Browsing by Title

School lunch is an important aspect of food education. A school meal provides energy for the school day, but it is also meant to teach healthy eating habits and good manners. On the other hand, it is a respite in the middle of schoolwork and pupils’ free time along with friends. The basics of the national curriculum outline that school meals are part of the teaching and can also be used to support the adoption of a sustainable lifestyle. However, skipping school lunch is common among high school pupils. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the adolescents’ eating and eating-related practices at school. The focus is on high school pupils who often skip school meals. The aim is to increase the understanding of the phenomenon of non-participation in school lunches. Understanding food-related practices and the justifications for food practices from pupils’ perspective can support the development of food education in a way that better supports adolescents' participation in school lunches. The research topic was approached by means of qualitative research. The data was collected in the beginning of 2017 at one of the schools that participated in the Own Choice -project, funded by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and implemented by the Youth Academy. The material consists of theme interviews with ten young people aged 13–16. The transcribed data was analysed using thematic analysis and the concept of accounts was used in the interpretation. According to the study, skipping school lunches was associated with many school practices, such as rules, temporal and spatial arrangements, the example of teachers, and the way meals were organized. Living for the moment was characteristic to the pupils' food-related activities during school day. Adolescents explained non-participation in school lunches mainly with personal reasons. The desire for social belonging was a key justification for skipping school lunches, but even more often it led pupils to participate in school meals. Involving students in everyday school practices in a stronger and more diverse way would support participation in meals, but attention should also be paid to the role of teachers as food educators. More effective tools should be developed for teachers, parents, and canteen staff to enable them to support children and youth in different ages to participate in school meals.

Objectives: The aim of this research was to study the building of the everyday life of the young peoples in the age of 16–17 years studying in vocational collages and to gain understanding in challenges of everyday life present society. In addition the aim was to gain description on the base of young peoples describing everyday life of those factors which promote proceeding of studies or appear as a threat to proceeding of the studies. Today every fourth young people interrupted the vocational studies. As many as 110 000 young people under the age of 30 years is lacking vocational education which is worrying when it is known that the lack of education is one of the factors that increase of the risk exclusion. In this research the building of everyday life is reviewed as a sequence structure (Korvela, 2003). The sequence structure gives possibilities to study different phases an actions of the day of which the weekday is built by. It has been found that the familiar routines and recurrence of everyday life brings safety and anticipation and promoting the attachment in the rhythm of traditional society. Methods. The research data was gathered with the photo elicitation interviews from eleven young people under age of 16-17 studying at vocational collages at the capitol region. The data was analyzed by qualitative methods. The building of the everyday life of young people was reviewed first as theoretically as sequence structure and after that an analysis of content was made. The features of discourse analysis were also used in analyzing the being together phenomenon. The gathering review of the data was conducted by holistic thinking and the understanding of the diversity of everyday life. Results and discussion. In this research it was observed that the everyday life was relatively regular for the majority of the young people. It was observed that the everyday life was irregular for part of the young people, which was revealed as being late from lessons or going late to sleep. The obvious consequence of this was the tiredness during daytime. The days within the studying week consisted of five to six sequences. The sequence of media-time at evening was shown in the research. The problems in trying to delimit the media time was shown among the young people having irregular everyday rhythm. The lack of friends and problems of rhythming the activities of free time was shown in part of the young people. On the basis of the results it is clear that especially the young people living in period of transition need support in time management. The sequence method developed by sequence structure could be used as a tool in promoting the studies and in supporting the everyday life of young people.

