Browsing by department "Käyttäytymistieteet"

Objectives. School is an important context for adolescents’ growth and development, but quite little is known about their mutual social relations prevailing in school. In this paper, I tried to answer to this need by examining the relations between lower secondary school students from the perspectives of hanging out, school help and socio-digital participation. I investigate the structures of the networks, as well as, how the networks of genders differ from another and how different patterns of using technology are related to the networks. Moreover, I examine the networks of active and passive school helpers and the differences between schools. Methods. The data were collected from 7th graders (N = 192) from three lower secondary schools in Helsinki and concerned grade-level networks within school. The data were collected with a social network questionnaire and a questionnaire about socio-digital participation and digital skills. The methods included social network analysis (SNA) and statistical methods. With SNA I examined the structures of the networks and with statistical methods I classified participants according to level of school help and patterns of socio-digital participation and examine between group differences with t-test and ANOVA. Results and implications. The results showed that students had seven friends on average, and the hanging out networks were the biggest and densest of the examined networks. There were not gender differences regarding number of friends, but females had denser hangout networks than males. On average, school help was shared among six students. Providing help was common in general, and only few people did not take part in school help networks. Females sought and provided help more actively than males and had denser school help related networks. The closer analysis of school help groups showed that active school helpers (n = 74) had generally larger networks than passive school helpers (n = 118). On average, students took part in technology mediated activity with five students. There was no gender difference in the sizes of the networks of socio-digital participation, but again females had denser networks than males. There were differences between basic users (n = 102), gamers (n = 66) and creative participators (n = 20) mostly only in digital skills and help seeking so that creative participators had higher skills and they were especially active to seek help in their schoolwork. The visualizations of the networks, in turn, revealed that students’ networks were quite homophilic in terms of gender and student’s class. Overall, the study indicated that many adolescents have large networks in school and helping each other in schoolwork is common, but there are also big individual differences regarding within-school networks.

In this thesis, I look at the subjectification of students of higher education in writings about students' mental health and wellbeing. My research is situated in feminist poststructuralist studies and aims to shift the focus of the discussion on students' mental health from the individual towards a more societal perspective. Informed by post-methodological theories of inquiry, my approach to both data and writing can be characterised as drifting. The data of the research consists of the "Stories" section of the website of Nyyti ry, a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting student mental health and wellbeing. The section contains stories that students have written of their everyday life. This data is enhanced by autoethnographic elements since also I am a university student to whom matters of mental health and wellbeing come close to home. Neoliberal higher education and the psy-complex serve as the context of my research. Together, they shape the circumstances and provide the discourses that students draw from in order to grasp the possibilities and limits of their lives. I ask how the ideal student subject is constituted in the stories, how the psy-discourse functions together with neoliberalism, and how the students make use of the psy-discourse. I have read the data discursively with the concepts of power and subject, inspired by a Foucauldian power analytical approach and studies on governmentality. In the research, I have used the concepts of subjectification and subjectivity to inquire upon how the students make sense of the problems and solutions related to studying and how they make themselves comprehensible within and with the help of the psy-discourse. I looked at self-help as a form of neoliberal and psychological governance that guides subjects to work on themselves. In the stories of the students, I read the (re)production and questioning of the active and entrepreneurial employee citizen. The students did not accept the neoliberal ideal as a given. Some recognised the role of the society as the producer of these pressures and questioned performance-centric ideals. The ideal subject was challenged with tools provided by the psy-discourse and in this way the discourse was made to serve the needs and ends of the students themselves. However, the solutions mostly remained on an individual level. I conclude my thesis by asking how we could (re)build the study environment into one that would provide means for people with varying dis/abilities and needs to get by and even flourish. I suggest that this requires the critical questioning of our ideals as well as a reorganisation of societal and institutional circumstances.

