Browsing by Subject "itsetunto"
Now showing items 1-20 of 28
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(2018)Aims. The aim of my research was to study the use of social media of 15–17 year old Finnish teenagers and what effects social media has on them. Earlier studies have shown that an average Finnish teenager uses social media approximately 15 hours during a week. It has also been studied that the social media has an effect on self-esteem. I chose social media and it’s effects on teenagers as my research subject because as a phenomenom the social media is rather young, which is why there has not been done many Finnish studies focusing on the teenagers’ social media use. My research assignment is to find out what kind of social media users teenagers are and what kind of effects social media has on their self experiences. Methods. The study was qualitative and 45 teenagers from age 15 to 17 participated in it. The data was collected with an internet questionnaire which was shared through social media, and it contained mainly open questions. The data was analysed by using qualitative data-based content analysis. Results and conclusions. Most of the teenagers used social media 3–4 hours daily or more. It was used for entertainment, for finding information, communication, current affairs, sharing one’s own life experiences and for finding inspiration, among other things. Almost half of the teenagers were bullied over social media. Appearance was also essential in the social media. Social media created ideals for appearance for teenagers and set them under critique, gave them false image of reality and made the teenagers look for the acceptance through outlooks. 31 of them had gotten positive comments on their appearance from social media and 13 had gotten negative comments. Those comments had an impact on the teenagers’ self-esteem, mood and feelings. Teenagers had also objects of identification and admiration in social media, such as videobloggers, artists, models and their own friends, and they were influenced by them. They felt that social media had many positive and negative effects on their lives. Positive effects were the rise of self-esteem, being more brave in expressing one’s own opinion, the possibilities of keeping in touch with other people and being the source of inspiration, motivation and information, among other things. The negative effects were the social media taking too much time and creating pressure, its bad effect on physical condition and sleep, distortion of self-image, the mean people and the need to be always within reach, among other things. The results of this study implicate that the social media has a comprehensive effect on the lives of the teenagers and their self experiences.
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(2021)The symptoms of ADHD can cause many challenges for children and adolescents in school. Today, traditional learning environments are challenged by more open, flexible learning environments. However, there is only little earlier research on classroom experiences in flexible learning environments and classroom experiences comparing traditional and flexible learning environments have not been studied from the perspective of students with ADHD symptoms. In addition, previous research has shown that students with symptoms of ADHD often experience lower self-esteem than their peers. It is also known that girls are more likely to report lower self-esteem than boys. The purpose of this study is to examine how students at risk for ADHD experience their self-esteem, engagement, autonomy, relatedness and competence in traditional and flexible learning environments. In addition, this study examines whether there is a gender difference in the above-mentioned experiences. The theoretical basis of the research is the self-determination theory, to which autonomy, competence, relatedness and engagement are essentially connected. The data was collected from students in grades 7 and 8 who had participated in the Learning, grouping, evaluation and well-being in large learning areas project of the city of Vantaa and the University of Helsinki Education Assessment Center in 2019–2020. Of all 7–8th graders (N 1446), students at risk of ADHD (n 113) were selected for the study. Spearman’s correlation coefficient was used to examine the connections between attention, self-esteem, and the components of self-determination theory. Next, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to examine whether there is a difference between traditional and flexible learning environments in self-esteem, autonomy, competence, relatedness and student engagement in students at risk for ADHD. The same method of analysis was used again to examine whether there is a gender difference in self-esteem, autonomy, competence, relatedness and student engagement in students in the risk group of ADHD. The data was analyzed by using IBM SPSS Statistics 26. The results showed that the experiences of self-esteem and the components of self-determination theory (student engagement, autonomy, relatedness and competence) did not differ depending on the learning environment in students at risk of ADHD between traditional and open plan (flexible) learning environments. However, experiences of self-esteem, autonomy and engagement among at-risk students in ADHD differed between the sexes, with girls having lower self-esteem and experiencing less autonomy and engagement than boys.
