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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2020)Digital gaming has become an important pastime and phenomenon especially among adolescents and young adults, and the growth of the phenomenon has brought with it new challenges for parenting. The study looks at the requirements that Finnish youth’s (aged 13–30) gaming motives, experiences of adverse effects, and gaming-related parenting place on game education. The concept of pelisivistys (being gaming literate) is presented and serves as a lens through which key issues in game education are examined. The three substudies of the study explored young people’s experiences of their gaming: why they spent time gaming, what adverse consequences they had encountered and how they viewed gaming-related parenting. The results revealed a broad range of different game players, gaming experiences, and ways of gaming. While games provided important experiences of autonomy, relatedness, and competence, they also helped kill time and alleviate boredom. Respondents who spent the most time gaming reported more adverse consequences than other respondents, but the connection between time spent gaming and adverse consequences was not linear. Time spent gaming was not a reliable predictor of adverse consequences, as gaming motives and experiences of excessive gaming were related to experiencing gaming-related harm. Young game players were aware of risks related to gaming and sought to prevent them. Based on the results, gaming does not appear to pose a significant threat to the well-being of Finnish youth on a population level, but on an individual level the effects can be considerable, especially if gaming ties in with existing problems. Experiences of gaming-related parenting varied. Parents’ attitudes towards gaming ranged from very negative to highly positive, which was reflected in parenting practices. The need for parents to both understand gaming and prevent harm was prominent in respondents’ views on gaming-related parenting. The results of the study are examined in the light of previous research and public discourse. Based on the results, suggestions are presented for game education that acknowledges the diversity of both young game players and gaming and promotes youth agency.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)This study argues that the recent higher education reforms in Kyrgyzstan are nationally domesticated constructs of globally travelling reforms. The analyses of the post-socialist transformation visualize that this domestication takes place through discourses of quality, modernization and internationalization. Theoretically this study contributes to the wider discussion in comparative education on adopting travelling reforms in the post-socialist space and practically, it provides information to international educational organizations and local policymakers on the challenges and opportunities that affect the localization of global reforms. I have used two recent concepts – ’domestication’ and ’travelling reforms’ – to analyse the post-socialist transformation in the context of Kyrgyzstan’s higher education. The other concept used in this study is the concept of travelling reforms, by which the intended meaning refers to reforms which have ’travelled’ to other countries and been adopted by them and adapted to local conditions (Steiner-Khamsi 2012). In Kyrgyzstan those travelling reforms are such as the Bologna Process, quality assurance and evaluation systems, and reform of independent accreditation. Following what various scholars have already shown, I argue that post-socialist educational transformation is a contingent and complex process that is not possible to interpret through a western neoliberal education framework and by examining the process as a linear development. Thus, the theoretical approach applied in this dissertation is closely related to the studies of post-soviet education transformation and studies of domestication, in which I employ the concept of ‘domestic field battle’ to examine the localization of educational reforms (Alasuutari & Qadir 2014). Empirically this research is based on policy document analyses of the key guiding policy documents of higher education, and interviews with the rectors of the universities and other actors from the field of higher education. The research method applied in this dissertation is the discursive analysis method. Domestication of travelling reforms takes place through three discourses: the discourse on quality, the discourse on modernization, and the discourse on internationalization. Actors in the field utilize these discourses to justify or resist travelling reforms by referring to cultural, social, economical and historical considerations of the country. The findings of this study show that the actors in the field of higher education integrate national features into these travelling reforms. In referring to national and cultural aspects of society, actors make travelling reforms seem more adoptable for the society of Kyrgyzstan. I argue that the post-socialist education transformation is simultaneous process with global and local influences, in which travelling reforms evoke local actors consider their national beliefs, practices and identities. Theoretically these findings have been analyzed by using Bourdieu’s social field theory and notions of discursive space of social reality to understand the discursive construction of domestication of travelling reforms. In Bourdieu’s framework, fields such as higher education have their own doxa, fundamental beliefs that are shared by actors. The doxa is challenged by opposing heterodoxical discourse, which simultaneously unveils the current doxa but also changes the dynamics of the doxa.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)The purpose of this doctoral thesis was to explore the basic dimensions of self-regulated learning (SRL) in higher education (HE) and to discover how students differ in SRL. The differences in SRL were examined in terms of SRL profiles and between discipline and gender groups. The relationship between self-regulated learning and academic achievement was investigated by examining how SRL measured in the first study years predicted later learning outcomes and how SRL is related to active learning and achievement of professional competencies in teacher education. For this doctoral thesis Paul Pintrich’s (2000a) General Model of SRL was used as a theoretical framework. This thesis is based on three original published studies. The data were collected by self-report instruments in Finnish universities. In Studies I and II same data (N = 1248) were used to explore SRL differences, SRL profiles and interrelation between SRL and academic achievement. Study III examined how student teachers (N = 422) with different SRL profiles benefited from active learning to achieve professional competencies. The data were analysed by statistical methods. In addition to the three original studies, second-order analyses were conducted and reported in the summary of this thesis. The analysis within the Studies II and III and the second-order analysis showed consistent features in HE students’ SRL, which was composed of three basic components such as Resource management strategies, Advanced learning strategies, and Self-efficacy beliefs. In Studies II and III, five different SRL profiles were identified. The students with a profile Excellent in SRL had high self-efficacy, were persistent and used often management strategies and versatile advanced cognitive learning strategies. Also the students with the profiles Aiming high with insufficient SRL and Dissonant SRL had high self-efficacy, but they were less persistent and used less management, self-evaluation, and cognitive learning strategies. The students with the Distressed performer's profile and the Moderate SRL profile had moderate self-efficacy, used more seldom management strategies than other students, and rarely reflected upon their learning in order to improve their study strategies or self-evaluate their learning results. Study II showed statistically significant differences in SRL between HE students from different disciplines and genders. SRL measured in the first study year did not predict study success of later HE studies. However, the results showed that when student teachers’ experiences of active learning in teacher education increased, they achieved better professional competencies. Student teachers with Excellent SRL profile profited substantially from active learning methods’ use and achieved the best professional competencies. Similarly, student teachers with Moderate SRL profile also achieved statistically significantly better professional competencies when their active learning experiences increased. Meanwhile students with the Dissonant SRL profile benefited less from active learning. The results of this doctoral thesis can be used for development of student guidance and curriculums in HE. Keywords: self-regulated learning (SRL), SRL profiles, higher education (HE), academic achievement, active learning, professional competencies.