Kasvatustieteellinen tiedekunta
Browse by
Recent Submissions
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2018)Previous imaging studies have shown that activation in human auditory cortex (AC) is strongly modulated during active listening tasks. However, the prevalent models of AC mainly focus on the processing of stimulus-specific information and speech and do not predict such task-dependent modulation. In the present thesis, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure regional activation in AC during discrimination and n-back memory tasks in order to investigate the relationship between stimulus-specific and task-dependent processing (Study I) and inter-regional connectivity during rest and active tasks (Study III). In addition, source analysis of scalp-recorded event-related potentials was carried out to study the temporal dynamics of task-dependent activation in AC (Study II). In Study I, distinct stimulus-specific activation patterns to pitch-varying and location-varying sounds were similarly observed during visual (no directed auditory attention) and auditory tasks. This is consistent with the prevalent models which presume parallel and independent “what” (e.g. pitch) and “where” processing streams. As expected, discrimination and n-back memory tasks were associated with distinct task-dependent activation patterns. These activation patterns were independent of whether subjects performed pitch or location versions of these tasks. Thus, AC activation during discrimination and n-back memory tasks cannot be explained by enhanced stimulus-specific processing (of pitch and location). Consistently, Study II showed that the task-dependent effects in AC occur relatively late (200–700 ms from stimulus onset) compared to the latency of stimulus-specific pitch processing (0–200 ms). In Study III, the organization of human AC was investigated based on functional connectivity. Connectivity-based parcellation revealed a network structure that consisted of six modules in supratemporal plane, temporal lobe, and inferior parietal lobule in both hemispheres. Multivariate pattern analysis showed that connectivity within this network structure was significantly modulated during the presentation of sounds (visual task) and auditory task performance. Together the results of this thesis show that (1) activation in human AC strongly depends on the requirements of the listening task and that task-dependent modulation is not due to enhanced stimulus-specific processing, (2) regions in inferior parietal lobule play an important role in the processing of both task-irrelevant and task-relevant auditory information in human AC, and (3) the activation patterns in human AC during the presentation of task-irrelevant and task-relevant sounds cannot be fully explained by a hierarchical model in which information is processed in two parallel processing streams.
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2018)This doctoral thesis focuses on international master’s programs and develops an analytic typology of normative ideas, planning, and practices for understanding gaps in internationalization. The study sees internationalization as an empty term that acquires meaning in context. As a socially constructed phenomenon, it emerges through a variety of competing perspectives. The macro-planning of internationalization relies on economic and political conditions; it envisions a broad societal impact. This context gives little room for university agency in developing internationalization for academic purposes. Internationalization implementation at the institutional level adds complexity to everyday functioning, rather than offering solutions to new challenges. Critiques of internationalization often use references to the university system of the Middle Ages, where institutional functioning was not tied to the market. Despite the inconsistency of this metaphor, it raises a useful discussion about expectations regarding institutions of higher education. Currently, the university is aligned with the state economically and politically, while the individual dimension of internationalization is overlooked. Ideas of reacting to globalization and remaining competitive dominate those of transforming knowledge sources and rethinking curricula. This study conducts an analysis of four English-medium master’s programs at three universities in Finland. These programs exemplify long-term internationalization. Along with the macro context of development revealed through document analysis, research elicits individual perspectives on internationalization through interviews with students and teachers, revealing individuals’ inclusion in higher education processes. Use of discourse analysis also brings attention to omissions and inconsistencies in the representations of internationalization. Inquiry suggests that despite academic and planning discussion turning towards “holistic” and long-term internationalization, in the way it is operationalized in documents and individual responses it is still featured as an external characteristic. It is a separate university activity in terms of administrative efforts, managing content and viewing results. The framework of ‘internationalization at home’ is not overcoming the isolation of international students and master’s programs within the university. Arguments in the discussion about internationalization gaps point towards a lack of cohesion between normative ideas, planning and practices. Economic and political rationales prevail in the macro discourse, and further dimensions of internationalization appear in the analysis of everyday implementation and individual perspectives. Current planning and indicators do not track the emergent processes in education, where internationalization acquires a situational value. Meanwhile, due to a lack of agency, the university often fails to develop and sustain internationalization for academic purposes.
