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The current Act on Upper Secondary Education does not provide any specific information on the organization of special education. This is why the special education programs vary between upper secondary schools. Not all secondary schools have special education teachers and this might place students with special needs at a disadvantage. There have been only a few researches on special education in upper secondary schools in Finland during the last decade and the studies have focused on the need of special education in upper secondary education or, the job description of a special education teacher. The purpose of this study is to describe the perceptions of the students’ regarding the challenges that they face in their studies and the support they have received. The aim is also to look at the special education from a student point of view and clarify, how the need for support is recognized, what kind of challenges does the student with special needs meet and who provides the support and how. The data for this qualitative study was collected by inteviewing 14 upper secondary school students over the age of 18 with special needs. They all studied in the same upper secondary school in southern Finland under the guidance of the same special education teacher. The topic was approached by using phenomenography which enables clarification of variations in individual views and investigates different understandings of reality. Students view on the recognition process of special needs in upper secondary school was based on a reading assesment and diagnostic evaluation done by the special education teacher. The recognition of reading difficulties was a relief for most of the interviewed students. They felt that early recognition gives them more time to benefit from the support. The interviewed students found it hard to work with the subject teachers, because they felt that the teachers could not offer them enough support. The results showed that the amount of the support depends on the attitudes and skills of the subject teacher. Other challenges were problems with concentration, reading difficulties and fatigue. Students found the special education teacher to be the keyperson that provides them support. The new Act on Upper Secondary Education secures everyone´s right to special education and the services of a special education teacher. In the future, special education teachers will have an important role as consultants or intermediators between the students and subject teachers, so that students with special needs get the help they are entitled to.

Objectives. This thesis was made in cooperation with the Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE). The thesis aims to reply to the need for indepth information on the chapter of the concepts of learning in the outline of the general guidelines of the Finnish national core curriculum 2014 (POPS). Different concepts of learning have a significant effect on the everyday work of teachers. Therefore it is essential how the concepts of learning are presented in the core curriculum, which guides the teachers work. This study examined on which concepts of learning the POPS 2014 outline chapter of the concepts of learning is actually based on. In addition, this study discovered where education providers thought the above mentioned chapter had succeeded and where they considered it to be in need of improvement. The study is based on the literature of both didaktik and different concepts of learning. This way it is possible to stimulate discussion on the meaning of the concepts of learning in the everyday teaching-studying-learning process. Methods. The research data of this qualitative case study consists of the chapter of the concepts of learning in the outline of the general guidelines of the POPS 2014. The other part of the data consists of the feedback, given by 65 providers of education, on the above mentioned chapter. The feedback was gathered at the end of the year 2012 by the FNBE. The concepts of behavioristic, social, humanistic and constructivist learning were sought through theory-based content analysis from the chapter, which was subsequently grouped into themes. These themes were used in the analysis of the open-ended answers, which were given by the providers of education. Results and conclusions. The POPS 2014 outline chapter of the concepts of learning was found to be in part both constructivist (individual and social) and humanistic. The outline represents a learner-centered view, where the student's metacognitive skills, different learning strategies and the meaning of interaction play an important role in learning. The education providers saw success in the chapter's views of the active student and the meaning of interaction as well as social learning in the learning process. Need for improvement was seen in clarifying concepts (e.g. interaction, learning to learn, learning strategies) as well as the roles of the teacher, student and teaching. When developing the curriculum it is recommended to note the unclear concepts, the social learning theory and the theory of didaktik - what are the teacher's and student's roles in the teaching-studying-learning process?