This is a research on how the manifestation of critical thinking skills of secondary school students was supported in the different iterations of the Global Challenges phenomenom-based learning course. Phenomenom-based learning (PhBL) is one alternative on how to teach critical information gathering and processing skills – also known as knowledge building – which are vital in the modern society. The implemented models of PhBL, however, lack foundational research and they’ve been criticized to be a waste of time. This thesis introduces how PhBL can be carried out in a pedagogically meaningful way by utilizing the theories of project-based learning, inquiry-based learning and collaborative knowledge building. Three years of design work resulted in a research-based model on how to organize a PhBL course for secondary education. The model is justified and criticized in the framework of the national curriculum and previous research. This thesis follows the design-based research (DBR) protocol by describing the needs, different processes and the final product of the design. Research material was gathered from the Global Challenges course that was organized from 2017 to 2019 by Helsinki University Science Education Center for students of secondary schools. The gathered material is mostly qualitative, constisting of the course materials, participant observation carried out by the university students and narrative self-evaluations, course artefacts and summative feedbacks from the secondary school students. In the first iteration 10 out of 19 attending students were observed, whereas in the second iteration all seven attending students were observed. The observation reports of the first two iterations were subjected to empirical problem analysis. In the third iteration participant observation was no longer carried out, and all material consists of the course assignments that the 17 attending students submitted in to the created MOOC web-learning environment. The manifestation of the critical thinking skills on the secondary school students’ course assignments in 2nd and 3rd iterations were comparatively analyzed with The Vocabulary of Critical Thinking Skills (2009) by Phil Washburn. A successfull practice of phenomenom-based learning required well defined structure and guidance. The goals of the course were met only partially in the first iterations, because the freedom and fun didn’t motivate the students to invest in the knowledge building process. The elements implemented in the last iteration supported meeting the goals considerably more efficiently than the model of free knowledge creation. The manifestation of the critical thinking skills was connected to the ability to follow the structures modelled after the Progressive inquiry. The conclusion was that the structures of PhBL must be built up carefully, if they are to challenge the traditional subject learning model in a pedagogically meaningful way.

Target: This study examines school culture, teachers’ professional development and school’s development needs through teachers’ experience. The aim of the study was to examine the following three themes: 1) How do the teachers’ experience the school culture, 2) How do teachers’ experience their professional development and expertise and 3) What kind of development needs do the teachers bring out in the interviews. Method: The research data was gathered from a school located in the Helsinki Metropolitan area and it consisted of semi-structured interview material from 12 teachers’ of the target school. The data was analysed by qualitative content analysis. I grouped and thematised the interview data, coded and categorized meanings related to the themes identified, and finally, analysed the interdependencies between the categories and meanings. Findings and conclusions: The findings of this study indicated that teachers’ experience the school culture as collaborative in terms of working closely together, helping each other and sharing knowledge. The culture is based on inclusion, supported by versatile working methods, like group pedagogy and co-teaching. Phenomenon-based learning assists in integrating teachers’ knowhow across subject and class levels and engages students in the planning and implementation of teaching. The teacher expertise is a process that progressively develops both at individual and community levels. Teacher activity plays a major role both in expanding professional development and in creating a personal network. The school’s development needs were related to every challenge, such as limiting the burden of developmental projects and operational goals, and utilizing digitalization in teaching. The result of this research indicated that at best, the school functions as a learning community that is open, reflective and willing to learn, utilizing diverse working methods and delivering transversal competence. The learning community creates the conditions for professional development and knowledge sharing. Based on the results of this research, the school’s culture can be further developed, supporting the involvement and well-being of both teachers and students.

This study is an article-type master's thesis, and its purpose was to describe the discussion about the school choice on a Finnish online discussion forum. The research questions were: How is school choice discussed in an online discussion forum? What kind of reasons for school choice are there on online discussion forums? In this study, school choice refers to choices away from a local school. Previous studies have shown that school choice is associated with educational differentiation. In Finland, research of the school selection has been carried out using interview and questionnaire form, statistical data and official documents. The material in this study complements Finnish school choice research, bringing a new perspective into it. The study contributes to the debate about school choice and the differentiation and specialization of primary schools, and also aims to increase understanding of school choice. The material of the study consists of a discussion of school choice, which took place on a dis-cussion forum called Vauva, produced by Sanoma media Finland. The data was collected by using keywords (school * AND selection OR school selection). The material consists of 79 threads where school choice was discussed. The discussion took place in 2005-2015. Quali-tative content analysis and thematic design were used as research methods. The study showed that the school choice debate is multidimensional. In the forum, the authors sought information and shared views and experiences. The material included talk of schools considered to be good or weak and indications of the importance of the school’s reputation. Ethnic and socio-economic criteria were linked to the choice of school, ie factors related to the students' family background, well-being and safety, as well as criteria related to teaching. The criteria for school choice were combined with a discussion of different residential areas, and the quality of schools was seen to be related to the characteristics of the residential area. In the study, school choice is also linked to housing policy issues. The article was published in 2018 in Finnish Yearbook of Sociology of Education vol. 2: Promises of and Faith in Education. Valkendorff, T. 2018. Discussion of School Choice and the “problem” of local school. In. Silvennoinen, H., Kalalahti, M. & Varjo, J. (eds.) Promises of and Faith in Education. Research in Educational Sciences 79. Jyväskylä: Finnish Educational Research Association FERA. [In Finnish]