-
(Painosalama, 2018)Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and a major public health burden. The rapid advancements in high-throughput techniques have now made it possible to molecularly characterize large number of patient tumors, and large-scale genomic and functional profiles are routinely being generated. Such datasets hold immense potential to reveal novel genes driving cancer, biomarkers with prognostic value, and also identify promising targets for drug treatment. But the ‘big data’ nature of these highly complex datasets require concurrent development of computational models and data analysis strategies to be able to mine useful knowledge and unlock the potential of the information content that is latent in such datasets. This thesis presents computational and analytical approaches to extract potentially useful information by integrating genomic and functional profiles of cancer cells.
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2018)This dissertation belongs to the field of home economics science. The background of the study includes a family work development project called Arki haltuun (AH -project), which Väestöliitto (The Family Federation of Finland) conducted from 2007–2010. This study focuses on the everyday activities of the families in the context of social work via a new tool called a sequence map. The aim of this research is to analyze what kind of activity the sequence map will produce during both family workers’ home visits and in the everyday lives of families. This research is theoretically based on the cultural-historical activity theory. In this frame of reference, the introduction of the sequence map represents cultural re-tooling, which creates possibilities for the development of new family work practices. This study, in which a zone of proximal development is the central concept, analyzes the mastery of the everyday life during family work home visits. The research data originates from the AH -project and consists of audio recordings from home visits and the written diaries of family workers. The data covers an approximately three-month working period in each family and the follow-up visits at both six months and one year after the work has ended. A total of 30 families participated in the project, and 7 families were chosen for the study. Regarding the analysis, the dynamic and contextual natures of activities were considered. The analysis focused on both interaction and activity settings between family workers and the family during home visits. The first phase of the analysis examined the development of a client process during the AH -project and the second phase focused on the objects of the everyday life within the families as well as related working processes. Use of the sequence map was essential to both phases of the analysis. The third phase conceptualized the possessions of everyday life, based on a previous analysis. The main findings of the research correlate the role of the sequence map as a mediator between family workers and the family. The sequence map integrates the client process in both social work and practical work within families. The findings concerning the mastering of everyday life can be summarized into two points: (1) the essential meaning of the human mediator while working with the sequence map and (2) the twofold meaning of routines in everyday settings. The results show that, when developing everyday activities in families, it is not enough to merely concentrate on new practices; rather families must systematically unlearn old habits at the same time.
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2018)Year 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of Finland’s independence. Over the course of independence, along with the construction of narratives of Finnishness, education has been among the many social and political projects harnessed to support Finland’s emergence as a viable nation-state. Finland built an educational system that has gained global attention for its excellence in outcomes. While much of both national and international public, educational, and political discourses operate around the notion of Finnishness, infused with egalitarian values, inclusivity, and ethos of excellence, there are alarming signs of realities conflicting with certain imaginaries of education and social wellbeing in the Nordic country. This interdisciplinary doctoral thesis, situated across education, and, amongst others, philosophy, sociology, and literary studies, sets out to problematize what is currently happening at the intersection of myth and reality of Finnish education, and asks: 1) How does the notion of Finnishness inform different educational actors, perspectives, and contexts?, and 2) How can Finnishness in education be deconstructed, critically examined, and reconstructed? The thesis examines the way Finnishness is found to inform perceptions on interculturality and diversity in the teaching profession, and how the notion is involved in mechanism of Othering. This work also applies and demonstrates the use of an intertextual method as a pedagogical tool to deconstruct, critically examine, and reconstruct national narratives, here Finnishness. Finally, the work describes critical and reflexive interculturality (Dervin 2016), and conceptualizes and advocates a theoretical shift in