Metal Detecting and Archaeology in Finland: An Overview of the Hobby and its Consequences

Metal detecting seems to affect Finnish archaeology in many ways at present and gives rise to new issues. Every year, ordinary people locate plenty of finds and find spots with their metal detectors and report them to archaeologists. This results in new knowledge of the past, and sometimes the detector find may be of great significance. However, there are also discoveries that people never report. Furthermore, metal detector users sometimes damage archaeological sites and monuments protected under law. This causes the loss of important information about archaeological sites and finds. In general, metal detecting as a hobby has increased significantly during the 2010s in Finland. I am therefore compiling an overview of the hobby using data available from an online survey and other statistics of the National Board of Antiquities. In addition, I aim to figure out the impacts of the hobby especially from the viewpoint of archaeology and archaeologists. As one conclusion, I present that interaction and cooperation between archaeologists and detectorists seems to lead the way to more responsible metal detecting and a greater understanding concerning archaeological heritage

Keskivartalon hallinnan testistö Levi Ski Clubille

Opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena on luoda luotettava testistö, jolla mitataan keskivartalon hallintaa. Testistö on suunniteltu alppihiihtoseura Levi Ski Clubin käyttöön. Yhteistyötä tehtiin Levi Ski Clubin sekä lajin parissa toimivan lääkärin ja fysioterapeutin kanssa, jotta varmistuttiin testistön tarpeellisuudesta ja toimivuudesta. Levi Ski Club on alppihiihtoseura, jonka urheilijat kilpailevat niin kansallisella kuin kansainvälisellä tasolla. Levi Ski Clubin tavoitteena on saada nuoret jatkamaan kilpauraansa mahdollisimman pitkään. Lisäämällä keskivartalon hallintaa loukkaantumisriskin katsotaan pienenevän. Nuorten alaselkäkipujen katsotaan olevan yhteydessä heikkoon keskivartalon hallintaan. Testistön avulla pyrimme motivoimaan ja kannustamaan nuoria harjoittamaan keskivartalon hallinnan harjoitteita. Keskivartalon hallinnan testistöllä voidaan yksilöllisesti mitata sen hetkistä hallinnan tasoa monipuolisesti ja luotettavasti. Testistössä on viisi erilaista testiliikettä, joille on luotu vaikeustasot 1-3. Olemme testanneet testistön Levi Ski Clubin nuorilla kahdesti. Ensimmäisen testauskerran palautteiden pohjalta testistöä on muokattu yhteistyössä Levi Ski Clubin kanssa kohderyhmälle sopivammaksi. Tällöin luotiin vaikeustasot tuomaan haastetta testistöön. Vaikeustasot edesauttavat yksilöllisen kehittymisen seuraamista ja arviointia ilman varsinaisia viitearvoja. Seuralta saadun palautteen pohjalta varmistuttiin Levi Ski Clubille sopivien testien valinnasta. Opinnäytetyön tuloksena luotiin luotettava ja toistettava keskivartalon hallinnan testistö Levi Ski Clubin jatkuvaan käyttöön. Testistöön kuuluu viisi monipuolista ja toiminnallista keskivartalon hallinnan testiä, joissa kussakin on kolme taitotasoa. Jatkossa testistöä voi soveltaa erilaisille kohderyhmille.The purpose of this thesis was to create reliable core stability tests based on research data. The tests were designed for the use of the Levi Ski Club. The authors of this thesis co-operated with the Levi Ski Club personnel, as well as with an expert physician and physiotherapist in order to ascertain that the tests were both practical and functional for the target group. The Levi Ski Club is a club for alpine skiers and its athletes compete both on national and on international levels. The goal of the Levi Ski Club is to extend the competitive career of their athletes for as long as possible. Based on several studies, increasing core stability decreases the risk of injuries. Low back pain seems to have connections with poor core stability. The goal of the authors was to motivate and stimulate the young athletes to train their core stability by using these tests. Core stability tests are a reliable and versatile way to rate the current core stability of an individual. The test set had five different test movements. Each movement had three levels from one to three, one being the easiest and three hardest. The authors used these tests twice with the young skiers of Levi Ski Club. The feedback after the first tests with the young skiers helped the authors to develop the tests further to suit the needs of the Levi Ski Club. The different levels for the core stability tests were created after the first testing in order to bring further challenges to the test set. The levels helped to observe the individual development of these skiers without using any reference values. The feedback from the club facilitated the creation of a test battery tailored for its needs. The results of this thesis are reliable and repeatable core stability tests for the long term use of the Levi Ski Club. In these tests there are six comprehensive and functional core stability tests on three levels. In future the test set can be applied with different target groups

