Browsing by master's degree program "Muuttuvan kasvatuksen ja koulutuksen maisteriohjelma"

Objectives. The purpose of this thesis was to explore how students perceive queer in/visibility in higher education. Queer is defined as a concept that includes queer pedagogy, queer theory, as well as queer as an identity. Previous research has shown that queering educational institutions was not sufficiently happening. This study aims to give an overview of the current state of queer visibility in higher education by investigating how students in one education faculty perceive queer in higher education. The major question driving the inquiry was if and in what way queer was visible or invisible to the students. Methods. The study was conducted by applying a thematic analysis to participants responses to a writing prompt. The thematic analysis was operationalised through inductive and deductive coding. The deductive coding was based on the theoretical concepts of invisibility as well as on the Ward-Gale model. Inductive coding was used to complement the analysis. Results and conclusions. The results of the study show a profound invisibility of queerness in higher education and limited visibility. Queer visibility was mostly connected to individual students’ visibility and the queer community. There is a clear lack of visibility in staff, curriculum, and higher education structures. The outcomes demonstrate the harm this can do on students’ well-being. Some participants portray being queer as something that is hard but also that it could have been easier if there had been more education on the topic. The study initially aimed to expand the Ward-Gale model; however, the results demonstrate that elements of the existing model are not being implemented in the higher education institution that served as the site of this study. I suggest that further research needs to be done on this topic and strongly urges institutions of higher education to increase queer visibility. Furthermore, I suggest implementing teacher trainings, making use of queer teaching materials, encouraging teachers to queer their teaching style, and organising queer events. One way to begin enhancing queer visibility is to implement the Ward-Gale model that is presented in this study. The article will be submitted for publishing to the European Journal of Higher Education.

Objectives. The social role of children has been established over the years and the strengthening of children’s participation is strictly based on international human rights obligations such as the Constitution Law and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Several theorists such as Hart (1992), Shier (2001), Lundy (2007) and Turja (2011) have also defined children’s participation creating different models. Although the importance of children’s participation and hearing children’s opinions are emphasized in several studies and reports (E.g., Karlsson, 2012; Stenvall, 2021; Turja, 2011; Weckström, 2021), it is not always implemented appropriately. The aim of this study is to describe children’s participation experiences and opportunities to participate in decision making. This study focuses on children in ECEC and in 6th grade in three municipalities with different demographical locations and population. Another purpose is to examine the role of adults in participation through children's narratives. In particular, the research makes use of Lundy's (2007) and Turja's (2011) participation models, where participation is seen as a multidimensional entity. The research focuses on the experiences of children in ECEC and children in the 6th grade of primary school to see how age affects those participation experiences. In addition, the review considers the effects of geographical location on the realization of equal participation. Methods. This thesis has been done as part of a sub-study belonging to a larger multidisciplinary research project that was commissioned and funded by the Ministry of Education: 'Multidisciplinary research project on the effects of demographic trends to education' and the sub study 'Equity, children's rights, and the child impact assessment.’ This study was carried out in workshop interviews with children and the data was analyzed using theory-based content analysis. Results and conclusions The data revealed many factors strengthening and weakening children's participation. The results of this study are linked to environments and communities. Children's participation is formed, and it culminates in community and respectful interactions.