This research is focused on the schooling experiences of non-binary transgender people. The aim of the study is to produce information on how gender variation has been taken into consideration while the 1994 and 2004 reforms of the Finnish national core curriculums for basic education were in effect. Based on these data, the aim is to speculate how gender variation is considered in schools today. The analysis was focused on how interviewees created subjectivity in their narratives and how (gender normative forms of) the hidden curriculum appears in these narratives. The results can be used to help develop the school institution into a more sensitive direction, and to be aware of different genders and the dynamics between them. The theoretical base examines the concepts of non-binary transgender and gender variation. Secondly it provides an overview of the power of gender norms. Thirdly the theoretical base introduces some of the relevant topics of the Finnish national core curriculums for basic education established in the years 1994 and 2004. It then offers some information on the invisible power of the hidden curriculum. The final section of the theoreti-cal base addresses discourses, discursive practices and subjectivities, which are essential in the analysis of gender norms, the hidden curriculum and the interviews. The research was conducted by interviewing seven non-binary transgender adults. They had attended basic education while the 1994 and/or 2004 Finnish national core curriculums were in effect. The interviews were conducted using an adaptation of the autobiographical narrative interview method. The data were analyzed with a data-based discourse analysis. The results were construed using a critical feminist perspective. The analysis produced three hegemonic discourses: outsider, gender normative school, and non-normative gender. Based on these discourses, the results showed six strong subjectivity positions: an outsider and different, an illegitimate woman or a man, nonexistent, agender or feminine-masculine, an agonist against norms, and a victim. The presence of the (gender normative) hidden curriculum occurred especially when the interviewees spoke about the support and safety of school, school control and teaching/learning situations, students’ responsibilities, and school environmental issues. The findings of this research indicate that non-binary transgender people must form a self-image mostly with-out any existing discourses. They become positioned as oppressed or as agonists against oppression. The control of the hidden curriculum was proved strong and very gender normative. Based on that, there is a major paradox between actual school policies and the national core curriculums. The findings would imply that the situation may not be any better nowadays despite the core curriculum reforms. The knowledge of gender variations and gender sensitivity must increase in the future. It is also necessary to offer teachers support and information on how they should meet and treat students of any gender.

It has been found usually to talk in the early childhood education in connection with the creativity about arts and skills and about play. In this treatise, the creativity is approached besides play but also from the point of view of the creativity of the everyday. The starting point for the study is the view according to which the creativity is complex interaction between a creative person and an environment. The theoretical body of the study is the Componential theory of creativity of Amabile (1996). The process which is open and product which is new and suitable or acceptable were defined creative. In the opinion of many researchers, the creativity is a phenomenon that has determined in a certain time and place so the creativity is examined from the point of view of the social constructionism. As creative processes in the day nursery it has been defined pretend play, child's involvement and children's agentive perception which is based on the Children's agentive perception theory of Reunamo (2007). The purpose of the study is to clarify how the child's personal factors and the social environment affect the creative processes of children in the day nursery. This Master's thesis is based on the Children's agentive perception uncovered study led by Jyrki Reunamo (2010) which was carried out in the spring of 2010 in Keski-Uusimaa and in Hämeenlinna and Taiwan. From the study, a name has also been used "on the sources of Orientation", a research project and development project. The study includes the children's evaluation sector, the observation sector, the children's interview sector and the evaluation sector of the pedagogic environment. 891 Children 1-7 year-old by age participated in the study. All the sectors which belong to the study of Reunamo were utilized in this treatise and the Finnish day nurseries or preschool groups which had participated in the study were marked off as the target group. The main component analysis, sum variables, the correlation coefficients, Mann-Whitney's U-test and Kruskall-Wallas test were used for the statistical examination of the quantitative material. In this treatise it was noticed, both the personal properties of the child and a social environment, that they affected all the examined creative processes which also had a significant connection with each other statistically. The definition of creativity was filled best by the participative answers. However, the number of the participative answers was only 8% in the questions concerning adults. That raised the question whether an attempt should be made to have effect so that the children's better participation also in the interaction with the adults would be possible in the educational culture of the day nursery. In the further study, the conscious building of the social environment which supports the creativity from a social constructionism point of view could indeed be an interesting task. The treatise is suitable for an examination of the interaction between the child's person and a social environment especially from the point of view of the creativity.

