Browsing by study line "Class Teacher (educational psychology)"

Compassion has been a recent interest in research field when trying to solve the challenges Western work culture of efficiency such as burnout. Research shows that compassion in work community increases well-being at work, innovativeness and meaningfulness for work. That’s also why it’s seen to be a great asset in organizations. Working from stagnant to functional, proactive compassion culture may be difficult without the knowledge of the factors that effects compassion at work. Aim of this study is to represent some of those factors from early childhood education and care (ECEC) actors’ point of view. In this study, I examine the different meanings associated with compassion, its enabling and inhibitory factors in work community and self-compassion. This study was conducted by analyzing interviews with selected participants so the sample does not represent the generalized view of ECEC actors on compassion. By ECEC actors I mean ECEC nurses and teachers, heads of ECEC units and regional managers. The data consists of twelve thematical interviews which were analyzed utilizing data and theory based content analysis. The results show that participants saw compassion as an important aspect in their work. Compassion is enabled through structures and leading compassion, compassionate leadership, interaction and encounters, work communality and outlining empathy and compassion. Inhibitory factors were large unit size and individual qualities. Answers to self-compassion had three different aspects which were self-kindness, common humanity and mindfulness that were in line with previous research (Neff, 2003a).

Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract This study describes the perceptions of primary school teachers who participated in the strength training of the #newschool project about the development of students' self-regulatory skills and supporting development. In addition, the study examines how teachers define self-regulation skills. Self-regulation has been theoretically examined from several different starting points, which partially explains the broad definition of self-regulation and the challenges of defining the concept (Aro, 2011a, 10). The character strength classification made in the studies of positive psychology offers a new perspective on terminology in which self-regulation is seen as a strength. Strength education, which embodies positive psychology in school, in turn provides new tools to support students’ self-regulatory skills. (Peterson & Seligman, 2004, 30; Uusitalo-Malmivaara & Vuorinen, 2016, 69.) This study was conducted as a qualitative study. The material was obtained by interviewing seven teachers who actively participated in the strength training of the #newschool project. The interviews were conducted as individual interviews during March 2020. Theoretical content analysis was used as the method of data analysis. The main results of the study revealed that teachers did not have an unambiguous definition for self-regulation, rather they described it through various sub-skills and concrete examples. The socioemotional dimension of self-regulation complemented the previous definition of self-regulation by Aro (2011) in this study (Aro, 2011a, 10). In addition, the results showed that teachers' perceptions of the development of students’ self-regulatory skills include growth mindset and mixed mindset, according to Dweck’s (2006) Mindset theory (Dweck, 2006, 6). Some teachers saw self-regulation as an evolving skill, while for some it meant an innate ability, whose development can not be further influenced in school. The results show that strength education has begun to find a place in teaching and students' self-regulatory skills are supported in quite a variety of ways in everyday school life. However, teachers' mindsets still reflect mixed mindset, and more tools are needed to support, for example, educational partnerships. The special value of the research can be seen in the information it provides to trainings on how they should be further developed in the future. On the other hand, the research raises the question of how occasional trainings can have an influence on attitudes and activities. Looking to the future, the role of teacher education in embracing the growth attitude of future teachers can be assessed, and on the other hand, the potential of teacher education to provide students with better skills to support students’ self-regulatory skills can be examined.

The purpose of this study was to describe the sixth-grade students' perceptions of strengths. The importance of strengths, as well as more broadly positive pedagogy, has recently been emphasized, and various projects have sought to address the curriculum gap in how the subject is concretely addressed in the classroom. This study is interested in what kinds of aspects the students themselves think are important and want to highlight in the strength debate. The material of this study consisted of video interviews conducted by students and questionnaires completed in preparation for them. The interviews followed the principles of peer interviewing and the students interviewed each other without the presence of a researcher. Questionnaires were completed individually. The material were produced by six sixth grades in the Helsinki metropolitan area. The survey included 85 questionnaires and 38 videos. The material was analyzed using material-based content analysis. The results showed a diverse set of individual perceptions of strengths and strength teaching. Students' perceptions were classified into categories based on their content. The largest category was the hobby and school world as a context for strengths. In the answers of this category, the pupils saw their strengths primarily as a competence in school subjects. Alongside this category, many students also mentioned the strengths learned in the project. The material was invariably very positive about strengths and studying them at school. In conclusion, it is challenging for some students to extend their strength thinking beyond the school world, with strength teaching and such research taking place in such a close school context. As a whole, students were able to reflect on the topic of strength analytically and in depth, and to justify their views and the meanings they gave to strength teaching. The attitudes and diverse perspectives of the students who participated in the study show that it is also fruitful to give voice to the students, the target group for strength projects, and to explore the strength theme in different contexts. It is also important that the societal debate also has a many-sided research-based perspective.