Objective. The objective of this study is to investigate the use of online learning journals in the context of vocational adult education. The research questions were: What was the meaning of online learning journals for students learning? What aspects influenced the learning experience of students when using online learning journals as part of the activities of the communities of practice? The writing of learning journals was studied using Bereiter and Scardamalia's (1987) theory of writing as knowledge telling and knowledge transformation. Online learning journals were studied as part of activities in communities of practice. They were regarded as artifacts that supported the activities of a community. In the courses investigated blogs were used to facilitate the learning journals and online learning journals were used according to blended learning tradition. Methods. The views of students of three Jollas Institute training courses were studied. Eleven students were interviewed and the information was complemented with interviews of three instructors. Interviews were conducted as focused interviews and the material was analyzed using inductive content analysis. Outcomes and conclusions. Online learning journals had a major impact on students learning. Writing and reading learning journals helped to revise course content, to share experiences and to clarify thoughts. Learning from face-to-face meetings was enhanced by writing the online learning journal. Online learning journals worked as a good tool for the communities of practice. With them students could read and comment on each other's postings. It was important that only the members of the class saw the online learning journals. This created a safe environment to write and comment. Learning assignments can be submitted into the online learning journal. The best kinds of assignments for this are those with concrete subjects that encourage sharing experiences and giving ones opinions. Writing was improved if it was not instructed too precisely and when the grammar did not need to be flawless. The use of online learning journals can be activated by submitting all the assignments into the journal. When using online learning journals, special attention should be paid to creating a closed and safe learning environment, to integrate work based learning with learning journals and to ensure that the technical environment functions well and that it supports the activities of a community. Instructors should play an active role.

Economic competence is seen alongside reading, writing, and numeracy as one of the key future citizen skills. As the prevalence of financial difficulties and the digitalization of everyday life increase among adolecents, concerns about their economic competence have arisen in public discourse. Proposed solutions include introducing a separate subject on financial literacy and using games for teaching purposes. Compared internationally, Finnish adolecents have a good level of economic competence, but this topic has not been studied in the context of primary school. Gamification is an emerging trend in the education market, and learning games have been developed for improving economic competence. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how the Taloussankari Junior -educational game enhances the economic competence of fourth-grade students. Since adolecents’ economic competence has been found to be related to mathematical and language skills, the study aims to determine how these factors influence learning outcomes gained by gameplay. This thesis was conducted as a quantitative case study in a primary school in Tampere. 58 students participated in the initial test, and 54 students took part in the final test. Between the initial and final tests, the students played the 'Taloussankari Junior' educational game developed by Talous ja Nuoret TAT. The survey included 15 multiple-choice questions divided into three areas of economic competence: economic knowledge, economic behavior, along with economic attitudes and responsible consumption. In conjunction with the test, students reported their most recent grades in Finnish language and mathematics to measure the impact of linguistic and mathematical skills on economic competence. Participants already had a high level of economic competence before the learning period began. Although students' economic competence improved during the learning period, the repeated measures analysis showed that the changes were not statistically significant. As exceptions, students' perception of scarcity of money became clearer and impulsive spending decreased significantly. Consistent with previous research findings, the Kruskal-Wallis test demonstrated that linguistic and mathematical skills were statistically significant predictors of economic competence. Based on the study, it is recommended to incorporate Taloussankari Junior -alongside other teaching methods for the instruction of economic competence.

Kiinnostus pelejä kohtaan ja aiempi kokemus pelien ja oppimispelien laatimisesta johdatti tutkijan selvittämään oppimispeleihin liittyvää tutkimustietoa. Tutkielmassa esitelty tutkimustieto painottuu oppimispelien hajanaiseen tutkimuskenttään ja oppimispelien laatimisesta sekä matemaattisista oppimispeleistä tehtyyn tutkimukseen. Inspiraationa toimi erityisesti Krokforssin, Kankaan ja Kopiston (2014) toimittama teos, johon on kerätty laaja valikoima tuoreita artikkeleita oppimispeleistä. Tutkielmaa varten laadittiin myös yksi matematiikan oppimispeli ja selvitettiin mahdollisia poikien ja tyttöjen välisiä suhtautumiseroja kyseisen oppimispelin kohdalla. Lisäksi tutkimuksessa pyrittiin selvittämään, oppivatko oppilaat matematiikalle keskeisiä sisältöjä ja käsitteitä vain pelaamalla kyseistä oppimispeliä. Tutkimus suoritettiin Kuitinmäen koulussa syksyllä 2014. Suhtautumiseroja mittaavaan kyselyyn osallistui 85 oppilasta ja oppimistuloksia mittaavaan osioon 43 oppilasta. Tutkimusaineiston analysoinnissa käytettiin laadullisia ja määrällisiä menetelmiä. Vertailuarvoja ei käytetty, sillä vastaavanlaista vertailukelpoista peliä ei löytynyt tai sellaista ei ole. Tutkimuksessa selvinnyt positiivinen suhtautuminen kyseiseen oppimispeliin sekä pelaamisen aikana tapahtuva oppiminen viittaavat siihen, että vastaavanlaiset pelit voisivat antaa samanlaista hyötyä. Tulokset eivät ole yleistettävissä kaikkiin oppimispeleihin.