the general perception of interculturality in education towards the direction of intercultural ethics. Research data comprises ten Finnish teacher interviews and 85 open comments, two intertextual case studies with pre-service teachers, but also two commercial products on Finnish education, and Finnish ABC books (a selection 1900–2013). The thesis uses several (dialogical) qualitative methods and operates from critical and reflexive interculturality as the philosophical and theoretical lens. The results suggest Finnishness set in the realms of the nostalgic and mystified, and discourses on equality/equity and social justice in education embellished and ambiguous. While the intertextual method revealed hidden contestations challenging hegemonies and taken-for-granted ideologies, Finnishness was also found to inform mechanisms that Other those not fitting the norm. Furthermore, notion itself, Finnishness, was found to be Othered and slightly contested. Ethnocentric tendencies and essentialist biases were also found in perspectives on interculturality and diversity among teachers. The positive indications of teachers’ ethically caring, fair and just ways of promoting wellbeing and social justice were used to conceptualize and advocate intercultural ethics. With critical and reflexive interculturality as the base, I suggest that intercultural ethics can be used as a tool for meta-level thinking e.g. teacher education and training. I also argue that the proposed intertextual method can serve as a pedagogical tool across disciplines e.g. in phenomenon-based learning. Keywords: Finnishness, Finnish education, critical and reflexive interculturality, intercultural ethics, equality/equity, social justice, intertextuality
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2018)This research explores construction of hierarchies and possibilities to unravel hierarchies in two lower-secondary schools located in socio-economically diverse areas. This performative ethnography is focused on a chiasm of cultural policy, pedagogy and artistic practices. In the beginning of the research I focused on what kind of hierarchies are constructed in a connection to new mechanisms of governance such as school choice policy and emphasized classes, quality assurance and school evaluation, and reward salary systems: What happens, when the new mechanisms of governance and schools' everyday life confronts? In the schools I was surprised by creativity and everyday possibilities the actors had. I was re-oriented to analyse as well what kind of possibilities there are in the schools to unravel hierarchies first, attached to visuality and visual arts, second, schools' emotional dynamics, third, pedagogical practices, and finally performative practices. Unravelling does not mean that a form of hierarchy would be completely unraveled. It can be a small action or a way processing it. Performative ethnographic data consists of observational data (418 pages), 34 interviews consisting teachers' and head teachers' interviews and teachers' answers to a qualitative questionary. In addition, the data includes school magazines, paintings, photographs and drawings from the school spaces. In the research schools we produced this data during a school year length period in 2009 and 2010. During the observation period, I participated in teachers' meetings, evenings for parents, evaluation meetings and schools' artistic situations, when I was invited by some of the teachers. In addition, a third complementary school participated to this research for three months period. In one of the research schools emphasized classes seemed to become classes mainly of girls with background of majority population. Teacher reward system seemed to create feelings of inequality and hierarchy. Especially head teachers felt atmosphere of competition between schools. Anyhow, there where immediate ways to unravel hierarchical effects or at least adapt them in the schools while confronting the new policy. These practices where rooted with teachers' deep understanding of their everyday life, their creativity and reflexive playfulness. Hierarchies do not seem to be fixed on cement. Hierarchies are in the movement. This research locates possibilities to unravel school hierarchies and hierarchies attached especially to students' socio-economic background and ethnicity as well. I formulate possibilities to unravel hierarchies. The possibilities actualized in the schools can be characterized through six forms of practices such as (1.) becoming conscious of new mechanisms of governance and hierarchies and challenging them; (2.) affecting directly to the decision making; (3.) creation of new resources especially for the people in lower positions in hierarchies; (4.) creating new possibility-fulfilled ways of action; (5.) new forms of recognition and ways of appreciation on the contrary to the prevailing ones; (6.) affecting to the mechanisms in the background of the hierarchies. These possibilities are actualized in the schools through their emotional dynamics, ethically supportable visual and artistic practices, performative practices such as dance and finally pedagogical courage. While creative will and latitude of movement exist, even a small action can be meaningful. It can open up new possibilities and positive circles for the young people and the schools.
