Ambitious aims, traditional reality? : Observing historical literacy in Finnish upper secondary schools

This article investigates history instruction in Finnish upper secondary schools. The study revolves around the concept of historical literacy. We study what kind of texts and pedagogical activities history teachers used, and discuss to what extent the observed teaching can be characterised as disciplinary. A total of nine teachers were observed for five consecutive lessons. The data include numerical data collected using an observation instrument, as well as field notes and teacher interviews. The results reveal a teacher-led approach that emphasises substantive knowledge. Primary sources or other texts were used or analysed very rarely in the classroom. Nevertheless, in the interviews, the observed teachers indicated an understanding of what disciplinary teaching entails and considered it important to employ disciplinary practices. This disconnect indicates that the aims stipulated at the curricular level are only being partially implemented at the classroom level.This article investigates history instruction in Finnish upper secondary schools. The study revolves around the concept of historical literacy. We study what kind of texts and pedagogical activities history teachers used, and discuss to what extent the observed teaching can be characterised as disciplinary. A total of nine teachers were observed for five consecutive lessons. The data include numerical data collected using an observation instrument, as well as field notes and teacher interviews. The results reveal a teacher-led approach that emphasises substantive knowledge. Primary sources or other texts were used or analysed very rarely in the classroom. Nevertheless, in the interviews, the observed teachers indicated an understanding of what disciplinary teaching entails and considered it important to employ disciplinary practices. This disconnect indicates that the aims stipulated at the curricular level are only being partially implemented atthe classroom level.Peer reviewe

The Nature of Literacy Instruction in Elementary School History Lessons

Peer reviewe

Recontextualising history in primary school : discourses in the classroom

Peer reviewe

Ohjatusta opetuksesta omatoimiseen tutkimukseen – Aineenopettajien kasvatustieteellisten opintojen akatemisoitumiskehitys Helsingin ja Joensuun yliopistoissa 1980–2011

This article examines the educational studies that subject teacher students have pursued at the Universities of Helsinki and Joensuu between 1980 and 2011. The subject teacher education in Finland became fully academic in the 1970s. The objective of this article is to research how subject teachers’ educational studies have developed since then. The main question is to find out if the education has become more academic. The data of the study have been collected from the curriculums of the two universities. Interdisciplinarity and the contents, modes and objectives of the studies are interpreted here as indicators of the process of academization. The analysis is based on a historical perspective. It reveals academic progress in the educational studies, but not between the field of education and the students’ main subjects. The volume of educational research that the subject teachers’ studies include has increased. In addition, lecture hall teaching and tutorials have been replaced by independent studying. Both of these changes have started in Helsinki before Joensuu, even though some local differences can be found. In Helsinki the Department of Teacher Education has aimed at scholarly credibility since the 1990s, which has guided teacher trainers to research instead of teaching. The financing policies of the Finnish universities have underlined this development. The changes are also related to the launch of research-based teacher education. At the same time, interdisciplinary training arrangements between the departments of teacher education and the departments of students’ major subjects have not succeeded. Instead of creating interdisciplinary subject teacher training, the cooperation has failed. Therefore, the change in the subject teachers’ educational studies can be described as educational academization rather than complete academization.Artikkeli käsittelee aineenopettajien kasvatustieteellisiä opintoja Helsingin ja Joensuun yliopistoissa vuosina 19802011. Lähtöoletuksena on opintojen akatemisoituminen tarkastelujakson aikana. Akatemisoitumisen ilmaisijoina toimivat opintojen sisältö, työtavat ja tavoitteet sekä pääaineen ja kasvatustieteellisten opintojen yhteys. Kirjoituksen tavoitteena on muodostaa käsitys opintojen muutoksesta ja sitoa se historialliseen kontekstiin. Aineenopettajaopintojen kehitystä ei ole aiemmin tarkasteltu tästä näkökulmasta

Puhumalla teoretisoitu? : Aineenopettajakoulutuksen kasvatustieteellistyminen ja asiantuntijapuhe 1970-luvulta 2010-luvulle

