Browsing by Subject "syrjäytyminen"
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(2014)The emotional instability and the risk of being socially excluded are growing all the time among the children and young people. The chances of physical activities improving the quality of life is an interesting and current study, as for a human being the physical activities play a big role in one's psychological well-being, and there is a good chance to prevent children's and young people's social exclusion with sports. This study was purposed to find out what kind of children take part to Helsinki's EasySport -easy access sport clubs. The study is supposed to find out if the EasySport -action is reaching the right children, which are in threat of being socially excluded or are the participating children mainly already having experience in sport clubs and sport as a hobby. I am also analyzing if participating a sport club is improving child's social interaction or if it's bringing more friendships. I also think it's very important to know the children's opinion about how this easy access action differs from a traditional sport club action and physical education at school. The study's theoretical frame of reference forms from the social exclusion and it's prevention as well as the affection of sports in psychological and social development of a person. The sport club action and physical education in relation to easy access sports are also handled in the theory part. The research questions were: What kind of children are participating the EasySport-clubs? Is the EasySport-action reaching the right children to support the prevention of the social exclusion? How do the EasySport-clubs differ from the traditional sport club action? What makes the EasySport an easy access action? Are the EasySport-clubs encouraging children's social development? The target of the research was, therefore, the children participating the Easy Sport -ball clubs. The study was carried out in form interview by visiting eight Easy Sport -ball clubs. A total of 71 children from age 7 to 13 responded to the survey. The study was conducted as a qualitative case study and the data was analyzed using content analysis. Based on the study it became clear that the children participating the EasySport-clubs are mainly boys with immigrant background. The activity supports the integration of immigrants, which is part of the prevention of the exclusion. Ball clubs also develops children's communication skills and the regular participation in the club can improve the children's quality of life and ignite the enthusiasm of exercise. The results of the operation can also be seen as contributing to children's social development and friendships. The children participating the Easy Sport -ball clubs experience the activity meaningful and different from the school sports or sport club activity, because the children have the opportunity to decide what the program includes and the activities are considered more free.
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(2018)The subject of this study is flexible basic education, also known by the acronym JOPO®. Purpose is this study is to explain methods, principles and impacts of JOPO®. This study tries also find out differences between KUUMA-municipalities and how original JOPO® venture is currently used in each area. Included are insights from employees of JOPO® classes, school principals and high-level officials in education, on the future of JOPO® classes and how JOPO® fit into the new curricu-lum. The study was conducted in seven of the ten KUUMA-municipalities that surround the Greater Hel-sinki area. A total of nine pairs of JOPO® employees were interviewed for the study. The study also includes an email questionnaire that was answered by three principals of JOPO® schools and four high level officials in education. Research material was based to qualitative method which means that both theory and structured practice was in scope. The operation of the JOPO® classes in the KUUMA-municipalities did not differ remarkable from the original JOPO® venture, started more than ten years ago. The largest differences in operation be-tween the municipalities studied were whether eighth-graders were chosen as well as ninth-graders, what kind of educational background the teacher’s working partner had and how many opportunities the schools had to take advantage of learning environments outside the school itself. Differences between classes appear in general teaching practices, the participation level of the teachers and the amount of on-the-job learning. The most common outcome was that there should be more JOPO® classes, as well as flexible basic education should begin at the eighth-grade level in all the KUUMA-municipalities. The interviews re-vealed that the JOPO® classes had been ahead of their time in being in alignment with the new cur-riculum. The principals and the education officials also agreed that the new curriculum does not bring changes to the operation of the JOPO® classes. The people interviewed in the study explained that the JOPO® classes of the KUUMA-municipalities played a major role in enabling students to achieve graduation and move onto the secondary educa-tion stage. The importance of the system was especially well explained by one interviewee: “There has never been such a student who did not benefit from attending a JOPO® class.”
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(2017)Social withdrawal is a comprehensive phenomenon previously studied mainly in Japan as 'hikikomori'. It has been connected to social as well as psychological and societal factors. The aim of this study was to examine the appearance of social withdrawal in Finland. Social withdrawal was investigated from the social exclusion perspective. The study aspired to describe the ordinary life of socially withdrawn young and to seek answers to the question of what kind of people they are. The study also endeavored to detect the factors that might be associated with the onset and continuation of the process of social withdrawal. The methods of the study included structural interview and the analysis of a message board used by socially withdrawn people. The interviewees were two men who were withdrawn, and the interviews were implemented via e-mail. The message board data, including 32 conversations, was collected from Hikikomero, a section of internet forum site Ylilauta. The analysis of the data was carried out by using content analysis. The results of the study implement that social withdrawal is a self-feeding phenomenon largely affecting lives of the people who are withdrawn. The study supports the assessment of social withdrawal as a male-dominating phenomenon. From the factors appearing in relation to the onset of the withdrawal, experiences of inability to fulfill the cultural expectations imposed for men and social disappointments were detected. From the background of social withdrawal it was possible to detect experiences of peer victimization and mental illnesses. From the factors appearing in relation to the continuation of social withdrawal the most salient ones were social phobia, depression and the inability to create and maintain relationships. The reaching of the withdrawn trough a message board creates hope to tackle the solitude developing adversely.
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(2021)Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract The purpose of this master’s thesis is to find out views of young adults attending workshop activities. This research intends to find out how school experiences have affected their lives and their further education and employment. This research is based on the earlier known connection between school dropout and the process of social exclusion and aims to find out more on the possible role of special education in this process. The research group was chosen to include young adults who attend workshop activities because it is very likely that they have had risk factors for social exclusion present in their lives. The research material consisted of seven theme interviews that were analysed by using theme analysis. The interviews included conversation about school motivation, teachers, further education and choosing a profession, substance abuse, the significance of friends and family and learning difficulties. The informants were 21 to 29 years old and they all attended workshop activities in a quite small town in southern Finland. The informants had ended up in workshop activities due to unfinished second-degree education or long-term unemployment. The research showed that both school and free time related factors had had an influence on the informants’ lives. Especially learning difficulties, social support, substance abuse, bullying experiences at school, teachers, the sense of not belonging to school and friends turned out to be significant factors. All together the informants didn’t seem to think school experiences were the most important factors in life, but the research material still showed signs of school being able to influence the life paths of youngsters by at least giving some directions for the road.
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(2018)The goal of the thesis was to examine 1) whether the special education teachers' and other teachers' educational stances show mutual differences in the areas of classification or categorization, and 2) which kind of imaginal characteristics is it possible to build by using teachers' stances. In the theoretical framework classification or categorization was spread into more specific themes which were automatic thinking, medicalization, separate special education, labeling, social disability studies and social constructionist language. The sense of the thesis was explorative, considering that the concepts of classification or categorization haven't been exactly framed in special educational studies. According to previous research it seems that there exist mutual differences when comparing special educators' and other educators' attitudes concerning the educational system overall. The data was collected in the areas of Helsinki and Turku cities by using an E-questionnaire. Along with the background information the questionnaire included 48 educational claims which were estimated by a Likert scale from 0 to 5. There were altogether N=119 answers gathered from class teachers, special education teachers, kindergarten teachers and special kindergarten teachers. Summaries were counted and explored through frequency analysis in the four occupational groups. Mann-Whitney's U-test was proceeded to answer to the first task of the research. The test's purpose was to examine the differences of summary medians formed by special education teachers' and other teachers' answers. Explorative factor analysis was completed to answer to the second task, to find out which kind of characteristics the correlations between the teachers' answers would reveal. According to the Mann-Whitney's U-test there was discovered that the educational attitudes of special education teachers were more categorizational around theme of medicalization, both in the direct claims (p=.049, r=.19) and the opposite claims (p=.005, r=.30). Also it appeared that the special education teachers' educational attitudes were more categorizational (p=.057, r=.18) than the other teachers' attitudes when supporting the separate special education system. Nevertheless the latest mentioned result wasn't found to be statistically significant. The explorative factor analysis revealed four characteristics, 1) the one being aware of language and against labeling, 2) the one being an aware thinker who demands social equality, 3) the one supporting medicalization and seeing speciality being absolute, and 4) the character positioning against medical culture and individualism.
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(2015)Aims: My main problems of research are: How neoliberalism is producing obediant citizens through special pedagogy? How discourse of exclusion as a apparatus power and a result of collective mentality of governing strengthens the hegemony of neoliberalism and special pedagogy? How special pedagogy as a tool of neoliberalism produces social exclusion and inequality? The aim of my study was to find out, in a foucauldian way, with the help of the speech of special pedagogists, how discourse of special pedagogy as a tool of our neoliberalistic state, produces inequality, social exclusion and obedient citizens. The structure of my study consisted on special pedagogy, theory of Foucault, neoliberalism, empirical material and the phenomenon called social exclusion which encompassed also the thematic interviews of teachers. These forementioned five elements were interacting with each other in the analysis producing new knowledge about action of discourses in our society. Methods: With digital recorder I interviewed five special pedagogists by halfstructural method. My theme was social exclusion in our society. After written down the interviews I analyzed the texts with the help of foucauldian theoretical concepts. In this way I was able to deconstruct different discourses and "naturalities". In the field of qualatative methods my method of research represented the foucauldian way of analyzing the empirical material. In this manner the producers of the speeches were seen as representatives of certain discourse. Those producers of speeches were seen, in turn, as producing and reproducing certain kind of discourse and discoursive talk. Results and conclusions: Analysis of the material engendered following results; special pedagogy produced, pathologized, normalized and categorized its objects as obediant and vulnerable monolithic subjects which were to be stored as socially excluded proletarian labour force for our neoliberalistic nationstate. Medicalization, therapization, and psy-sciences as products of neoliberalism were addressing individual "liberties". Together with the discourse of special pedagogy they created inequality and social exclusion. This was made possible by making people to believe in their individual and "innerborn" qualities instead of seeing the changing and dynamical structures of our neoliberalistic society which produce and reproduce injustice.
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(2016)The objective of this study is to examine how young people become subjects and construct their future in the discourses of youth workshops. In current governmental and European neoliberal discussion, the youth is expected to be active, effective and straightforward in their transitions to education and employment. Furthermore, the youth outside working life and education is considered to be "at-risk" and in need of guidance and support. In this study, my objective is to examine how it is possible for young people in youth workshops to construct their subjectivity and their future by repeating and mastering the discourses available in current time. My perspective on this study is based on post-structural theories. I conducted three group interviews and one individual interview in the youth workshops. I visited two youth workshops located in Helsinki metropolitan area and interviewed 17 youngsters. As a research method, I applied discourse analysis. By discourse I'm referring to historically, culturally and socially constructed "truth structures" that allow certain ways of thinking and acting. I have applied the concepts of subject position and subjectification as my analytical tools. According to this study, young people had assimilated the idea of an education- and working life-centered society. They constructed their subjectivity in relation to an ideal citizen who is educated and in working life. In the discourses of youth workshops it was possible for young people to become subjects through a position of "non-ideal youngster", "ideal a-like youngster" and through a position where the ideal was critically and reflexively questioned. Further, as constructing their future in the discourses of youth workshops, in addition to discussing education and employment young people brought up the requirement of individuality and uncertainty. Based on the results of this study, it seems clear that according to young people, integrating into the society requires education or having a job. In the discourses of youth workshops there is not much space becoming subject in any other way. However, due to the individuality and uncertainty of young people's future constructions, the straightforward transition to education and working life is challenged and questioned.
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(2021)The exclusion starts during early childhood. A child’s withdrawal from their peer group has been associated with social exclusion that has implications for the child’s social and cognitive skills as well as overall well-being. Peer relationships and positive interaction with peers are central to children’s learning. Socially withdrawn children are at risk of being excluded from the social dimensions of peer activities. This thesis examines socially withdrawn children in Finnish early childhood education and especially the effects social withdrawal has on the child’s learning, emotions and physical activity. In addition, the effects of the withdrawn children’s social and self-regulatory skills and need for pedagogical support are examined. Research data was gathered using the Progressive Feedback method. Observations were conducted in 2,651 kindergarten groups from 19 municipalities in Finland from September 2017 to February 2021. The observation data included 201,951 observations of all activities in early childhood education between 8 AM to 4 PM. Observed children’s skills were assessed by the educational staff and children’s basic information (such as age and gender) were included. Quantitative multivariate methods were used to analyse the data. It was found that children’s social withdrawal occurs usually during free play indoors and outdoors. Routine activities included children’s social withdrawal in early childhood education settings as well. Withdrawn children usually had no focus in their activities or they were observed playing with toys. The child’s withdrawn orientation was characterized by low levels of involvement and physical activity as well as neutral and negative emotions. The impact of the peer group was found to be central to the child’s learning and well-being and supporting the withdrawn children in their efforts on joining the peer group activities is an important priority in developing early childhood education practices.
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(2018)In this MA dissertation I’m going to examine the discursive formation of social exclusion from the specific aspect of social governance. Social exclusion has been a main concern in welfare policy in Finland and Europe in recent decades. The social construction of exclusion is reconstructed in daily practices in politics, media and everyday speech. Despite the numerous areas of discussion there is a great consensus in public opinion regarding who the socially excluded are and why it is especially important to form resistance to their exclusion. Discourses regarding the uncontrollability of social exclusion have managed to divert the focus away from exclusion, which hides the modes social exclusion is operating in as an instrument of social governance. The aim of this dissertation is to critically examine the discursive formation of social exclusion, and to show how the concept is connected to social governance. For research methodology I have used genealogy and critical reading of governance, as well as the idea of discursive formation of truth systems. This dissertation mainly uses analysis based on literature, but also utilises the extracts of policy documents to support its arguments. In this research I have separated the governance of social exclusion into four sections. I review each theme in their own chapters, where I discuss how the theme is formed and how it became a part of the discursive formation of social exclusion. The first theme discusses how social exclusion is a way of moral and normative governance, while the second area explores the dimension of financial-rational governance. The third section considers social exclusion as a reflection of changing citizenship, as well as ideologically degrading the welfare state. The fourth theme discusses management of mental states as a form of exclusion governance, and where interventionist projects have a primary role. Critical examination of social exclusion is important as discursive formation and knowledge systems are used in many ways to legitimize displacing practices and unequal policies. By critically examining the certainty of social exclusion we can become aware of how positions of the socially excluded are formed through variated discourses legitimizing truth systems. The conclusion of my paper suggests that political discussion needs new openings and contemporary perspectives to question the prevailing way of rationalization.
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(2016)This thesis inspects how community music workshops may affect self-perceived work ability in the disabled, immigrant, mentally ill, or otherwise disadvantaged participants. Community music workshops had statistically significant positive effect on self-perceived work ability in all the subgroups, except the immigrant participants.
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(2016)The objective of my study was to examine the policy of youth self-responsibilitation in neoliberal ethos. Young people and youth have been in part of societal debate which focus on society adhesion and concerns about social exclusion. There have been also expectations and demands by society to young people, but at the same time social exclusion is seen self-responsibility-based problem. In this study I asked how youth is located and how the ideal youth is produced by the political programs. The policy of youth self-responsibilitation is examined by how it is appearing and what meanings it takes in political programs. The perspective of this study is based on neoliberal ethos and societal change. The study data consist of two political programs about youth policy which one represents the ministry of education and culture in Finland and the other is European union youth policy report. I examined these reports with the critical discursive research. The analysis based on critical thinking, challenging conventional way and highlights that things can be done and said in "other way". In the political programs youth were located with tensions, conflicts and problem-orientation. The ideal youth was produced by targets of active citizenship, participation and management one's own life. The self-responsibilitation of youth was appearing the way that focus to individually-based in young people, whose ability and capacity should be improved and utilized. At the same time the structural conversation was minimal and shallow. Social and societal problems, such as unemployment, were dealt individually by blaming young people. The self-responsibilitation of youth were meaningful as part of diversity politics. There were many different youth policies which were specified and listed, but young people situation as a whole and profound were not represented. This study concludes that young people and youth should be seen more dignified and humane way which means the transition to youth intensification to dignified and humane youth.
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(2017)In a tightening economic situation it has become more difficult to find work or study place. This can create a threat that leads to the danger that young people are getting socially excluded from education and working life. Social exclusion has brought up a great concern in Finland. Youth guarantee is been used to prevent social exclusion and to improve adolescents' possibilities to have a degree after the basic education and be employed. One of the tools to prevent social exclusion is Youth guarantee which raises workshop activities that aim to support adolescents' life management skills, strengthening their involvement and preventing social exclusion. In the previous workshop studies it has been brought up that it would be important to study workshop activities in qualitative measures to get the voices of the people being in the risk of social exclusion to be heard. This study examines the way the young people that work in workshop in Tampere under the Youths start- project talk and how they give meanings to being part of the society, participation and how are they relating to the work shop activity. This study analyzed two group interview materials that are collected in Youth start workshops. There were eight young people that participated to this study. The material was analyzed using discursive analysis methods. The discursive analysis is built to the assumption of being context related, assumption of meanings being built using the language, assumption that several lateral discursios exist and to the assumption that use of the language has causes and it socially constructs the reality. In this research four repertoires were analyzed from the participants' discourses. These were being part of the society, participation, social exclusion and workshop repertoires. The tightening competition situation from the work and studying places showed up as a factor that in the adolescents' discourses caused insecurity and repetitive disappointment that had negative influence to their self-esteem and these factors can lead to even faster social exclusion. The Workshop appeared as a safe place, kind of like a second home where it was easy to come. Working in a workshop brought meaningful things to do and building blocks to build self-esteem and recover courage. Outside of the workshop social inclusion of the people going there it was considered to be shameful and even stigmatizing. Because of this factor it is important that the image of the workshop can be improved. In the light of this study it is important to improve the participation and feeling social inclusion of the surrounding world. The adolescents need to have real power and responsibility to decide and influence the matters that concern them in the workshop activities.
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(2012)Research of social exclusion is mainly focused on to explore young people and adults. There is only limited research available of social exclusion of children under school age. Social exclusion is however involved in a day care centre's every day life. Social exclusion is a multi-threaded term which is included closely in theories of socialization and children's social development. Previous researches have shown that social exclusion is a sum of many factors. Researchers' definitions of social exclusion are often varied according to what has been the subject and purpose of the research. This research focuses on to examine how the withdrawn behaviour appears in day care centre and how does it affect to social relationships between children. The research also studies the amount of support that withdrawn children need compared to other children. Previous researches have demonstrated that withdrawn behaviour is one of many sections of the social exclusion. The material of this study is gathered from "Orientaation lähteillä" research (Reunamo 2010). 50 day care centres and 14 childminders from Uusimaa and Hämeenlinna took part in the research. Age of the 892 children who participated in the research varied from one to seven. Method of this research was quantitative and the data was gathered by observation, interviews and teachers pedagogical evaluation of children. The data was analysed by using a one way analysis of variance and the statistical significance of results were confirmed by Kruskall-Wall test. According to this study the withdrawn child's main activity was orientation action; wandering around, waiting for something to happen or monitoring the situation. When the withdrawn children attached to action they didn't seek other children's company or express interest in other children's activities. Withdrawn children didn't have interest in social objects like toys or other items. According to teachers' evaluations withdrawn children needed more support in different areas of development than other children. The needs of support were not only in the field of social development but also on the side of motor-, cognitive- and emotional development. Social isolation and problems with it appear as early as under school age. The younger the child is the easier it is to intervene and cut the social exclusion circle.
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(2017)This study was based on monitoring research project in the municipalities of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (MetrOP). The study was attended by 13,500 young people whose school trail was followed from lower to upper secondary education. The aim of the study is to find out what kind of group of students who participated in the MetrOP project, did not continue in upper secondary education after primary school. Research questions were: 1) What kind of group of students was who did not continue to upper secondary education after the lower secondary school in the MetrOP project material? 2) What kind of factors were related to the fact that the studies did not continue in the upper secondary education? What factors were most important? The theoretical background of the research was The Ecology of Human Development - theory by Bronfenbrenner. Material of this study was based on monitoring of the first two phases of the MetrOP study. The first part was collected in schools in the autumn in 2011, when students started a lower secondary education and the second part was collected in the spring in 2014 at the end of the ninth grade. Students performing learning to learn tasks and the questioning of the residential area and social norms concerning it. In addition, they responded to both surveys on welfare and health. The material was analyzed quantitatively using SPSS and Amos- statistical programs. The students who did not become approved upper secondary education and those students who did not take received place were studied separately. Based on this study, the factors impacting continuation of the upper secondary education were attitude towards learning and motivation, future orientation, great point average, need of special education, education of parents, home and residential area and friendship. These factors also included in path model for continuing studies.
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