Browsing by department "Behavioural Sciences"
Now showing items 41-60 of 75
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(2020)This qualitative study examines the narratives of high school principals and business leaders who participated in a leadership development project organized in Southern Finland on leadership and leadership development. The study aims to present a temporal and local picture of the experiences and perceptions of the interviewed principals and managers related to leadership and leadership development. The study examines how those in leading positions describe the emergence, construction, development, and future prospects of their leadership in their narratives. In addition, the study examines the activities of principals and managers towards leadership development, and in particular how principals and managers describe the reasons and motivation to participate in leadership development, both within and outside the organization. The research is narrative in nature and is localized in the field of educational leadership research. Leadership is examined through narratively manifested perceptions and leadership development agency. The research material consists of a narrative interview of three high school principals and three business leaders. The analysis of the data was carried out in a data-driven and content-analytical way, based on a paradigmatic-type narrative inquiry. The interviewees narrated their perceptions of leadership on the one hand as leadership manifested in the daily life of an organization built on life and career, and on the other hand as leadership ideals describing their own goals in a future-oriented manner. In terms of leadership perceptions, the results emphasize collective leadership as a goal and as already existing practices, as well as value systems based in human leadership. With regard to leadership developmental agency, the interviewees described the motivational basis of development and the prerequisites required for developmental agency. Development was seen as a prerequisite for the change in the role and operating environment of the leader, and the organizational feedback culture and collegial networks were seen as a prerequisite for developmental agency. Perceptions of leadership differed in part between high school principals and business leaders, but the motivational basis and conditions for leadership development agency were equally present in the narratives.
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(2021)Teaching of socioemotional skills for schoolchildren increases good atmosphere and improves learning outcomes. Students ’chances of success in school and life improve. Socioemotional learning has a positive effect on a student's wellbeing through good interpersonal relationships and better school performance, among other things. Awareness of one's own socioemotional competence is the first step in learning these skills and regulating emotions in different situations. The regulation and recognition of emotions affect the learner’s motivation and attention, selfconfidence, and both flexibility and perseverance. However, learning and teaching socioemotional skills is a complex process. Structuring the challenges and significance of socioemotional research is important so that these skills can be better learned in the future. The aim of this study is to determine whether socioemotional skills develop differently at the level of different socioemotional skills in five different European countries. The material was divided into three groups by country and these formed three skill levels of socioemotional competence: low, moderate and good. In the dissertation, the data were analyzed by T-test to see if there was a change in the groups between the initial measurement and the final measurement. The main result was statistically very significant. It was found that if a student’s starting level of socioemotional skills is relatively low, i.e., he or she belongs to a low-skill group, then socioemotional teaching has a significant healing effect on the level of socioemotional skills of these students. A significant result was also that for those students with a relatively good baseline level of socioemotional skills, their skill level decreased significantly after the intervention. In conclusion, therefore, it is worthwhile to tailor socioemotional education to different skill levels.
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(2020)Aims. The present research examines care workers’ motivation and work commitment in a Finnish social and health care organization. The aim of the study was to investigate the current state of the employees’ motivation, work commitment and the self-determination theory’s basic psychological needs, and their relation to effort in work and to the intention of leaving the organization. Moreover, the study also examined the relationships between motivation, commitment and basic psychological needs. Motivation was divided to intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation based on intangible rewards. Work commitment included affective and normative professional commitment, colleague commitment, customer commitment and affective, normative and continuance organizational commitment. Method. This investigation was carried out with a survey which was composed using several former inquiries developed to measure motivation and dimensions of work commitment. The voluntary survey was sent to the target group employees by email. In total, the survey collected 600 answers which meant that the response rate was 30%. The data was analyzed using correlation, cluster analyses and structural equation modeling. Results. The care workers intrinsic motivation and professional commitment, colleague commitment and customer commitment were quite strong. All the dimensions of the organizational commitment and extrinsic motivation were in turn quite weak. The effort on work was evaluated to be strong and especially the sense of competence, intrinsic motivation, affective professional commitment as well as customer commitment played a meaningful role in it. In addition, there was some intention to leave the organization among the employees and according to the results the sense of autonomy, affective professional commitment and affective and normative organizational commitment reduced the intention to leave. The study clarified that the basic psychological needs of the self-determination theory are interconnected, not only to intrinsic motivation, but also to affective work commitment. The sense of autonomy was quite strong but because it had a direct as well as an indirect effect on the intention to leave, it was suggested that the organization should work on strengthening it more. Furthermore, the sense of competence can explain the conclusion made from the analyses of the study that extrinsic motivation based on intangible rewards supports intrinsic motivation. The results showed that care workers’ motivation and work commitment can be strengthened with diverse possibilities to influence and with positive feedback.
