Browsing by discipline "Kasvatuspsykologia"

The aim of the study is to investigate educators' professional identity. From the narrative approach, identity is formed discursively in speech and narration. In the study, I analysed how and in which dimensions the educators, who worked in the context of co-teaching, were forming professional identity in speech and how the educators narratively positioned themselves in their communities. The investigation of professional identity in the context of co-teaching is relevant due to changing perceptions of teachership and learning. In this multiple case study, three educators were interviewed. All three educators were working in elementary schools in which they were working in the context of co-teaching. Two of the educators were working as a special education teachers and one of the educators as a school aid. All three has also participated my earlier study concerning co-teaching. The data was produced by interviewing the educators in December 2015. Positioning analysis was used in data analysis. In positioning analysis (Bamberg, 2011) the forming of professional identity was analyzed by investigating three dilemmatic dimensions in narration: (1) uniqueness vs. being the same as everyone else, (2) control vs. adaptation and (3) continuity vs. change. In analysis, 58 subject positions were analysed and then divided to four major categories: subject positions in which (1) control is originated from the subject, (2) control isn't originated from the will of a subject, but subject is in control, (3) subject adapts to the world willingly and (4) subject adapts to world unwillingly. In the subject positions in categories (1) and (3) a subject is willingly. These positions were often associated with the relationships with the other educators. In the subject positions in the categories (2) and (4) a subject is unwillingly. In the subject positions, in which an educator was forced to unwillingly control the events (2), the social category of challenging pupils emerged often. Also the subject positions, in which subject adapts to world unwillingly (4), were pictured undesirable. They were related to restrictions in time and space, institutional decision making, institutional structures and social chance including the chance in parenthood and pupils.

Tavoitteet. Tutkimuksen tavoite oli tutkia nuorten kouluminäpystyvyyden kehitystä yläasteen aikana ja selvittää, miten se on yhteydessä myönteiseen suhtautumiseen opettajaan ja kouluun, oppimisvaikeuksiin sekä koulumenestykseen. Kouluminäpystyvyys, eli uskomukset omista taidoista ja suoriutumisesta suhteessa kouluun, on aiemman tutkimuksen mukaan merkittävä tekijä koulussa siksi, että se tukee haasteisiin tarttumista lisäämällä motivaatiota, on positiivisesti yhteydessä koulumenestyksen kanssa ja voi olla merkittävä tekijä jatkokouluttautumisen kannalta. Aiemman tutkimuksen mukaan kouluminäpystyvyyden taso laskee loivasti yläasteen aikana. Menetelmät. Aineisto kerättiin osana Mind the Gap -hanketta vuosina 2014-2016. Osallistujat (7-lk N=1318, 9-lk N=884) asuivat eräässä suuressa pääkaupunkiseudun kaupungissa. Minäpystyvyyttä mitattiin suhteessa kuuteen eri oppiaineeseen. Myönteistä suhtautumista opettajaan ja kouluun sekä oppimisvaikeuksia mitattiin Terveyden ja hyvinvoinnin laitoksen Kouluterveyskyselyn väittämillä. Kaikkia väittämiä arvioitiin Likert-asteikolla. Koulumenestystä mitattiin Opetushallituksen rekisteristä haetuilla arvosanoilla. Käytin parittaista t-testiä tutkiakseni, muuttuiko minäpystyvyyden taso yläasteen aikana. Analysoin regressioanalyysillä, selittivätkö opettajaan ja kouluun suhtautuminen sekä itseraportoidut oppimisvaikeudet kou-luminäpystyvyyden tasoa sekä sitä, miten minäpystyvyys oli yhteydessä arvosanoihin. Tulokset ja johtopäätökset. Minäpystyvyyden taso oli kohtalaisen korkea yläasteen alussa ja yleinen kouluminäpystyvyys pysyi tasaisena yläasteen aikana. Oppiainekohtainen minäpystyvyys oli 7-luokalla korkeinta taito- ja taideaineissa ja matalinta fysiikassa ja järjestys sen suhteen, kuinka voimakasta minäpystyvyyttä oppiaineissa koettiin, säilyi samana yläasteen aikana. Minäpystyvyyden taso vieraiden kielten ja matematiikan osalta pysyi samana, kun taas äidinkielessä tai suomessa toisena kielenä, fysiikassa sekä biologiassa minäpystyvyyden taso kasvoi ja taito- ja taideaineissa se puolestaan laski. Myönteinen suhtautuminen opettajaan ja kouluun oli yhteydessä yläasteen alussa ja lopussa korkeampaan kouluminäpystyvyyteen, kun taas itseraportoidut oppimisvaikeudet olivat yhteydessä matalampaan kouluminäpystyvyyteen. Kouluminäpystyvyyden ja koulumenestyksen välillä havaittiin positiivisia yhteyksiä, jopa silloin kun aiempi menestys otettiin huomioon ja tämä päti erityisesti matematiikan osalta. Pro gradu -työ on osittain ristiriidassa aiemman tutkimuksen kanssa siitä, että kouluminäpystyvyys laskisi, mutta tukee aiempia tutkimuksia muilta osin ja vahvistaa käsitystä siitä, että korkea minäpystyvyys on merkittävä koulumenestystä tukeva ilmiö.

