Browsing by Subject "http://www.yso.fi/onto/yso/p7214"

Purpose. Around 3-15% of all pupils have dyslexia. According to the core curriculum, student assessment should be conducted in a comprehensive way, considering students’ individual difficulties. However, assessment instructions might be considered vague. Earlier studies have also shown that teachers may perceive assessment as complicated, particularly when it comes to students with special needs. The purpose of the study is to describe, analyze and interpret how secondary school teachers experience assessment and grading of pupils with dyslexia. The purpose is also to explore how pupils are enabled to show their knowledge in an adequate way. Furthermore, teachers’ perceptions of assessment fairness with regard to pupils with dyslexia are discussed. Methods. The research was conducted as a qualitative study with a phenomenographic research approach. The material consists of eight semi-structured, individual interviews with teachers working in two Swedish-speaking secondary schools i Finland. The collected material was analyzed using thematic analysis. Results and conclusions. Teachers expressed a genuine will to support pupils with dyslexia and they stated that they could assess pupils in a flexible way. Cooperation with special education teachers was perceived as important. The versatility of the core curriculum was regarded as an advantage for students with dyslexia. The most used accommodations were oral responses, extended time and test writing in a small group. Double assessment, prioritized content and adapted tests were also used, but teachers had different approaches. A student’s positive lesson activity could lead to a better grade. Language teachers struggled with the assessment of misspelled words. IT software was not widely used. The teachers stated that they did their best to take students’ difficulties into consideration when giving them grades, and they normally also thought their assessment was fair. The study shows that teachers do their very best to assess students with dyslexia, but there are differences in procedures between teachers, which might lead to unequal assessment.

This Master's thesis is part of a project on marginalisation in school. The main focus of this study is to review how eighth-graders, reflect on and challenge structures of gender, gender roles, sexuality and heteronormativity in school. Although the school as an institution should be safe, inclusive and equal, structures that are problematic exist. The thesis used a feminist poststructuralist approach and gender was an important theme. The theoretical framework of the thesis described gender, sex and sexuality through both a societal perspective and a school perspective. The material for the study was collected from 2013 to 2014. The sample in this thesis consisted of 11 individual interviews and 4 group interviews with students in the eighth grade in a school in the capital area in Finland. The method of analysis was qualitative content analysis. How students challenge gender roles, heteronormativity and sexuality is something that there is not much research about. Hence, it was central to analyse what kind of structures exist in the school. It emerged that the students have to put up with stereotypical gender roles, threats of violence, appearance requirements, offensive name-calling, and a pressure to select a suitable hobby. Boys behave violently towards girls to a greater extent than the other way around. The results also indicate that the school is a very unsafe place for students with a non-heterosexual orientation. In school there is in general very little discussion about heteronormativity and sexuality. There were students in school who challenged the norms. There was a group of girls that explicitly challenged the structures. They questioned girl- and boy colours, and that educational materials, practices and environments in the school were heteronormative and gender-divided. Although there has been a change from previous research in that students are challenging structures, results indicate that gender roles and heteronormative structures still exist in school, which is problematic. Overall the thesis demonstrates that it is very hard to be a student in the eighth grade today. Bullying and excluding structures in school are common. The schools should actively review their own practices. Students who challenge the structures give hope to that despite everything, small changes in the everyday life in school are possible.

Tämän nuorisotutkimuksen kentälle asettuvan laadullisen tutkielman kohteena ovat koulua käymättömät nuoret. Koulua käymättömyydellä tarkoitetaan tässä tutkielmassa erittäin runsaita poissaoloja koulusta. Koulua käymättömyyden tarkastelujakso rajautuu peruskoulun viimeisille vuosiluokille (7.-9.). Koulupoissaoloja sivutaan useissa eri tieteenalojen tutkimuksissa ja niissä näkökulma koulua käymättömyyteen on usein yksilön ongelmista kumpuava; nuori asetetaan kouluun sopeutumattoman tai koulunkäynnistä kieltäytyvän toimijan rooliin. Tässä tutkielmassa aihetta tarkastellaan relationaalisemmin sosiaalisten suhteiden sekä muun muassa syrjäytymiskeskustelun kautta ja paneudutaan koulua käymättömyyden katveeseen jääneeseen näkökulmaan eli siihen, millaisia kokemuksia nuorilla itsellään on tapahtumien kulusta runsaiden koulupoissaolojen taustalla. Tutkielman teoreettinen viitekehys on sekä kasvatussosiologinen että kulttuurintutkimuksellinen. Tutkimusstrategisesti tutkielma noudattaa narratiivista tutkimusta, jonka mukaisesti yksilölliset, tarinoina kerrottavat kokemukset nähdään merkityksellisinä ja aineisto rakentaa todellisuutta. Aineisto koostuu seitsemän nuoren tarinasta, joita jäsennetään ensin sisällönanalyysilla, ja toiseksi nuorten kerronnasta rakennetaan kolme tyyppitarinaa narratiivisen kerronnan ulottuvuuden analyysilla. Tutkielman olennainen tulos on havainto, ettei koulua käymättömyys ole nuorten kertomuksissa keskiössä, vaan osa suurempaa kokonaisuutta, jota nimitetään tässä tutkielmassa kumulatiiviseksi marginaalisuudeksi. Analyysin mukaan yhteistä kaikille aineiston nuorten kertomuksille on prosessin eteneminen erilaisten marginaaliin työntävien ja siellä pitävien tekijöiden episodeina. Koulukiusatun tyyppitarinan, tuetta jääneen nuoren tyyppitarinan sekä peruskoulusta selviämisen sankaritarinan kautta pyritään luomaan ymmärrystä koulua käymättömien nuorten tarinoiden päämääristä sekä niitä vastustavia tekijöitä, joiden selättäminen olisi olennaista kouluun palaamiseksi.