This is a qualitative research that focuses on the views of five preliminary teachers' opinions on learning games as a part of preliminary teaching in primary schools. The goal of this research is to figure out what kinds of learning games teachers have used during their preliminary lessons during the autumn period of 2016, what are the most suitable learning abstracts to learn with learning games and what kinds of consequences there have been after the pupils have started playing these learning games. The study discusses how often learning games are used in the classroom and what kind of beliefs do these teachers hold concerning learning games' cognitive, informative, social and technical aspects. How can a teacher evaluate immigrant children's learning process through a game play? For the purposes of this research, preliminary teaching means separated education that lasts max one year and which is offered to an immigrant pupil whose Finnish language skills are not developed enough for them to be studying in a same classroom with the Finnish age-mates. The access to get preliminary teaching is legislated in Finnish education law (§ 628/1998). Usually a preliminary pupil is a child, who has just moved to Finland. The inspiration behind this research is personal. I used to be a preliminary teacher for the immigrant children in one primary school in Helsinki. There I noticed how much using learning games boosted the pupils' motivation to learn Finnish language and how they gave a new rhythm to our preliminary classes. I also researched class teachers' opinions about learning games in my Bachelor's Thesis so this felt like the natural next step. Methods. This is a qualitative case study. The research material is collected and combined from the questionnaire answers given by five preliminary teachers. The teachers answered to a digital questionnaire where there were different statements and claims considering learning games and questions about preliminary teaching as well as the most played leaning games and the time used with the learning games. In the questionnaire form there were also open answer areas where the teachers could answer to the questions in their own words. The main theory in this research is a model of (learning) game pedagogy (Krokfors, Kangas & Kopisto, 2016, 214; Krokfors, 2006; Kangas 2010; Lakkala, 2010) which focuses on the cognitive, informative, social and technical sides of a learning game and the evaluation process on game playing and learning. The other source of background influence on this research is the newest national curriculum for primary schools (2016) where learning games are mainly discussed as a learning method and a tool for digital development. Conclusions. Most of the teachers used learning games as a part of their teaching many times during the school week. Learning games were clearly most used for teaching Finnish language (alphabets, reading, writing, listening and learning singular Finnish words). Also mathematics and natural science was taught with a learning game. Learning games were seen as a good tool for individualizing education. The teachers told in their answers that not only do the learning games develop pupils' skills step by step but a pedagogically good learning game also saves teachers time resources enabling them to focus on each pupil at a time. The most used games were all digital. The Finnish language learning games, Ekapeli and Ekapeli Maahanmuuttaja were the most played games. Also digital Ville -learning environment and Kahoot -the quizzing game environment were mentioned.

Goals. The aim of this thesis was to find out how adolescents' perceived learning difficulties are connected to their social participation. Social participation stands for the social dimension of inclusion. The basic assumption of inclusive education is that it provides better opportunities for social participation for pupils with special educational needs. Previous research has shown that along with inclusion, social participation of pupils with special educational needs is still lower than their classmates without special needs. Social participation of pupils with learning difficulties has been studied in the past mainly on younger pupils. In these studies, learning difficulties have been based on either teacher's assessment or diagnosis. This thesis will provide information on whether the social participation of an adolescent with perceived learning difficulties is lower than other adolescents. Methods. This study is a quantitative Master's thesis. The research is based on data gathered from 8th and 9th graders in the School Health Promotion study (N = 87215) conducted by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare in 2019. The data was collected using a questionnaire during the school day. IBM SPSS Statistics 27 was used for data analysis. The analysis methods of the thesis were Spearman's rank-order correlation coefficient and the t-test. Results and conclusions. The results of the thesis showed that adolescents' perceived learning difficulties were linked to their social participation. The strongest connections were measured between perceived learning difficulties and social self-perception. The more adolescents experience difficulties in writing, reading or counting, the more likely they are to have weaker social self-perception. The results also showed that young people with very high levels of perceived learning difficulties differ from other young people in terms of social participation. The findings show that in the future, in comprehensive education teachers should pay attention to adolescents with perceived learning difficulties and provide them with support for both perceived learning difficulties and potential challenges with social participation.

