well-being or ill-being of someone affects other family members as well. According to previous research, after-school clubs play a large role in combining parents' work and family life, as well as reducing a child's lonely time after school. After-school clubs also play an important role in strengthening the child's social relations and healthy lifestyle. The study was conducted as a qualitative study. The data were collected as themed interviews by interviewing eight parents of children attending Tennis- ja mailapelikoulu -after-school club organized by Grani Tennis. The research setting was phenomenographic, meaning the goal was to understand and describe the meanings given by parents to the phenomenon being studied. The data was analyzed using theory-driven content analysis in which the theoretical framework of the thesis served as the theory. The study’s results highlighted the important role of after-school clubs in organizing the daily life of the child and the family and in supporting everyone’s well-being. They allow parents to work full-time. While working, it is important to have a safe place for their child to spend time after school. Parental well-being is supported by the fact that the daily life is not burdened with additional planning in relation to reducing the child's lonely time. The well-being of the child and parents was also perceived to have a strong connection. After-school clubs particularly support the child's social, psychological, and physical well-being. After-school clubs in Finland, however, should be still developed more so that there are enough instructors that have the skills to work with different children and supporting their needs. It should be ensured that every child has equally a safe place to develop and grow. As after-school clubs are fee-required, they should also be developed so that every family has the possibility to use them in their daily life.

Introduction: Previous studies have shown that breastfeeding has an effect, for example, on mother's mood and stress regulation. There are still no previous studies of the association between breastfeeding and overall life satisfaction. The aim of this study is to find out whether the duration of breastfeeding is associated with parent's overall life satisfaction or its components i.e. parental, marital and work-life satisfaction. The longitudinal aspect of the data also makes it possible to study the association between the duration of being breastfed as a child and overall life satisfaction and its components. Methods: The data consisted of 1934 participants of the LASERI -longitudinal study, who were born in 1962-1977 and of their parents. Information of the breastfeeding duration and background variables (SES, participant's sex, age, birth weight and gestational age) was gathered via survey in 1983 from participants' parents. Parental, marital and work life satisfaction were assessed on a five-point scale by participants' parents in 1983 and by participants themselves in 2007. Overall life satisfaction was calculated as a mean of these three variables. Also, for the purpose of the analysis the variables were made into new binary variables (low satisfaction/high satisfaction). Results and conclusions: On the basis of logistic regression analyses, breastfeeding duration was associated with the parental satisfaction of the participant's mothers. Mothers who breastfed longer were 28% (p<.01) more likely to feel higher parenting satisfaction than mothers who breastfed for shorter period of time when the background variables were controlled. Breastfeeding duration did not have statistically significant association with mother's marital, work life or overall life satisfaction. Breastfeeding duration was not associated with the father's overall life satisfaction or any of its components. Also, the duration of being breastfed as a child was not associated with the participants' overall life satisfaction or any of its components as adult. The results of this study broaden the understanding of psychological effects breastfeeding has on parents and increase the knowledge of the things that contribute to parent's experiences of parental satisfaction. Although, the results of this study do not indicate whether it is the longer duration of breastfeeding that increase the mothers' parental satisfaction, or are the mothers who experience higher parental satisfaction more likely to breastfeed longer, the results underline the importance of feelings of satisfaction. In the future, it is important to pay attention to supporting mothers who have to stop breastfeeding earlier than they have intended. It is also important to offer support already in the early phases of motherhood to the mothers who are feeling low parental satisfaction.

Questions regarding labour market integration are becoming more prominent in Finland with rising numbers of immigrants. The Nordic welfare model has chosen the labour market as a focal point of integration because of it being a crucial arena for equality, freedom and for the integration process as a whole. Even though measures have been taken to improve immigrants labour market situation, the gap in the unemployment rates between immigrants and persons with Finnish background is still prominent. The situation is especially weak for immigrant women, who on average have a 17% lower employment rate than women with Finnish background. Immigrant women have been identified as a group that require extensive measures to improve their position in the labour market. This study is an attempt to generate more research in the area by highlighting immigrant women’s agency in the integration processes, especially focusing on labour market transitions and challenges connected to these transitions. A qualitative research design was chosen so that focus could be put on the lived experiences of the women and on interpreting their viewpoints and stories. Semi-structured interviews were used as a data collection method to be able to look deeper into the individual and personal narratives of eight first-generation immigrant women. The results demonstrate that the women have experienced many different transitions between positions in the labour market. These positions were often unstable and constantly changing, such positions were for example being on maternity leave, combining part-time work with studies or being unemployed. Furthermore, the results show that the biggest challenges encountered are connected to entering the labour market. Lack of sufficient language skills, being met with discriminatory behaviour and problems connected to transferring skills were some of the recognized problem areas. Some of the encountered challenges had momentarily felt like hindering barriers, but in the end, they turned out to be manageable obstacles that could be overcome and after all lead to successful outcomes. This study contributes to the pool of research concerning immigrant women, confirming and reinforcing previous research in the area. Policymakers should take vulnerable groups, such as immigrant women, better into consideration and further develop policies that enhance their labour market situation.