In this study, I analyse the education of subject teacher candidates and the rhetoric of committee and evaluation texts that have regulated and guided teacher education in Finland from the 1970s to the present day. The data of this research consist of degree requirements of teacher education, committee and evaluation texts and surveys. In investigating committee and evaluation texts I use rhetorical analysis, which is a quite rarely used method in the field of education. The need for a historical view of subject teacher education is emphasized by many studies about the history of class teacher education. During the last four decades, the theoretical content of studies in subject teacher education has increased and the amount of practically oriented studies have decreased. Despite this shift in emphasis, subject teacher education is characterized by strong historical continuity and stability. At the same period, the education of class teacher teachers has changed significantly. This highlights the stability of subject teacher education. During the period analysed in this study, the aims given to teacher education and teachers have significantly increased. In policy texts, teachers have become educational experts who are expected to be able to do independent research based on their own teaching. Based on rhetorical and historical analyses there seems to be a discrepancy between committee and evaluation texts and the historical stability of the subject teacher’s studies. These texts are interpreted as epideictic speech, which aims to persuade its audience of the benefits of research-based teacher education. The analysis reveals that the argumentation of evaluation texts is selective. The stated proposals are expressed as being inevitable. These results challenge the claim that Finnish teacher education has re-solved the demanding relationship between theory and practice. In my interpretation, the rhetoric of policy texts and the disciplinary developments in subject teacher education embody efforts to raise the academic status of teacher education. Keywords: Teacher Education, teacher training, subject teachers, rhetorical analysisTarkastelen aineenopettajien koulutuksen kehitystä ja opettajankoulutusta käsittelevän asiantuntijapuheen retoriikkaa 1970-luvulta 2010-luvulle. Tutkimuksen aineisto koostuu yliopistojen tutkintovaatimuksista, asiantuntijoiden tuottamista komitea- ja selvitysteksteistä sekä opiskelijoilta kerätystä kyselyaineistosta. Komitea- ja selvitystekstien analyysi perustuu retoriseen analyysiin, jota on aiemmin käytetty vain vähän kotimaisessa kasvatuk-sen ja koulutuksen tutkimuksessa. Tarvetta aineenopettajien koulutuksen historian tutkimukselle alleviivaa luokanopettajien koulutuksen historian runsas tutkimus viime vuosina. Noin 40 vuoden tarkastelujaksolla aineenopettajien pedagogiset opinnot ovat kasvatustieteellistyneet. Teoreettisesti painottuneiden opintojen määrä on kasvanut ja opetusharjoitteluiden vähentynyt. Muutoksista huolimatta aineenopettajakoulutuksessa on havaittavissa vahva historiallinen jatkuvuus, jota korostaa luokanopettajien koulutuksen merkittävä muutos samana aikana. Tutkimuksen aikajänteellä opettajankoulutukselle ja opettajille asiantuntajapuheessa asetetut tavoitteet ovat kasvaneet merkittävästi. Asiantuntijateksteissä opettajasta on tullut kasvatusalan asiantuntija, jonka tulisi osata tutkia omaa työtään. Retorisen ja historiallisen analyysin perusteella asiantuntijapuheen ja aineenopettajien opintojen vähäisen muutoksen välillä on ristiriita. Asiantuntijatekstit määrittyvät ylistyspuheeksi, joka pyrkii vakuuttamaan yleisön opettajankoulutuksen tutkimusperustaisen mallin kannalle. Analyysi paljastaa argumentoinnin valikoivaksi. Esitetyt ratkaisut ilmaistaan vaihtoehdottomina. Tutkimukseni haastaa asiantuntijapuheessa esitetyt näkemykset, joiden mukaan käytännön ja teorian yhteensovittamisen haasteet opettajankoulutuksessa on onnistuttu ratkaisemaan. Tulkintani mukaan asiantuntijapuheen retoriikka ja aineenopettajien opintojen kasvatustieteellistyminen ilmentävät pyrkimyksiä vahvistaa opettajankoulutuksen akateemista asemaa