Teacher effectiveness in Finland : Effectiveness in Finnish schools

Peer reviewe

A novice teacher’s teacher identity construction during the first year of teaching : A case study from a dialogical self perspective

This case study explores one novice teacher's journey during her first year of teaching from the viewpoint of teacher identity. By considering teacher identity from the Dialogical Self Theory (DST) point of view, the study goes deep into the complex phenomenon of the first year of novice teachers. The findings show that struggles at the beginning of the career are rooted in fundamental questions relating to personal matters, not just issues of how to teach effectively or working with young people. Based on the findings, the role of teacher education in preparing student teachers is discussed.Peer reviewe

Exploring Age – Transition Analysis as a Tool for Detecting the Elderly

The growth of gender archaeology has improved the inclusion of female and juvenile narratives in archaeological discourse, enabling us to better understand interactions between groups defined by both social and physiological differences. There has been a notable absence of elderly in research, however, that is not simply a question of attitudes but of methodological limitations. The emergence of biostatistics has offered novel ways to combat common issues such as age mimicry and avoid the problematic nature of culturally loaded descriptive terminology. A test performed on Transition Analysis by Boldsen et al. (2002), generates individual age estimates, which allow for better differentiation between individuals and age groups, such as the ‘45+ older adults’. Further research into biostatistical methods will not only improve objectivity but bring much needed attention to the elderly, including their narrative into the investigation of family dynamics and adult-juvenile interactions

Making beliefs explicit - student teachers' identity development through personal practical theories

This research focuses on the identity development of ten student teachers during a one-year Teacher’s Pedagogical Studies program in Finland. The students wrote narratives that represented their beliefs of ‘good’ teaching, and in this study, these beliefs are called as personal practical theories (PPTs). After two teaching practicum experiences, the students were interviewed about the realisation of their PPTs. The most significant change, based on both the narratives and the realised PPTs, was related to contextual factors (such as collaboration with school members and shared organisational culture) that became increasingly significant as teacher education proceeded, which may narrow the potential gap between the student teachers’ ideals and the real world of the schools. On the basis of the results, we see that it is extremely important that future subject teachers should have the opportunity to focus on topics that fundamentally affect their forthcoming work, that is, their personal images, ideals, and values regarding teaching.Peer reviewe

Exploring Teachers' Professional Space Using the Cases of Finland, Norway and the US

In this study, we explore teachers' professional space as an alternative to, and/or expansion of earlier conceptualizations of teacher autonomy. Professional space is here understood both as an objective space with e.g., physical, juridical, economic features, and as the teachers' subjective negotiation of this objective space, where teachers are viewed as producers of professional space (subjective space). Based on an analysis of storyline interviews with teachers from Finland, Norway and the US we argue that professional space, both as an empirical entity and as a theoretical construct, opens up exploration of external and internal factors, as well as the multi-dimensionality of the factors over time and beyond physical space which influence teachers' decision-making capabilities.Peer reviewe

Exploring Teachers’ Professional Space Using the Cases of Finland, Norway and the US

In this study, we explore teachers’ professional space as an alternative to, and/or expansion of earlier conceptualizations of teacher autonomy. Professional space is here understood both as an objective space with e.g., physical, juridical, economic features, and as the teachers’ subjective negotiation of this objective space, where teachers are viewed as producers of professional space (subjective space). Based on an analysis of storyline interviews with teachers from Finland, Norway and the US we argue that professional space, both as an empirical entity and as a theoretical construct, opens up exploration of external and internal factors, as well as the multi-dimensionality of the factors over time and beyond physical space which influence teachers’ decision-making capabilities.publishedVersio