This thesis examines children’s citizenship in recent empirical research in the field of child-hood studies. The thesis will examine the questions, themes and theoretical approaches that have framed the studies of children’s citizenship. Childhood studies is a multidisciplinary field and the research concerning children’s citizenship is embedded within multifaceted social and political contexts. Children’s relationship with the citizenship is unsettled. Children are being given many rights, responsibilities and possibilities to participate but at the same time they are excluded from citizenship. Children’s place as becoming citizens has been persistent in societies where especially political citizenship remains a field fully open only for adults. This under-standing frames the recent research of children’s citizenship. The study data consists of 17 research articles that are examining children’s citizenship through empirical data. These articles were reviewed and analysed applying narrative analysis. The study data shows that children’s citizenship is constructed in social, political and historical contexts. Political and legislative structures are the basis of children’s social participation. In in-stitutionalised settings, children’s participation is enabled in participatory activities. These par-ticipatory settings facilitate children’s agency and advocacy but also demonstrate some re-strictions. The approaches of lived citizenship have opened new interpretations of the ways that children enact citizenship. The studied articles show that citizenship is a concept that illumi-nates the aspects of the relationship between children and adults and may generate some under-standing of ethical encounters. Examining the marginal positions of citizenship is helpful in discussing children’s place in society. Citizenship as a concept unfolds the different aspects of inclusion and exclusion in society.

Aims. The use of digital media by adolescents is diverse and different from previous generations. Knowledge on the relationship between the use of digital media and gender or well-being is still relatively limited. This study investigated what kind of user groups of socio-digital participation exist among high school students, and whether these user groups vary in gender, excessive internet use, life satisfaction, school engagement, school burnout, and symptoms of depression. Methods. The study questionnaire (N = 1108) was collected as a part of the Bridging the Gaps project in the Spring 2018 from the second-year high school students of 12 different high schools in Helsinki. Of the respondents, n = 614 (55.9%) were girls and n = 393 (35.8%) were boys. The rest of the respondents stated that they were gender-neutral or did not answer the gender question. The user groups of socio-digital participation among high school students were examined by two-step cluster analysis, gender differences were examined by cross-tabulation and x^2 independence test. The differences between user groups in well-being and excessive internet use were examined by using Multivariate Analysis of Covariance, where gender was controlled. Results and conclusions. Five different socio-digital participation user groups were found among high school students: 1.) mainly engage in gaming, 2.) knowledge-oriented, 3.) leisure users, 4.) active players and creative participants and 5.) active social networkers and knowledge builders. Boys were more likely to be in game-oriented groups than girls, and girls more likely to be in social networking activity groups than boys. In addition, the adolescents who had used socio-digital devices on average or less reported less compulsive use of the Internet. User groups varied in well-being. The knowledge-oriented users reported partially better well-being compared to other user groups, but the connection was not linear. The differences between the other groups were less clear. Because the effect sizes of the differences between the groups were small, the links between well-being and the use of smart devices were also weak. Based on the results, it seems that mere active socio-digital participation or individual socio-digital activity is not related to well-being and there is a more complex connection in the background. In the future, it would be important to study more closely the use of smart devices among adolescents and their connection with well-being by looking not only at screen time, but also socio-digital activities.

