Browsing by Subject "yhdenvertaisuus"

The reform of vocational upper secondary education is mentioned to be one of the biggest development project in the field of education in Finland. It targeted to transform and update vocational upper secondary education comprehensively for instance by renewing funding system and reducing the amount of vocational qualifations. My main focus was in the questions of equality in this project and I used Capability approach as a tool for that. Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum have introduced the approach and they argue that societies that are seeking equality should offer the basic capabilities for all citizens. Inequality and deprivation are seen as an outcome of lacking enough capabilities. In Finland the approach is a new way of viewing the aspects of equality in education. One of the goals in this thesis was to figure out what are the capabilities that vocational education has to offer. The field of vocational education is wide. I focused on the viewpoint of young people who are studying vocational upper secondary qualifications. The aim of this master’s thesis is to examine how the changes that influence on younger students are constructed in the speech of reforms development phase and how the capabilities are constructed in the speech, especially the capabilities that vocational education offers to young students. The Ministry of education and culture have launched a YouTube-channel that shares video material on the current projects in education. I used the material on the reform of vocational education as the data of this research. The material includes videos that introduce the guidelines of reform and shared conversation of them. Material also shows recordings from the workshops that were held during the development process. Experts on vocational education were participated in the development phase and the data is based on their speech in recorded workshops. I analysed the data using discourse analysis. As a result I constructed five hegemonic discourses that were improved competence, educational market, individuality, offered abilities and offered possibilities. In these discourses were constructed a future where young students will be able to achieve enough capabilities and better competence, although there were many aspects of equality that weren’t discussed at all. Conclusions of this theses is that equality in vocational education still needs attention.

The purpose of this study is to find out how Karelian language and culture are described in Finnish primary school textbooks. Karelian is one of the minority languages of Finland, used by approximately 30 000 people in Finland at different levels. More speakers of Karelian are found in Russia. Karelian language is different from the various dialects of Karelia. The research approach of the study is based on the methods of the European language diversity for all (ELDIA) research project, which has been used to study the status of Finno-Ugric minority languages in particular and the possibilities for language learning and revitalisation. Karelian language is highly endangered, although there has been some increase in revitalisation efforts in recent years. ELDIA's findings suggest that the availability of language products (e.g. textbooks), improves both the access of language speakers to their language and the status of the language in general. It was therefore decided to investigate how Karelian language and culture are presented in Finnish textbooks for basic education. Previous studies have shown that textbooks have a major impact on pupils' perceptions and attitudes. The research method used was discourse analysis with thematic analysis, which divided the references to Karelian language and culture found in textbooks into three different groups. The study included all primary school textbooks from three Finnish publishers (Sanoma Pro, Otava, Edukustannus) in the following subjects: Finnish language and literature, history, religion and environmental studies. The total number of books studied was 146 and they were in line with the 2014 basic education curriculum. Included were pupils' books, exercise books and teachers' guides. A total of 25 references to Karelian language and culture were found in the textbooks examined. These findings were divided into three different discourses according to the topic in which Karelian was mentioned. These three discourses are history, Kalevala and minority languages. There were 10 mentions related to history, 7 related to Kalevala and 8 related to minority languages. Most of the mentions were in the same textbooks. The mentions of the history theme were either related to the geographical area of Karelia, treaty of Nöteborg or the Karelian tribes. In connection with Kalevala, Elias Lönnrot was mentioned as having made collecting trips to Viena Karelia. Karelian poem singers were also mentioned. Mentions of minority languages were mostly part of a longer list of minority languages. All the findings were no more than two sentences long. Karelian language is therefore not described in a comprehensive way in this study. Based on ELDIA and other previous research presented, textbooks could play their part in improving the status of minority languages by telling more about them, giving a voice to speakers of the languages, and telling about minority languages and cultures on an equal footing with majority languages.