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(2019)Purpose and aim of the study. The aim of this study is to examine the different methods how teachers support mental health skills of primary school pupils. The aim is to research how primary school teachers can support mental health skills in their teaching and outside the classroom, for example during breaks. Mental health skills is a new concept mentioned in the educational curriculum of 2014, and includes different dimensions, which are for example self-esteem, social skills and emotional skills. Furthermore, mental health and mental health skills are topics that have been covered a lot recently in the media in the context of schooling. Examining the different methods to support mental health skills helps primary school teachers to recognize them and to benefit from them. Moreover, it can provide primary school teachers the opportunity to reflect on the subject more often. Methodology. This study is a qualitative research. The research data of this study was collected in half-structured interviews and by observing. Three primary school teachers, who all work as first grade teachers, were selected to be interviewed. The interviews were recorded and transcribed after which the results were analyzed using theme analysis. Results of the study and conclusions. The interviewed primary school teachers considered that the methods to support mental health skills on a daily basis consisted of four different dimensions: daily interaction between a teacher and a pupil, feedback, maintaining fairness and supporting peer relationships. The interviewed teachers strive to support mental health skills by including discussions and assignments on mental health topics in lectures and subjects such as art, biology and religion. The interviewed teachers found it helpful to use additional materials besides the material they use for the subjects in order to teach comprehensively about the topic. Supporting mental health skills during the first year of school is especially important in order for pupils to feel safe whlist studying and functioning at school. Moreover, it is important to practice and support mental health skills during the first year of school so that pupils can realize their own skills and improve them if needed when they are growing up.
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(2019)Aims. This study investigated how values are associated with subjective well-being, (e. g. life satisfaction, self-esteem and depressive symptoms) among young adults. Schwartz (1992) value theory was used as the theoretical framework of the study. Previously it has been found that values are associated with subjective well-being, however, the results of the previous studies have been mixed. Thus, the present study examined these associations further. Methods. This study is a part of FinEdu longitudinal study, in which participants were 28 years at the time of the study (N = 551). The participants filled in a questionnaire concerning values, life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. The data was analysed using hierarchical regression analysis. Results and conclusions. The results showed that of the ten values, universalism and conformity were statistically and significantly associated with life satisfaction and depressive symptoms among young adults. No statistically significant associations emerged between values and self-esteem. It can be concluded that more research would be needed to examine the associations between values and subjective well-being. Research should include a comprehensive value scale and specific questions relating to the topic.
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(2015)Objectives. The purpose of this research is to find out if there is a connection between importance ratings in certain fields of life and perceived competence. This research also aims to investigate the connection between the aforementioned and self-esteem. The hypothesis, based on former studies, is that high importance ratings and perceived competence are connected to strong self-esteem. Methods. This survey-based study was a quantitative one. 156 participants answered the questionnaire. The material was analyzed by using PASW Statistics. Methods included correlations, t-tests, factor analysis and Analysis of Variance. These methods aimed to gather information on the relations between importance ratings, perceived competence and self-esteem. Results and conclusions. A connection between importance ratings and perceived competence was found. Statistically significant connection was found between: the importance rating of friendships and the social self-perception (r=.562, p<.001), the importance rating of hobbies and the hobby-related self-perception (r=.523, p<.001), the importance rating of behaviour and the behaviour-related self-perception (r=.205, p<.05), the importance rating of relationship with one's parents and the self-perception of the relationship with one's parents (r=.642, p<.001) and the importance rating of one's development in work and the self-perception of one's work- and study –related comfort (r=.283, p<.001). Based on these strong connections, it can be assumed that high perceived competence predicts high importance rating and low competence is connected to low importance rating. According to these results, big differences between importance ratings and perceived competence are connected to low self-esteem. A strong connection was found between the ratings of one's appearance, perceived competence and self-esteem. It can therefore be assumed that the smaller the difference between one's importance rating and perceived competence is, the better one's self-esteem is as well.
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(2015)Goals. The purpose of this research is to find out the social skills of student in special education in primary school. The starting point of the study was to understand the importance of student's social skills in primary school, as well as to find out situations that cause negative interactions. Understanding the situations and meanings will help teachers to perform better in the emergence of conflicts, and to support behaviorally challenging pupils of his growing up. Methods. The study was conducted as a case study. The study was the case of Ursula in fourth-class. Ursula's social skills aimed to find out by observing and informative discussions. Official documents relating to Ursula was used mainly for background information. The study wanted to find out other students views about Ursula with class diaries , the children of etnographic method utilizing. The study was based on the functional and ecological model in which the inclusive approach is essential. Functional and ecological evaluation serve as a good basis for the observation and analysis making payments. Positive thinking and positive support for the student's worked at the main thread of research. Results and conclusions. The results showed the student's self-esteem and self-perception was a major factor behind specific student's social skills expertise. Also, the teacher's role in supporting the student's social skills and self-perception was emphasized. The student in primary school is still with the social skills in trainee level, but this level has each student very unique. Observing the individuality, equality and open interest to students are the keys for a good student – teacher relationship of trust formation. This in turn supports the behavior and social skills in school.
