Browsing by Subject "diskrussi"

Compulsory education was historically expanded in Finland in 2021. The purpose of this thesis is to find out the views of student counselors on issues that affect transitions between elementary school and secondary school, the discourses that can be located from the speech of student counselors and the subject positions formed for students in them, and the meanings given by counselors to the expansion of compulsory education. Previous research has shown that school practices produce acts of discrimination that reproduce inequality, which are manifested through the subject positions produced in the discourses. Leaning on Michel Foucault's view of power and theories about language and discourses, I aim to examine these mechanisms and shed light on hidden power structures that materialize in everyday school practices. My desire is to examine the extent to which a reform such as the expansion of compulsory education has the potential to influence issues of inequality. The research task is to find out (1) which factors influence the students' placement in the second grade according to the counselors' views, (2) what kind of subject positions are built for the students in the counselors' speech, and (3) what kind of meanings do the counselors give to the reform of compulsory education? I study the topic through themed interviews I conducted with five primary school or secondary school student counselors. As a research method I use discourse. The research results followed the results that has emerged in previous studies. Various factors based on student characteristics determined the choice of secondary education according to the instructors' views. At the same time, a clear dichotomous division was formed between upper secondary school and vocational school, which became evident in the ratings of families and students and in the placement of students. Poor academic performance, practicality and manual skills promoted the choice of a vocational school, while good academic performance favored the choice of upper secondary school. Two discourses, the discourse of reaching the school's goals and the discourse of the ideal citizen, could be highlighted in the interviews. In discourse were nuilt discourses, four different subject positions, which influenced how students were talked about and how their opportunities to attend school were valued.