Browsing by Subject "beliefs"
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(2021)The aim of this study is to understand Home Economics teachers’ beliefs and how they affect teacher agency in education for sustainability. Education has a key role in building a sustainable future and Home Economics has been seen to correspond well with the multidisciplinary nature of sustainability. However, sustainability is a complex issue which students should be taught by encouraging reflection and critical thinking. Home Economics is connected to everyday life and transdisciplinary in nature, therefore it is argued that the themes of sustainability coincide with the subject matter of Home Economics. Previous studies have shown that Home Economics teachers have adopted sustainable practices into their personal lives and are motivated to educate students on sustainability, however the implementation of sustainability into their practice was partially hindered by lack of resources, incentives, and outsiders’ image of the discipline. The data, consisting of the semi-structured interviews of thirteen Finnish Home Economics teachers, was initially coded based on the model of agency achievement. Furthermore, the analysis was carried out using thematic analysis. Four main themes were discovered, involving teacher beliefs about the discipline of Home Economics, beliefs about teaching, beliefs about students and beliefs about sustainability. Results indicated that HE teachers were committed to the principles of sustainability and believed that their work as teachers had impact and meaning in creating a better future by promoting a sustainable lifestyle. However, beliefs, such as students being indifferent about sustainability and the lack of appreciation for Home Economics seemed to inhibit teacher agency. Sustainability was also believed to be a controversial topic, which meant teachers would change the way they spoke about certain subjects with students. Teachers also spoke about how long-standing beliefs and myths about Home Economics still interfere with their work. Additionally, the spaces in which HE was taught seemed to steer the contents of lessons and reinforce beliefs that cooking was the main focus of HE.
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(2017)The aim of this study was to explore the epistemologies and conceptions of learning upper secondary school students (13-15-year-olds), high school students and their teachers express, and to compare the differences of these epistemologies and conceptions between the three groups. The theory of this thesis is based on earlier research related to epistemologies and conceptions of learning that suggest that epistemologies and conceptions of learning evolve with education and age towards a more sophisticated view of knowledge and learning. The data for this pilot study was collected from a small region in Finland in November 2015. The participants; upper secondary school students, high school students and their teachers (N=380), answered an online survey with two-part Likert-type statements measuring various kinds of epistemologies and conceptions of learning (collaboration, valuing metacognition, deep approach, surface approach and certain knowledge). The data was analyzed through looking at correlations and comparing the results of the three groups using ANOVA. The results of this study partly confirm previous study results of differences in epistemologies and conceptions of learning. Differences between secondary school students, high school students and teachers did occur, older students as well as the teachers tended to have more complex views of knowledge and learning. However, the results of the high school students suggest that they valued certain knowledge too, which is considered a less sophisticated epistemology. The results also show that the teachers valued collaboration and metacognition, but that the students didn't experience these two epistemologies to be practiced in class.
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