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)This PhD study explores the definitions and education and development needs of culturally sustainable education. The normative role of the Finnish national core curriculum is also examined, as the curriculum requires and enables culturally sustainable education. As the normative documents on education require education to be culturally sustainable without determining what cultural sustainability means, the research question of this PhD study was formulated as “What is the definition of culturally sustainable education and what are the future needs linked to it in the field of normative education?” The definition of cultural sustainability in education is explored in this study by looking into conceptions of cultural sustainability collected through expert questionnaires and focus group engagement. The education and development needs of culturally sustainable education are evaluated by using the theory of just sustainabilities (Agyeman 2013). The first phase of data collecting focused on the expert conceptions and the second phase focused on the day-care worker conceptions. In addition, the pedagogy and the objectives of culturally sustainable education included in the Finnish national core curriculum were explored in this study. In this PhD study the definition of culturally sustainable education is formulated. Culturally sustainable education includes creativity, cultural customs, cultural heritage and an awareness of history, cultural landscapes, interaction between generations, internationality, locality as well as multiculturalism and diversity in education. From the pedagogical point of view, key elements of culturally sustainable education include supporting the identity process of the pupil, protecting and enabling the realization of cultural rights, taking into account culture on the local, national and global levels, having a comprehensive outlook on sustainability and considering recognition, human potential, cultural inclusion and transdisciplinarity as well as inclusive spaces and conventions (Laine 2016a, 2017). The results of this study also show that among experts the comprehensiveness of sustainability, interdisciplinarity and the need for co-operation, communication and teacher education were considered the most pivotal education and development needs. Among day-care workers, problems concerning the organization of work, work environment and attitudes along with educational needs concerning heritage and multiculturalism were considered the most pivotal education and development needs. The results from the data were compared to Agyeman’s theory of just sustainabilities. The theory broadens and deepens the views on education and development needs by paying attention to concepts such as human potential, recognition and cultural inclusion. Additionally the analysis of the national core curriculum shows that the objectives of culturally sustainable education are present in the normative guidance of education. On the other hand, from the pedagogical perspective, recognition, cultural inclusion and a more comprehensive view of sustainability should be taken more fully into consideration. This way the national core curriculum’s claim of cultural sustainability could be achieved. Keywords: national core curriculum, sustainability education, sustainable development, culturally sustainable development, culturally sustainable education, cultural sustainability, just sustainabilities, cultural identity
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Tekstit luokkahuonevuorovaikutuksessa : Oppimateriaalit toteutuvan opetussuunnitelman rakentumisessa (Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)In classrooms, many of the activities are based on curriculum materials, such as written or oral texts. Consequently, text-related tasks and activities play a central role in the everyday work of teaching. In my dissertation, I focus on one frequently occurring text-related activity, teacher-led whole-class conversations around texts, in two different educational settings: first language and literature lessons in elementary classrooms and preservice teacher education. In my research, I draw upon Anglo-American curriculum studies as a theoretical framework for the study of teaching and, in particular, the study of curriculum use as an integral part of this work of teaching. Consequently, I consider the teacher as an active agent who makes use of different resources in order to create learning opportunities for the students. In my study, I focus on the use of two different curriculum materials: texts provided by textbooks and workbooks, and oral narratives of experience. The dissertation consists of four original research articles and a summary. The first article reports the results of systematic review of research on Finnish curriculum materials. It shows that the vast majority of research on Finnish curriculum materials focuses on the features of materials, while only a few studies concentrate on the use of materials in and for teaching and studying. The results of the second, third and fourth articles indicate that all texts, whether provided by textbooks and workbooks or produced during the instructional event, possess a rich pedagogical potential. Thus, the features of the text cannot determine how participants use text in the literacy event. Instead, learning opportunities that emerge are outcomes of participants’ action. In addition, the results of the studies highlight the crucial role of a teacher’s professional knowledge base, and, in particular, her content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. In order to be able to identify the pedagogical potential of the texts, the teacher needs profound knowledge about the content and its teaching and learning in school. Altogether, my dissertation challenges the assumption about the powerful role of the curriculum materials and other pedagogical artefacts in determining teaching and learning in schools. My choice to focus on naturally occurring classroom interaction instead of analysing the content of the materials makes it possible to highlight the active role of the teacher as the curriculum designer, instead of treating her as a passive follower or transmitter of a curriculum mediated by official documents or textbooks. Moreover, the findings indicate that conversation analysis and membership categorization analysis provide well-suited tools for analysing the curriculum enactment and the work of teaching.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)The purpose of this study is to investigate morality in Iranian schools. In particular, the aim in this doctoral thesis is to explore morality and moral values as expressed in official documents of the Ministry of Education and two secondary schools. Thus, three main areas are addressed to raise awareness in this regard: (1) values in the official documents; (2) the life purposes of students; and (3) moral conflicts from the perspectives of stu-dents and teachers. This article-based thesis draws together the finding of four original studies. The following four main questions correspond with the results re-ported in the original studies: (1) What are the values in the Iranian educa-tional system, what kinds of teachers are desired for the Iranian educational system and what kind of citizens are teachers expected to educate? (2) What are the life purposes and purpose profiles of Iranian secondary school students? (3) What are the main themes of moral conflicts identified by Iranian students and teachers and how do the moral conflicts identified by students and teachers differ from each other? (4) What are the religious moral dilemmas that Iranian students and teachers identified? The first step in raising awareness of the values in this system was to study official documents such as The Theoretical Foundation of Transfor-mation in the Educational System of the Islamic Republic of Iran (TFFTES, 2011). This document presents the philosophy and goal of education in the Iranian educational system. Empirical data were also collected from two of Tehran’s secondary schools, one for females and the other for males, in 2016. The students were 12 to 16 years old and the teachers were 27 to 52 years old. First, data were gathered from students (female n = 174, male n = 163) through essays and questionnaires: they were asked to complete a survey that included questionnaires related to life purposes and open questions investigating moral conflicts, and they were given one hour to do so. Second, teachers (female n = 10, male n = 10) were interviewed and asked to narrate their stories about moral dilemmas. Thus, the empirical data included students’ essays, transcripts of interviews with teachers on moral conflicts, and stu-dents’ questionnaire responses on life purposes. The study framework combines qualitative and quantitative data analysis. The results of the study are reported in the original articles (Hedayati, Kuusisto, Gholami and Tirri, 2017a, 2017b, 2017c and 2019). Although, according to the findings of the study, values in the Iranian educational context reflect Islamic thinking, what is happening in schools in some areas conflicts with the values and goals promoted in the educational system. In some cases, however, the school context reflects the values in the official documents.