Browsing by Subject "säännöt"

Objectives. The main task of the study was to find out what kind of pedagogical knowledge, methods, practices and models does a teacher take advantage of when building a class into a well-functioning group. This study investigated primary school teachers' use of pedagogical theories and practices in creating a communal and supportive classroom atmosphere. The research problem was formulated into two research questions: What kind of pedagogical knowledge does a teacher use in grouping a class? What kind of methods, practices and models does a teacher use in building a cooperative attitude in a class and a safe and positive learning atmosphere? Methods. The research strategy was based on a qualitative study. The data collection strategy was based on reminiscence and reports methods. The data was collection by requesting essays from experienced teachers. The call for essays was published in the Teacher-journal and in Facebook. Also other methods were used in the data collection. Eight essays were received. The teaching experience of the surveyed teachers ranged from 3 to 38 years. The teachers were all women and they lived in different parts of Finland. The essays were analyzed through a data based content method in which the results were constructed based on the essays. The data was grouped and classified into themes and the results were reported based on the research questions and the used theory. Results and conclusions. The essays revealed the teachers' pedagogical knowledge and common methods in creating a class into a well-functioning group. The key concepts of teacher's pedagogical knowing were e.g. encouragement, positive feedback, building trust, teacher's own role, enticing students into trying, and noticing an individual student as a person. The used methods were e.g. common rules, responsibility and involvement of students, cooperation in the class, emphasizing belonging into a group and active participation. Group formation of a class was considered as an important part in teachers' work. However, not all teachers in the teacher profession see the class formation process so important.