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(2020)Finnish educational research has repeatedly noted how strongly heteronormativity is present in education, placing people in unequal positions according to their gender and sexual orientation. On the grounds of previous research, it seems that heteronormativity in education affects espe-cially the agency of LGBTQ+ people. The educational environment being predominated by a binary conception of gender and an assumption of heterosexuality, LGBTQ+ people often don’t tell about their gender and/or sexual diversity to others, but instead comply with the het-erosexual order so as to not get discriminated or bullied. This thesis examines heteronormativity in the context of Finnish education and its effects on the educational agency of LGBTQ+ people. The data consists of focused life history interviews conducted with five LGBTQ+ persons. The interviews were analysed through a narrative ap-proach and from a feminist point of view, utilizing the interviewees’ small stories about educa-tion as well as fictional storytelling in the analysis. The analysis builds a conception in which heteronormativity and the order of gender become produced and reproduced in education through everyday, routine-like repetitions, affecting the construction of agency and restricting LGBTQ+ agency. In my data, the requirement of com-plying with heteronormativity seems strong especially in basic education. In upper secondary education the hegemonic position of heteronormativity appears to weaken, and the stories situ-ated in higher education outline a positive and aware atmosphere regarding the diversity of gender and sexuality, even though some differences between fields are understood to exist. In terms of agency it appears that the primary factor is the individual’s impression of what kind of attitudes their social environment and particularly their peers, i.e. other pupils and students, seem to have towards gender and sexual diversity. When the educational environment is viewed to react negatively to LGBTQ+ people, they hide their sexual orientation and/or non-binary gender, which often appears as unnecessary in an educational environment with seem-ingly positive attitudes.
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(2020)Education has different kinds of functions. Schools have a role in passing values, knowledge and qualification. Schools should also support students improve their civic and critical thinking. Finland has the objective of having half of its 25-34-year-olds holding a higher education degree by 2030. Improving the level of education of the population has contributed to the rise in the productivity of labour and economic. In my thesis, I am interested in how the upper secondary schools, their educational and social purpose, are seen in the public writings. I want to find out What people write about when writing about upper secondary school. The research material consists of 79 digital Opinion Pieces published by Helsingin Sanomat, the largest newspaper in Finland. I also examine what kind of rhetorical methods writers use when they demand either change or permanence of upper secondary schools. The analysis shows that students experience a lot of stress because of all the changes they are going through. Reforms have been done in higher education student selection in Finland which sets a new kind of pressure for students` choices and it challenges their curriculum planning. This reform can mediate students` schoolwork and enjoyable study choices. Reforms affect what kind of study choices students make, and these choices can impact the quality of teaching. Opinion pieces articulate that there is a need for a more peaceful learning and teaching environment in upper secondary schools. Concerning educational reforms, it seems that there is a need for advanced co-operation with political decision-makers and upper secondary school teachers and students.
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(2020)Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract Aim of the Study: Firstly, the purpose of this study is to examine how teachers are supporting students and what kind of obstacles they face. Secondly, the purpose was to examine teachers experiences of support and it`s significance for society. This study is important and current. Resent studies have shown that supporting students in their studies has influence for student`s advancements of studies and prevents discontinuing studies. Also, the new legislation obligates teachers to plan for students an individual way to continue studies and support student s in many ways, even if, in the same time the financial support of vocational education has changed and decreased. Methods: This study was conducted using qualitative methods and it was based on the theme interviews of seven vocational teachers. One of them was working as a special vocational teacher. The theme interviews were analysed by using a qualitative analytic technique as the inductive content analysis method. Results and Conclusions: Firstly, teachers were supporting students in many ways. In this study teachers were supporting students in life management, learning and in difficult life situations. In the most severe cases, such as mental health issues and substance misuse issues, students did need occupational help from social and health services. Secondly, vocational teachers were also facing obstacles in supporting students. These obstacles that they were facing included lack of resources like time. Teachers considered importance in supporting students in equal ways, but they were facing obstacles to do so because of the large amount of support that was needed. Thirdly, there were also some vocational teachers who did not consider supporting students to be part of their work, only in the learning issues. On the other hand, some of the teachers considered the support of students have more wider consequences in the society: preventing discontinuing studies and social exclusion and it`s economical influence. From the point of view of social policy and preventing social exclusion, teacher`s role and how they will be educated, have importance in how students will be supported also in other things than just their learning issues. Also, the teacher education has an important role. It would be important to include in the teaching plans the issues considering the supporting students in different ways, not only about difficulties in learning. Vocational teacher needs competence to work in different kinds of networks also with student welfare services and with guardians. Vocational teachers need knowledge about social services and capability to guide students in these services. It demands the courage from teachers to meet students comprehensively. It is needed to develop the forms of vocational teaching and to do individual plans for the students and it is needed to provide more time for graduate for those who need it. Vocational education should have more resources to support students in many ways and possibilities to co-operate with all teachers, vocational counselors, vocational special teachers and with the whole student welfare services. These are the most important ways to prevent students to discontinue studies and to prevent social exclusion.