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)The dissertation reports on how the national primary science curricula in Finland and China (a) specifies the objectives of scientific literacy, and (b) has adopted the concept of twenty-first century competencies. Globalization has influenced education. The goals of science education have been evolving with the changes in the connotation of scientific literacy. The goal of developing competencies for the twenty-first century has been written in policy documents at national and international levels. The phenomenon indicates convergent changes in education: from knowledge-centered education to competencies-focused, indicating alignment with sustainable development goals for education. However, problems and challenges arise at the same time as the convergent reforms of education. Both scientific literacy and 21st-century competencies could be merely an interesting term in policy documents rather than a consistent and deliberately chosen goal. Given that scientific literacy and 21st-century competencies are abstract terms, the interpretation of the goals that have been given the same names may vary in policies. The differences should affect the results of the implementation of reforms. How to teach 21st-century competencies within traditional subjects such as science has been the biggest challenge in schooling. The traditional Anglo-American curriculum seems to be not enough for designing a curriculum in response to the trends in educational reform, but the European-Scandinavian Bildung-Didaktik may serve as an alternative for curriculum design. In this research, the national primary science curricula in Finland and China were analyzed following the deductive content analysis process via two conceptual frameworks: the scientific literacy framework (PISA-derived framework) and the 21st-century competencies framework (revised Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills framework, ATC21S). The discussion draws on two theoretical perspectives: the different visions of competencies in science as well as generic competencies; and the Anglo-American curriculum tradition and the European-Scandinavian Bildung-Didaktik tradition. The study found that both countries’ science curricula emphasized the goal of scientific literacy with the integration of learning and applying knowledge in science (Vision I and Vision II). However, the Chinese curriculum is emphasized more on knowledge of science (Vision I) compared to the Finnish one, and in line with the traditional Anglo-American curriculum. The Finnish curriculum has explicitly shown the emphasis on learning and applying knowledge of science in daily contexts (Vision II). Nevertheless, the critical perspective on socioscientific issues (Vision III) is not written explicitly. The Finnish curriculum demonstrates an affiliation with the tradition of Bildung-Didaktik; some of the 21st-century competencies have been illustrated as an end of education through the learning of subject matter in science. It is argued in the dissertation that science education is both a goal in itself and a means of achieving the goals of 21st-century competencies. A science curriculum should be organized with its objectives related to subject matters based on Anglo-American curriculum tradition and with the guidance of Bildung. The PISA and ATC21S frameworks can be applied for either guidance of curriculum design or a tool to examine the actualization of a curriculum.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)This doctoral dissertation examines how normality is constructed in two Finnish comprehensive schools. The study’s main aim is to explain how the staff in the two studied schools constructs normality, and how the constructions of normality affect the exclusion of students. This study is part of the Perceptions and Constructions of Marginalisation and Belonging in Education (PeCMaBE) research project, which examined how students and school staff construct marginalization, exclusion, and inclusion in school. The research project took place between 2013 and 2016. The research questions of this study are: How do school staff perceive and construct normality and the ‘normal’ student in the school? How does the categorization of students as ‘not-normal’ influence their position in the school? This study is an ethnographic study which includes data produced through several methods. As part of the study, 32 staff members and 48 students were interviewed. There were also 13 group interviews with students and staff. The participant observations were made in two upper comprehensive schools in the Finland capital region. The school students came from a range of socioeconomic, cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Manuals and textbooks for social skills were analyzed to contextualize the main data. This study draws from the concept of normality and especially how it has been applied in the social sciences. As is typical in ethnography, it combined several theoretical perspectives. The theoretical perspective has its roots in post-structural feminist studies and disability studies. Also theoretical and conceptual tools from the fields of educational philosophy and sociology were used. Earlier research has shown that the school can have an important role in constructing and maintaining normality. However, one of the main result of this study is that normality is not only an average but also an ideal of how human beings should be. The three articles had different focuses on the relationship between normality and school. Normality was constructed as how an ideal student or human being should be. This ideal included an expectation of how to be Finnish and have ‘correct’ social skills. The interviews with the staff showed that the students were expected to fit in to Finnish culture. Finnishness as an identity was a part of the construction of an ‘ideal’ student. It was not perceived as an ethnic identity, but as a part of normality. Other ethnic identities were seen as potentially problematic. As Finnishness was constructed as normality, it was possible to present the school as neutral and ‘equal’ where identities other than Finnishness were not welcomed. The interviews with the staff contextualized by the manuals and textbooks for social skills showed that the ‘correct’ social skills were one of the traits for a student to be constructed as being ‘normal’. If the students did not have the social skills considered as the correct ones, they were expected to modify their behavior for them to be included within normality. Among the ‘correct’ social skills was the demand that they be able to adapt to the school and society, and not to cause problems and not to challenge the formal and informal school. The students were required to recognize the limits of the ‘correct’ social skills as part of what was considered to be ‘correct’ behavior. In earlier research, bullying had often been constructed as a question of individual behavior. This study broadens the concept of bullying by examining teachers’ role in bullying. The participant observations suggest that if the student was categorized by the students and teachers as ‘not-normal’ they were in risk to be bullied. In some cases the teachers did not recognize the student categorized as ‘not-normal’ as a victim of bullying, and therefore not worthy of help and care. Thus, bullying could be seen as a way to prevent or hinder students from deviating from the norms and normality. Normality, on the other hand, reflects the expectations of the society and its political, economic, ideological and cultural structures. Hence, it is possible to understand bullying as not only a question of the ‘not-normality’ of an individual child, but as a question of the norms and ideals of the society. Keywords: normality, exclusion, Finnishness, social skills, bullying