Objectives. Based on the theory behind drama education, the learning potential of drama resides in working in fictional environments. The natural tendency of children to play and imagine is at the center of drama education, so the defining of play and fiction in relation to working in fictional environments were crucial. The aim of the study is to develop and test the Fictional Work Meter, which can be used to examine the different aspects of working in fiction on drama lessons; fictitious realities and fictional roles, planning fiction, ways of creating fictional environments, the clarity between fiction and reality, and the pupils' commitment to working in fiction. The study also examines the level of fictional work on eight 1-3 grade drama lessons using the Fictional Work Meter. Methods. This study is a qualitative case study using the numerical analysis of the Fictional Work Meter that is based on the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) classroom observation tool. The eight filmed drama lessons used in the research were analyzed both verbally and in numerical values in the different categories of fictional work. The reliability of the research results was enhanced by making the analysis in co-operation with another analysist. Results and conclusions. The Fictional Work Meter developed for this study was well suited for analyzing the various aspects of working in fiction on drama lessons in the research material. All the analyzed drama lessons contained either moderate (4-5) or high (6-7) levels of working in fiction. Based on the high values, it could be assumed that teachers specialized in drama teaching were able to use fictional work on their drama lessons. The positive attitude and high intensity of the students towards working in fictitious reality supported the assumption. A result of this study was also the creation of a design template to raise the level of working in fiction on drama lessons.