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(2020)The aim of this master’s thesis was to focus into the discoursive significances of gender and its diversity produced in interviews of four teacher students. This master’s thesis is a part of the national SetSTOP-project (2018-2019). The aim of the project was to recognize the problems linked to equality on the field of teacher education. Definitions of gender and its representations of Judith Butler and Teresa de Lauretis have affected this master’s thesis and its discoursive analysis. I interviewed four teacher students in the end of their studies in this research. As a method, I used theme focused interview attached to stimulative interview. I analyzed the inteviews data with discoursive analysis with the concept’s of representation, paranoid and reparative reading as well as nomadic research. Gender and its variety were signified in my research most of all as change of the world and the future. The skills of handling the variety of gender in the profession of a teacher were represented as poor in my research material. The students longed for a wider understanding of the themes of gender and its variety. In this master’s thesis, I have named discoursive significances linked to the gender that I have discovered from my research material. I have evaluated how they returned to the context of school and teacher education and how the contexts affected the discourses. The results of this study can be utilized in the further re-search and development of equality work.
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(2019)Goals. Previous research has shown that games and gamification have potential in education. Games and gamification are also mentioned In Finnish Core Curriculum (2014), but still games have not become mainstream in Finnish schools. It can be difficult for teachers to find learning games that are suitable for their students, and because of that, it is suggested that teachers could act as game designers. In recent years, it has become possible to design games without programming skills by using digital platforms. There are only few studies focusing on teachers designing games on digital platforms. The target of this study is to understand how teachers experience gamification on a digital platform. In this study, teachers use Seppo platform to design learning games for their students. The study aims to find out what kind of Seppo games teachers create, and how they experience designing and implementing Seppo games. Method. 14 basic education teachers participated in the study. The data consisted of semi-structured theme interviews and games made by the teachers. The data was analyzed using data-oriented content analysis. Results and conclusion. Results showed that Seppo is an easy-to-use teaching tool that can be used for many purposes in basic education. Most of the games were linked to different school subjects and, in addition, many games focused on practicing transversal competences. Gamification was an important goal for a few teachers, but many of the teachers considered Seppo as a functional way of studying or an e-learning platform more than a game. In many cases, Seppo games changed practices of teaching and made studying more versatile, for instance, by extending learning environment outside the classroom. Teachers felt that designing Seppo games was technically easy. However, teachers may need support in content design, since some of the teachers considered difficult to combine gamefulness and learning goals in meaningful ways. Teachers experienced that students mostly achieved the learning goals by playing Seppo games. According to the teachers, almost all their students participated in Seppo games actively and liked playing the game. In conclusion, Seppo games made by teachers have potential to support learning that is based on curriculum.
