Browsing by Subject "etnografia"

Goals. In Finland the popular confirmation school provides young people an opportunity to reflect on their values. One of the goals of confirmation work is to equip the young to ethical reflection on themes like sustainability. As a part of sustainability education food-related themes provide an easily approachable way to reflect on the impact of one´s choices on oneself and others. Eating is a complex phenomenon related to many conflicts both at the individual and societal level. The goal of this study is to describe and analyze meals at a confirmation camp from the perspectives of different actors. The purpose is to examine the role of food at a confirmation camp and to look at the practices that are regarded as indicating sustainability at meals. This study also analyzes how sustainability can be improved at confirmation camps. Methods. This study was conducted as an ethnographic case study. The data was collected at a Vantaa parish confirmation camp and consisted of focused interviews of confirmands, young confirmed volunteers, parish workers and food service staff as well as a field diary kept by the researcher. The interviews were carried out individually or in groups with 20 people participating. After being transcribed the data was analyzed using data-driven content analysis. Results and conclusions. Food had a wide range of meanings at the confirmation camp of which the most important seemed to be receiving nutrition and experiencing eating as a so-cial event. The meal times were also moments to share information, they gave a structure to the days and food was seen to affect the atmosphere at camp. Between the shared meals, the young people were constantly snacking sweets and other snacks they had brought to camp. Different actors had different perceptions of the visibility of sustainability in confirma-tion camp meals, but in general it was thought not be visible enough. Among other things increasing the share of vegetarian food and improving recycling opportunities were suggested to promote sustainability. The lack of resources and co-operation and the eating habits of young people were seen as challenges for carrying out the developmental suggestions concerning sustainability.

In my research I examined violence in secondary school from the point of view of the students. I asked, how the students themselves defined violence. I focused on who was considered to be someone who has information on the phenomenon or power to define it. In previous research it has been reported that mundane, everyday violence has been studied less than extreme acts of violence. In my research, I drew attention to the mundane aspects of the phenomenon and what it is at its limits. I tried to determine why some things were named violence, when others were not. In my research I regarded violence as gendered, since I wanted to study the phenomenon as a structure rather than as attached to specific individuals. In my understanding, violence and power are inseparably linked. Therefore I chose to approach the phenomenon from the perspective of a feminist theory. Key concepts in my research were violence, gender, school and agency. I used feminist ethnography as a method to both produce and analyze the data. In feminist ethnography it is essential to interact as respectfully as as possible with the people who are being studied as well as to maintain a critical attitude toward knowing and the hierarchies related to knowledge. The ethnographer tries to understand the world of the people she studies by participating in it. In feminist ethnography attention is drawn to power relations as well as in the intertwining differences. The data consist of field notes and interviews. For two weeks I observed the school days of the students of one seventh grade in one school located in the Helsinki metropolitan area. My observation covered classes, breaks and meal times, but I did not follow the students if they left the school grounds unless the classes were held there. I interviewed 17 of the 18 students in the class, in pairs or individually. Half of the interviews were done individually and the other half in pairs. There were 12 interviews in total. According to my research, the student's status in the social hierarchy, their position regarding the norms in the society and the discourses related to violence or bullying in society were some of the factors that influenced the way the students defined violence or were affected by it. Violence in school appeared to be so normal that often it was not even noticed or regarded as such. An atmosphere was maintained actively where the possibility of violence was always present. The teachers used the threat of violence as a resource to emphasize their message. Gendered structures were also entwined with the normalization of violence. Violence or the threat of it was linked in particular with the correct representations of masculinity. In addition to gender other differences affected how it was possible to be present in school and how violence could be defined or used as a resource. According to my research, racism, homophobia and gendered structures limit the students' agency. The students seemed to be struggling to understand situations from other person's points of view and to understand the consequences of their actions. On the other hand, the teachers did not seem to understand the students' perspective. I too shared the difficulties with identifying and naming violence. My conclusion is that even though no one is able to distinctly define violence, it is not to be accepted. Based on my research, violence should always be intervened, despite the difficulties of defining it.

Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract Objectives: The purpose of this study is to highlight ways and methods to support and teach multiliteracy in early childhood education. The theoretical framework of the study defines the concept of multiliteracy. The concept of multiliteracy is based on the changes in literacy in modern society, as well as the perspective of sociocultural learning and socio-semiotic views of the text according to a broad comprehension and the text with its various meanings. In this research, multiliteracy is seen as a mode of operation and pedagogy. The theoretical framework of the study describes the pedagogy of multiliteracy, taking into account the change in the operating culture of early childhood education. The aim of this study is to provide information on the demonstration of multiliteracy in early childhood education. The research question took the form of a theoretical frame of reference: how multiliteracy looks like in early childhood education. How do teachers interpret the concept of multiliteracy in their work and how does multiliteracy appear in kindergarden groups of early childhood children? Methods: Staff from three kindergarden groups and three early childhood education teachers participated in the study. This study is a qualitative study. It´s data acquisition strategy is ethnography. The research material was acquired through fieldwork: participatory observations and thematic interviews. The analysis of the data was carried out by cross-reading the it and by means of close construction around the themes arising from the theoretical frame of reference and the data. Results and conclusions: In early childhood education, multiliteracy appeared as a culture of action that utilized texts from many different disciplines. In the daily activities of early childhood education, activities and methods that required multilingual skills were available. The concept of multiliteracy had not yet been established in the professional vocabulary of early childhood teachers. However, in accordance with the broad text concept, teachers perceived multiliteracy skills as a variety of readable signs, texts and symbols. The demonstration of multilingualism was together with the teachers' pedagogical activities and the choices they made when planning, implementing and evaluating their own pedagogical choices and the activities of the children's group.

Tiivistelmä - Referat – Abstract The goal of this ethnographic research is to bring out the mechanisms of a classroom’s moral order. The study is based on a thought which considers the moral order to be a tool in deconstructing the power structures of the school system. The moral order brings forward all the kind of behavior which is considered right or wrong in the classroom or good or bad. The study is rooted in poststructuralist equality research. The background theory in this study is Deleuze’s rhizome theory. The rhizome theory is a target state of the moral order. In the target state the moral order would be flexible and ready for change therefor one wouldn’t need to compare the differences between students in a negative way. Previous studies about moral order in Finland have mainly focused on adult education. International studies and articles in sociological education sciences have aimed to deconstruct moral orders but failed to give any means to the deconstruction project. The data of this study has been conducted in southern Finnish elementary school with ethnographic observation and interview. Observation period lasted for one month and the interviews were conducted during the one month field period during the year 2017. The research data included of five group interviews of pupils and one interview of the class’ students. Analysis used was episodical analysis in which observation and interview data are been read across using both data while it brings more variation and reliability to the research data. The study shows moral order of the studied class is been guided by the confrontation of the opposite sex. A small variation inside gender group is also been seen. Previous studies have showed that the confrontation of opposite gender is one of the greatest challenges of the school institution. To bullying pupils, react by not telling to the teacher but by wanting to solve conflict between students.