The purpose of this study was to examine the factors supporting the work of a novice class teacher. Earlier studies have shown that novice teachers find the first working years as challenging and more and more wind up changing their professions. The significance of support is emphasized at the beginning phase of the working career, and the successful transfer to working life has an important role in the commitment to the teaching profession and its enjoyment. The aim of this study is to highlight those factors which make novice teachers to remain working as class teachers despite the stress of the first years of work. The study also examined the support the novice teachers received from the work community and school management. A novice teacher in this study is defined as class teachers who have been working for less than three years (Berry, 2009). The theoretical reference framework of the study is based on an examination of early phase of the career of the novice teacher, as well as the theory of self-determination of Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. This study is a qualitative study that examines the novice class teachers' own experiences. The research material was collected by interviewing seven class teachers working in the Helsinki metropolitan area and its suburbs who had less than three years of teaching experience. The data collection involved a theme interview, which was conducted as individual interviews. The collected material was examined from the point of view of the research questions, in order to find answers to the questions that are relevant to the research. The material was analyzed by content analysis methods. The research results show that novice teachers are supported themselves in their work by teaching and students. Successful experiences and the relevance of work become an important factor in staying in teaching. The opportunity to develop in one’s own work was also considered to be important. Support from the work community and school administration proved to be of paramount importance, even though shortcomings were felt most of all in the support received from the supervisor. Novice teachers felt they received support most of all from mentoring and working in pairs at work. The results also highlighted the lack of systematic orientation and the gap between education and the reality of work.

Aims. The aim of this Masters' Thesis was to study 21st century skills through teachers' perceptions. 21st century skills are described fairly similarly in futures research, home economics sciences, educational sciences and the Finnish national core curriculum for basic education. Knowledge and skills, actions and will, as well as attitudes and values all fit in to 21st century skills. In this study I am going to answer three questions: (1) What is teachers' futures awareness like? (2) What are the target schools' teachers' perceptions of the skills needed in the 21st century? (3) How can teachers promote 21st century skills in the school? Methods. I implemented the study with a qualitative research strategy and a phenomenographic research approach. I interviewed ten (10) teachers of the same united school of basic education (grades 1–9) using focused interview (1 group interview and 8 separate interviews). I recorded and transcribed the interviews (79 pp., Times New Roman, font size 12). I analyzed the interviews with theory-driven content analysis using ten skill categories as a structure for the analysis. I formed over all 560 reductions of expressions and 98 subcategories. Results and conclusions. There were differences in the futures awareness of the teachers and not all of the teachers thought of the future very long-sightedly. Good self-knowledge and everyday life skills, finding relevant information and critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills and learning to learn, described the teachers' perceptions of the 21st century skills. They promoted these skills by using group work systematically, being present and facing the pupils as well as setting boundaries and giving responsibility to pupils. Promoting 21st century skills requires a community-based operational culture, visibility of teachers' values in their work and teachers' progressive attitude towards their work.

The subject of this study is flexible basic education, also known by the acronym JOPO®. Purpose is this study is to explain methods, principles and impacts of JOPO®. This study tries also find out differences between KUUMA-municipalities and how original JOPO® venture is currently used in each area. Included are insights from employees of JOPO® classes, school principals and high-level officials in education, on the future of JOPO® classes and how JOPO® fit into the new curricu-lum. The study was conducted in seven of the ten KUUMA-municipalities that surround the Greater Hel-sinki area. A total of nine pairs of JOPO® employees were interviewed for the study. The study also includes an email questionnaire that was answered by three principals of JOPO® schools and four high level officials in education. Research material was based to qualitative method which means that both theory and structured practice was in scope. The operation of the JOPO® classes in the KUUMA-municipalities did not differ remarkable from the original JOPO® venture, started more than ten years ago. The largest differences in operation be-tween the municipalities studied were whether eighth-graders were chosen as well as ninth-graders, what kind of educational background the teacher’s working partner had and how many opportunities the schools had to take advantage of learning environments outside the school itself. Differences between classes appear in general teaching practices, the participation level of the teachers and the amount of on-the-job learning. The most common outcome was that there should be more JOPO® classes, as well as flexible basic education should begin at the eighth-grade level in all the KUUMA-municipalities. The interviews re-vealed that the JOPO® classes had been ahead of their time in being in alignment with the new cur-riculum. The principals and the education officials also agreed that the new curriculum does not bring changes to the operation of the JOPO® classes. The people interviewed in the study explained that the JOPO® classes of the KUUMA-municipalities played a major role in enabling students to achieve graduation and move onto the secondary educa-tion stage. The importance of the system was especially well explained by one interviewee: “There has never been such a student who did not benefit from attending a JOPO® class.”