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)This study is based on the idea of belonging to a group and interaction as basic human needs and the core of inclusion. The purpose of the study was to identify pedagogical practices enhancing peer interaction in integrated special groups in day-care centers. The main focus was on children for whom joining common activities is harder than for their peers. The study was philosophically influenced by pragmatism: in educational sciences, knowledge is both theoretical and practical. The theoretical framework was based on system theories and sociocultural theories. Ecological system theory and the concepts of system intelligence and sociocultural theory constructed the interpretation of the findings. In Study I, the learning environment of participating integrated special groups (n = 17) was assessed using the Learning Environment Assessment Scale (Strain & Joseph 2004). The quantitative data was analysed and reported with descriptive statistics. Ten items of the assessment form were identified to assess the quality of enhancing peer interaction, and the results were expanded using the content analysis of the qualitative material. Based on the findings of Study I, the study continued to the analysis of video-recorded play sessions in the integrated groups (n = 4), producing the data for Studies II and III. The material was analysed applying Qualitative Content Analysis (Schreier 2012). Study II focused on pedagogical practices, seen in the light of enhancing interaction, and Study III on children ´s initiatives and adults´ responses related to the realised peer interaction. The assessed overall quality as well as the quality in enhancing peer interaction were good on average. The qualitative findings revealed some variation in the pedagogical quality in supporting communication and designing the pedagogy, for example. In regard to guidance of play, five different pedagogical practices were identified, forming the typology of five types of pedagogical guidance. Three of these types, explained as one-dimensional, were seen as inadequate with respect to enhancing peer interaction. Two multi-dimensional types were sensitive and flexible, in guiding the play and also in recognising and responding especially the children´s nonverbal initiatives, which were easily ignored or went unnoticed by the one-dimensional types. The multi-dimensional guidance was aimed at the whole group and at interaction among the playing children. The findings were discussed in the theoretical frame, and a new tool to concretize the pedagogical work was supplied. System intelligent sensitivity summons the findings and helps to reflect the pedagogy in enhancing peer interaction as well in special as in inclusive early childhood education. Keywords: peer interaction, pedagogical learning environment, pedagogical quidance and scaffolding, system intelligent sensitivity, inclusive early childhood education
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)University of Helsinki, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Helsinki Studies in Education, number 56 In this study, leadership is studied through relationship-based and shared phenomenon in early childhood education. The purpose of the research is to describe, interpret and create an understanding of leadership implementation. The focus is on working community relationships and how leadership is shared in the Early Childhood Unit. Leadership is approached through relationship modeling both as a supervisor relationship and as a relationship between employees. Theoretical starting points are relational leadership and shared leadership in a pedagogical context in early childhood education. In relational leadership, leadership is seen to be a phenomenon that arises in interaction. Shared leadership is defined as an activity that employees can participate in. The study was conducted in the Early Childhood Unit in Helsinki, which included a day care center manager and 29 employees. The leader of the Kindergarten and all the employees participated in the study. The study did not target children. This Early Childhood Unit consisted of two physically working kindergartens. The research is based on qualitative data. The collection of research material was carried out using a thematic focus group interviews and a method of empathy-based stories. The analysis was based on content analysis. According to the study, leadership takes place in different forms of interaction and these relationships allow for the sharing of leadership. As the major outcome of the study a leadership relationship model was developed. It consisted of the following leadership relationships: empowering interaction relationship, leadership in confidence, leadership in partnership and leadership as an authority relationship. In the study, relationships are described as separate in order to allow a detailed examination of them. In reality, relationships are interrelated and implemented holistically. Keywords: distributed leadership, shared leadership, leadership, leadership relationships, qualitative research, narrative perspective, pedagogical leadership, relationship leadership, early childhood education
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)Supporting the schooling of children and adolescents in psychiatric care and the perceived effects of a hospital school period The aim of this study is to describe the schooling of students who have psychiatric disorders, to evaluate what kind of impact a hospital school pedagogy has on the students’ schooling and to identify both supportive and exclusionary practices in the Finnish school system. This study has both quantitative and qualitative components. The Finnish National Follow-Up Study 2009-2014 (SOS survey) contains students’ (n=251) and teachers’ (n = 247) survey as-sessments of schooling before a hospital school period, at the end of the period and at follow-up 3-6- months later. Interviews of former hospital school students (n=22) and their parent´s (n=17) were conducted between 2013 and 2016. Hospital school as part of a child’s overall rehabilitation had a positive impact on their school-ing but the effect decreased slightly at the follow-up 3-6 months later. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors that could explain the student’s low or high assessment in the follow-up phase. Research interviews made it possible to understand the results in a deeper way and gave a more personal perspective on the results. Participants identified both supportive and harmful practices in the Finnish school system. These results can be used to develop schooling practices in Finland. It is important to find out what kinds of factors support the inclusion of students and their families and to identify exclusionary and harmful practices. The study identifies key devel-opment needs and suggests solutions to them. The interviews showed that participants had received support in schools, but there was varia-tion in the availability of support. Help and support was not available until the school situation had become very problematic and there was a lack of early interventions. In addition, there were variations in the number and quality of school interventions. Externalizing students had a lot of school-based interventions on their school path, but the interventions often suffered from a lack of planning and control. The support and interventions of internalizing students in school were minimal or absent. Based on the SOS survey and interviews, students who had psychiatric disorders had a higher risk of school refusal and of being excluded from school. In this research the participants were asked to identify the factors behind school refusal and exclusion. As a result of this, a student typology was developed that can help to design better interventions and support for these stu-dents. A supportive school atmosphere, good relationships between students and adults in school, at least one schoolmate, co-operation with parents and tailor-made, flexible solutions support the schooling of students who have psychiatric disorders. In addition, the school personnel’s ability to regulate the child’s stress levels with the parents and other caregivers is important. Developing school-based interventions to support these children will be essential in the future. Schools and basic education require practices that help identify and implement school-based interventions. This dissertation gives voice to children, adolescents and their parents. With their views, it is possible to develop hospital school pedagogy and basic education practices as well as services for families more generally. Keywords: perceived effects, experiences, school refusal, hospital school pedagogy, follow-up study