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(2023)My Master's thesis is a qualitative study, the purpose of which is to find out how teachers working in pre-primary and in the early stages of basic education the importance of self-esteem and how they recognise the differences between healthy and weak self-esteem in children. I will also try to find out what methods are they using to support the development of children's healthy self-esteem and what they perceive as potentially damaging factors for children's self-esteem in the learning environment in both pre-primary and early- elementary education. I want answers to these questions because self-esteem has a significant impact on a child's development and life. I collected research data from seven teachers who work in different preschools and early-elementary schools. By Early-elementary school I mean the first and second grade of elementary school. The research material was collected using thematic interviews. The interviews were conducted during October and November 2022. I analysed my research data using the phenomenographic method of analysis. The research shows that all interviewed teachers were aware of the basics of self-esteem formation. They were able to distinguish between healthy and poor self-esteem based on children's behaviour and felt that supporting healthy self-esteem was an important part of their daily work. According to the interviewed teachers, healthy self-esteem promotes among other things a better future for children and affects learning and motivation. The teachers felt that strength-based teaching, positive interaction and creating a safe environment are the best ways to promote children's self-esteem. They also emphasized the importance of professional support and cooperation because it enables providing the necessary help to children, which also increases the teachers' own competence and well-being at work. Although supporting healthy self-esteem is important, challenges related to working conditions and the teacher's own problems can prevent teachers from supporting each child in a way that would promote the development of children's healthy self-esteem. Every teacher interviewed cited a negative atmosphere as a barrier to children's self-esteem development. In addition, challenges faced by teachers that have a negative impact on professionalism, such as fatigue and teachers' personal problems, were perceived to have a negative impact on children's self-esteem. Lack of resources, time pressure on teachers, and neglecting children's challenges were also identified as significant problems.
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(2022)Mental illnesses are still nowadays one of the most stigmatising features of a person. The aim of my thesis is to examine marginally categorised mental health clients and the role of experts-by-experience in peer-activities. As a material for my thesis, I had transcribed discussions of three different peer-to-peer sessions held by experts-by-experience. These peer-to-peer sessions were recurring meetings at a Finnish psychiatric hospital. In addition to experts-by-experience, mental health clients were present at these peer-to-peer sessions. The sessions were intended as relaxed discussion sessions, with completely free topics chosen by the participants. The topics could range from everyday shopping to suicidal thoughts. In this thesis, I have examined these transcribed conversations using critical discursive psychology. With this theoretical framework, I paid attention to the mental processes that emerge in the discussions, as well as to the cultural discourses. Although the topics for discussion in the peer sessions were not predetermined, the discussion in all of these sessions often turned to topics related to self-esteem. The clients belittled themselves, felt inferior, and compared themselves to others. Experts-by-experience also made comparisons and called the others, for example, healthy or the general population. The client felt themselves worse than others, because they felt unable to meet certain societal norms. In responding to clients’ self- disparaging turns, experts-by-experience used narratives as examples of their own experiences. The insights in the narratives serve as effective means for experts-by- experience to show clients their own knowledge gained from experience. With this informative and experiential authority, the experts-by-experience taught clients a new social norm, according to which, among other things, working was framed as an unpleasant thing. With such counter-talk in response to the norms of the dominant culture, the experts-by-experience created a line between us and them, and enhanced their own positive group identity. Both of these are important functions for members of marginalised groups with impaired self-esteem.