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(2020)Objectives. The purpose of the study was to find out the approaches to learning of students graduating with a bachelor's degree in military sciences (SK) and the factors burdening their studies at the National Defense University (MPKK). This subject has not been previously studied in the context of officer training. Previous researches in other disciplines have shown that approaches are linked to different areas of learning and learning can be used to identify groups that need research data to support them. The research problems were: 1. What kind of learning approaches SK students used, whether they were connected to each other and what kind of profiles emerged from the material, 2. How learning approaches differed according to different background variables and 3. What environmental variables cause workload in their studies. The study aims to make visible groups in different situations with different approaches to learning and workload in environmental variables. Methods. All three classes participated in the study. The questionnaire was collected using a quantitative questionnaire and was analyzed by quantitative methods. A total of 413 students responded to the survey. Factor analysis and k-cluster analysis were used as analysis methods to group respondents into profiles based on approaches. The relationship between the approaches was examined using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and the differences between the profiles and the environmental variables were examined using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results and conclusions. SK students emphasized the most to the deep approach, then the organised and least unreflective approach. There was also a negative statistically significant association between the unreflective and deep approaches. Based on the approaches, four different profiles emerged from the data: unorganised deep, dissonant, deep organised and unreflective. According to the background variables and the environmental variables, the differences in approaches were reflected in the profile representation. Statistically significant differences in workload by profile were found in the schedules for completing assignments, written assignments, exam preparation, and group work. The results can be utilized in MPKK's curriculum work, teaching development and student support.
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(2019)There is currently a lively public debate about change in working life and future skills needs. When working life changes, it is important that knowledge and leadership should also change. The aim of my thesis was to examine changes in work and skills in the restaurant industry from the perspective of the restaurant manager. The goal was to describe and add to the understanding of the restaurant manager's work and role through their experience and vision. Knowledge management is an integral part of the competence, which is part of the work of the restaurant manager. The thesis examines what knowledge management means for supervisors and how competence development is reflected in work and practice. The theoretical framework of the thesis is made up of literature related to knowledge, leadership, competence management and managerial work, as well as a brief overview of the nature of the hospitality industry and the future. The empirical part of the thesis was carried out with semi-structured theme interviews and the results were analyzed by theory-driven content analysis. The data was collected between May 2018 and December 2018. Ten restaurant managers working at Fazer Food Service were interviewed in the study. As a result of the study, it became clear that the work of a restaurant manager in that organization was interdimensional and consisted of many different tasks and roles. It was important for the restaurant managers to act as superiors and to encourage their staff. Interaction with staff, customers, supervisor and colleagues was important. Knowledge management was one of the tasks that was performed as part of daily management. As a future challenge, restaurant managers saw problems with the availability of skilled labor. The availability and commitment of the workforce can be influenced by good leadership, competence development and employee appreciation. The study found that leadership should change in a more human-oriented direction.
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(2019)The Nordic countries are united by shared values and similar social systems. Traditionally, the cultures in the Nordic countries have been mostly homogeneous, but due to globalization and increased immigration, the Nordic countries have become increasingly culturally diverse. Does this affect how people perceive and identify with the Nordic countries? The purpose of the thesis is to describe Finnish adolescents' perceptions of the Nordic countries and how they identify with the Nordics. Furthermore, I would like to explore how a different ethnic background from Finnish influences Nordic identification. Background and contextual research consisted of theories on identity and identification and previous studies of Nordic, social and cultural identities. The thesis is a part of the research project NordId, which is part of a research network, whose aim is to explore the challenges facing the Nordic education systems. The thesis was conducted as a qualitative research project with a phenomenographic approach. The data collection was done in April 2019, and the sample consisted of 25 adolescents from an upper secondary school in Finland with broad ethnic diversity. The data, consisting of photographs and interviews, was collected through participatory photography and semi-structured group interviews. It was analysed thematically. From the results three themes emerged regarding what the adolescents considered to be Nordic: nature, welfare state, and culture and traditions. Adolescents identified with the Nordics through belonging, similarities and common traditions, and values within the three themes. Family, nationality, geography, ethnicity and language were relationships and categories that they identified through. The results showed that the adolescents with a different ethnic background from Finnish identified with the Nordic countries the same way as the Finnish do. A slight difference in what the adolescents perceived as Nordic was revealed. The most notable difference was that the adolescents with a different ethnic background emphasized the welfare society, freedom of speech and freedom of religion more explicitly and to a greater extent in the photographs and interviews. The results can promote future Nordic cooperation, by showing what the Nordic region means to young people. In addition, the results can inform the educational system of whether Nordic countries, cultures, and history are adequately taught in the curricula, based on what Finnish adolescents know about the Nordic countries.