The theoretical frame for this study is Ladson-Billings' (1992, 1995) theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. Culturally relevant pedagogy has sought to solve the challenge that multicultural education has not been able to meet. The cultural diversity of schools is a wealth of teaching that should be used as a starting point for school activities. This, according to previous research, increases the student’s experience of relevance and violates the power structures that prevail in the school. This study is interested in the way teachers feel that they implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their teaching. In addition, the purpose is to find out the abilities and challenges experienced by teachers when implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in their teaching. This study is a multi-case study. The research material has been collected through a thematic interview by interviewing primary school teachers in schools in the Helsinki metropolitan area. In addition, the material has also been collected through a pre-sent tuning task. The material has been analyzed by research questions using qualitative content analysis, both deductively and inductively. The material consists of a total of six primary school teacher interviews and tuning assignments. Teachers perceived cultural diversity in the group not only as wealth but also as a challenge. Teachers said that they use different teaching methods to support the group's joint activities and the students' academic success. According to the teachers, the individual support of the student was strong. However, some teachers felt that their cultural competence was weak, and that meeting diversity was challenging. Cultural diversity was often associated with immigration or foreign language. According to the teachers, the development of critical thinking skills was limited. The students' own cultural backgrounds and the power exercised by the students in teaching were mainly manifested in teacher-led assignments or discussions. Based on this research, the competence of teachers in multicultural education should be developed. Based on this study, genuine student active participation in teaching is also still lacking.

The purpose of this study was to investigate talented children studying in a homeschool. The first research question describes home school parents’ definitions of talent. The second research question focuses on supporting a talented child in a homeschool. Previous research data shows that talent and homeschooling are related both as a reason for choosing a homeschool and as a high learning outcomes (Ray 2002, 2017) The research material was collected through a thematic interview. Home school parents (N=7) and their children (N=6) participated in the remote connected interview. Literated interviews were analyzed in the first research question by inductive content analysis and in the second research question by deductive content analysis question based on the catalysts of Gagnés (2004) Differentiated model of giftedness and talent. Talent was seen as differences in performance based on innate ability. Parents emphasized the importance of the environment and work alongside this perception. Talent was seen a little more multimodal than general. The talented child was defined by a high willingness to learn and various interests. The views are in line with previous research data and resembles Gagné’s (2004) definitions of the development of natural ability into talent by talent development process. Families saw homeschooling as a workable solution for educating a talented child. The parents emphasized the impact of the environment and individuality on learning. Homeschooling was seen as a motivating learning environment and supporting a child’s well-being. Parents felt it was important to appreciate the child’s talent and a lot of resources could be directed to support the child’s talent. The flexible timetable in homeschool increased free time or allowed the child to engage more intense hobbies. Homeschooling appears to be potential form of education form of education for a talented child but requires certain educational resources from the family.

Goal. The objective of this study is to survey classroom teachers’ insights of authority, its contribution to peaceful work environment and finally, how the amount of work experience affects these two factors. Teacher’s authority has been examined and written about from many different perspectives. It has been affected by changes in society and the school system. The aim of this study is to describe and address the topic as broadly as possible in order to outline the big picture. Authority has been seen to have a very large impact on peace in the class. The concept of peace at work is subjective and is usually approached from the discourse of issues. Both topics and related changes have also been actively discussed in the media in recent years. The study also took into account changes over time and their effects. Methods. The study was conducted as a qualitative study using a phenomenographic research approach. The material was collected using an electronic questionnaire and the respondents were working as a class teacher. The group of respondents was quite heterogeneous and the survey was answered anonymously. The material consisted of replies given by 33 people to open interview questions. The data was analyzed in relation to three different research questions. Results and conclusions. The research results showed that classroom teachers defined authority mostly in relation to agreed rules, student encounters, interaction, and trust. The length of teachers’ careers affected their responses in many different ways. Novice teachers felt they had less authority than those who had worked in the field longer. Novice teachers also didn’t emphasize the importance of the rules as much in their responses, but rather highlighted aspects of positive pedagogy. The majority of respondents felt that their class was in favor of peace at work and only four expressed dissatisfaction with peace at work. Almost half of the respondents mentioned certain students disturbing peace at work. Respondents who had been teachers for the longest time found most often their working peace to be good, but also stated more often that certain students perceived working peace as challenging.