Goals. The aim of this research was to create railway safety education material for elementary school. The material was needed to fulfill besides railway safety aspects elementary school education principles and learning viewpoint preconditions. In Finland, there has not been any railway safety education material, even though road transport safety has been taught long as a part of school's traffic safety education. Methods. In this research, it was studied what kind of aspects need to be considered when creating traffic safety education material for elementary schools. The research has an active research nature. The material created in the research was piloted, and needed adjustments were made to the final material. After creating the material, the content was analysed by using content analysis method, which allowed assessing the quality of the material to the other direction, i.e. from the outcome to the starting point and objectives. Results and conclusions. A comprehensive education material set including lesson plans was created in the research. In connection to the lesson plans, the material includes also background information for teachers, who are the primary deployers of the material. The analysis of material created indicated that the material responses to the objectives set at main parts. Based on the analysis, the most essential development needs are to increase possibilities for constructivist learning, local tailoring and learning evaluation.

The purpose of this user-centered development research was to design sustainable and long-lasting trousers for the 7-year-old child. There was such a problem with the use of the child's trousers that the knees of trousers broke really fast, and even the more expensive trousers assumed to be higher quality had not endured in the child´s use. In addition to functionality and durability, the long-lived product should be pleasing to the user, so the user´s participa-tion in the design process was important. The research also considered suitability of partici-patory design methods to the design process of an individual garment. The framework for determining the user's needs for trousers was the FEA model of Lamb and Kallal (1992), in which the user's needs are divided into functional, aesthetic and expressive needs. The child and his parents participated in determining the user profile, the context of the use-situation and the needs of the user. Methods of participatory design were used to col-lect the data. The data was analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The need for recrea-tional trousers used in normal everyday life raised from the data. The development of the trousers continued iteratively with the manufacture, use, and usability evaluation of trousers´ prototype and two further developed trouser versions. The user evaluated trousers with the child-custom survey, where contentment with the trousers was measured using a colored smiley scale. The child and parents were interviewed about the usability of trousers at each stage of the research. Parents also evaluated the last trouser version using a checklist. Based on evaluations of the trouser versions, trousers evolved at each design iteration, and in the opinion of the child and parents, the latest trouser version corresponded to all needs of the user. In the research used a participatory design toolkit by Brandt, Binder, and Sanders (2013), divided into themes of telling, making and enacting. These themes provided a good basis for the methods of data collection, and in particular helped to show up the child's wish-es for trousers. Participatory approach allowed research to be done on a practical level and was understandable to the child.

Object.There is a small minority of Jews in Finland whose continuity has been threatened most of all by strong assimilation. Finnish Jewish young adults who almost without exception intermarry are bringing up and educating the next Jewish generation. The purpose of this research is to find out how do the Finnish Jewish young adults understand the conception of Jewishness and most of all, what does their Judaism mean to them. Secondly the purpose is to examine their double identity with the help of a model (Dencik 1993). In other words the aim is to find out what does the Jewish identity mean to those who will continue the inheritance of the Finnish Jews and how they tackle the double identity. Lundgren (2002) has made a research of the traditions and attitudes of the Finnish Jews and Dencik (1993, 2002) both in Sweden and in Denmark. With the help of this research it is the intention to participate in the discussion of the identity-negotiation (Kuusisto 2011, Klingenberg 2014, Rissanen 2014). Method. This research was put into practice as a qualitative multiple case study by sending inquiry to all 137 members of the Jewish Community in Helsinki who were born between 1976-1986. The inquiry was answered by 28 young adults. The meaning of Judaism to the Finnish Jewish young adults was studied with qualitative methods and inductive approach, and at the same time theory based approach. The double identity and thus acculturation attitudes were approached with the help of Dencik's (1993) model of a diasporic Jew. I analyzed the answers with the help of material-connected content analysis and theory-based analysis. Conclusions. With the help of material-connected content analysis it turned out that Judaism meant to respondents most of all Judaism as the interpreteter of experiences and belonging to the Jewish people (Dencik 1993). This section of Judaism included conceptions of Judaism as giving and receiving, Judaism as a way of living and as a feeling of togetherness to other fellow Jews. As for double identity, it showed that the Finnish and Jewish sides of identity were in balance, in other words, the respondents experienced their Jewishness as The Jews of Finland, whose homeland is Finland.