Education is one of the newer export items in Finland. Since 2010 the Ministry of Education and Culture has published a policy document on education export every third year, providing direction for the Finnish education exporters. The policies play a part in commodifying education and increasing academic capitalism, where higher education institutions become more business-like. The aim of this study was to describe how these education export policies have evolved over time, and to find out what elements of support the policies offered to education exporters to carry out their work in practice. The research questions were: 1) How have the Finnish education export policies evolved from 2010 to 2016 concerning motives, aims and the export product?, and 2) What kind of support for conducting education export in practice do the Finnish education export policies contain? The three education export policies, 87 pages in total, were analyzed using Mayring's qualitative content analysis and the QCAmap software. The analysis showed that the education export policies have become more detailed and concrete over time. During the researched period the motives in the policies for engaging in education export were to capitalize on the existing demand for Finnish education and the good reputation of Finnish education. The aims for education export in all three policies were financial, focusing on increasing turnover from education export, and related to branding, focusing on portraying Finland and Finnish education to the rest of the world. Over time the policies have become more specific and comprehensive in depicting the education export product. In the latest policy, degree programs, various types of education, technology, and a multitude of consultancy services were depicted as export products. The three policies were found to contain 207 elements of support for exporters to carry out education export. The majority of these related to productization (64), providing advice for education exporters (47), and encouraging networking and cooperation among exporters (42). The policies reflect the political ideology of the parties ruling at the time they were written. A new trend in the latest policy is to pay attention to the individuals carrying out education export activities. For the first time rewarding and motivating these individuals is mentioned in a policy. Paying attention to the actual exporters in large organizations like higher education institutions can be expected to improve future education export performance. A concern is whether there is enough resources to implement all the support.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on the everyday life of teaching professionals. Induction phase teachers’ commitment to the profession takes place specifically during the first years of their career, which COVID-19 pandemic has been threatened. Previous studies have shown that the professional agency in the classroom is an important part of teachers’ professional identity and commitment to work among induction phase teachers. Work engagement is a concept related to work well-being, which is used to studying well-being through the meaningfulness of the work. Based on the results of previous studies, teachers experience work engagement, also during the COVID-19 pandemic. Work stress, a phenomenon that weakens work engagement, has increased among teachers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers’ work stress has increased. The feeling of inadequacy in the teacher-student interaction is a part of comprehensive work burnout, and based on the results of previous studies it has been found to be negatively related to teachers’ experiences of professional agency in the classroom. The aim of this thesis is to provide information about induction phase teachers’ professional agency in the classroom, work engagement, work stress and feeling of inadequacy in the teacher-student interaction connections during the COVID-19 pandemic. The material used in this study was collected as a part of a wider international research project “Early Career Teachers’ Professional Agency Across Four European Countries” (Soini, Pietarinen, Pyhältö & Toom, 2018-2022). The target group of the research project were elementary school teachers, subject teachers working in middle school and special education teachers in elementary school (grades 1-9). The research material was collected between the years 2020-2021 from Finnish teachers, and 209 teachers responded. The IBM SPSS Statistics 28 -program was used in the analysis of the data. Sum variables were formed (professional agency in the classroom, vigor, dedication, absorption and feeling of inadequacy in the teacher-student interaction). Connections between variables were examined using Pearson’s correlation coefficients. Differences in background variables (gender and teacher group) were examined by using t-tests. The results of this study showed that there were statistically significant connections between the examined variables. Teachers in the induction phase who experience strong professional agency in the classroom reported that they experienced work engagement together with a lesser work stress and feeling of inadequacy in the teacher-student interaction. Those teachers who experience work engagement reported lesser work stress and feeling of inadequacy in the teacher-student interaction. There were no statistically significant results between gender and teacher groups.

Informal learning is learning that takes place outside the school system. It happens in everyday situations that were not meant to be educational in the first place. Out-of-school environments are considered to produce positive effects on pupils’ interest, motivation and attitudes. The main aim of this study was to find out how math worth and interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) education differed among 12-year-old pupils before and after visiting an Informal Math and Art Exhibition. Additionally, the aim was to find out if it is possible to utilize an out-of-school environment to teach 21st century skills. Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics (STEAM) pedagogy aims to improve pupils’ skills in innovation and creativity by combining elements from science and art. STEAM combines reality and education and aims to provide understanding of how things work while simultaneously guiding pupils’ technology skills. The learning context was a Math and Art Exhibition that was part of international CREATIONS-project. In this study, there were 256 12-year-old pupils from five different schools in Jyväskylä, Finland. The research material was gathered in 2 parts: pretests one week before the exhibition visit and posttests around a week after the visit. Nine out of ten students felt that the exhibition increased their interest in STEM. Boys who succeeded well in the Raven-test were the most interest in STEM. The increase in interest was, however, unrelated to gender or prior interest in STEM. Math worth was low among pupils who achieved low grades at school and scored low points on the Raven test. Math worth did not increase because of the exhibition visit, but differences in math worth were diminished. Pupils’ autonomous experience and situational interest were key factors regarding both math worth and interest. According to this study, even short-term out-of-school learning increases interest and evens out pupils’ math worth. In the light of this study the out-of-school learning environment can be seen as a fruitful and interesting way to learn that could also work as an excellent way to teach 21st century skills.