Browsing by Author "Saarinen, Tanja"

Aims. The aim of Finnish comprehensive school has been to raise children towards sustainable life skills. The Ecosocial Approach to education emphasizes this tendency within the latest national curriculum for comprehensive education. However, it is shown in previous studies that the aims of sustainable life are not fulfilled in everyday schooling. The ecological dimension of sustainability is well recognized by pupils but at the same time they are unfamiliar with the social and the economic dimensions. On the one hand, this study aims to clarify 7th graders' conceptions of sustainable life skills. On the other hand, this study charts their opinions of which teaching methods are the most effective ones concerning sustainable life skills. Based on the nature of home economics as a everyday-skill based school subject, it is anticipated that the lessons can provide possibilities to learn actual sustainable life skills. Methods. Study was carried out with one 7th graders teaching group of 15 pupil in a Finnish comprehensive school. As the present study ended, the compulsory home economics lessons were to be ended concerning this particular group. The data were mainly produced and analyzed using concept maps. In addition, a short questionnaire was used to supplement the data. The study took place in the end of researchers' own teacher training. This affected the study as it was persistent activity. Pupils produced the data as a part of one lesson. Results and conclusions. Pupils' common and shared understanding of sustainable life and skills related to it were broad, however the knowledge varied strongly within the group members. It was shown that sustainable life skills were learned and adopted in home economics lessons through different teaching methods. The results were presented and visualized as concept maps. There is a need to change teaching methods and the contents after the new national curriculum was published. In home economics, this change more likely concerns the content rather than the methods.