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(2017)Fyysisellä kosketuksella on tutkittu olevan terveyttä ja hyvinvointia edistäviä vaikutuksia. Kosketuksen on huomattu vaikuttavan koehenkilöiden mielialaan ja itsetuntoon sitä kohottavasti sekä lisäävän yhteyden tunnetta ja positiivisia tunteita muita kohtaan. Ikäihmisille suunnattu päivätoiminta on toimintaa, jonka tavoitteena on edistää hyvinvointia tarjoamalla heille virikkeitä, liikuntaa ja sosiaalista kanssakäymistä. Päivätoiminnan avulla pyritään parantamaan ikäihmisten osallistumismahdollisuuksia ja ehkäisemään yksinäisyyttä. Tutkielman tavoitteena on tutkia, vaikuttaako ikäihmisille suunnatussa keskusteluryhmässä saatu ja annettu kosketus osallistujien mielialaan, itsetuntoon ja ryhmäytymiseen positiivisesti. Tutkimus toteutettiin kokeellisena asetelmana ikäihmisille suunnattun palvelukeskusken tiloissa, missä koehenkilöt osallistuivat keskusteluryhmiin neljän viikon ajan kerran viikossa. Kaikki osallistujat (N=37) olivat eläkkeellä olevia pääkaupunkiseudulla asuvia naisia. Osallistujien ikäjakauma oli 59–91 vuotta iän keskiarvon ollessa 75 vuotta. Osallistujat jaettiin koeryhmiin (n=20) ja kontrolliryhmiin (n=17). Keskusteluryhmien varsinaiseksi tapaamisajaksi oli varattu aina yksi tunti. Keskusteluryhmissä koehenkilöt antoivat pareittain toisilleen hierontaa sisältävää käsihoitoa 10 minuutin ajan vuorollaan sekä keskustelivat samalla valmiiksi annetusta aiheesta. Kontrolliryhmän koehenkilöt vuorostaan keskustelivat samasta valmiiksi annetusta aiheesta 20 minuutin ajan ilman fyysistä kosketusta. Loppuaika keskusteltiin yhteisesti. Tutkimusaineistö kerättiin kyselylomakkeilla ennen ja jälkeen koetilanteen. Kyselylomakkeet sisäl-sivät itsearviointimittareita, joilla mitattiin mielialaa, itsetuntoa ja ryhmäytymistä. Koehenkilöiltä tiedusteltiin myös heidän arvioitaan keskustelutilanteen ja keskustelukumppanin mielekkyydestä. Aineisto analysoitiin testaamalla kosketuksen vaikutusta mielialaan, itsetuntoon ja ryhmäytymiseen toistettujen mittausten varianssianalyysillä. Kosketuksen vaikutusta keskustelukumpanin ja keskustelutilanteen mielekkyyteen testattiin riippumattomien otosten t-testillä. Kosketuksella ei ollut tilastollisesti merkitsevää vaikutusta itsetuntoon, negatiiviseen mielialaan tai ryhmäytymiseen. Imputoidulla aineistolla saaduissa tuloksissa, positiivinen mieliala nousi neljän viikon aikana tilastollisesti merkitsevästi enemmän koeryhmän jäsenillä kuin kontrolliryhmän jäsenillä (F(4,436) = 3.64, p < .006, η² = .115). Havaitulla aineistolla ryhmien välillä ei ollut tilastollisesti merkitsevää eroa, (F(3,221) = 2.20, p = .09, η² = .136). Kosketuksen vaikutus oli kuitenkin melko suuri. Kosketus selitti 13,6 % positiivisen mielialan vaihtelusta. Negatiivinen mieliala laski molemmilla ryhmillä tilastollisesti merkitsevästi neljän viikon aikana (F(2,219) = 6.80, p = .003 , η² = .327). Tutkielman perusteella näyttää siltä, että kosketus osana keskusteluryhmän toimintaa saattaa käsiin kohdistettavana hierontana voimistaa sosiaalisen vuorovaikutuksen positiivisia vaikutuksia eläkeikäisillä naisilla kohottamalla heidän mielialaansa ja siten edistämällä terveyttä ja hyvinvointia. Tuloksia tulkitessa huomioitavaa kuitenkin on, että puuttuvien tietojen takia otos jäi luotettavan tilastollisen testauksen kannalta pieneksi.Tutkimus olisikin jatkossa mielenkiintoista toistaa suuremmalla otoskoolla ja paremmalla koeasetelman kontrolloinnilla.