The teacher-pupil interaction affects the quality of the pupils' school attendance and school performance significantly. The teacher-pupil interaction has been studied extensively, but the pupils' own perspective on the topic has received less attention. This study examined the pupil's perceptions concerning the teacher-pupil interaction during lessons. The teacher-pupil interaction is affected by several underlying factors such as the school, the class as a learning environment, as well as gender of the pupil. In addition, previous research has shown that school transition affects the quality of the teacher-pupil interaction. The study also looked at the differences in pupils' experiences regarding the quality of the teacher-pupil interaction between schools, class, upper and lower grades and between girls and boys. This study was conducted as part of the Education, Agency and Pedagogical Well-being in primary school - research project (Pyhältö , Soini & Pietarinen , 2010). The authors study involved nine classes from three different schools. Four eight grade and five sixth grade classes. The schools were located in different parts of Finland. The data was collected using images about lesson situations, to stimulate the pupils' writing about these situations. A total of 167 pupils answered the image-projection-task. Two different lesson-situations were selected into the study. The pupil descriptions of the circumstances were first analyzed via content analysis. The findings of the qualitative analysis composed were three different teacher-pupil interaction pro-files. These profiles were given numerical values , which allowed the examination of differences of the pupils' experiences between, gender, class, grade and school. The three teacher-pupil interaction profiles were termed as follows; the qualified, the cynical, and the teacher functioning as a part of the machinery. The interaction profiles were distributed very evenly across the data. There was a statistically significant difference between all the analyzed factors in the interaction profiles. In particular, the experiences about the teacher-pupil interaction between girls and boys proved to be virtually contrary. A more targeted research regarding the topic on a large sample size is needed. Future research would advisably be linked to the introduction of the new curriculum (POPS 2014), which aims to influence the teaching methods and practices and thus inevitably also effects on the teacher-pupil interaction.

The aim of this study was to investigate children's well-being by using the principles of child perspective research (Karlsson and Karimäki 2012). The purpose was to hear children's voice and listen to children's perspectives about their well-being in schoolyard. This study is part of the project "Children tell of their well-being - who listens?" TelLis, project number 1134911). The project is led by Liisa Karlsson. In the project the aim is to gain a new understanding of children's lived and experienced well-being by listening to children's narratives of well-being. I analysed 38 photographs and 38 stories that children had told by using the Storycrafting Method. The study was qualitative. Based on the results, it was found that following factors influence on children's well-being in schoolyard: possibility to act and play, cosy environment, friends, possibilities to influence, feeling of safety. The results show that following factors prevent children's well-being in schoolyard: restrictioning of play and action, untidy and unsuitable environment, problems in peer relationships, the lack of possibilities to influence, insecurity and dangerousness.

