Kokemuksia haastavista ja kuormittavista tilanteista varhaiskasvattajien työssä

Opinnäytetyön lisäosan tarkoituksena oli selvittää, millaisia haastavia ja kuormittavia tilanteita varhaiskasvattajat voivat kohdata työssään lasten, huoltajien, työyhteisön ja muiden tilanteiden parissa. Tutkimustehtävä keskittyi erityisesti siihen, millä tavalla haasteisiin voidaan vaikuttaa ja millaisiin tilanteisiin varhaiskasvattajat kokevat itse pystyvänsä vaikuttamaan ja millaisiin eivät. Tutkielmassa käsiteltiin myös varhaiskasvattajien kokemia työn voimavaroja, jotka osaltaan tukevat varhaiskasvattajien työssä jaksamista. Tutkielmassa vertailtiin varhaiskasvattajien ja muskariopettajien kokemuksien samankaltaisuuksia, koska tämä tutkielma täydensi aikaisempaa musiikkipedagogin (AMK) opinnäytetyötäni (Mäkipelto 2014). Teoreettinen viitekehys muodostui tässä tutkielmassa työhyvinvointiin liittyvästä kirjallisuudesta ja aikaisemmasta tutkimuksesta, joissa tarkasteltiin työkäytäntöjen ja työn voimavara- ja kuormitustekijöiden vaikutuksia työhyvinvointiin. Tutkielma toteutettiin kvalitatiivisena eli laadullisena tutkimuksena ja tutkimusmenetelmänä käytettiin puolistrukturoitua teemahaastattelua. Teemahaastattelu analysoitiin teemoittelun ja aineistolähtöisen sisällönanalyysin avulla. Yhteistyökumppanina oli Norlandia päiväkodit. Haastatteluun osallistui neljä varhaiskasvattajaa, joiden kokemukset eivät liittyneet ainoastaan nykyiseen työpaikkaan Norlandian päiväkodissa, vaan ne koskivat myös aikaisempaa työhistoriaa. Tutkimustulokset osoittivat, että haastavat ja kuormittavat kokemukset liittyivät erityisesti lapsiryhmän hallintaan, huoltajien kohtaamiseen, työyhteisön ristiriitoihin, työn ulkopuoliseen elämään ja työnkuvaan liittymättömiin tilanteisiin kuten siivoamiseen. Ongelmanratkaisukeinoiksi nimettiin lasten parissa tunteiden käsittely ja rauhallinen vuorovaikutus. Varhaiskasvattajat kokivat, että huoltajien parissa auttoi kunnioittava suhtautuminen ja säännöllinen tiedottaminen. Työyhteisössä korostui yhteisten sääntöjen, kommunikoinnin ja toimivan johtajuuden merkitys. Muissa tilanteissa painotettiin työn ulkopuolisesta elämästä huolehtimista. Varhaiskasvattajat kokivat, että lasten perheoloihin ja resurssien puutteeseen he eivät pystyneet vaikuttamaan. Työn voimavaroina painottui lasten riemu ja kehitys, toimiva yhteistyö huoltajien ja työyhteisön parissa sekä oman työn kehittäminen, arvostaminen ja rajaaminen. Edeltävissä tuloksissa oli paljon yhteneväisyyksiä aikaisempien tutkimustulosten kanssa. Varhaiskasvattajat ja muskariopettajat olivat kokeneet yhtäläisiä haastavia tilanteita erityisesti lapsiryhmän hallintaan, huoltajien kohtaamiseen ja työyhteisössä heikkoon perehdytykseen ja sääntöjen epäselvyyteen liittyvissä tilanteissa. Ongelmanratkaisukeinoina korostui molemmissa ammattiryhmissä lasten parissa keskusteleminen, yhteisten sääntöjen, periaatteiden ja toimintatapojen vahvistaminen. Varhaiskasvattajat ja muskariopettajat kokivat lasten riemun ja työkavereiden tuen voimavaraksi. Johtopäätöksistä ilmeni, että varhaiskasvattajien ja muskariopettajien työssä korostui vuorovaikutuksen merkitys. Mikäli vuorovaikutus oli heikkoa, se aiheutti enemmän kuormitusta. Jos vuorovaikutus toimi, yhteisöllisyys lisääntyi ja toimi voimavarana. Jatkossa voitaisiin tutkia enemmän erityisesti työn ulkopuolisen elämän yhteyttä varhaiskasvattajien hyvinvointiin ja moniammatillisten varhaiskasvattajien erilaisia kokemuksia. Niiden merkitys korostui tässä tutkielmassa ja aikaisemmissa tutkimuksissa.The purpose of the supplementary thesis was to find out what kind of challenging and stressful situations early childhood educators may face in their work with children, guardians, the work community and other situations. The aim was to find ways to influence the challenges and find out which situations early childhood educators feel themselves capable of influencing and which not. The thesis focused also on the strengthening factors experienced by early childhood educators, which contribute to the well-being of early childhood educators. Moreover, the thesis compares similarities between the experiences of early childhood educators and music playschool teachers as this thesis complements my earlier bachelor’s thesis in early childhood music education (Mäkipelto 2014). The theoretical framework of this thesis consists of occupational well-being literature and earlier studies, which examined the effects of work practices and work strength and stress factors on occupational well-being. The thesis was carried out as qualitative research and a semi-structured thematic interview was used as the research method. The thematic interview was analyzed with theme and content analysis. The cooperation partner was Norlandia Päiväkodit. Four early childhood educators participated in the interview. Their experiences were not only related to the current job at the Norlandia kindergarten, but also on past work history. The results demonstrated that challenging and stressful experiences were especially related to group management with children, the interaction with guardians, conflicts in the work community, life outside the workplace, and work assignment issues not included in the job description such as cleaning. Problem solving included emotional management and peaceful interaction with children. Early childhood educators felt that respect and regular information helped with guardians. In the work community the importance of common rules, communication and effective leadership were emphasized. The life outside of work was emphasized in other situations. Early childhood educators felt that they were unable to influence children's family conditions and lack of resources. The work strength-factors consisted of the joy and development of children, effective cooperation with guardians and the work community, as well as the development, appreciation and delimitation of their own work. These results had several similarities with previous research results. Early childhood educators and music playschool teachers had experienced similar challenging situations, especially in the group management with children, the interactions with guardians, and in the work community in situations involving weak orientation and unclear rules. Both professional groups solved problems by discussing with children and enforcing common rules and principles. Both professional groups felt that the joy of children and support from colleagues strengthened their work resources. The study concluded that interaction is important for both early childhood educators and music playschool teachers. If interaction was weak, it caused more stress. If it worked, communality increased and it served as a strength factor. The occupational wellbeing of early childhood educators could be studied further by focusing on life-factors outside work and a multi-professional perspective. The importance of these perspectives was emphasized in this thesis and former studies

