Browsing by Subject "yhteiskuntaoppi"

The purpose of this study was to determine what kinds of representations of human rights are presented in a ninth grade social studies textbook, Forum 9. The results are interpreted from the viewpoint of human rights education. By means of the qualitative analysis of the textbook, the aim of this study is to indirectly enhance the education of human rights in social studies. The research material in this study consisted of a ninth grade social studies textbook, Forum 9, and its sections of texts. This study was based on qualitative research methods and the main research method can be defined as discourse analysis. I used three different approaches to examine how human rights appear in the Forum 9 textbook. In the first approach, I examined how the articles of The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights appeared in the textbook. In the second approach, I compared those contents in Forum 9 textbook that were related to human rights, to the contents and objectives of teaching social studies required in the national curriculum. In the third approach, I identified the rhetorical methods used in the arguments related to human rights and interpreted their possible ideological consequences with the help of rhetorical discourse analysis. The results indicate that the aims of human rights education do not seem to be achieved in the best possible way with the use of Forum 9. The presentation of some of the human rights were inadequate. Forum 9 primarily meets the requirements of the national curriculum. However, some flaws occurred in the presentation of human rights and international agreements on human rights, as well as in presenting the universal significance and the tenets of human rights. The argumentation related to human rights was based on versatile rhetorical methods. However, the social effects of the used argumentation may cause some unclarity. At the same time when the textbook underlines the importance of human rights, it produces images of a good state of human rights in Finland. It would be more important to represent the true global state of human rights. In addition, it is crucial to teach students critical thinking and reasoning. Given the fact that textbooks often play an important role in Finnish schools, these results give teachers reason to consider teaching human rights with a broader scope.

In this thesis, the participation and action-based learning in exercises of primary school social study textbooks are evaluated. The purpose of this research is to evaluate exercises guiding to participation and action-based learning in textbooks and how these exercises support such activities. Another aim is to assess how textbooks on social studies acknowledge, support and reinforce the functional nature of social studies. The data consist of altogether eight textbooks from two separate series of textbooks (Forum by Otava & Vaikuttaja by Sanoma Pro) encompassing both reading and exercise books. The research is a theory-based content analysis, the theoretical reference frame of which is used to illustrate the participation and functionality present in textbooks. The theoretical reference frame focuses on problem-based, experience and societal learning and through the goals of the curriculum acknowledges the theory of taxonomy for learning by Krathwohl & Anderson. The exercises on social study textbooks are classified with the help of these theories by creating various manifestations for participation and functionality. The obtained results show that the textbooks include exercises that increase participation and action-based learning where learning is guided on individual, pair and group levels. The exercises for individuals guide to the reflection of one’s own life and to the acknowledgement of constructs in the local community. On the other hand, pair and group activities guide to interaction and introduce the importance of such interaction in society. The exercises on textbooks support the levels of adoption, cognition and functionality emphasizing the reinforcement of thought constructs. The data do not directly answer planning, thought and execution in the learning process of an individual pupil albeit the textbook exercises do present the need for participation and functionality. The typical functional nature of social studies is reinforced with cognitive and functional exercises of different cognitive levels that are especially practiced as pair and group exercises.