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2018)Grounded within Mikhail Bakhtin's work on dialogism (Bakhtin, 1981; 1984; 2012) this PhD focuses on the relationships between meta-discourses about Finnish education and individual utterances in constructing representations about Finnish education. As meta-discourses about the successes and popularity of Finnish education are reproduced, concepts such as democracy, equality, and, human rights have seemingly become synonymous with Finnish education, and, the country of Finland more generally. The articles contained within this PhD summary chart and trace the ways practitioners in education (academics, policy-makers, teachers, NGO practitioners, amongst others) grapple with discursive constructs of democracy, equality, and human rights. The data set used within this PhD consists of interviews I conducted with NGO practitioners, interviews from a conference I co-organized at the University of Helsinki, and, a series of multimedia data (online videos and podcasts from leading Finnish educators and experts in the field). The data analysis methods consist of tools found within discursive pragmatics, including dialogism and heteroglossia, indexicality, ventriloquism, and, facework. In recent years the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Finnish National Agency for Education in Finland have conducted curricular reviews documenting the need for more student participation and democracy within Finnish schools. One of the main concurrent questions within all of the journal articles in this thesis, ultimately, is how practitioners understand and express key notions such as democracy, equality and human rights. Here, Bakhtin's work on discourse theory and practice illuminates the constant refraction and metamorphoses of individual utterances about democracy, equality and human rights whilst the utterer seemingly is always hesitantly gesturing towards meta-discursive representations about the subject matters (for example, Finland is a pioneer of equality, Finland is an example of the best democracy around the world). Yet, this orientation towards the meta-discursive can be problematic. For example, when considering the critical work on education and intercultural communication stating that one country is better than another can potentially result in speakers reproducing ethnocentric, nationalistic and/or essentialist discourses. In this sense, discourses about democracy, equality and human rights can themselves demarcate essentialist boundaries which can engender forms of marginalization. Thus, this PhD is positioned towards problematizing and revealing hidden and/or tabooed representations which may go unnoticed within the vast amount of meta-discourses about Finnish education. Consequently, the final section of this PhD summary will focus on a set of recommendations for academics within education, teachers, practitioners, and policy-makers to consider regarding the triple foci of democracy, equality, and human rights within Finnish education. The consequences for current Finnish education export are also explored. Keywords: Finland, Education, Democracy, Equality, Human Rights, Heteroglossia, Facework, Mikhail Bakhtin
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2018)This dissertation explored the role of active learning in Finnish comprehensive school teachers’ pedagogical thinking and in student teachers’ learning processess. In this study, active learning was defined as the will, skill and understanding of the teacher that leads to intentional transformation of behaviour and/or thinking. This study included data gathered from 68 teachers and 19 student teachers. Visual methods, retrospective narration and Critical Incident Technique were used inside the semi-structured interviews. The data was content analysed by using an abductive strategy. Study I focused on analysing active learning in teachers’ pedagogical thinking. The context dependency of teachers’ beliefs concerning pupils’ and teachers’ roles in different school interactions was also examined. The results showed that whilst active learning was included in teachers’ pedagogical thinking it manifested itself somewhat narrowly. Teachers’ beliefs were also strongly context dependent. The manifestation of active learning was dependent on the situation, the goal of the activity and persons involved. For the pupils’, active learning was typically enabled in informal settings of school outside the formal teaching-learning process. As for teachers’, active learning typically occurred in solving socially challenging situations between pupils where the teacher was needed in creating common understanding. However, teachers’ active learning in their professional community was rarely mentioned in their descriptions. Study II investigated student teachers’ meaningful learning experiences. The experiences were analysed with regards to their temporal and contextual location, quality and content. The results showed that the majority of the experiences were positive, and the first years were emphasised in students’ descriptions. Experiences were typically situated in Multidisciplinary studies in subjects, theoretical courses of the major subject and the teaching practise. The Bachelor’s or Master’s thesis process, volitional courses and informal discussions were less frequently identified as a context of learning. The majority of the experiences concerned a change in student’s pedagogical practical knowledge. Students also reported changes in pedagogical content knowledge and shifts in identity. However, the students’ descriptions were less often concerned with combining pedagogical practical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Student learning was mostly assimilative. Active learning was most often described in experiences concerning identity and combining pedagogical practical knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Study III focused on student teachers’ multidimensional learning patterns. Four different kinds of patterns were identified: meaning-directed actor, undirected-inconsistent, disengaged passer-by and meaning-directed conformist. The results showed that active learning was included in student teachers’ learning. There where however differences in how extensively patterns reflected active learning. The results showed also that especially the skill dimension of active learning was challenging for every learning pattern. The dissertation contributes to research on teacher learning by revealing the nature of teachers’ and student teachers’ active learning. The results showed that even though active learning is a part of teachers’ pedagogical thinking and the learning of it , it’s the manifestation is still quite limited, and it is not yet systematically used in teachers’ and student teachers’ learning.
