Browsing by study line "Humanististen tieteiden opintosuunta"

In response to the increasing need for an effective method to compare student performance on the international scale, the Organization for Economic Cooperation (OECD) launched the Program for International Student Assessment, better known as the PISA, in 1997. As such, PISA not only establishes an internally agreed upon framework between countries, but it also binds the commitment of OECD member states to regularly assessing the impact of educational systems on student performance. According to the first published PISA results, PISA “aims at providing a new basis for policy dialogue and for collaboration in defining and operationalizing educational goals— in innovative ways that reflect judgment about the skills that are relevant to adult life.” In simple terms, PISA seeks to evaluate how well 15-year-olds are prepared for the challenges they will face in life. Finland has ranked among the top countries since the first administration of the triennial PISA in 2000. Despite measuring well against its OECD counterparts, Finland, which once topped the PISA ranks, has since experienced a relative decline in performance. The mediation of PISA results has undeniably affected Finland’s image of education. This media discourse analysis uses major American newspaper outlets to unearth how Finland’s image has been affected by PISA results. These newspapers’ presentations of Finnish PISA performance further reveal how the US understands its own academic system. Ultimately, PISA asserts that academic institutions can make a profound difference on the individual, country, and global levels. Since PISA results can influence the academic decisions and policies of a given country, then the assessment must also make a difference on the individual, country, and global levels. Since the OECD drives forward the PISA, then the OECD also has an influence on the beforementioned levels. Thus, the OECD not only shapes representations of countries, but it also hinges on media as a vehicle by which to deliver these representations internationally. Although commonly overlooked, the OECD is a relevant and power-wielding actor because its PISA index reinforces and challenges narratives of academic exceptionalism, as exemplified by the case of Finland in this study. Does the OECD’s positioning as an overlooked actor magnify its power?

As the rise of popularity of the Nordic model in academia and through the newspapers reached different kinds of audiences and reached a peak during the mid 2010s, Nordic cooperation passed through an idyllic moment for its expansion and gained strength. The policymaker adopted a discursive element called “Nordic Added Value” to capitalise on the popularisation of the Nordic Model and started to use it for the enhancement of some achievements in different sectors touched by Nordic cooperation. The aim of this thesis is to inquire on the use of Nordic Added Value in the working context of the Nordic Culture Point, institution part of the cooperation framework, that deals with the promotion of culture and artistic and innovative collaborations between the actors living on both coasts of the Baltic Sea. More precisely, the thesis inquires on the rationale and context of birth of Nordic Added Value and its application in the context of Nordic-Baltic cultural cooperation. Finally, the dissertation aims to detect the presence of narratives describing the concept and its endorsement by Nordic cooperation. The thesis makes use of Grounded Theory, and a theoretical framework utilising Soft Power theory and the concept of Added Value coming from Business Studies and European Studies. The method and theoretical framework then apply to the analysis of a dataset of approved applications from the Nordic Culture Point. The results narrate of a concept used as an evaluative tool of the quality and effects of cooperative endeavours for Nordics and Baltics alike. Positive externalities which have affected both the discursive construction of the Nordic and Baltic cultural management models relate to the employment of cultural tools affecting the cohesion as regional block. Positive effects of the uses of Nordic Added Value for Nordic-Baltic relations can translate to the implementation of successful strategies for the creation of work, innovation and revenues for their respective cultural and creative industries. Policymaking gains and learning added value arguably benefit the Baltic block the most.

Finland has the highest per capita coffee consumption in the world. As one of the national drinks, drinking coffee is considered an essential cultural habit in Finland. Among them, coffee breaks at workspaces are a well-established and important cultural practice. This thesis tries to reveal what is represented to be Finnish about coffee breaks in Finnish working life. First, it analyses the background of the spread of coffee culture among Finnish people. Secondly, it assesses their experiences and opinions of the coffee break in recent years by using Oldenburg’s idea of “the third place” and previous studies about the coffee break. The survey was conducted on 18 Finnish people in the spring of 2021 and autumn of 2022. Moreover, it asked about changes and experiences caused by the corona pandemic. The Finnish coffee break substantially affects health maintenance, work efficiency, and social relationship/community formation. Remarkably, the role of social relationship/community formation is significant because the coffee break has provided cosy spaces for participants and opportunities to socialise since coffee was introduced to Finland. Recently, working life has become more individualised in Finland, as working hours and locations have become more flexible, and remote working has become more common after the corona pandemic. However, the coffee break has overcome such social changes and plays a role like a bond to keep people well connected, and many of them demand such opportunities.