Browsing by Author "Kytömäki, Saara"

The aim of this thesis was to gather more information on the topic of values education from the perspective of primary school teachers in Finland. While the topic has been examined to some extent in previous studies, the focus of this thesis differs from those earlier works. Paula Suhonen (2012), for example, has studied the role and realisation of values education in schools, and the ideas and attitudes the teachers have concerning their role as value educators. My study continues her work by further examining especially the latter topic. Above all, the goal was to examine how teachers themselves view their role as a value educator, and how conscious this role is. Furthermore, the aim was to determine how teachers see values in general: as absolute and immutable, or more dependent on time and place. The theoretical background of the thesis leans on general deninitions of values and values education and - as in most previous research - values education is here linked to moral philosophy. The research was carried out as focused interviews of three teachers of various ages and career stages. The focused interview as a method suited the process well, as the aim of the research was to record the teachers' thoughs as personal and authentic as possible. The interview material was then phenomenografically analyzed by creating categories portraying teachers´ perceptions of themselves as value educators. These descriptional categories were based both on theory and the interview material. The findings of the thesis supported those of previous studies: in addition to the school curricula and the Finnish law, the values of the interviewees were based on their own upbringing and personal experiences in life and at the workplace. While being highly conscious of their role as "quardians of a lot", they also view the busy everyday encounters at the school as rather concrete interaction, where values education is carried out mainly through solving ordinary, everyday problems. Each of the teachers experienced values education as an essential part of their work, but what they hoped for was that their role would be specified more clearly, for example in the school curricula. This would be a good topic in future research on values education, as previous studies have also called for by suggesting that The aim of this thesis was to gather more information on the topic of values education from the perspective of primary school teachers in Finland. While the topic has been examined to some extent in previous studies, the focus of this thesis differs from those earlier works. Paula Suhonen (2012), for example, has studied the role and realisation of values education in schools, and the ideas and attitudes the teachers have concerning their role as value educators. My study continues her work by further examining especially the latter topic. Above all, the goal was to examine how teachers themselves view their role as a value educator, and how conscious this role is. Furthermore, the aim was to determine how teachers see values in general: as absolute and immutable, or more dependent on time and place. The theoretical background of the thesis leans on general deninitions of values and values education and - as in most previous research - values education is here linked to moral philosophy. The research was carried out as focused interviews of three teachers of various ages and career stages. The focused interview as a method suited the process well, as the aim of the research was to record the teachers' thoughs as personal and authentic as possible. The interview material was then phenomenografically analyzed by creating categories portraying teachers´ perceptions of themselves as value educators. These descriptional categories were based both on theory and the interview material. The findings of the thesis supported those of previous studies: in addition to the school curricula and the Finnish law, the values of the interviewees were based on their own upbringring and personal experiences in life and at the workplace. While being highly conscious of their role as "quardians of a lot", they also view the busy everyday encounters at the school as rather concrete interaction, where values education is carried out mainly through solving ordinary, everyday problems. Each of the teachers experienced values education as an essential part of their work, but what they hoped for was that their role would be specified more clearly, for example in the school curricula. This would be a good topic in future research on values education, as previous studies have also called for by suggesting thatvalues education should be more closely linked to actual studying material. The questions of values and their immutability divided opinions among the teachers - which might have though been affected by their differing interpretations of the research questions on the topic. values education should be more closely linked to actual studying material. The questions of values and their immutability divided opinions among the teachers - which might have though been affected by their differing interpretations of the research questions on the topic.