Aims. The focus of this study is to uncover a class teacher’s mental structures regarding the interaction between school and home. The main objective of the study is to describe, analyze and interpret how recently graduated class teachers determine themselves as part of the interaction between school and home, and how they build shared knowledge using relational expertise. This research holds a theoretical perspective. The research questions of the study are as follows: 1) How do common knowledge and object of activity evolve as theoretical concepts as they interpret newly graduated class teachers’ understanding of interaction between school and home? 2) How do the interviewees use their relational expertise as they expand the objects of activity between school and home? 3) What sort of dialectical dissonances do the interviewees understand in the interaction between school and home on the systemic level of school? Materials and methods. The material of the research consists of the transcriptions of thematic interviews of three class teachers, who have studied behavioral science, and their written views concerning the interaction between school and home. The study follows a phenomenographic approach as the methodology. At the first stage of the analysis different meanings are inductively charted from the interviews to determine how they understand interaction between school and home. At the second stage meanings are deductively merged into theoretical categories. Finally, the interrelated systems of theoretical categories are made. In this interrelated system the theoretical concepts of relational expertise, shared knowledge, object of activity and professional agency interact to form a new theoretical synthesis to describe interaction between school and home. Results. The interviewees build shared knowledge through contributing to finite and infinite objects of activity. The interviewees use relational expertise and professional agency to expand the objects of activity. The contribution of the interviewees to the infinite object of activity appears more future-oriented than to the finite object of activity. The school system did not encourage reciprocal communication between school and home for the interviewees. According to the interviewees, the agency of students during the interaction between school and home is not as clear as the agency of class teacher or parents. A potential follow-up research could address the agency of the student in communication between school and home.

Purpose The aim of this study is to examine the mental and social well-being of adolescents with an immigrant or culturally diverse background attending the final grades of secondary school. The focus of the analyses regarded comparison between first- (1st gen) and second-generation (2nd gen) immigrants based on depression and anxiety symptoms as well as experiences of social acceptance and rejection, the possibility to discuss personal concerns with someone and the possibility to discuss personal matters with parents. The association of these social factors as well as the immigrant background on the depression and anxiety symptoms was analysed. Internationally research results for 1st and 2nd regarding well-being have been contradictory, and in the USA researchers have been puzzled by the so-called immigrant paradox where, contrary to the theory of acculturation, 1st gen have been scoring higher in well-being measures relative to 2nd gen. This study builds its theoretical background in acculturative theory and research, which provides tools for examining the causes and consequences of well-being differences in 1st and 2nd generation adolescents with an immigrant background. The study explores ways to promote the well-being of culturally diverse adolescents in schools. Methods The data used in this study was acquired from the School Health Promotion survey 2017, comprising the data of 8th and 9th graders (N = 73 690). Mental well-being was assessed with PHQ-2 and GAD-7 scales. Social well-being was measured by a sum variable measuring experience in rejection and social acceptance, the possibility to discuss one’s concerns with someone and the possibility to discuss one’s personal matters with parents. Cross-tabulation, Welch’s T-test and logistic regression analysis was used in the data analyses. Results 1st gen showed significantly more mental health symptoms compared to 2nd gen. Furthermore, 1st gen scored lower on all social welfare measures. This is in line with the expectations of the acculturation theory, and thus immigrant paradox was not manifested in this study. As many as 42,1% of 1st gen report that they couldn’t discuss one’s worries to anyone and over a fifth of them hardly ever talked about their personal matters with their parents. In particular, social rejection hampered mental well-being, whilst experiences of social acceptance as well as the possibility to discuss with parents promoted mental well-being.

The aim of this study was to find out how much enjoyment, boredom and anxiety students experience in mathematics-related situations: during lessons, homework and tests. The study investigates the relations of these emotions with achievement in mathematics. Moreover, gender, school and classroom differences in these relationships are examined. In spring 2017, 215 third-graders from four Helsinki schools responded to the AEQ-ES (Achievement Emotions Questionnaire-Elementary School) survey and participated in three tests measuring mathematics achievement as part of the MathMot study. The fit of the data for the AEQ-ES structural model was analysed using confirmatory factor analysis. The connections between emotions and achievement as well as differences in these connections were studied by non-parametric methods: the Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis H tests, as well as Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. The study revealed that students experienced much more mathematics-related enjoyment than boredom or anxiety, which were experienced very little. Consistent with findings from previous research, it was found that emotions are related to achievement, positively to enjoyment and negatively to boredom and anxiety. This connection was strongest in emotions associated with lessons. Few statistically significant differences were observed between genders. In terms of achievement, there was a statistically significant difference between schools in all mathematics tests. Differences were also found between classrooms, albeit not in all tests. Furthermore, between a school receiving positive discrimination funding and a school providing weighted-curriculum education, there was a statistically significant difference in achievement and some emotions.