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(2015)Tämän pro gradu -tutkielman tavoitteena on tutkia, selittävätkö akkulturaatioasenteet kansallisen kielen taidon ja psykologisen sopeutumisen välistä yhteyttä. Sopeutumista on tutkittu akkulturaation yhteydessä runsaasti. Aiemmissa tutkimuksissa on todettu, että kielitaito on yhteydessä akkulturaatioasenteisiin ja sopeutumisen eri tasoihin. Kuitenkin tutkimus näiden kolmen mittarin välisistä yhteyksistä on vähäistä ja kielitaito on usein mukana vain yhtenä demografisena mittarina. Tutkielman teoreettista taustaa hahmottavat akkulturaation ulottuvuudet ja Berryn akkulturaatioasenteet. Tutkielmassa käytetään Helsingin yliopiston Valtiotieteellisessä tiedekunnassa, sosiaalipsykologian oppiaineessa vuosina 2008 – 2014 toteutettujen INPRES- ja LADA -projektien pitkittäisaineistoja. Aineisto koostuu Venäjältä Suomeen muuttaneista inkerinsuomalaisista paluumuuttajista. Projekteissa on tehty kolme seurantamittausta, ensimmäinen noin puoli vuotta (N=155), toinen noin kaksi vuotta (N=133) ja kolmas noin kolme vuotta (N=85) maahanmuuton jälkeen. Tässä tutkielmassa suomen kielen taitoa arvioitiin ensimmäisellä seurannalla. Akkulturaatioasenteiden mittareita ovat: kulttuurinen säilyttäminen ja kontaktihalukkuus, joiden arviointi tehtiin toisella seurannalla. Psykologisen sopeutumisen mittareita ovat: elämäntyytyväisyys ja itsetunto, joita arviointiin kolmannella seurannalla. Tutkielman pääanalyysimenetelmä on askeltava regressioanalyysi. Ensiksi tutkittiin regressioanalyysein suomen kielen taidon ja psykologisen sopeutumisen välistä yhteyttä, seuraavaksi suomen kielen taidon ja akkulturaatioasenteiden sekä lopuksi akkulturaatioasenteiden ja psykologisen sopeutumisen välisiä yhteyksiä. Tutkielman tulokset eivät ole samassa linjassa aiempien tutkimustulosten kanssa: tutkielmassa ei löytynyt tilastollisesti merkitseviä yhteyksiä päämittareiden välillä. Näin ollen päätutkimuskysymys ei saa tukea. Regressioanalyysien nollatulokset saattavat johtua analyysien puutteellisista taustaoletuksista tai ongelmista päämittareiden luotettavuudessa. Kuitenkin, koska kansallisen kielen taidon vaikutukset sopeutumiseen ovat hyvin moniulotteisia ja koska maahanmuuttajien kansallisen kielen taito on yhteiskunnallisesti tärkeää, lisätutkimusta kaivataan yhä.
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(2016)The purpose of this study was to examine the possible connection of applicants' self-esteem and gender to their performance in student selection for teacher education. The significance of teacher's personality has grown with working conditions that increasingly demand better social skills. Teachers have reported unusual tiredness and the willingness to quit has become more common. It seems reasonable to consider self-esteem as a protective buffer against the emotional stress these working conditions present for teachers, and therefore the student selection at least shouldn't favor those with whom this protective buffer is low. Self-esteem's connection with student selection for teacher education has not been studied before, but due to prior results regarding the broader benefits of high self-esteem, it was hypothesized to be positively connected to success in student selection. The selection process consists of a theory test and an aptitude test, which were addressed separately and together. In line with prior research, women were hypothesized to be more successful in theory test and men in the aptitude test. This study was a part of the SeSTE research project (Selecting Students for Teacher Education). There were 470 subjects who had participated in the selection process for teacher education in the University of Helsinki. Self-esteem was measured with Rosenberg self-esteem scale as self-assessment. The main method of analyzing was multinomial logistic regression. Gender was examined alongside self-esteem, and the effect of age was controlled. The hypotheses for self-esteem were mostly confirmed with no apparent connection seen with the aptitude test. Gender related hypotheses were confirmed as women were more likely to pass the theory test and men the aptitude test. According to this study the student selection slightly favors applicants with higher self-esteem, but the effect is small. If the hypothesis of high self-esteem as a useful protective buffer for teachers gains more evidence, it might be beneficial according to this study, to consider the possibility of focusing the student selection more to applicants with higher self-esteem.
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(2015)The aim of this study was to examine 6th graders' self-esteem and find out what kind of factors in the school environment are interrelated with it. This study examined interrelation between self-esteem and gender, learning difficulties, school value, school satisfaction, teacher's behavior, being bullied and participating in bullying. These different variables were chosen based on previous studies about self-esteem. The aim is to gain better understanding of the different factors that influence students' self-esteem in the school environment and therefore provide help for teachers battling with issues regarding self-esteem enhancement. The data was collected in the spring of 2013 as part of the Mind the Gap -project. Participants (n=735) were 6th grades from 33 different schools. Three different groups according to self-esteem were formed: weak, mediocre, and strong self-esteem in relation to other respondents. Relations between self-esteem and other variables were examined by Pearson's product-moment coefficient and Independent-Samples T test was used to examine differences between genders. Finally two-way ANOVAs were conducted to investigate self-esteem and gender differences regarding the different variables. According to the results 6th graders evaluated their self-esteem as relatively good. Boys reported better self-esteem than girls. However the boys also experienced more learning difficulties and took part in bullying more than girls. Girls' reported their school value, on the other hand, higher than boys'. There were no differences between genders in school satisfaction, experiencing teacher's behavior nor being bullied. The effect of self-esteem was clearly higher than the effect of gender on all the variables. Also an interaction effect of self-esteem and gender was found regarding being bullied. In the mediocre self-esteem group boys experienced more bullying than girls. The boys of the mediocre self-esteem group also participated in bullying the most.