Understanding the concept of participation and its connection to equity is emphasized as education becomes increasingly diverse. Participation has been raised as one of the counterforces in the fight against inequality and therefore requires a strong knowledge base on equity. However, research shows that participation is not achieved equally and that children have unequal opportunities to belong and take part in a group. In my thesis, I look at participation in relation to inequality. The aim of this study is to identify and find the meanings, descriptions and solutions given to participation from the perspective of equality and examine how the solutions are formed. The research material in this study was fifteen opinion pieces in Helsingin Sanomat from 2011–2021. Opinion pieces in newspapers serve as a forum for current topics in education. Opinion pieces produced in a particular context made to influence can be used to locate individual experiences and connect them to larger societal issues. The dimensions of inequality in the context of education were identified from the opinion pieces. In the research material, participation was described through three (3) discourses: participation as strengthening, limited participation, and participation as documents and obligations. Solutions were constructed through five (5) discourses: individuality, hearing, belonging, responsibility, and investment. In the research material, parents and experts stood out as authors. I analyze the material in a discourse analytical framework, distinguishing broader discourses describing and producing partici- pation. In addition to this, I also examined the solutions by means of rhetorical analysis, which enabled a more accurate linguistic examination of their construction. Based on my research, participation is identified as a strengthening force, a prerequisite for learning, and a gateway to equity. However, in practice, participation is not achieved equally. Resource inequality and existential inequality are identifiable forms of inequality in participatory descriptions in the opinion pieces. Experiences of non-belonging expose an unequal position in society. Discourses that build solutions are linked to societal values about economic interests, increased understanding, and the privilege of being heard. The requirement for teachers, tutors and adults working with children is to continuously develop themselves and to break down practices that maintain inequality. In addition to inclusive pedagogy, teachers need to know and identify discriminatory practices and structures as well as separations between children. It is essential that the dimensions of participation and the different opportunities for children to have experiences of participation are identified and made visible.

The purpose of this master's thesis is to examine the discourses of disability in the equality plans prepared in primary schools. The aim is to find out the meanings of disability in the material, as well as the positions and possibilities offered to a disabled student in discourses. Although disability is a fairly widely studied phenomenon, previous research on disability in the context of equality plans is not available. In this master's thesis, the construction of disability in inclusive educational documents was examined critically, recognizing that the educational equality of students with disabilities cannot be considered to have been achieved in the Finnish education system. The material used in the dissertation consisted of thirty equality plans drawn up in primary schools. The material was approached using the perspectives of discourse analysis. The concept of discourse refers to the relatively established use of language in a particular field or situation. With the help of discourse analysis, it is possible to study both the organization of the text and the consequences of language use. Disability was constructed in the research material in four different discourses, which were named the discourses of support and need, accessibility, difference, and health status. The discourses describe disability in a predictable and culturally established way. The positions offered to a student with a disability appeared to be limited and narrow. On the other hand, a student with a disability remained in the material as invisible, which appears to be problematic in the documents that are supposed to describe the inclusiveness in the education.