Self-esteem affects to child’s appearance, thoughts and actions and it has a big impact regarding child’s learning, well-being and future sights. Previous studies reveal that teacher’s feedback has a big role when enhancing child’s self-esteem. The aim of this study was to examine primary school teachers’ descriptions of primary school students’ self-esteem in school and the ways of enhancing it in their job. The theoretical frame of this study is based on Michele Borba’s five component self-esteem model and on previous studies that reveal the importance of enhancing child’s self-esteem. This study was a qualitative study and it was analysed by using a phenomenographic analysis. Eight primary school teachers’ participated to the study. Four of them were male and four women. The data was collected from the primary school teachers throughout theme interviews. The data consists of 92 transcribed pages from the interviews. The categories presented as the results of the study were build from the descriptions of the primary school teachers and concerning the research questions. They were build from detailed expressions towards to a bigger picture and finally forming the categories shown as results. What comes to the results, primary school teachers’ know quite well and many-sided, how to enhance students’ self-esteem. As a result, five different types of categories were revealed. The categories were enhancing the student’s feeling of security, enhancing the group dynamics, enhancing the student’s selfhood, enhancing the student’s realistic target set up and enhancing the student’s feeling of competence. It is important to enhance self-esteem long-term and always take into account the different types of individuals in the group. Primary school teachers’ also thought that the enhancement of self-esteem is important in the school. Regarding the primary school teachers’ descriptions of the manifestation of students’ self-esteem and its level in school, six different types of categories were revealed as a result. The categories were the appreciation of yourself, the recognizing of your strengths and weakness’, social skills, the trust towards yourself and your abilities, the courage to participate and try new things and the tolerance of disorder in routines. What comes to the results, a primary school teacher needs to focus the attention towards the students’ and try to get to know the students’ better. That way the teacher can identify the quality of the students’ self-esteem. The results of this study are similar when comparing them to Borba’s self-esteem model.

Objectives. The objective of this pro gradu thesis is to survey what primary school music teachers think about songcrafting. I use the term songcrafting to reflect activities where a teacher is guiding or teaching composition or using it as an educational tool. In songcrafting the teacher is the leader but pupils are the composers. It has been stated that composition is a useful activity to include in music education. Also the Finnish curriculum demands to offer opportunities for composing. However, composing is found by many teachers challenging to implement. In this study I strive to find out what are the things that primary school music teachers consider important for the success in songcrafting. This study aims at collecting information about things that should be focused on in songcrafting and in teacher training to make songcrafting easier to implement. Methods. I collected the material of this study by interviewing four class teachers who are specialized in music education. The interviews were semi-structured thematic interviews. I analyzed the material by using qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions. According to the interviewees' perceptions, teachers’ skills are the key to success in songcrafting. In particular, subject matter knowledge appeared to be important. Interviewees suggested that learning material could be a way to compensate for incomplete subject matter knowledge. Additionally, in-service teacher training was seen as a good way to develop teachers’ skills. Songcrafting was described as containing planning, evaluation, pupil participation and support of pupils. Teacher skills were described as being linked to all of these. According to previous research and this thesis, one should consider how teachers’ skills could be supported and developed in the best possible way. Providing quality learning material and in-service teacher training might be the solution. Therefore those should be explored and developed further, in order to make songcrafting possible for a growing number of teachers.