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(2020)Positive psychology in education is an ideological umbrella term for an educational approach that has an emphasis on the well-being and happiness of the individual. There are many schools that had elements from positive psychology before its creation but the first school to adopt a school wide Positive psychology in education approach in 2007 was Geelong Grammar School in Victoria, Australia. This study is a holistic approach with the attempt to understand how the teachers at Geelong Grammar School look at education and the students from a positive psychology perspective. A qualitative phenomenological hermeneutic research design was applied so that the focus could be put on the ten teachers lived experience in the school environment. Semi-structured interviews were used as a method to gather the needed data, which was thematically analysed. The results demonstrate how the teachers are impacted by the environment; the way in which the teachers deal with and view a very diverse group of students reflect the positive psychological perspectives. The teachers report clear benefits both in their class environment and also offers distinct tools in how they approach the students. Most of the teachers reported an individual benefit from a self-growth perspective. Geelong Grammar school does not demand a certain level of positive psychology, that choice is up to the teachers. This choice is reflected in the research results and shows how it impacts them personally in a positive way, and how they think it impacts the students. The results show both common universal challenges, typical for a school, but there are also challenges unique to the positive psychology environment they live in. This study facilitates the understanding of adopting positive psychology in education seen from the teachers perspective. This study also highlights some of the broader challenges in our culture and life dictated by the consequential demands of economics.
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(2020)In integration policy perspective employment in the Finnish labor market is considered as a measure of integration. Integration training aims to find a suitable career and work path for each immigrant. Instead of an individual's wishes and skills, the labor market strongly guides career choices. The marketisation of education has also brought a new kind of efficiency requirement to the field of integration education, which combines declining financial resources and intensified efficiency expectations. Preparatory education for upper secondary vocational education and training (VALMA) is one actor in the integration field, whose purpose is to orientate immigrants to Finnish working life, society and different professions. The purpose of this thesis is to bring out the views of teachers who work in VALMA and reveal the tensions in the field of integration training. Through the interviews of teachers, I explore how the subject positions of teachers are constructed and what kind of reflections they have regarding to power and ethics. The research material consisted of interviews of five teachers working in VALMA education. My approach to the analysis has elements of discursive reading. In response to the research questions, four key factors were outlined in the background of teacher’s subject position. At the heart of everything are reflections on power and ethics, which are intertwined with reflection on language skills requirements, issues related to career choice and working life. The subject position of VALMA-teacher was constructed through controversial goals and objectives toward the desire to do the right thing and act ethically.
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(2020)Aims. Based on previous empirical studies decreases in school principals’ well-being are alarming in many countries. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the well-being of Finnish school principals by examining the latent profiles of work burnout and work engagement by using a person-orientated approach. In addition, this study examined how the identified profiles differed in job-related demands (workload and emotional demands) and resources (autonomy and social support from colleagues). The job demands and resources (JD-R) model was used as the theoretical framework of the study. The purpose of this study was to examine what kind of occupational well-being profiles could be identified among school principals, and to what extent different demands and resources are associated with principals' belonging to the profiles. Methods Research data was gathered as a part of a wider international Principal Health and Wellbeing -research project. The data was collected by sending a questionnaire to all 1 200 members of the Finnish Principals’ Association. Altogether 424 principals completed the questionnaire regarding their work burnout symptoms, work engagement and well as work demands and resources. The data was analysed using cluster analysis and multinominal logistic regression. Results and conclusion The study found that three different well-being profiles could be identified among the school principals: those who were engagement (41%), those at risk of burnout (40%) and those who were already experiencing burnout (18%). The more demands the principals experienced the more likely they were to belong to the burned out profile. Experiences of autonomy increased the probability of belonging to the engagement profile. Social support from colleagues didn’t demonstrate correlations with any of present well-being profiles. In conclusion, most of the principals feel engaged towards their work, however there are many principals who have burnout symptoms.
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(2020)The study investigated primary school teachers´ concepts concerning Finnish as second language (F2) pupils´ assessment at the primary school at the grades two to six. They were also defined Finnish as second language learners based on the National Core Curriculum 2004, The theoretical part provided a brief overview of the challenges in learning Finnish as a second language and the significance of mother tongue studies to strengthen multicultural identity and to learn language - also academic language in mother tongue which eases academic SLA (second language acquisition). Learning second language has two tasks: learning as a tool and as a goal to learn the contents of subjects and study modules. After that, the study discusses on pupil assessment and the usage of Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) for languages learning and teaching and how to assess each student’s language learning profile. The main pedagogical principles of pupil assessment were also introduced. The key concept of the study is language awareness; linguistically responsive teaching by the teachers who teach and assess F2-pupils in a linguistically responsible way. The main research questions are: How do teachers encourage Finnish as second language pupils in learning by pupil assessment and what kind of collegial assessment cooperation teachers have. The research focused to three essential pupil assessment forms; diagnostic, formative and summative assessment. The semi-structured interview was used as a research method to interview 15 teachers. In the analysis of the interview material via content analysis, findings of phenomena could be divided into three-pupil assessment field. The discussion of results shows that several class teachers have different ways of assessing pupils who do yet manage Finnish language. Teachers of pupils’ own mother tongue saw challenging heterogeneous groups of students as well as teaching and assessing students who speak a different dialect of another country or region than the teacher. F2 teachers have a supporting role in S2 assessment and also in advising and guiding their colleagues on assessment issues - for example, in science, history and mathematics assessment. Further research may focus on the study of students' self-assessment, with its emphasis on the foundations of the national curriculum for basic education in 2014.