Seinäjoen Vesi 100 vuotta : Parhaaseen pohjaveteen ja tehokkaaseen jätevesihuoltoon

publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Sata vuotta vesihuoltoa Suomessa 1917-2017

100 years of water supply and sanitation in Finland This book is written by Petri S. Juuti, Tapio S.Katko & Riikka P. Rajala. Finland is known as a land of thousands of lakes. Yet, there are regions in Finland where lakes are very few and the lack of fresh water is an ordinary problem. Finland is quite unique in Fennoscandia as to its water resources. The country has some 56 000 lakes with a minimum area of one hectare and all together 200000 lakes. Ground water occurs in alluvial eskers formed during ice ages, the last of which ended some 10 000 years ago. Nowadays some 60 per cent of the people use natural or artificially recharged ground water. However, areas lower than 50–60 metres above sea level have problems with water quality due to geological reasons. In such areas bigger cities use surface water for their water supply or acquire their raw water from sources further away. The book shows us how water supply and sanitation have developed in Finland during years of political independence starting from the year 1917.Tässä dosentti Petri Juutin, dosentti Tapio Katkon ja TkT Riikka Rajalan kirjoittamassa vertaisarvioidussa monografiassa on kuvattu koko Suomen vesihuollon eli vedenhankinnan ja jätevesihuollon historia sadan vuoden ajalta. Kirjan ensimmäisessä osassa taustoitetaan vesihuollon yhteiskunnallista merkitystä ja kuvataan lyhyesti keskeiset kehitysvaiheet. Toisessa osassa kuvataan tutkimuksen kohteena olevien vesilaitosten keskeisiä vaiheita ja valintoja. Teoksen loppuosassa on tutkimuksen vertaileva analyysi ja lopputulokset sekä tulevaisuuden haasteet ja mahdollisuudet. Sata vuotta vesihuoltoa Suomessa 1917-2017 teos on osa Valtioneu-voston kanslian koordinoiman Suomen itsenäisyyden satavuotisjuhlavuoden 2017 ohjelmaa

Sata vuotta vesihuoltoa Suomessa 1917-2017

Tässä dosentti Petri Juutin, dosentti Tapio Katkon ja kT Riikka Rajalan kirjoittamassa vertaisarvioidussa monografiassa on kuvattu koko Suomen vesihuollon eli vedenhankinnan ja jätevesihuollon historia sadan vuoden ajalta. Kirjan ensimmäisessä osassa taustoitetaan vesihuollon yhteiskunnallista merkitystä ja kuvataan lyhyesti keskeiset kehitysvaiheet. Toisessa osassa kuvataan tutkimuksen kohteena olevien vesilaitosten keskeisiä vaiheita ja valintoja. Teoksen loppuosassa on tutkimuksen vertaileva analyysi ja lopputulokset sekä tulevaisuuden haasteet ja mahdollisuudet. Sata vuotta vesihuoltoa Suomessa 1917-2017 teos on osa Valtioneuvoston kanslian koordinoiman Suomen itsenäisyyden satavuotisjuhlavuoden 2017 ohjelmaa.Suomi Finland 10