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2018)In this dissertation I discuss documentation and the process of pedagogical documentation in early childhood education and care (ECEC). With the concept of documentation I mean recording the ECEC activities and with the concept of pedagogical documentation I mean the process of planning and developing ECEC with the help of documents. I study the connections between pedagogical documentation and different operational cultures in ECEC. I also study the challenges and possibilities of pedagogical documentation in Finnish ECEC. My dissertation consists of three qualitative and one quantitative sub-studies. As a whole, my research is a practice-oriented and multidisciplinary study in which theory and practice, as well as the diversity of research methods and materials, build an understanding of pedagogical documentation. In the first three studies we used photographs, videos, interviews, questionnaires, and other documentary material. Altogether over 50 children, ECEC practitioners, and parents participated in those qualitative studies. In the fourth study we used extensive quantitative data (2889 children, 194 day care centers, 179 educator teams, and 13 municipalities) to analyze the connections between documentation and ECEC learning environment, children’s orientation and their activities. The results show that almost 40 percent of ECEC practitioners who participated the quantitative study did not use pedagogical documentation much or at all. The younger the children were, the less pedagogical documentation was used. According to the practitioners, implementation of pedagogical documentation was hampered by the shortage of time, equipment and know-how. Documentation was used as a tool for making ECEC visible. The children’s share was low in documentation. Adult-oriented documentation may be a risk for not hearing children, to their participation, and privacy. However, the more pedagogical documentation was used the more open-minded and creative the operational culture was. It was also emotionally more positive and emphasized pedagogy. Pedagogical documentation was used in a goal-oriented way to plan and develop wide and playful learning processes. Pedagogical documentation also seemed to support the youngest children in communication and in new situations. In the process of pedagogical documentation the challenge was to involve the parents, to use pedagogical documentation in a long-term manner, and to re-direct the process of pedagogical documentation when the situations changed. The risk of pedagogical documentation may be the lesser coexistence of practitioners with children. Based on my research, plentiful pedagogical documentation is connected with child-oriented and evolving operational culture in ECEC. To my mind, pedagogical documentation is a tool for creating meanings for everyday phenomenon, conceptualizing, and shaping them together with children and parents. To direct and develop ECEC practices in a flexible and creative way, it is important to assess and decide, what are the most important and appropriate contents and methods in each situation. Transition from adult-oriented documentation towards child-oriented pedagogical documentation requires change in the operational culture of ECEC. It also requires strong pedagogical know-how and good pedagogical leadership. If pedagogical documentation is not regognized as part of evolving operational culture it is possible to miss many opportunities and to be exposed to the risks of documentation.