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(2020)Tiivistelmä - Referat – Abstract The goal of this ethnographic research is to bring out the mechanisms of a classroom’s moral order. The study is based on a thought which considers the moral order to be a tool in deconstructing the power structures of the school system. The moral order brings forward all the kind of behavior which is considered right or wrong in the classroom or good or bad. The study is rooted in poststructuralist equality research. The background theory in this study is Deleuze’s rhizome theory. The rhizome theory is a target state of the moral order. In the target state the moral order would be flexible and ready for change therefor one wouldn’t need to compare the differences between students in a negative way. Previous studies about moral order in Finland have mainly focused on adult education. International studies and articles in sociological education sciences have aimed to deconstruct moral orders but failed to give any means to the deconstruction project. The data of this study has been conducted in southern Finnish elementary school with ethnographic observation and interview. Observation period lasted for one month and the interviews were conducted during the one month field period during the year 2017. The research data included of five group interviews of pupils and one interview of the class’ students. Analysis used was episodical analysis in which observation and interview data are been read across using both data while it brings more variation and reliability to the research data. The study shows moral order of the studied class is been guided by the confrontation of the opposite sex. A small variation inside gender group is also been seen. Previous studies have showed that the confrontation of opposite gender is one of the greatest challenges of the school institution. To bullying pupils, react by not telling to the teacher but by wanting to solve conflict between students.
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(2020)Finnish Schools on the Move is a program with the goal to establish a more physically active school environment for children in the Finnish comprehensive schools. The program was ini-tially piloted in 2010 and by 2018 the program had been expanded to reach 90 percent of all schools in Finland. The teachers play a key role in the process of implementing school re-forms, which is the motivation for this study. The aim of the study is to investigate how prima-ry school teachers experience the program, how it affects their work and their opinion on the effectiveness of the program. Furthermore, this study aims to uncover which details of the implementation that are advantageous and disadvantageous for the success of the program, from the teacher’s perspective. Based on the results of the program’s own assessment on the program the majority of Swedish–speaking primary school teachers in Helsinki experi-enced a lack of competence or the opportunity to develop the competence needed to com-plete the requirements of the program. This study uses educational reform theories as a framework. The methods of implementation, the roles of the concerned parties carrying out the implementation, teachers and principals, and collegiality have in prior research been shown to be key factors in carrying out educational reforms. This study has a qualitative approach and the data-gathering is being done by semi-structured interviews. The study had eight participants, with seven primary school teachers and one principal from five different primary schools in Helsinki. The material will be analyzed through thematic analysis and compared to earlier research. The results showed that the program has had a positive impact on the teachers work, but that the program caused additional work for some teachers. According to the results, the program was successful in schools where the principal’s leadership, collegial support and a perception of competence among the teachers was present. Unlike this, the program did not work as well in schools where is a lack of collegial support and supporting structures needed for the implementation of the program The perceived lack of competence was in other words not a crucial factor if the leadership was functional and the colleague’s attitude towards the program was positive.