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(2018)The aim of this study was to find out how doing craft has an impact on self-esteem, life management and well-being for two women prisoners in Hämeenlinna prison. The study covers not only part of the time in prison but also six months after the release from prison. I wanted to find out the reasons that they had for doing craft, as well as what they made and why. I was also interested in knowing if they continued with their hobby, or if not, after being released and the reasons for their choice. In this study my hypothesis was that doing craft might help prisoners to cope with stressful feelings during the time in prison. My hypothesis was based on the theories of the role of craft in well-being and the impacts on self-esteem and life management. Doing craft has been found therapeutic for its ability to improve a person's self image and for maintaining functional mental health and for several benefits for mental well-being. I had three questions in my study which I wanted to get an answer to: "How did the prisoners consider the value of doing craft for self-esteem and life management in jail and in the activity centre Monikko in Hämeenlinna prison?", "What connections do former prisoners find between doing craft, self-esteem and life management?" and "What were the reasons for continuing or giving up doing craft after being released?". I had an interview with the women a few times while they were in prison and six months after they had been released. I analyzed the interviews using the content analysis. The interviews revealed that while in prison both women found the influence of doing craft, especially knitting, calming, stress reducing and therapeutic. They found that knitting increased the quality of life and the feeling of life management. They also realized that they have skills and talent to manage and complete tasks, which improved their self-esteem and increased their self-confidence. After having found their competence on knitting, they started to feel hopeful for the future again. While knitting they were able to evaluate and deconstruct their previous lives, consider the change of life and set new goals for it. After being released both women continued to knit mainly for the same reasons as in prison but also to avoid getting back to the previous lifestyle with harmful addictions. Keeping themselves busy by knitting among other responsibilities in their lives, they brought life management and increased control in their lives. Based on the results in my study, crafts, especially knitting, can be considered a useful chore in prison for its impact on reducing stress and on other benefits to mental well-being.
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Kavereita, urheilua ja taidetyöskentelyä : Icehearts-tyttöjen minäkäsitys sosiaalisessa kontekstissa (2017)Objectives. The underlying and starting point of this thesis is the idea of the importance, appreciation and self-esteem of girls. The study's research task is to make the girls' perception of themselves visible in the contexts of the school, Icehearts afternoon activities and art projects. The focus is on girls' own selves, but also on the girls' perception of themselves as girls, what is it like to be a girl in everyday social communities. The theoretical background of the study deals with peer relationships, gender and peer relationships, self, self-esteem, art-based working methods in research and in work with children and young people. The study also includes girls and girls' history, as well as gender roles, especially in school. Methods. Six fifth-grade girls from the Icehearts girls' team, founded in Vantaa, participated in the study. The study went together with the art project with the girls. The research material was collected through observations, survey forms and group interviews. The written material has been interpreted as narratives. Some of the answers are also shown in the graphs, and the results of the group interviews in the form of a mind map. Results and Conclusions. Narrative research does not aim at objective or generalizable knowledge, but it aims to produce local, subjective and personal information. Girls' evaluations of themselves are presented separately for each girl in their own chapters. Based on girls' replies, friends and Icehearts appeared to be important to them. The way the contexts of this research, school, Icehearts and art project, effect on the girls' selfs cannot be precisely specified. According to studies, the self is still changing during adolescence. This can be seen also in this study: selfs turned out to be variable and contextual.Girls' perceptions of themselves as girls are put together in mind maps. The girls in this study made a clear distinction between girls' and boys' behavior, "being". The traditional roles of a boy and a girl were present at least on one level. Being a girl was, however, seen very positively. The girls didn't think being a girl would cause limitations in their future lives.