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)This thesis examined how adolescents’ engagement with digital media is associated with academic and emotional functioning and the continuities and discontinuities between these two contexts. Towards that end, the gap hypothesis, that is, the hypothesis that students who prefer learning with digital media outside of school are less engaged in traditional school, was examined both cross-sectionally and longitudinally. The first aim was to determine the multidimensional structure of socio-digital participation orientations that students’ different digital activities reflect. The second aim was to examine the extent to which the orientations of socio-digital participation are related to academic and emotional functioning cross-sectionally and in different educational levels. The third aim was to examine the longitudinal relations of socio-digital engagement with academic well-being and achievement, especially focusing on the direction of the effects. This thesis consists of five original studies, which relied on interview data and larger scale questionnaire data. The first main finding was that the variation in digital activities can be explained with a complex structure of socio-digital participation orientations, which appear to be consistent across different age groups. Of all forms of digital participation, youths reported spending the majority of their screen time engaging in friendship-driven digital social networking. However, some adolescents reported socio-digital engagement that reached out to a wider audience, building an extended network of developing expertise in the process. The second main finding was that there truly appeared to be a gap between adolescents’ digital and academic engagement. The results revealed that motivationally indifferent students were more likely to engage in social media and gaming. Students who preferred digital learning but did not have the chance to digitally engage at school experienced a decrease in school engagement over time. Moreover, cynicism towards school and feelings of inadequacy predicted increased engagement with social media and action gaming. The third main finding was that digital participation yields both demands and resources and that these are tied together via multiple processes. Social media engagement was cross-sectionally related to lower study engagement and/or to higher symptoms of burnout, especially exhaustion. Longitudinally, social media engagement and emotional exhaustion were reciprocally related at the within-person level; exhaustion predicted an increase in social media engagement and vice versa. In turn, knowledge-oriented digital engagement was cross-sectionally related to higher study engagement, and digital learning preference predicted higher schoolwork engagement over time. To conclude, adolescents’ socio-digital engagement is fundamentally multidimensional and should be treated as such. The results showed support to the gap hypothesis, but the results also suggest that the manifestation of this gap is dependent on multiple factors, both individual and contextual. The gap might emerge because of out-of-school digital engagement that is not recognized in school or the gap might emerge due to problems in school leading to increased time spent with digital media. Intensive socio-digital engagement may also increase the daily psychological demands to such an extent that it hinders schoolwork, leading to symptoms of school burnout, but it can also increase the psychological resources supporting schoolwork given that congruence with academic practices is achieved.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)This study examines playful encounters in early childhood education between adults and children under the age of three. The role of the adult in facilitating and sustaining playful encounters in a multi-party context is of particular interest. The study consists of a summary and four original articles. The research material consists of video observations (150 h) of naturally occurring interaction between adults and children in one municipal toddler classroom. Taking a conversation analysis (CA) approach, the research addresses three questions: (1) How are multiparty playful encounters observable and recognizable from the flow of interaction? (2) How are multi-party playful encounters organized between adults and children in a toddler classroom? (3) What is the adult’s role in facilitating and sustaining multi-party playful encounters? Methodologically, the research develops analytical terminology and a systematic framework which Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) researchers can use to study multi-party playful encounters in natural group-care settings. Theoretically, the research produces new scientific knowledge about the organization of playful and emotional stance taking during adult-child playful encounters. The pedagogical contribution of the research is to explain how adult conduct can shape opportunities for multi-party playful encounters in toddler classrooms. The results contribute to theoretical and pedagogical discussion about adults’ roles in children’s play. Overall, the findings can enhance the understanding of ECEC as ECEPC (Early Childhood Education, Play and Care). The study shows how CA can encourage dialogue with ECEC theory and practice by providing a more detailed picture of practices that are described in stocks of interactional knowledge such as the Finnish National Curriculum guidelines on Early Childhood Education and Care.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)This dissertation examines the handicrafts of young children during their preschool education. The perspective expands towards the technology education of young children and investigative activities as a pursuit to notice the close connection of these learning areas in terms of the nature of the contents and activities. The dissertation’s empirical section orients children’s work on handicraft tasks via three sub-studies. The study represents a qualitative case study where the objective was to produce the most accurate description of the entirety of the subject being examined. The research was strongly contextual by nature. Video material captured during real-action circumstances and analyses based on this material formed this dissertation’s most extensive, and at the same time, the most important research material of all sub-studies. In the first sub-study, the intention was to determine how preschoolers perceived, verbalised and interpreted the craft-making process and how they used nonverbal expressions when explaining a learned skill. The aim of the second sub-study was to clarify the ability of preschoolers’ to execute a personal and plan-following handicraft process in a holistic context. The focus of the third sub-study was the appearance of preschoolers´ verbal and embodied collaboration during co-operative design situations and what kinds of roles were formed during peer-group work. The results of the sub-studies indicate that handicrafts’ conventional, cyclically repeating steps of perceiving, making and interpreting can be found in preschoolers’ processes. Children learn through experience and interpret what they have learned using gestures, especially when verbal expression feels difficult. According to this, gestures are closely linked to the children’s thinking and reveal the understanding associated with the task. Preschoolers are capable of designing individual products, and during the making phase, they consider different material and colour choices, as well as product details. During collaboration, they can organize their own group actions and are able to work co-operatively with a verbal design task. As a result, they can produce feasible drawing plans for the given task. With minimal help from adults, preschoolers are able to follow a logical, holistic handicraft process suited to their capabilities. A handicraft design and making process includes many natural possibilities for collaboration and co-operative practise. Since preschoolers are only practising collaboration skills, setting up chances for co-operative learning during handicraft activities is recommended.