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2018)The focus of the present dissertation is on personal and collaborative expertise in fingerprint examination, and the carrying out of interventions supporting the organizational transformation of forensic practices of learning and working. The study took place in the context of the digital transformation of fingerprint examination that involved moving from individuals working with real physical samples and analogical documentation to collective processes of analyzing digital fingerprint data. Internal and external criticism is forcing forensic communities to make improvements in terms of further harmonizing criteria, processes and competence requirements. The aim is to improve the quality of forensic investigation at the Fingerprint Laboratory of the Finnish National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) by creating a culture of collectively sharing and enhancing professional knowledge and competence among investigators. A further aim is to deepen understanding of forensic expertise on the personal, collective and organizational level. The conceptual foundations of the research lie in sociocultural frameworks such as adaptive expertise, professional vision, and collective knowledge creation. The assessment of personal and collaborative expertise in fingerprint examination is based on multiple case studies and action-research methods. The dissertation comprises this summary and three sub-studies published as internationally refereed articles. The findings from the studies were as follows. First, the new training methods enabled the apprentices to acquire sophisticated professional competences although their personal ways of reflecting on evolving professional performance differed. Second, the discrepancy meetings revealed how the experienced examiners used partial and limited information in making reconstructive inferences justifying their diverging judgments about the poor-quality latents. The meetings helped with regard to working out more refined criteria for assessing challenging cases and ending up with more coherent decisions. Third, analyses of the developmental seminar discussions revealed that the fingerprint examiners collectively succeeded in verbalizing and constructing their perceptions and interpretations toward a more refined, joint understanding of the criteria of no-value fingerprints, criteria for color-coding and work-out procedures for dealing with discrepant cases, and documentation and other aspects of using the digital instruments. The results of the research were incorporated into some of the NBIFL operational guidelines and quality requirements, as well as guidelines on professional activity in the laboratory.
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2018)Developing the quality of teaching as a part of organisational transformations requires identifying effective ways to harness academics’ activities in pedagogically oriented and discipline-specific communities of practice. This dissertation examines how academics’ activities at the interfaces of these two communities can contribute to the processes of pedagogical development. Transformative learning theory is applied to examine the processes of peda-gogical development from two perspectives: developing as a teacher and acting as an informal pedagogical change agent. The dissertation consists of four separate but interrelated sub-studies (I–IV). The participants were 23 engineering educators that lack an institutionalised developer or leadership position. At the time of data collection, the participants had completed at least 10 ECTS (European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, Studies I–II) or 25 ECTS (Studies III–IV) of pedagogical development studies. The data were collected with semi-structured interviews in a Finnish technical university before and during a period of organisational transformation. The data comprised of interviews with 10 participants before the transformation in 2009 and longitudinal interviews with another 13 participants during a three-year period of organisational transformation in 2011–2013. The data were analysed by means of qualitative content analysis. The dissertation culminates in a theoretical conceptualisation and an empirical model of 1) pedagogically oriented and discipline-specific communities of practice as a network that enables transformative learning related to developing as a teacher and 2) brokering as a way of acting as an informal pedagogical change agent at the interfaces of academic communities of practice. The findings suggest that universities could harness informal change agency to create connections between academics’ transformative learning experiences in pedagogically oriented and discipline-specific communities of practice as well as the organisational objectives of developing the quality of teaching.
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2018)The present dissertation project investigated the organization of space-time in collaborative learning processes mediated by Information and Communication Technology (ICT). The background of my argumentation is that we live in an historical moment in which the introduction of continu-ously evolving virtual spaces and the implementation of novel pedagogical approaches entail the transformation of the spatial and temporal relations of pedagogical activities. In order to examine these transforming space-time relations and the role that they may play in the learning process, I propose an adapted socio-cultural perspective based on the dialogical notion of chronotope. A chronotope depicts the emergent configuration of space-time relations during an intentional, collaborative learning activity. In sum, the perspective that I adopt considers cognition and learning as distributed in the environment, and space and time as interdependent social constructions. The dissertation report aimed to account for multiple types of physical, so-cial, virtual, real and imagined spatialities and temporalities as they are per-ceived, discursively negotiated, and bodily enacted by participants in ICT-mediated learning practices. I carried out four studies that examine various aspects of space-time re-lations. In Study I, I explored how participants in collaborative learning activities locate themselves and the others across multiple physical, social and virtual spaces; in Study II I investigated how the space-time frames detected in students’ discourse on the task affect the process of task inter-pretation; Study III was aimed at analysing if and how space-time configu-rations bodily enacted by participants affect the pace and the quality of the learning process; in Study IV I examined the significance and implications of patterns of organization of space-time during the process of instrumental genesis. All the studies adopt a qualitative ethnographic methodology that involves the triangulation of participant observation, discourse analysis, and video analysis. The results of my studies suggest that examining the organization of space and time can provide crucial insights into technology-mediated col-laborative learning activities, informing both theory and practice. Under-standing how participants locate themselves and the others in space and time might help us to design learning space-times that enhance coordination and collaborative processes. Considering the discursive framing of space-time by the students can help teachers and instructional designers to ensure that divergent assumptions concerning space-time frames will not induce students to deviate from the set task. Modelling the space-time configura-tions bodily enacted by participants may provide cues for scaffolding the learning process, helping students to orchestrate space and manage time, in line with the teachers’ pedagogical aims. Finally, detecting patterns of space-time organization may inform decisions concerning where and when to provide just-in-time information, scaffolds and tools to enhance students’ learning without interrupting their experience of flow.