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(2017)The aim of this study was to examine the stability and change between students' perceived learning difficulties, self-esteem, and school burnout over time. It has been recognized that learning difficulties, self-esteem and school burnout are somewhat stable. There is some evidence that learning difficulties are connected to lower levels of well-being, especially to self-esteem and depressive symptoms. Still, there are some studies that contradict those findings. Most of the previous studies of learning difficulties and well-being have been cross-sectional. Thus, more evidence is needed in order to draw conclusions about the effect learning difficulties might have on students' well-being. The connections between self-esteem and well-being are also recognized, but the causation between self-esteem and well-being remain unclear. School burnout is quite recently discovered phenomenon which depicts students' burnout in the school setting. The main objective in this study is to examine the dynamics between students' perceived learning difficulties, the level of self-esteem, and school burnout symptoms using a longitudinal data. The data consists two measurement times gathered from the schools in a southern Finland city. The participants (N = 372) were ninth graders in compulsory education at 2004 (age 15-16) and first year students in general secondary education at 2005 (age 16-17). Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to specify latent constructs. Time invariance of the latent constructs was tested across measurements. Cross-lagged panel model was utilized to test the connections between latent constructs across different time points. The stability of self-esteem and school burnout were in line with previous findings. Surprisingly, perceived learning difficulties were not that stable. Students' perceived learning difficulties did not predict change in levels of self-esteem nor school burnout symptoms. In addition, self-esteem did not predict change in school burnout symptoms or perceived learning difficulties. In turn, school burnout predicted change in both levels of self-esteem and perceived learning difficulties. Self-esteem did not have an effect in later school burnout, rather the other way around. Thus, the findings confirm that self-esteem is the effect on burnout symptoms, not the cause on well-being. School burnout turned out to have a central role in the dynamics between perceived learning difficulties, self-esteem, and school burnout.
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(2015)Aims. Previous researches has suggested that the teacher can by evaluation and oral feedback affect students' self-content either in a positive or a negative way (Ihme, 2009, s. 59). The aim of this study was to research and analyze elementary school teachers' views and opinions about holistic evaluation, especially about discrepancies and authorities that appear in evaluation together with evaluation which develops student's self-content. The purpose of this study is to describe and develop evaluation that takes place in school and research the importance of supporting student's positive self-content in learning. Methods. The study was executed as a qualitative case study and all together three teacher took part in as cases. The data was collected by interviewing the teachers and by observing their oral feedback in the classroom. The data was analyzed using discourse-analysis. The analysis focused mostly for the teachers' interview data, which the observation data was meant to complete. Results and conclusions. The results of this study were that in spite of the age, gender or working-experience, all of the cases considered the importance of the versatile evaluation and that supports the development of student's self-content. The study was also suggesting that according the interview data the teachers' ideological thinking did not always extend into a practical level, but also the two traditions appearing in curriculum and the resources affected for the evaluation. For this reason this study suggest that the evaluation and development of students' self-content is a part of a wider social phenomenon. The study also suggested that teachers' evaluation did not always support students' self-content in a best possible way and for that reason teachers should put effort also for their own action while supporting the development of students positive self-content.
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(2020)The objective of this study is to highlight traumas experienced by a student and to examine how the traumas arise in school context. I also examine what kind of support school was able to provide for the traumatized student. Purpose of this study is to provide knowledge and possible means for caretakers to encounter a traumatized child. In this study the voice is given to a young person who has been struggling with traumas during her time in school and her narrative is used to determine the student’s personal experiences of reconciling the traumas and school. The person who participated in this study was a former youth in a youth detention centre, whose traumas passed throughout her whole school time, especially throughout the secondary school and beginning of high school, which are the main subjects of this study. Purpose of this study is not to generalize, but to bring out this youth’s valuable story to the public by collecting relevant data. The study is a qualitative case study and collected material is used to highlight information about the factors that led to the traumas and in particular, what kind of support was available at school and what kind of support would have been needed. Data collection methods were observation, daily reports and open interviews. Analysis of the collected material was carried out according to methods of content analysis. Study results showed that traumas had significant links to a child’s well-being, learning and need for support at school. Trauma was caused by attachment problems and lack of basic needs of the child. My study is partly related to the attachment theory. Based on this, the early age problems of interaction seemed to affect later social life, psyche and coping with school. Problems reflected to school as social challenges and caused learning, concentration and behavioral problems. Hiding behind defenses, loneliness and labelled difference led to a decline in school motivation and performance. Support provided was not sufficient and all parties; teachers, classmates and the youth herself were exhausted. Traumas appear in school context in many ways in all areas of studying. In school context, there does not always seem to be enough time, means, skills or resources to face children who are severely traumatized and therefore mentally unstable.