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(2020)There is a shortage of staff in the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) in Finland in the time of this study. A shortage of qualified workers and the revised Act on Early Childhood Education and Care (580/2018) have created dissatisfaction as eligibility requirements have been tightened. The vocational designations have also been changed, and the title kindergarten teacher has been changed to Early Childhood Education (University, bachelor’s degree) or Bachelor of Social Services (University of Applied Sciences). The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors (challenges and resources) that influence a change of work field from ECEC based on the theoretical model Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) and previous research in subjects such as educational leadership, work communities and the Finnish ECEC control documents. The data was collected in the spring of 2018 with an online survey that was sent to trade unions Talentia, SuPer and the Early Childhood Education Teacher’s Union of Finland (ECE Teachers Union). The survey was forwarded to 3635 people working in ECEC in Finland. The survey was answered by N = 643 persons which gave a response rate of 17.6%. The material was part of a pilot study for the research project ENJOY your work! which is conducted at the University of Helsinki. For this study, the material was limited from eight (8) to two (2) open questions, 749 individual responses were analysed, and qualitative content analysis was used as a method in this final thesis. The results showed that regardless of professional designation or plans to change the working field, the demands and resources of the respondents in the early childhood education were similar. The educators saw the children, good cooperation within the work team, positive feedback from the supervisors (day care managers) as energizing resources in the work. The requirements in ECEC were physically heavy work, incompetent foremen, unauthorized staff, time pressure, no opportunities for planning and a lack of appreciation from society. The demands were physically heavy work, incompetent supervisors, unauthorized staff, time pressure, no opportunities for planning and a lack of appreciation from society.
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(2020)Based on practical theoretical openings, this study examines the development-oriented agency of social workers working in public sector and actively involved in the development activities provided by the organisation, and their perceptions of the changing expertise of social work regarding the transformational challenges and development needs generated by the changing working life. The change in expertise is examined in relation to examinees’ personal work and development goals, perceptions of organisational citizenship behaviour and opportunities of competence development offered by the organisation. By examining the employees who welcome development, the aim of the study is to provide practical information on ways in which all social workers can be inspired and supported to develop their own skills and work, even though social work is demanding, working environments and conditions are constantly changing and opportunities for vertical career development are limited. The study relied on qualitative methods and the data was collected using semi-structured interview and the method of empathy-based stories (MEBS). The sample consisted of individual interviews of social work¬ers (N=6) – working for the City of Helsinki, in Social Services and Health Care Division and who have participated in career model program provided by the division – empathy-based stories collected upon interviews and of final reports on development projects social workers in question implemented as a part of the career model program. The data was analyzed by using qualitative theory-driven content analysis as well as interpretations characteristic for semiotic analysis. The results suggested that social workers perceive developing not only as an inherent way to act but also part of one’s work and professional identity as a matter of course. Hence, transformative agency can be perceived as an active means of responding to change, that appeared to have consolidated to a professional practice as a result of successful development initiatives and transactive processes as well as self-recognition of activities, i.e. by experiencing development as meaningful. Ambition to develop and pursue high-quality and ethically sustainable, research-based and customer-oriented work has also encouraged social workers to overcome potential organisational barriers. Based on this study, social workers’ transformative agency should primarily be supported by communal and organisational means, because it is crucial that development work is recognized as significant also at a collective level. The possibilities for horizontal career development should be expanded and diversified, employees’ self-recognition of activities, development-related skills and positive mindsets strengthened, the core aspect of social work and associated values clarified, and time for development be set aside. In addition, structures enabling professional learning and reflection, the accessibility of research knowledge, as well as practices supporting the dissemination and consolidation of innovations should be safeguarded.
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(2019)Today, children in Finland live in a complex linguistic environment, which offers interesting opportunities for studying how they perceive and discuss their own and others’ language use. The objective of this study is to analyse and interpret how children express stance (Du Bois, 2007; Jaffe, 2009) in relation to language use and language skills in the context of a group interview. From the perspective of stance, interaction is viewed as the central process of meaning-making and identity construction. The study is based on qualitative, thematic focus group interviews on language use, language learning and language skills with students in second grade in a bilingual municipality in Finland. A total of 15 students participated in the study, of which 9 students attended a school with Finnish and 6 students a school with Swedish as the language of instruction. The interaction of the children is analysed from a stance perspective, aiming to demonstrate how the children use available resources to position themselves and others as language users, and how their stances can be interpreted in the sociocultural context. The results illustrate how children both implicitly and explicitly position themselves and others as language users by using social categories, topicalizing and not topicalizing language skills and by negotiating epistemic authority. In the interviews, the children positioned themselves in relation to each other and to their collectively constructed ideas about language identities, language use and language skills. The study adds to the growing body of research that applies stance theory to study how cultural and language identities are expressed in interaction, and exemplifies how stance can be used to analyse the interactions of children. It also relates to the larger discussion on how individual interactions serve as opportunities for stancetaking and meaning-making, and how they can contribute to the construction of more enduring identities and ideas.
Now showing items 41-60 of 75