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Perusopetuksen oppimisen ja koulunkäynnin tuen järjestelmän kehitys tilastojen ja normien kuvaamana (Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)The fundamental idea of the Finnish education system is that everyone has the right to basic education. According to the Basic Education Act, pupils are entitled to sufficient support for learning and schooling whenever the need arises. The Finnish 'Education for All' reform was completed in the late 1990s when the responsibility for the education of children with the most severe intellectual disabilities and children in reformatory school was moved to the education system. Equality and justice have been the cornerstones of basic education from the beginning of the comprehensive school in the 1970s. One of the aims of education is “to secure adequate equity in education throughout the country”. The purpose of this study was to investigate the learning and schooling support system in Finnish basic education as well as the municipal level differences in the provision of this support. The study had two main aims. The first was to analyse the support system and its development, and the second was to analyse the official statistics on special education. This thesis consists of three sub-studies. Study I describes the current support system and the related statistics at the national level. Study II analyses the regional and municipal level differences in learning and schooling support. Study III analyses the evolution of the support system from the late 1970s to the present. The data used in this dissertation were mainly secondary data. The main data consisted of time series compiled by Statistics Finland in 1979–2016. In addition, the basic education legislation was used as the basis for analyses and descriptions. Further, three empirical data sets were used to analyse the system: principal survey data (N = 1 113) and two pupil level data sets collected in 2012 (N = 8 875) (Hautamäki et al. 2013) and 2014 (N = 11 601) (Hotulainen et al. 2016). These data and methods were used in order to understand and describe the phenomenon formulated in the research tasks. Document analysis that utilises both quantitative (official statistics) and qualitative (legislation, educational policy documents, previous studies) data is typical of research conducted in the framework of educational policy and comparative education. The results showed that the provision of learning and schooling support differed between the municipalities, as the realisation of support provisions are based on local support system traditions developed over time. Firstly, according to the results, the municipalities varied in terms of how and where they organised their support. The shares of pupils with an individualised curriculum also differed. From the equality perspective, the provision of support varied considerably and for this reason, I propose that it needs further analysis. Secondly, from the normative perspective, intensified support (Tier 2) ought to be provided along with mainstream education using flexible teaching arrangements. Thus, the placement of students in Tier 2 is not recorded in statistics. Survey data indicated that in some schools students receiving intensified support studied in small group settings, in which they were all either Tier 2 or Tier 2 and 3 students. These arrangements should be further examined because, in contrast to the decision regarding special support (Tier 3), the decision regarding intensified support (Tier 2) is not made in accordance with the Administrative Procedure Act. Thirdly, the findings suggest that the variation between municipalities in the shares of pupils with an individualised curriculum is so great that, in terms of equality and equity, the need to regulate this individualisation should be further examined. The findings of this study indicate that the official statistics on special education are important as a dataset that describes the support system. However, statistical time series have some limitations as they do not, for example, cover the whole support system. In the future, the official statistics on special education will utilise the KOSKI register as a source of information and according to the results, it is important that these official statistics are compiled with at least the same accuracy as today.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)The study examines the fabrication and mobilization of the local and school level evaluation in the field of comprehensive schooling within the Finnish quality evaluation discourse. Drawing on genealogy, the study runs out of the current notion and understanding in which the evaluation is reasoned as a necessary, natural and normal part of the workings of schools and municipalities as education provider. Finally, the evaluation is considered inevitable in constant improvement, development and governing of education in the context of global economy. The study analyses the descent, fabrication and mobilization of this understanding. It asks: 1) how is the present understanding on local quality evaluation in comprehensive school mobilized and construed within the Finnish discourse, and 2) which kind of discursive principles and rules can be identified as conditions for the construction and fabrication of a present discourse when examined in the dimensions of the knowledge, power and subject. The research data consists of a set of Finnish policy documents, legislation and texts on quality evaluation written by the experts of the evaluation in the field of comprehensive education in the period of 1970–2010. The aim of the study is to bring back forth and uncover the hidden historical horizon of the quality evaluation in education. In answering the first research question, the study provides a dense descriptive analysis on the formation and construction of the field of the statements where the school and municipal self-evaluation becomes fabricated as self-evident. Study identifies three discursive practices – systems of reasoning and doing – within the field of statements mobilizing the present understanding on evaluation. Those are the discursive practices of the 1) school based development, 2) performativity and educational outcomes and 3) customer oriented quality. The second research question is approached by setting the descriptive analysis of discursive practices and layers under examination in the genealogical dimensions of the knowledge, power and subject. First, in the dimension of knowledge, the study identifies an increasing and overarching will to know about education; will to know the all-embracing performance and the quality in all areas of schooling. In the dimension of power, the study identifies the process of normalization of evaluation in education practices during the re-search period. The evaluation becomes construed as a normal daily practice of education inseparable from teaching, schooling and education governance. In the dimension of subjectivity, the study identifies the fabrication of the ethics of inevitability of self-evaluation. Within the discourse, there is no decent place for actors those are unwilling to evaluate or to be evaluated. Finally, the evaluation discourse can be described as a discourse based on evolutionary hope towards the better future – with higher performativity and excellent quality. The discourse wraps and embeds the desire towards the better. However, at the same time, by the discourse itself, it appears evident that the education in its variedness will stay immeasurable by its nature. It also appears that the ethics of inevitability of self-evaluation will necessarily be bounded by the vagueness and subjective nature of the evaluation. Finally, in aspiring towards the normalization of the evaluation and quality work in the direction of universal organization, the school context and specific school knowledge appears to be fading out.