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2017)This research addresses immigration and migrant life and integration in Finland. . Immigration has been examined mainly in the Finnish context as an individual process and for women. The study is located in the research of education, educability, study and learning, but above all, as individually experienced. More precisely, the study examines the orientation training of immigrants at one university of applied sciences. The focus of the research is to examine the overall life of female students with immigrant backgrounds at the university of applied sciences. The starting point is to examine the individual stages of the life cycle, the various aspects of life and the current point of the life path in Finland. The narrative of life flow is approached through the concepts of identity and learning. Identities are considered variable, contextual, and narrative. Learning is widely understood as a life broad, a lifelong and narrative learning. The research task is to look at constructing identities and learning processes in the context of education. The two research questions are the following. First: What kind of identities and learning processes are immigrant female students constructing in their telling? Second: What kind of learning process can be conceptualized from telling? The philosophical bases of the research are the relativity of knowledge, contextuality, and the idea of constructing knowledge. This research aims to provide a place and a voice for female students with immigrant background in terms of their diverse experiences between different cultural frameworks. Cultural frameworks are viewed as a dialogue between the former and the current cultural framework. Twelve students have been interviewed after the first year of study. The qualitative data is read as telling and is analysed with the help of inductive content analysis. The results of the data analysis describe themes in immigration, studying and gender. According to this study, identities are constructed as a process between a patriarchal and individualistic cultural framework. The identity definitions range between the various subjects of life that are examined. Identities are positioned in relation to the cultural frameworks either attaching to the former or to the new, or moving flexibly between them. Identities are constructed in a variety of ways between conflict and balance, as well as uncertainty and confidence: a constant contradiction, a cautious hesitation, a negotiating and strengthening balance. The identity transition is constructed within a holistic learning process that is described as stages, a model and type reports on the learning process. They allow looking at individual paths as a process and movement between different factors. My research shows that challenges in the educational context of being a student, on the other hand, allows more readily for the redefinition of one's own life, identities and learning. In this process of learning, the present is edited and matched to correspond better to a changed life situation. The learner's learning identity is built between these different factors individually. The factors that influence the lives and life situations of students with immigrant background at the university of applied sciences should be examined in a variety of ways comprehensively. Their experience of studying and the needs of learning-support should also be considered a part of the development of education and pedagogical solutions.Education that is envisioned along these lines can better promote inclusion in society.