In recent years, secular ethics education has increasingly risen to a prominent position in societal discourse because there has been a discussion about how to organize worldview education in Finland. The discussion has notably emphasized perspectives on equality and the needs arising from due the post secular changes in society. In this qualitative research, conducted for a master's thesis, I focus on the perspectives constructed about secular ethics as a school subject in discussions on social media platforms. The aim of this research is to provide more information and understanding about secular ethics education, examining it from the perspective of layman’s information, as an everyday knowledge. In general, laymen play a significant role in influencing to worldview education, as they engage in societal discussions, participate in political decision-making, and, as a parents, make decisions regarding their children's matters related to beliefs. In this study I investigate layman’s everyday information views based on social constructionism theory, which interprets social reality as being constructed through linguistic processes and interactions in society. The way reality is constructed is in significant role as shaping reality itself, in this context, secular ethics as a school subject. This is a relevant matter for the subject because, for instance, it is not mandatory for students without a religious affiliation to study it. Also, the subject may undergo changes in the future as part of the renewal of worldview education. I interpret the views constructed by anonymous online discussion participants in relation to the nature of the subject, the curriculum, regulations, research, and phenomenal changes in relation to religious, worldviews and society. The questions for the research are: 'How do anonymous online discussion participants construct views on secular ethics education?' and, as a sub-question, 'What are the prevailing interpretation strategies for constructing the views related to secular ethics as a subject?'. Research data is collected from six discussions debated between years 2016–2022 on online forum of www.vauva.fi. Topics were focused on secular ethics education and they comprised the amount of 275 comments. I analyzed my qualitive research data with an interpretative approach using discourse analysis to identify hegemonic and less hegemonic discourses in the comments of online discussion participants. I define hegemonic discourses as the most common ways of construct the views, and less hegemonic discourses as the rarer but present ways of assigning views on the subject. The analyze revealed that the most common ways to construct the view of the subject involved by making a positive affirmation of the secular ethics’ by constructing the view by comparing it dichotomous way how Evangelical Lutheran religions’ education is taught, by value choices and the best interest of the child, as well as a submitting critical examinations of the model of organizing worldview education in general. Less common ways emphasized the subject's being a ideology or the process of othering the student in the cause of studying secular ethics. I gathered the content of the most common views of the subject of secular ethics and it was based on the formatting a positive description by especially making a comparison to the subject of Evangelical Lutheran religion education, examining various dimensions of equality, emphasizing the subject’s modernity, demonstrating trust towards the subject, expressing the subject’s inadequacy in meeting changed needs of society, and need of making value choices caused by the Finnish school systems’ separative worldview education. Less common views included themes of expressing fear of othering the pupil due to studying the subject and constructing views that differed to way how secular ethics is based at curriculum and taught by emerging from it. Based on my research findings that are researched from the laymen’s everyday knowledge, secular ethics education can interpret as having a conflicting views regarding its sufficiency and adequacy as a part of Finnish worldview education. Furthermore, equality does not automatically prevail in this system which secular ethics takes a part even though it is the target of the activity’s arrangement. This observation provides additional insights for examining the Finnish worldview education within the current model of the separative worldview education and as a one sight of public opinion of the secular ethics as a school subject itself.

The topic of my thesis is the social construction of reality in Finnish children's literature. In my dissertation, I am looking for an answer to what kind of reality is constructed in Finnish children's literature. Literature is an important part of education. As society changes, it is necessary to examine what kind of reality is built in children's literature, because children's books are the part of children's reality. Children's books are a mirror where children reflect themselves and the world around them. The values, norms and attitudes that appear in literature are transmitted to the child and how the child builds a picture of reality through books. The Finnish education system has been criticized for the favoring of middle-class and white children. There is also too little diversity in Finnish education materials. The first step to appreciate and understand diversity is to become aware of the phenomena associated with it. For this reason, in my thesis I have examined the values, norms and attitudes of the most popular and newest children's books.  The theoretical framework of my dissertation is divided into two parts. I examine the research material from the perspective of social constructionism and intersectionality. In the theoretical framework, I focus on examining the language used in the material as a factor that constructs and shapes reality. From the point of view of an intersectional approach, I look at different social groups and their attention in children's books. My material consists of eight Finnish children's books, which have been selected as material according to two different principles. Four of the children's books have been selected from among the most quoted children's books of 2021. The other four books have been selected as part of the material based on their year of publication, as the thesis had an imperative to pay attention to the newest children's books as well. There are three research questions. In the first research question, I am looking for an answer to what kind of reality is constructed in the books from the point of values, norms and attitudes. In the second question, I study whether there are factors that promotes equality. In the third research question, I am searching for what kind of racism appears in the books. I divided the material into two main entities, through which reality was constructed. They are called discourses of values, norms and attitudes that differ from traditional ones and traditional values, norms and attitudes. These two entities contain a total of 15 discourses, which turned out to be relevant for the topic of my research.  The results of my thesis show that although there are more factors supporting equality in children's literature than before, the presence of diversity is low. Instead of diversity, the whiteness norm prevailed in the majority of the books. For this reason, based on the results, children belonging to the PoC (People of Color) group or other minorities do not have enough identification in my thesis literature. With the help of observed discourses, educators and teachers can in the future choose anti-racist children's books as books to read, which promote equality and prevent racism. As a whole, the thesis provides important information about the values, norms and attitudes prevailing in Finnish children's literature. Through them, educators and teachers can utilize better the power of social change hidden in children's books.