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)Kun uudet aineenopettajat astuvat vastavalmistuneina opettajina heille tuntemattomiin opettajanhuoneisiin, he tarvitsevat tukea. Heidän tulee osata toimia toimia koulun muiden opettajien ja koulun henkilökunnan kanssa. Myös vanhempien kohtaamiseen tarvitaan taitoja. Vahvistaakseen aineenopettajaharjoittelijoiden valmiutta yhteisölliseen opettajuuteen tutkija kehitti virtuaalisen simulaation VIRESIMUn, jonka tavoitteena oli 1) kouluttaa opetusharjoittelijoita kouluyhteisön jäseniksi, 2) jakaa yhteisöissä tarvittavaa sosiaalista, psykologista ja eettistä pääomaa osallistujien kesken 3) edistää kollegiaalista professionaalista reflektiota, 4) kehittää aineenopettajan kouluyhteisössä selviytymiseen tarvitsemia mikropoliittisia strategioita ja 5) auttaa opiskelijoita ymmärtämään kouluyhteisön yhteisöllistä luonnetta. Virtuaalisten keskusteluiden kohteet olivat luonteeltaan kouluyhteisön arjen keskeisiä ongelmatilanteita eli dilemmoja, joihin verkkosimulaatioon osallistuvat opiskelijat mentorinsa kanssa etsivät ammatillisesti kestäviä ja realistisia ratkaisuja ja samalla yrittivät ymmärtää opettajayhteisön ilmapiiriä. Ratkaisujen piti perustua alan relevantin teorian yhdistämiseen käytäntöön. Päätavoite oli kuitenkin se, että opetusharjoittelijat kartuttaisivat yhteisöllistä sosiaalieettistä pääomaansa, jota he tarvitsevat tulevaisuudessa aineenopettajina, kollegoina ja erilaisissa verkostoissa sekä kumppanuuksissa. Verkkokeskusteluprosessin instrumentti VIRESIMU oli pedagoginen innovaatio, jossa yhdistettiin opettajayhteisön luontainen mikropoliittinen pelillisyys simulaatioksi. Tutkija kirjoitti osallistujille simuloidut opettajaroolit. Opetusharjoittelijat ratkaisivat rooliopettajina virtuaalisessa opiskeluympäristössä (MOODLE) dilemmoja eli tapausongelmia yleensä kerran viikossa lukukauden ajan. Rooliopettajat olivat kuvitteellisen Suutarinmäen yläkoulun opettajia roolien habituksina dialogisuus, formaattisuus, autonomisuus ja opettajuus ilman tunnistettavaa pedagogista käsikirjoitusta. Simulaatioon osallistuvalla virtuaalimentorilla oli kaksi roolia: rehtorin ja kuvitteellisen luokan 8f luokanohjaajan roolit. Vuorovaikutusprosessien aikana virtuaalimentori pyrki vahvistamaan opettajien yhteisöllisyyden tunnetta. Rehtorina virtuaalimentori oli opettajien kokouskeskustelujen moderaattori. Keskustelut tapahtuivat asynkronisena tekstin kirjoittamisena MOODLE-opiskelualustalla. Jokaisen opiskelijan piti osallistua dilemmojen käsittelyyn ja argumentoida ratkaisunsa avatakseen omaa ammatillista reflektiotaan muille osallistujille. Virtuaalimentori tarjosi prosessin tueksi kunkin dilemman alaan liittyvää teoreettista ja käytännöllistä tietoa nettiaineistoina, joiden informaatiota osallistujien oletettiin tutkivan, arvioivan ja käyttävän tekstiensä argumentoinnin tukena. Koulun sosiaalinen konteksti luotiin pääkertomukseksi, jonka kirjoitti Helsingin normaalilyseon tämän aiheen asiantuntijakollega. Osallistujien roolikortit habituskuvauksineen olivat pääkertomuksen osia. Tutkittavat dilemmat esitettiin osallistujille tapauskertomuksina. Jokaista dilemmakeskustelua seurasi jälkipuinti, jonka aikana tapausta ja sen ratkaisua analysoitiin aineenopettajina ilman simulaatiorooleja. Siten dilemmojen ratkaiseminen voitiin nostaa professionaalisen yleistämisen tasolle. VIRESIMun päätteeksi lukukauden lopussa jokainen harjoittelijaosallistuja täytti e-kyselylomakkeen. Se perustui Community of Inquiry -verkkokeskustelumallin evaluaation mukaiseen 34 väittämän evaluaatioinstrumenttiin. Sen avulla mitattiin, miten osallistujat kokevat verkkokeskustelun vuorovaikutusprosesseissa sosiaalisen läsnäolon, ammatillisen tiedonrakentelun läsnäolon ja mentoriuden läsnäolon. Tutkijan itsensä kehittämien väittämien avulla mitattiin, miten eettisesti kypsä opettajayhteisö toteutui VIRESIMUssa. Kysely osoittaa, että tutkija onnistui operationalisoimaan yhteisöllisyys-, verkkokeskustelu- ja simulaatiotutkimusten pohjalta aineenopettajakoulutuksen mentoroituihin ja simuloituihin verkkokeskusteluihin yhteistyöyhteisöllisen sosiaalieettisen yhteisön piirteitä. Aineenopettajaharjoittelijat tunsivat voimautuneensa kollegiaalisesti ratkaisemaan tulevaisuuden yhteisöllisiä sosiaalieettisiä dilemmoja heittäytyessään verkkosimulaation leikkimaailmaan esittämänsä roolin habituksen mukaisesti. Tutkimus rohkaisee opettajankouluttajaa suunnittelemaan sekä toteuttamaan tutkivana ohjaajana alansa innovaatioita. Avainsanat: aineenopettajankoulutus, verkkokeskustelu, verkkosimulaatio, virtuaalimentori, sosiaalieettinen yhteisöllisyys, yhteistyöyhteisöllinen ongelmanratkaisu, leikkimielisyyteen heittäytyminen, tutkiva ohjaus
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)The objective of this Ph.D. thesis is to examine the life purposes of Finnish social services students. In particular, the students’ life purposes and their experiences of purpose are examined from the viewpoint of how helping unknown others and advocating for social improvements are integrated into personal meaning and how a focus on benefiting others appears in the students’ perspectives. Life purposes are personally meaningful, but also intended to benefit others (Damon, Menon, & Bronk, 2003). The thesis is based on research presented in three articles. Article I addresses the content of students’ life goals and how the students’ justify their goals through focus on self and on others. Article II presents students’ purpose profiles, their perceptions of the role of purpose, and why these students want to help unknown others. In Article III the focus is on students’ most influential field education experiences and how learning in service influenced their experience of purpose, especially from the standpoint of helping and social advocacy. The context of this case study is the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and its social services degree whose framework is social pedagogy. The analysis is based on survey data, which included both fixed and open ended questions. A mixed-methods approach is operationalized by using both qualitative and quantitative data analyses. The results presented in Articles I and II are based on a semester start survey (N=151) during the fall of 2015. Article III (N=113) presents the responses of pre- and post-field education surveys during the same semester. Validated instruments are used as are both deductive and inductive content analyses. The analysis shows that the most important life goals for the students were close relationships and hedonistic goals, such as leading an exciting life. Helping was rated as the third-most important life goal on a Likert scale, yet other-focused, value based justifications for it are somewhat lacking in the open answers. Primarily, the students mostly provided self-focused justifications for their long-term life goals, and perceived the role of purpose as leading to a happy and pleasurable life rather than to a value-driven life. Overall, it appeared that the students perhaps aimed at finding purpose in familial matters and, to some extent, in the pursuit of happiness and helping others. Most of the students could be described as representing a Dabbler profile. They had already experienced a sense of purpose in their lives, but were still seeking new purposes. They felt confident and skillful in actualizing their life goals, yet they did not seem to be aware of the values that steer their lives. Approximately one-fourth of the students represented the profile of the Purposeful and approximately onefifth fit the profile of a Dreamer. Purposeful students define the values that direct their lives and their helping activities more often than other students. Through field education, the students’ sense of purpose developed, but the importance of helping goals remained the same, albeit on a relatively high level. The students’ confidence in helping and in social advocacy as lifetime pursuits increased during field education. It appears that the increased sense of purpose after field education is in some ways related to the experiences of a sense of community, learning professional competencies, and increased self-awareness.