Managing Water and Wastewater Services in Finland, 1860–2020 and beyond

Water and wastewater services are invaluable for communities. The aim of this article is to understand and explain the overall long-term development of water services in Finland in the wider PESTEL framework with policy implications for the future. The original megastudy was based on an extensive literature review. The article first covers the birth and development of urban and rural water systems in Finland. This is followed by analysing selected decisions with long-term impacts, institutional issues, discussion and lessons learnt, and conclusions. The development of water services in Finland has largely been based on trust. In socio-institutional factors, institutional diversity is fundamental. Gradual expansion of water supply and wastewater systems has brought technical, economic and social benefits in a country with quite a dispersed population. Efficient water pollution control in communities was implemented within two decades through developing technology and applying proper legislation and control. Continuous and dynamic development has been a key principle. Nature-based solutions include raw water source selection, treatment processes such as managed aquifer recharge, sites for final effluents disposal, and water related land use planning. Aging infrastructure is the most pressing future challenge in Finland and worldwide and will need new requirements and innovations.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Creating collaboration for contentious projects on managed aquifer recharge : two cases from Finland

In Finland, community water supply has increasingly relied on natural groundwater and artificially recharged groundwater as the raw water source. Several managed aquifer recharge (MAR) projects have been co-created with involved parties and have proceeded well, while some cases have raised considerable resistance among the stakeholders. It seems that success or failure in MAR cooperation is related to management cultures and the ways in which various interests are taken into account, from the very beginning and throughout the process. Empirically, this paper builds on comparison between two conflictual case studies in Finland: one in the Tampere region and the other in the Turku region. The study analyses the major constraints of these projects through the lens of collaborative rationality, also drawing upon discourse analysis and negotiation theory. The material is gathered through thematic interviews of stakeholders, newspaper articles and a stakeholder workshop. The results indicate that conventional management approaches, drawing from expert-based instrumental rationality, were insufficient in both cases. The collaborative rationality framework suggests that legitimacy for the groundwater projects should be gained through joint knowledge production and inclusive multiparty interaction for creating options for collaboration. Both cases lacked the tools and know-how for authentic dialogue and collaboration. The emerging paradigm emphasizes more collaborative approaches for natural resources management and urban planning. While MAR projects operate inside these areas and are highly complex in nature, it is essential to embrace the emerging paradigm in order to promote MAR systems along with their huge potential

Resilient urban water services for the 21th century society : Stakeholder survey in Finland

Resilience has become a vital theme in the discussion concerning urban water services. Resilience in this context can be defined as both keeping up a good level of services, as well as rapid and fluent recovery from failures caused by natural disasters, unsound infrastructure or incorrect management. Although adequate water services resilience can be considered as sustainable, resilience is a wider concept than sustainability. In order to call water services resilient, all sections from policy and management to technical operation should be clear and coherent, and their operation in challenging situations also must be guaranteed. This study seeks a resilient approach to water services through a literature review, and a questionnaire to stakeholders; mainly water supply and sanitation experts. The results show that sufficient technology and good water quality are not sufficient for achieving resilient water services, but also education and institutional management are essential issues. These are accomplished by a methodical education system, capacity building, and good governance

Managing Water and Wastewater Services in Finland, 1860–2020 and Beyond

Water and wastewater services are invaluable for communities. The aim of this article is to understand and explain the overall long-term development of water services in Finland in the wider PESTEL framework with policy implications for the future. The original megastudy was based on an extensive literature review. The article first covers the birth and development of urban and rural water systems in Finland. This is followed by analysing selected decisions with long-term impacts, institutional issues, discussion and lessons learnt, and conclusions. The development of water services in Finland has largely been based on trust. In socio-institutional factors, institutional diversity is fundamental. Gradual expansion of water supply and wastewater systems has brought technical, economic and social benefits in a country with quite a dispersed population. Efficient water pollution control in communities was implemented within two decades through developing technology and applying proper legislation and control. Continuous and dynamic development has been a key principle. Nature-based solutions include raw water source selection, treatment processes such as managed aquifer recharge, sites for final effluents disposal, and water related land use planning. Aging infrastructure is the most pressing future challenge in Finland and worldwide and will need new requirements and innovations