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2017)The overriding purpose of the study is to analyze how book-based storyline works as a method for intercultural literature education. I have designed a book-based storyline which two seventh grade teachers have carried out in two classes in a Finland-Swedish school. The storyline is based on the novel En ö i havet/Faraway Island (1996/2009) by Annika Thor, and is about two Austrian Jewish siblings who are evacuated and sent to Sweden by their parents, in order to escape antisemitic perse¬cution during World War II. The book’s dominant theme is cultural encoun¬ters, and it deals with multifaceted existential questions. The field study is characterized by an action-oriented, ethnographic methodological approach. As a researcher, my role in the classroom is a passive, observatory one, but I intervene occasionally during work in progress. The study is conducted partly from a literature education theory perspective, and partly from a multicultural education perspective, in which intercultural understand¬ing is of central significance. The participating pupils work within different genres, both individually and collectively, with so-called key questions regarding refugees, cultural affiliations, and interpersonal encounters, both in the fiction and in their own lives. The work they produce is analyzed using reception analysis and sentence concentration. The study’s contribution to the acquisition of new knowledge can be described within three areas: a contribution to new knowledge, a methodological contribution and a contribution to didactics. Firstly, it offers a contribution to new knowledge with regard to pupils’ understanding of challenging social issues, both historical and current, in a Finland-Swedish school context. Secondly, the combination of recep¬tion analysis through a book-based storyline project, and a theory-driven analysis and interpretation of a substantial body of material, is an innovative methodological contribution, which combines literature education perspectives with critical multi¬cultural education theory. Thirdly, the study contributes to the development of di¬dactic methods, in which literature education tools and intercultural education thinking have created an interdisciplinary didactic design with considerable poten¬tial for in-depth learning in relation to existential questions in young people’s lives. The participating pupils display a heightened awareness and critical involvement in the book’s themes, to varying degrees. They nonetheless still have prejudices and ethnocentric, stereotypical views. However, they also express some indications of under¬standing and empathy for the children of war and the Jews during World War II, both in the fiction and in reality. To some extent, they display notions of under¬standing and empathy towards today’s refugees. An open attitude towards various ethnicities and people different from themselves emerges from the majority. In order to optimize book-based storyline as an intercultural education method, extensive critical reflection and examination of pupils’ values is necessary. This requires a high level of competence from the teacher, which is why competence development in the field of critical multicultural education is needed. Keywords: Literature education, critical multicultural education, storyline, cultural diversity, cultural minorities
-
(Helsingin yliopisto, 2017)This dissertation examined how different motivational and emotional aspects of studying (i.e., students’ beliefs, expectancies, interests, values and academic emotions) contribute to university students’ academic engagement and achievement and how they are related to students’ daily situational experiences during the first years at university. The first overall aim of the dissertation was to identify university students’ motivational-emotional profiles, representing the more general dispositions in studying. The second aim was to examine how the student profiles and other general motivational dispositions are related to students’ contextual and situational experiences. Finally, the third aim was to investigate the consequences of both general student dispositions and situational academic emotions for short- and long-term educational outcomes. Study I examined whether situational academic emotions predict short-term study success. Studies II and III investigated students’ motivational-emotional profiles that were based on their overall study-related beliefs and expectancies, the perceived meaning of studying and their emotional experiences. These studies further examined how the student profiles differed, in Study II, in terms of course-specific experiences, self-study time and study success and, in Study III, in terms of long-term academic achievement. Study IV investigated how autonomous and controlled motivation was related to daily educational goals and further to situational academic emotions during the same day. Study V examined the short- and long-term effects of the first-year study engagement on the daily experiences of task-specific value and emotions. Questionnaire data and intensive longitudinal experience sampling data as well as achievement data from the student register were used. Variable- and person-oriented analytical approaches and intra-individual statistical methods were applied. Distinct groups of students with different motivational-emotional profiles were found with clear differences in contextual experiences and short- and long-term achievement (Study II: committed, dysfunctional, unstressed; Study III: engaged, disengaged, undecided, alienated). Dysfunctional and disengaged students expressed the most negative experiences and performed the most poorly, whereas engaged and committed students had the most favourable outcomes. Undecided and unstressed students displayed less engagement but had no serious problems in studying and they improved their performance after the first academic year. Despite the motivational and emotional problems, alienated students performed relatively well. A variable-oriented analytical approach further revealed that students’ situational academic emotions were related to study success in a lecture course. Finally, studies using an intra-individual approach showed that daily autonomous and controlled goal motivation was related to students’ situational academic emotions and that first-year study engagement was related to daily situational experiences both short- and long-term. In conclusion, the present dissertation indicates that even highly selected university students show various motivational-emotional patterns of engagement already at the beginning of their studies. These dispositions are related not only to students’ immediate, everyday experiences and study success but also their long-term academic achievement. The findings demonstrate the importance of investigating university students’ experiences and achievement on various contextual and temporal levels of specificity.