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)The experience of working within a school community not only fosters the de-velopment of key knowledge-related skills, but it also develops important social and emotional skills, which are in turn important for, and when, working within other communities. When studying to become a teacher, students have the op-portunity to reflect on the nature and significance of socioemotional interaction skills and their own understandings in respect of these skills, as well as the chance to explore the co-regulation of collective activity when studying in a long-term communal small group. Contemporary society and the perspectives, values and current concerns of science also challenge the students to reflect not only the collaborative insights they achieve but also the flexible and creative application of them. As teachers they will also need skills that will help to secure pupils’ psychological well-being. Ethics, values and morality are concretized and consolidated in collaborative reflection. Such reflection shows the morality of behaviour as a reality that reflects the theoretical, tense principles of ethical views. Furthermore, teacher identity work challenges the students' ability to know, attend to, and negotiate conflicts and contradictions such that the emotional blocking and insecurity that can slow down effective reflection may be reduced. This study examines both challenging and supportive perspectives in the context of a long-term student teacher community-based small group. At the theoretical core of the study is an attentiveness to: the socioconstructivist notion that one of the benefits collaboration affords is the potential for reflection; the need for pedagogical support, scaffolding, and the elements of co-regulation. This is a case study. The data were collected through interviews and also by utilizing the students' reflection on video and audio materials, as well as their readings and a stimulated recall questionnaire. The material has been analysed through qualita-tive content analysis. The results show that the realization of a space for a meaningful negotiation of identity in a group requires both confidence and agency and a capacity to listen to others, especially in conflictual situations, including those situations where there is the threat of a suppressive or reductive consensus. In this study, the contextual supports that enabled student teachers to benefit from conflicts when reflecting were: emotional safety, the lengthy duration of the group process and time for reflection. The processes implicated in the development of a positive communication culture, one that encourages and supports reflection and interthinking, became a central focus for the study. Where there was not evidence of a positive culture of communication, there was evidence of an emotionally disruptive atmosphere and a threatened sense of security. With respect to the scaffolding of the group, an emotionally safe atmosphere was seen to be a pre-requisite for fostering a sense of creativity in within the collaborative community was implicated in the quality of collaboration. In this case, the fading of fear and insecurity made solidarity and mutual recognition of each other's often divergent views possible to accept. Pedagogical conclusions were drawn from the results of the study: intentionality as a space of free will that under-stands the well-being of psychic activity arises as a telos of pedagogical support. Scaffolding metacognitive and metacompetences may open up onward possibilities for supporting group reflection and co-regulation.
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(Helsingin yliopisto, 2019)The aim of this doctoral thesis was to explore university graduates’ employability and transition to working life. The main aim was to explore graduates’ evaluations of their academic competences and how these evaluations are related to their learning. In addition, the aim was to investigate the relation between work experience, approaches to learning and study success. Follow-up study aimed to explore how graduates’ evaluate their academic competences and career success after three years of graduation, and what kinds of challenges graduates have encountered in working life. This thesis consists of four sub-studies. Study was a longitudinal study and applied a mixed-methods approach. Data included 1023 survey answers and 83 interviews at the time of graduation and 57 follow-up survey answers three years after graduation. The results of Study I showed that graduates varied in evaluations of their academic competences. Most graduates were able to extensively describe their competences, including those that are more demanding such as critical thinking and applying knowledge, as well as more practical competences. However, some graduates described their academic competences quite narrowly, emphasising only practical competences such as communications skills and information technology skills. Moreover, others had difficulties in describing and evaluating their competences at all. The results of Study II revealed that a deep approach to learning, organised studying, and especially putting effort into learn competences, was related to the richness of the evaluations of competences. The results of Study III showed that academic work was related to a deep approach to learning and non-academic work was related to a surface approach to learning and unorganised studying. In addition, own academic work had a direct negative relation to study pace when working more than 20 hours per week as well as doing more 20 hours of non-academic work per week had a negative relation to the thesis grade. Study IV showed that graduates with rich descriptions of their competences at the time of graduation had more often academic work that was related to their study field and had experienced less difficulties related to employment after graduation compared to the graduates with more limited descriptions of their competences. The results showed that significant changes in graduates’ evaluations of academic competences had occurred. After three years of graduation, collaboration and communication competences were evaluated as being less developed than they evaluated at the time of graduation. The results of Study IV also revealed that most of the challenges that graduates reported having encountered in working life were related to a need for more academic competences, especially presentation and social competences. In conclusion, this doctoral thesis provides new information on the factors that are related to employability and it extended previous employability models by adding aspect of learning as a single dimension. This doctoral thesis indicates that the ability to evaluate and describe one’s own competences at the time of graduation is an important factor for employability and career success. This doctoral thesis indicates that a mixed methods approach is needed to explore graduates’ employability and especially competences more profoundly.