Tiivistelmä - Referat - Abstract In this Master’s thesis I studied commitment to Basic education in theatre arts. Basic education in theatre arts is “goal-oriented, progressing from one level to other and it teaches children skills in self-expression and capabilities needed for vocational, polytechnic and university education in their chosen art form” (Curriculum of Basic Education in Art, 2017, p. 10). Basic education in theater arts is a hobby that requires the commitment of a child or a young person. In the theory part I studied the commitment from a philosophical point of view as well as from a psychological point of view that includes motivation. In addition, I examined commitment in different environments: educational institutions and in art contexts. Previous theories (inter alia Morgan & Saxton, 1985; Newbery, 2012; Willms, 2003; Zynghier, 2008) alone were unable to explain the phenomenon being studied. However, together the theoretical framework helped to understand the commitment to Basic education in theatre arts. I divided the theoretical framework into three main categories: the characteristics of art, the teaching processes and the pupil's background. Previous studies have studied, among other things, the relation between Basic education in the arts and the future of culture (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2011), self-evaluation of educational institutions (Basic Education Education Association, 2012), regional accessibility of Basic education in the arts (Regional Administration, 2012), the efficiency of teaching (Järvinen, 2015), the accessibility of teaching (Nokka, 2017) as well as from the point of view of experiential quality in Basic education in theatre arts (Myllyniemi, 2017). I found very little previous research of the topic of my thesis. In my opinion, factors influencing commitment was important to study for two reasons: the importance of commitment has increased in the curriculum (Curriculum of Basic Education in Art, 2005; 2017) and because of the growing number of students in the Tikkurila Theater and Circus School. My aim is to describe, analyze and interpret commitment as a phenomenon in Basic education in theater arts. The context of the research is Tikkurila Theater and Circus School. The research questions were: 1. Which factors influence to pupil’s commitment to Basic education in theater arts? 2. How do the importance, possibilities and realization of engagement in Basic education in theater arts become apparent in the interviews? 3. How does the theoretical framework of commitment appear in the interviews? Does the theoretical framework change based on the interviews? My research approach was qualitative. The material was collected as a part of Anu Myllyniemi's (2017) master's thesis The experiential quality in Basic education in theatre arts. The data collection method was individual interviews. There were in total of five interviews. Because my thesis was influenced by theory-based perspectives, I found the abductive content analysis to be the most suitable analytical method. The analysis process was divided into three phases: material reduction, grouping and conceptualization. (Tuomi & Sarajärvi, 2017) According to this study, the most important factors influencing the commitment to Basic education in theater arts were the social dimension of the hobby and the methods of teaching used in the education. In addition to these, the interviewees highlighted the importance of trying different kind of roles. Some significance could also be seen with values and attitudes appeared in the theatre school, teacher’s responsibility and pupil’s self-confidence. The results of the study showed similarities with the theoretical framework. Complementing the theoretical framework, the meaning of the environment (teaching facilities) emerged as a significant factor of commitment. The National Agency of Education has defined as one of the goals of Basic education in arts that pupil’s are goal-oriented and aiming for vocational education (Curriculum of Basic Education in Art, 2017, p. 10). If the research were to be carried out in a broader sense, it could provide new perspectives for the curriculum of Basic arts education and help the educational institutions to engage their students more effectively.

There has been much research on agency in different branch of science and different perspectives. In the context of school, student agency research has largely focused on examining teacher-student interactions. The study of writing is also a current topic in educational research. The perception of writing and learning to write has changed in the last twenty years. In the context of writing increasing emphasis on literacy skills, a process-oriented approach to writing and a collaborative writing. In the context of collaborative learning, studying agency in student interactions where the teacher is not constantly present becomes essential. The purpose of this thesis is to gain more insight into the process of co-writing and the building of agency through interaction between students. The video material used in the thesis consist of small group work of three 5th grade students in history lesson, during which the small group is tasked with writing a joint information text. The material was collected in winter 2018 for the purposes of the Tekstistä Tekstiin -research project. The video material analysed the linguistic initiatives taken by the students and the subsequent interaction periods during the writing process. Discourse analysis with emphasis on the functions of linguistic expressions was used as the method of analysis. In the context of the thesis, co-writing emerged as an interactive process consisting four stages: information retrieval, planning of writing, writing and structuring work. The student agency appeared as individual and shared responsibility for advancing the assignment, skills in relation to the prerequisites of the writing assignment and performing as expected. Based on the data, student agency was appeared to be linked to the institutional context that guides the development of agency also during student interaction.