Browsing by Author "Kuvaja, Annika"

The purpose of this study was to analyze the experiences that generalists in the field of general and adult education had on the development of expertise in university studies, the knowledge that matters in working life and the experiences on how these two face each other. The target group was chosen by the fact that generalist education does not prepare the student to any specific job or position in working life. The results were examined on three levels which included 1) the expertise that developed during university studies 2) the expertise that was being experienced to be too narrow and 3) the expertise that matters in working life. The study was performed as a qualitative study and the data consisted of eight semi-structured interviews. The interviews were based on specific questions and a task to point out critical incidents from the beginning of the studies to these days. The data was analyzed by creating themes and categories about the data. The created themes included three dimensions which were 1) individuality 2) scientific thinking and 3) sociality. The results showed that the expertise of educationalists consists of these three sections listed above. These results verified the ideas that the former literature also supports. According to the results the social dimension of expertise was particularly highlighted. The social networks and social skills were experienced essential in working life and in education as well. These were the categories that also were listed to be developed during the university studies. In addition to social skills, the educationalists also experienced the individual and scientific thinking skills to be an important part of their expertise. These skills include the reflection skills, self-development skills, scientific thinking skills and knowledge integration skills. The results of this study made visible the factors which belong to the expertise of educationalists. Generalists must be able to embrace multiple skills while performing in the changing environment of working life. Because of this, surveying the knowledge they have is extremely important. In terms of developing the university studies it is essential to be aware of the fact what is and what is not being learned during the studies nowadays. By making visible also the knowledge that matters in working life makes it possible to respond the requirements of the changing society and working life.