Objectives. The purpose of this study is to describe the progress of the Invention project and to explain the primary embodied design actions and verbal embodied design actions that emerged from the Invention project. The inventive project and creative problem-solving skills involve different phases, and the brainstorming phase is more relevant to the building of knowledge. For this reason, this study investigates the occurrence of ideas during the time of the invention project. The role of the teacher has been and will be changing. In inventive pro-jects, the teacher has many different roles, but primarily as a supporter of learning, but also as a mentor, supervisor and facilitator. This study investigated the amount of scaffolding needed by groups in the Invention project. The research questions are: 1. How does the Invention project proceed and what design-related activities are involved in a process? 2. How does the Invention project support the teaching of creativity and problem-solving skills? 3.Scaffolding and it´s appearance in the Invention project? Methods. The research data was collected in early 2017 from one primary school in the Hel-sinki region. A total of 18 students and 6 teachers participated in the study. The data was col-lected by videotaping lessons from the Invention project. Teachers' reflective diaries were also included. The videos were rated by ELAN - Linguistic Annotator 5.4. The data produced by which was exported to Excel. In Excel, the material was color coded and resulted in a visual description of the data, progress rug. Results and conclusions. The students were very committed to the invention project and there were few non-task-related activities. Primary embodied design activities were largely in accordance with the structure and theme of the lesson. The ideas were not only present dur-ing the idea phase, but throughout the project. This reflects the starting point for building and creating knowledge throughout the project, not just in the early stages of the project. Scaf-folding was highly needed, and this should be taken into consideration when designing in-ventive projects. In this study, pair mentoring and placement of groups according to skill lev-els were used to control the need for guidance.

The aim of this study was to analyze the stories of disabled people, when it comes to their school paths and working life. I wanted to give these adults a voice and to participate in the conversation of disability policy. The ongoing discourse has lately been about the equal rights that disabled people should have within the field of education and working life. I studied the discourses that emerged from the interviewees’ narration, also mirroring these discourses to the results of earlier political studies on disabled people. The aspect of this study is sociocritical given the fact that disability was studied through the hurdles rising from the rooted structures of society. This study focused on questions how well these interviewees have been able to use their self-determination and decide on the matters that touch their own personal lives as well as what kind of experiences of exercise of power they have faced. I interviewed three adults aged 28 to 46. The approach was narrative, the narration focusing on turning points of the interviewees’ lives. The analysis part of the study results is based on critical discourse analysis, as it critically examines the society and its use of power. It became apparent that the education these interviewees have had, was largely determined by third parties instead of interviewees’ own personal choices. The interviewees had experi-enced an additional school year after comprehensive school, after which future studies for the disabled within the field of kitchen, cleaning as well as rehabilitative instruction and guid-ance for the disabled came into play. After graduating each one of the interviewees had tak-en steps towards working life through service centre, and they were involved in rehabilitative work that lasted for many years. The interviewees’ narration introduced a discourse of ”real work” based on which I examined different possibilities for these people to be part of working life. An actual employment offers an employee a far more active role than rehabilitative work. We need more information about disability and to acknowledge the fact that being disabled should by no means be an obstacle for participating in working life. The legislation concern-ing the employment of the disabled should be more precise, so that employers would not be able to take advantage of defects of rehabilitative employment such as not having to give certain rights for the disabled for long-term work.

People with a refugee background are much less likely to participate in higher education than the general population. As Finland seeks international competence, equity in higher education opportunities and an increase in the number of university graduates, the academic potential of many refugees remains unrecognized in contradictory ways of speaking and practices. This Master's thesis examines speech on refugees’ higher education and accounts that attempt to make the question of refugee access to higher education understandable. Research focuses on the foundations of social constructionism and the discursive analytical research tradition, whereby reality is seen constructed and renewed in systems of meaning structured in speech. Meaning systems arise in the research material through the concept of interpretative repertoire. The research material consists of 13 theme interviews collected for the EUCRITE project. Interviewees are staff from Aalto University learning services and from SIMHE services of two other Finnish universities, as well as students with a refugee background from Aalto University. As a result of the analysis of the data, six different interpretative repertoires were identified: victim repertoire, threat repertoire, individualistic repertoire, equality repertoire, utility repertoire and humanistic repertoire. Through analyzing the interrelationships and power relations between the repertoires, one can conclude that the most prevalent repertoires were those that define refugees as passive victims (victim repertoire), explain access to higher education as dependent upon individuals’ own activity and self-direction (individualistic repertoire), and ignore refugees’ starting points vis-à-vis higher education (equality repertoire). On the basis of the research results, it is worth asking how international knowledge potential becomes recognized. In addition, this leads us to question how the starting points of applicants with a refugee background could be taken into account in higher education institutions, not as a threat to equality but rather as a means to achieve it.