Aidosti akateeminen aineenopettajien koulutus? : Lectio praecursoria

Non peer reviewe

Ensihoitajan laajentuva työnkuva

Opinnäytetyössä kuvaillaan ensihoitajien näkemyksiä työnkuvan muuttumisesta lähitulevaisuudessa, millaisia uudistuksia ensihoitajien mielestä Kymenlaakson ja Etelä-Savon alueelle tulee sosiaali- ja terveyspalveluiden uudistusten myötä ja miten työnkuvan muuttuminen vaikuttaa ensihoitajalta vaadittaviin taitoihin. Tutkimusta varten luotiin sähköinen kyselylomake, joka välitettiin kentällä työskenteleville ensihoitajille. Kysely lähetettiin sähköpostitse 250 ensihoitajalle. Tämä opinnäytetyö on määrällinen tutkimus. Teoriaosuudessa käsitellään ensihoitopalvelua Suomessa ja sen erilaisia tukitoimintoja, kuten yhden hengen yksikköä ja sen ulkomaalaisia vastineita. Teoria koostuu alan kirjallisuudesta, palvelutasopäätöksistä saadusta tiedosta sekä kansainvälisestä että kotimaisesta tutkimustiedosta. Kyselyyn osallistui yhteensä 56 vastaajaa. Tutkimustuloksien keräämiseen käytettiin Webropol-kyselyä ja tulokset analysoitiin SPSS-ohjelmalla. Opinnäytetyöllä haluttiin selvittää, minkälaisia muutoksia ensihoitajat ovat kokeneet työnkuvassaan verrattuna ns. entiseen ja millaisena he näkevät tulevaisuuden. Kyselyyn vastanneet ensihoitajat kokivat lähes kaikkiin potilasryhmiin liittyvien tehtävämäärien kasvaneen ja toiminnan muuttuneen entistä enemmän potilaslähtöiseksi. Yhden hengen yksikköä pidettiin järkevänä lisänä ensihoitojärjestelmään. Ensihoidon koulutusta pidettiin pääsääntöisesti riittävänä erityisesti hätätilapotilaiden hoidossa, mutta kiireettömien tehtävien hoitamisessa nähtiin kehittämisen varaa. Tulevaisuuden ensihoitajat näkivät epävarmana tulevan sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon palvelurakenneuudistuksen takia. Esiin nousi kehitysideoita muun muassa ensihoitajakoulutukseen liittyen sekä monipuolisia näkemyksiä ensihoitajan työnkuvan muuttumisesta. Opinnäytetyö antaa monia varteenotettavia kehitysideoita ensihoitajakoulutukseen sekä monipuolisen katsauksen ensihoitopalvelun toimintaan.The purpose of this thesis was to describe how paramedics felt their nature of work has changed over the years, what kind of changes will the service structure reform of social welfare and health care bring and also how will it affect the skill requirements for paramedics. For this study a digital questionnaire was formed and sent to 250 paramedics in Etelä-Savo and Kymenlaakso regions. This thesis is a quantitative research. The theoretical section of this thesis addresses the Finnish emergency medical service as well the use of the community paramedic consept in Finland. Theory consists of literature of prehospital medical care, service level orders of emergency medical services and international and national research data. Fifty-six paramedics took part in the questionnaire. The results were gathered by using the Webropol survey tool and were analyzed by using SPSS statistical software. The objective for this thesis was to study what changes paramedics felt that their work of nature has had compared to the past and how they see the future. Paramedics experienced that the number of calls have increased almost in every patient category and the nature of work has become more patient-centered. The community paramedic concept was found a useful addition to the emergency medical services. Paramedic education was found to be sufficient for treatment of critically ill patients but there could be some room for improvement in managing non-critical calls. The future was seen uncertain because of the service structure reform of social welfare and health care. According to the results, there were many ideas on how to improve the paramedic education and versatile views on how the work of nature has changed over the years. This thesis gives many noteworthy ideas on how to improve the education of paramedics and gives a diverse look into the work of the emergency medical service in Finland

Understanding the Emerging Fourth Sector and Its Governance Implications

Peer reviewe

Understanding the Emerging Fourth Sector and Its Governance Implications

The fourth sector has traditionally been described as encompassing families, households, neighbours, and friends, however, competing definitions have recently begun to emerge. Three different strands can be observed in the fourth-sector literature. The first strand centres on the notion of one-to-one aid. The second strand centres on self-organizing civic activism. The third strand focuses on hybrid organizations. In this paper we will analyse the main commonalities and differences in the understanding of the fourth sector. Our conclusion is that despite differences, there is enough ‘family resemblance’ between the three different streams of fourth-sector discussion to warrant a synthetic reflection of the governance issues related to this novel phenomenon. As a result of that analysis, we distinguish five specific governance issues that are related to 1) the ability of the public sector to work upon shared values, 2) the empowering nature of self-organizing, 3) the need for new operational rules under the ‘sharing economy’, 4) the transitory but structuration-oriented nature of fourth-sector processes and 5) the notion that fourth-sector involvement does not necessarily improve the quality of participation.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed