Browsing by Subject "toimijuus"

The purpose of this study is to find out how boys are portrayed in the Finnish ABC books through different decades. The data of the study consist of ABC books from the 1950s, 1970s, 1990s, 2000 and 2010s. The newest ABC book is published in 2016, and it follows the Finnish study plan of 2014. The ABC books chosen for this study have been published during the last 60 years. With 10 or 20 years' time difference between each book, it is possible study the changes in the portrayal of boy characters. The study focuses on the texts and pictures where the boy characters are shown. Special attention is paid to the looks and action of the boys in the ABC books. The boy characters are compared to the girl characters presented in the ABC books, in order to analyze whether the way the boys are being described differs from the way the girls are being described. The assumption is that there are some remarkable differences in this portrayal, especially when comparing the oldest ABC book from the 1950s to that of 2010s. Previous research has shown that the great changes taking place during the 1960s has also had its effect on the ABC books of that time; there should be a considerable decrease in stories and pictures related to national identity. As a new feature after the 1960s, the equality in friendships between the boy and girl characters has emerged. However, a gendered portrayal of the characters is still to some extent visible in ABC books until end of 1990s. The method of the study was content analysis. Each ABC book was first analyzed in detail after which the results were compared with each other. Special research questions were used to find out how the boys were shown during different times and to what extent the portrayal of boys and girls differed from each other. A context analytical approach is visible in the way that the norms and values of each ABC book were mirrored in relation to their own time. The results of the study show that even if the way boys are described has changed a lot from 1950s to 2010s, some features have remained the same. In the ABC books from 1950s and 1970s boys are shown as brave and active actors. Starting 1990s there is more sensitiveness in the way boys are described than in the earlier ABC books. Starting from the 2000s the boy and girl characters do not differ remarkably from each other. In the ABC book of 2016 the boys are clearly portrayed as background characters, being more quiet than the girls.

In different sectors of education percentage of school drop outs is highest in upper secondary vocational school even though dropping out has decreased in recent years. When discussed about dropping out, it's essential to recognize when it's about increasing risk of alienation and when it's necessary for individual's life. The purpose of this research it to offer a new point of view that considers life choices and turning points as process that continues individually and multidimensionally. In this research interest focus on agency behind dropping out and situational actors that lead to decisions to drop out. The theoretical framework concentrates changes in youth and working life, situational actors behind school drop outs and agency as individual's power to shape their life circumstances by choosing their actions. The research was carried out qualitatively. The data was collected in October 2015 and is based on open interviews that were analyzed using content analysis. In this research nine individual interviews were used. Interviewees were young persons who had quitted at least once in upper secondary vocational school and started another education or got employed after dropping out. Interviews indicated human agency as active operations that contain ability to picture alternative course of actions and possible future outcomes. In narrations agency can be seen as interaction that is strongly combined to time. Decision making is influenced by the past, present and future. As active and planned decision making, narrations show that agency is limited or allowed by structural and social actors that guide individual's actions and decision making. In narrations situational actors that lead to quitting, appeared to be set of various actors that eventually lead to limited agency and quitting school.

The ways of gender production are strongly culture specific. The school and school's textbooks reflect our cultural values and norms. Cultural gender biases and stereotypical representations of gender can be observed on the textbooks with ease – the books portray a very traditional and one-sided vision of feminine and masculine genders. There has been a growing attention to cultural gender biases in school's textbooks especially due to the most recent national curriculum. I approach the gender bias in this thesis from the viewpoint of girls' studies and therefore the research subjects are girls and girlhood. Science education textbooks based on the National Core Curriculum (2014) form the research material used in this study. Science education covers themes that are influential in shaping students gender identity. The goal of this study is to answer a question how and what kind of a girlhood are the science textbooks, based on the most recent curriculum, producing? My research questions are how and what kind of girl's agency is produced and how in the most recent textbooks have the ways of producing girlhood changed. My master's thesis consists of a theoretical literature review section of girlhood and production of girlhood in basic education textbooks and of a research section. I focus especially on Finnish research literature even though there is only a limited amount of research on the topic conducted. In the research section I study both qualitative and quantitative production of girlhood. In the quantitative part of the study I quantify the research material i.e. I calculate representation of gender in the textbooks. The qualitative section focuses on girl's agency and on the changes in the production of girlhood. In the light of the research I have conducted I can state that there has been a progress in the gender equality: quantitative inequality does not exist in the new textbooks. However, there was still a very traditional representation of the gender and its agency. There was development in the variety of girl's agency but there were still major deficiencies in especially intersectionality; the girls were still all but white, middle class, and heterosexual.

Objectives. The aim of this study is to analyze pupil agency and pupil initiatives in the formal context of school. Based on previous studies, the traditional school is claimed to offer limited possibilities for student agency and initiatives, even though current research and national curriculum highlight the active role of pupils. The purpose of the study is to find out what kind of initiatives pupils express during interaction in their peer groups and with the teacher, how the teacher can support the agency of pupils, and what kind of challenges the fulfillment of pupils' agency faces in the school's formal activity. Methods. This study is an ethnographic case study. The research site was a combined 5th and 6th grade class in a small comprehensive school in Southern Finland. The data was collected by videotaping and observing the class working on a Good Life Project during four school days, and also interviewing the teacher of the class. The data on pupil initiatives in peer group was collected in a Desert Island exercise of c. 3 hours. A thematic interview of the teacher was carried out at the end of the data collection period. The material was analyzed by utilizing interaction analysis and narrative approach. Two analyzers were used as a way to improve the reliability of the results. Results and conclusions. The results show that in their peer group pupils generate constructive initiatives, supportive initiatives and deconstructive initiatives in many different ways. Deconstructive initiatives could also advance activity. Pupils generated initiatives more diversely with their peers than with the teacher. In interaction with the teacher, pupils' initiatives were mostly answers to teacher's questions or questions about the task. The teacher could support the pupils' agency by using self-evaluations, giving positive feedback to pupils, using humour and creating positive interaction. The teacher was aware of the tension between agency and control in the school institution. However, the data shows that pupils in this study did not express initiatives equally. Expressing initiatives was gendered in a way that in the Desert Island exercise boys were more active than girls. There was a tense relationship between pupils' activity and passivity, and in this study this contradiction was observed as a dialectical dimension of agency.

The aim of this study was to describe the collaborative invention process of two groups of elementary school students and to analyze the emergence of matters relevant to agency. The purpose of the study was to examine how the invention process proceeded in the target groups, and what kind of issues relevant to agency were apparent in the activities and discourse of the learners. The research data for this study consisted of video recordings and structured interview material of two groups of elementary school’s 5th grade students (N=8). The groups participated in a collaborative invention project combining different school subjects in the Helsinki capital area during the spring of 2017. Videos were coded with ELAN multimedia annotator to build striped process rugs visualizing the students’ discourse and action during the invention process. The research data was analyzed in three levels by using content analysis method: from the general description of the invention project to the selection of situations relevant from the agency standpoint, further to the more detailed discourse and action manifesting the emergence of matters relevant to agency. Indications of the issues essential for agency were found in the discourse and actions of the students. Students perceived their own knowledge and expertise through their personal strengths and weaknesses. The activities of the groups were co-regulated by taking responsibility for the activities of the group, by regulating other group members behavior, involving all group members to common activities and collectively overcoming obstacles. Group members provided social support and encouragement to each other, and all learners participated in group work and social interaction. Learners strove to make compromises, work together and keep the group together. The subject-specific expressions related to the invention were divided into the themes of producing the invention, taking responsibility for it and finding the invention meaningful. The results of the study provide insight into how learners’ agency can manifest itself in a collaborative invention project and how participating in such project can support the development of learners’ agency. The importance of this study culminates in the development of pedagogical models that support learners and their agency in a collaborative learning process.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine classroom teacher’s views on participation and agency in primary school’s visual arts education. The study aims to find out how classroom teachers define the concepts of participation and agency and in what ways it is found possible to promote these things in school in general, and visual arts classes in particular. The theoretical framework of participation and agency is based on the socio-pedagogical approach of participation. The promotion of participation and agency is viewed in social and political contexts and examined through the concept of engaged pedagogy. The study was conducted as a qualitative interview survey. A total of six people were interviewed for the study and the interviews were conducted as semi-structured thematic interviews. Interviews were conducted both by using online connections and in person. All the interviewees were working as classroom teachers or special class teachers that had taught visual arts to primary school students. According to the study, classroom teacher’s views in participation and agency could be categorized as opportunities to influence, personal experiences of meaningfulness and active acts. The views in promoting participation and agency in school and in visual arts education adapted the above-mentioned categories. Participation and agency were promoted via social and political means. The opportunities to impact were associated to both political and everyday decision-making. Promoting student’s identities and internal motivation were emphasized in the personal experiences of meaningfulness. Active acts consisted of dialogical and interactive working methods that emphasized responsibility among students.

The focus of my study was to find out, what kind of parlances concerning welfare service work at child welfare institution employees construct and what kind of agency is available to - and possible for -them in that particular context. The study offers information that can be used when developing welfare service work at child welfare institutions, and brings up the employees' talk in a situation where child protection is said to be in a critical state in our society and in which general societal discussion has focused mainly on the work of social workers. For this study, I interviewed six employees working for three different child protective service institutions. Two of the interviewees were male, and four were female. I analyzed the research material by means of discourse analysis. The results include four parlances, which are parlance of care, parlance of control, employee-focused parlance and societal parlance. In the parlances of care and control, the focus was on the relationship between the employee and the child (client). Employee-focused parlance was the strongest one. It represented talk where the work itself seemed to be organised through – and was dependent on - the welfare service employee. In these kinds of situations, the employees' personal qualities like gender, attitude and personality were spoken of as central to being and acting at work. In talk, the use of personality for work purposes was either approved of or settled against. There was also talk concerning welfare service work at child welfare institutions in relation to society. This parlance was used to defend child welfare service institutions' place in the field of foster care. The typical things, which are common in welfare service work widely, guided the child welfare service employees' agency. The employees' agency was, from this point of view minor. From the point of view of society it was limited to social political decisions, child protection law and other agents working outside the institution. Inside the child welfare institution agency was limited to the wellbeing of children who lived in a child welfare institution, and the day-to-day structure in the institution. Also, in talk, the employees' agency was gendered. According to the results, however, the employees also have power over their own way of being in the context of work. That is also why the employees' agency seemed to be strong. The results also showed that welfare service employees' agency is based on their ability to adjust to the situational and general demands put upon them in their work.

Due to savings the traditional services provided by the welfare state have been weakened. These savings have adversely affected particularly the disadvantaged people, and part of the risk of social exclusion has increased. The third sector or non-governmental organisations, in this study Icehearts, will work to prevent exclusion starting from the pre-school stage. The theoretical background in this study is constructed from the concepts of change in welfare state, non governmental organisations, inter professional collaboration and identity. Organisation's educator-coaches coach teams, with the principle that everybody can play. Educators work as part of the inter professional collaboration, which is in boys and their families' life. Educators work at boys' school; organise afternoon activities, exercises in chosen sport, they are part of the multi-professional network in formal discussions and meetings including social, psychiatric, outpatient clinic and student welfare. Educators' work-identity or inter professional collaboration has not been studied before, similar studies has been done among social- and care work professionals. This thesis has studied the work of educators and identity as part of a multi-professional network. How educator-coaches' work-identity is constructed in their talk. How the interprofessional collaboration is described in their talk. Educators work mainly in the school district, both physically and mentally. Interesting is how this context was brought up in educators' speech. The study material was collected by theme interviews in November 2014 by interviewing six Iceheart's educator-trainer. They had worked 4-14 years in the organisation. The data was analysed with qualitative content-analysis. Experiences of working as a member of the interprofessional group differed depending from the context. Typical for educators seemed to be their tendency to adapt and use the language other professionals use. The underlying factors behind professional identity were the personal characteristics, Icehearts as organisation and other educators' support, personal values and the desire to help. Agency as part of the professional identity emerged as an opportunity to work with their own personality and their own way. There are no detailed instructions or only one right way to work as an educator and this was seen as an opportunity. It would be interesting and meaningful to study the effect of the organisation and educators from state point of view, what is the organisation's role in preventing exclusion. The multi professional co-operation could be studied with a change laboratory method in order to improve collaboration to benefit boys and families in large.

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.

The child's natural activity is play and the child's creativity is reflected through it. The starting point for this thesis is Vygotsky's (1978) perception of the importance of play for the child's development. In early childhood education, play is an important activity and play is appreciated. In kindergarten, children's play can be free or guided activities. Children's play can be supported in a variety of ways through stimulating creative activities. One of these methods can be drama education, where children can practice imagination, throwing up and improvisation. Play also needs space, peace and time, and the kindergarten can support or prevent the realization of play. The material for this thesis was collected using an ethnographic method at the Uusimaa daycare. The researcher worked part-time in the kindergarten in a group of 12 children and during this time she collected material through multimedia observation, using video shooting, recording, and interviewing the children. The information produced by the children was the object of interest. The children's participation in the study was supported by listening to them using the storycrafting method. The children made drawing with the same idea. The results of the thesis, play and creativity in this group was reflected in role- and imagination play. Drama education was one way of working in the group, and the drama play also inspired children in free play. The central play -supporting and blocking activity was the space -time structures. Playing peace, sufficient time supported the free play. Disagreements during play, interruptions to play and adults´ perceptions of play prevented free play.