Aims. Previous studies have shown, that an environment that supports the fulfilment of basic psychological needs such as autonomy, competence and relatedness, has a major impact on human's well-being. Those studies have also found out that spending time in forest environment decreases stress, increases energy and enthusiasm, improves attention and concentration, and also enhances team spirit and willingness to relate with others. The aim of this thesis is to study how well pupils experience autonomy, competence and relatedness in natural science lessons. The study also explores how teacher's pedagogical choices in classroom and in forest can create circumstances that support the fulfilment of basic psychological needs of the pupils. Methods. This thesis is a case study about well-being of 4th grade pupils in natural science lessons. The study was conducted in one school in southern Finland in the spring of 2016. There were 25 pupils participating in the study. During the research period, the data of this mixed methods -study was collected by two ways. Pupils were given questionnaires that measured the fulfilment of their basic psychological needs, and their teacher kept an informal diary about the lessons. Statistical methods were used to describe the data collected by questionnaires, and non-parametric tests were used in analysis. Teacher's diary was analysed by a qualitative theory-based content analysis. Results and Conclusions. In this study, the basic psychological needs of the pupils were fulfilled reasonably well in all lessons. When comparing the learning environments, the results were a little bit better for those lessons that were held in forest environment. The connection between competence and learning environment was found to be statistically significant. In this study, plenty of circumstances were found to contribute to the fulfilment of basic psychological needs. In conclusion, the well-being of pupils can be enhanced by activating them and encouraging them to participate, and by offering them opportunities to have an impact on the issues that are important to them. In addition, the well-being of pupils can also be enhanced by offering appropriately challenging tasks, and by fostering safe and approbative atmosphere.

In this paper I address speeches held by the city councilors of Helsinki at the meeting held in February 2010. In the meeting it was taken a vote on the weekly vegetarian lunch day which was about to be carried out at schools and in the educational institutions. I identify the rhetorical methods and categories used by the councilors. Furthermore, I study the relation of public, in other words I examine to whom the delegates directed their speech to and what role that had to the progress of the discussion. The discussion in question woke plenty of stir and the discussion itself as well as the discussion on the Internet from the subject has been dealt with also in other dissertations. The material of the paper is a public recording transcribed by a city official. The discussion consisted of 56 speeches held by 36 councilors and it lasted altogether over two and half an hour. I established my report to the text classified by me with the help of the ATLAS.ti program. The research methods I used have a discourse analytic approach, which are a part of the field of the qualitative study. The examination of the public of the delegates' speech was based on the theory of Perelman (1996). I dealt with rhetorical methods based on Jokinen's (1999) theory. Pälli's (2003) constructionist theory of groups of people served as the base of the category analysis. The public the delegates spoke to were mostly other delegates on the hall and the residents of Helsinki. The audience councilors aimed their speech was thus very local. The use of rhetorical methods was extremely abundant and versatile. The categories used by the delegates from the people were distinctly purposeful. Delegates who have resisted the initiative genderized the question of nourishment presenting the boys' and men's nourishment which deviates from the opposite sex of the one needing. The differences between generations stood out clearly on the speeches. The delegates who had represented the opposite opinions dealt with different matters in their addresses when the supporters of the initiative paid plenty of attention to ecological points when the opponents concentrate on the individual freedom.

Former studies have shown that reading fiction has an impact on the development of different kinds of skills regarding our minds. Skills like empathy or making conclusions based on something we read can nowadays be included in the concept of literacy, along with knowledge of literary elements and the mechanical ability to read. International literacy tests also scrutinize the mental skills connected to reading. However, their ability to measure these skills are restricted by their narrowly phrased questions and short texts. The purpose of this study is to look into the mental skills connected to reading fiction from a child-focused viewpoint. The study examines the topic through the concept of aesthetic knowledge referring to knowledge gained through an aesthetic activity such as reading fiction. The aim of this study is to portray the kinds of aesthetic knowledge that reading fantasy literature evokes in child readers, and to is to describe how the aesthetic knowledge appears. The data of this study consists of video messages filmed by five 5th and 6th graders while reading a fantasy novel of their choice during January-March 2017. The transcribed data was analysed using content analysis and by mirroring the data to Maria Nikolajeva's (2014) theory of the aesthetic knowledge of child readers. The aesthetic knowledge of these children had three categories: 1) knowledge of others, 2) knowledge of the real world, the world of literature and the relationship between these two, and 3) knowledge of themselves. Aesthetic knowledge appeared when the children discussed their understandings and conclusions, as well as their uncertainties and initial impressions that were changed by new information. The versatility of these results brings up the need and interest to further investigate the connection between children's mental skills and reading fiction.