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(2020)Aims of the study Many changes have been made to the school environment in Finland. Still there are no research about how new school environments will effect pupils’ well-being, such as self-esteem. Due to the lack of previous research it cannot be concluded whether these changes to school environment are equal to every student regardless of their temperament. The aim of this study is to find out about the effects of the lack of stability in the school environment (stability of social relations, stability of physical features, stability of overall structure) to pupils’ self-esteem. In addition, the possible moderating effect of temperament is under an interest. Methods The representative sample of this study (n=2210) consisted of Finnish 9th graders, who participated in The Finnish Study on Temperament and School Achievement –research project between 2005 and 2006. Self-esteem was measured by the Finnish version of the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory. Temperament traits were measured by TABC-R and DOTS-R –inventories. The stability of the school environment was measured with three different scales: the stability of social relations, physical features and overall structure. The study was carried out by using multilevel models. Three multilevel models were created, in each of which self-esteem was the dependent variable. Results and conclusions The stability of social relations, physical features or overall structure did not have statistically significant main effects on the pupils’ self-esteem. However, the non-steadiness of overall structure had a statistically significant negative effect on the self-esteem of pupils with a higher task orientation. Reactivity or flexibility did not moderate any effects of the stability scales. All the observed effects were small, which implies that there are a number of different variables not measured in this study that affect pupils’ self-esteem. The results of this study show that the non-steady school environments do not have a positive effect on pupils’ well-being, as it has been assumed. The non-steadiness of the school environment with other changes in the school environment and their effects to pupils’ well-being need further research.
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(2022)My master's thesis examines the dimensions of well-being in sixth-graders (school engagement, self-esteem, school burnout and depression) as well as their relations to each other. This thesis focuses on how social factors can predict the dimensions of well-being. Previous studies have shown that adolescent's school engagement has a positive effect even later in working life. According to research the support of classmates, teacher and family is related to the well-being in adolescents. The results of this study can be used to develop tools for support the well-being of adolescents. In addition, it might be useful for the future research of adolescents’ well-being. This is a quantitative study, and the research material was collected as part of the #Uuttakoulua - project. However, my thesis is not part of the project. The data was collected in three different schools in the metropolitan area surrounding Helsinki, and it consist of 156 respondents; 99 of them belongs to the experimental group with strength-based education and 57 belongs to the comparison group. Participants in the study were sixth-graders and their answers were filled by an online questionnaire. IBM SPSS Statistics 27 was used for data analysis. I used statistical methods to answer my research questions (independent sample t-test, means - standard deviations, Pearson correlation coefficient, linear regression analysis). The results showed that the well-being of sixth-graders is generally good. They experienced more school engagement and higher self-esteem than school burnout and depression. The dimensions of well-being correlate statistically significantly with each other, for example self-esteem and depression had a quite strong negative correlation. Based on the results, support of the family seemed to have a more significant impact on students’ well-being than other social factors.
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(2020)Goals. The purpose of this study was to find out what kind of social media groups can be identified among high school students and what kind of gender differences exist in the use of social media. This study also examined whether the social media user groups differ in self-esteem and how gender and socioeconomic background are related to the relationship between social media use and self-esteem. It is important to examine adolescents’ social media user habits in order to gain more detailed information about the association between adolescents’ social media use and self-esteem. Methods. The data (N = 1203) was collected from high school students in 34 Helsinki schools in spring 2018. Participants filled in questionnaires that measured social media use, self-esteem and questions regarding family background. Gender differences in social media usage were evaluated with Independent Samples t-Test and the relationship between with the preliminary variables were analyzed using Pearsons’ correlation factors. Respondents were divided into groups based on participation in social media by using the Two Step Cluster analysis. One-way analysis of variance examined whether groups differed in self-esteem. The one-way analysis of variance also examined whether socioeconomic background and gender influence how user groups differ in self-esteem. Results and conclusions. Four distinct groups were identified from the data: socially networked, knowledge-oriented, academically oriented, and active users. Differences in the use of social media by girls and boys were observed. Girls were found to use more social media for social networking compared to boys. Boys, in turn, were found to use more social media for knowledge-oriented and academically oriented purposes than girls. In addition, gender differences in the distribution of social media user groups were examined. The group of active users and socially networked were more popular among girls, while the knowledge-oriented and academically oriented groups were more popular among boys than girls. The group of active users was the largest group in the material and the most popular user group among girls and boys. Based on this, it can be stated that most girls and boys use digital media in a very diverse way. Social media user groups were not found to differ significantly in self-esteem, and gender or socioeconomic background did not explain the differences in user groups in self-esteem.
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