Tutkimuksessani tarkastelen kolmen Helsingin yliopiston slavistin, kirjastonhoitaja Andrei Igelströmin, kansan-runoudentutkija Viljo Johannes Mansikan ja kielentutkija Jooseppi Julius Mikkolan, kansainvälisiä tieteellisiä ja poliittisia verkostoja. Nämä verkostot muodostuivat venäläisten tiedemiesten avustamiseksi perustetun Suomen Yliopistollisen Avustuskomitean kansainvälisen toiminnan ja siihen keskeisesti liittyneiden venäläisten tieteellisten julkaisujen välityksen ja Helsingin yliopiston konsistorin alaisen Venäläisten kirjaston ostohankkeen ympärille vuosina 1921-1925. Tutkimuksessani olen pyrkinyt vastamaan kysymyksiin: Millaista kansainvälistä tieteellistä ja poliittista yh-teistyötä suomalaiset slavistit Avustuskomitean yhteydessä harjoittivat? Millaisia tavoitteita Igelström, Mansikka ja Mikkola asettivat Suomen Yliopistollisen Avustuskomitean toiminnalle? Millaisia poliittisia ja tieteellisiä toimintamuotoja Avustuskomitea slavistien ohjaamana sai, mitä ulkopuolisia tavoitteita avustustoimintaan liittyi, ja lopulta miten Avustuskomitean toiminta heijasteli kansainvälisen tieteellisen yhteistyön muutosta uudessa valtiollisessa tilanteessa 1920-luvun alussa? Aihettani olen jäsentänyt verkosto-käsitteen ja verkostoteorian mallien avulla. Keskeisiä lähteitä ovat olleet Igelströmin, Mansikan ja Mikkolan Avustusko-miteaa käsittelevä kirjeenvaihto, Avustuskomitean kirjanpito ja avustustoimintaan osallistuneiden yhteisöjen julkaisemattomat ja julkaistut raportit sekä muistiot. Tutkimuksessa on käytetty historiantutkimuksen mene-telmiä, ja se liittyy Helsingin yliopiston slaavilaisen filologian oppiaineen ja Venäläisen kirjaston historiaan. Tutkimus osoitti Igelströmin, Mansikan ja Mikkolan kansainvälisten tieteellisten verkostojen olleen ratkaisevassa asemassa Suomen Yliopistollisen Avustuskomitean muodostamisessa ja kansainvälisen avustustoiminnan järjestämisessä. Tieteellisistä verkostoista keskeisessä asemassa oli Pietarin Tiedeakatemian tieteellisten julkaisuiden myynti ja vaihto. Painotuotteiden vaihto länsimaisten tieteellisten instituuttien kanssa järjestettiin Venäläisen kirjaston ja sen kirjastonhoitajan Andrei Igelströmin välityksellä. Vuosina 1921 1923 Igelströmin hallinnoima vaihtokeskus oli kansainvälisesti ainutlaatuinen ja rakensi uudelleen tieteellisen yhteistyön Suomen ja Venäjän välille sekä loi edellytyksiä kansainvälisen tiedeyhteistyön elvyttämiselle venäläisen tiedeyhteisön kanssa. Poliittisten verkostojen näkökulmasta suomalaisten slavistien kontaktit T ekkoslovakian ulko-asianhallinnon kanssa paljastuivat läheisiksi ja yhteistyö ulottui avustustoiminnan lisäksi myös Suomen kau-pallisten etujen edistämiseen ja kysymykseen venäläisten emigranttien asemasta T ekkoslovakiassa 1920-luvun alkuvuosina. Venäläisten emigranttien asema Prahassa ja Suomen Yliopistollisen Avustuskomitean välinen yhteys konkretisoitui Venäläisen kirjaston ostohankkeessa. Kirjastonostohankkeen syyksi on tässä tutkimuksessa osoitettu T ekkoslovakian ulkoasianhallinnon action russe -politiikka ja T ekkoslovakian valtion pyrkimys luoda edellytyksiä uudelle tieteelliselle orientaatiolle, johon slavistisen tutkimuksen ja kielitieteiden kehitys 1920-luvun Prahassa liittyivät. Aloitteentekijöiksi kirjastonostohankkeeseen on osoitettu Helsingissä ja Prahassa toiminut ukrainalainen emigrantti Vladimir Tukalevski, joka yhdessä Igelströmin ja T ekkoslovakian varaulkoasiain-ministerin Václav Girsan kanssa suunnitteli Venäläisen kirjaston ostamista ja sen siirtämistä Prahaan.

The enactment of Finland's first Compulsory Education Act in 1920 was significantly influenced by educational scientist and Member of Parliament Mikael Soininen. Previous studies have underlined his significance in passing the law, but there is no detailed analysis of how his speech influenced the passage of the law. The aim of this study is to find out what kind of discourses about compulsory education appeared in Soininen's speeches during the three discussions of the law in parliament in 1920. In addition, it will be also examined what kind of discourse order they form and how the discourses appeared in Soininen's speeches. The premise of the thesis was that Soininen's discourses on compulsory education played an essential part in the fact that the law passed despite the inflamed social situation. The thesis committed itself to the tradition of critical discourse analysis. In the implementation of the analysis, Pynnönen's (2013) three-phase discourse analysis process model was used. The examined material consisted of Soininen's plenary speeches during the debates on the Compulsory Education Act in 1920. In the analysis, four discourses were found: the discourse of protection, the discourse of progress, the discourse of inevitability and the discourse of patronage. Compulsory education appeared in the light of the discourses as a protection against social threats, as a promotion of Finland's status, as something that happens unstoppably like a natural phenomenon, and as a duty of the elite towards the common people. The discourse order formed by the discourses is the same as their order of presentation above. Apart from the patronage discourse, the discourses were strong which was evident for example in how they effectively suppressed opposition to compulsory education and the discussion of alternative ways of implementing compulsory education. The appearance of the discourses was focused on the speeches in the first and second parliament discussions on the Act. Discourses also escalated the further the handling of the law progressed. In terms of the passing of the law, the two opposite representations of the future of Finland appeared to be significant in the light of this study. The representations were created by the discourses of protection and progress. By presenting compulsory education as a feature of vitality, development, civilization and Western culture, passing the law gained more importance.