29 resultados para State or Business Secondary School


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Communicative oral practice in Swedish through collaborative schema-based and elaboration tasks The general aim of this study was to learn how to better understand foreign language communicative oral practice and to develop it as part of communicative language teaching. The language-specific aim was to study how Swedish was being practised communicatively and orally in a classroom context as part of the didactic teaching-studying-learning process, and how the students' communicative oral practice in Swedish was carried out through collaborative schema-based and elaboration tasks. The scientific problem of this study focused on the essence of foreign language communicative oral proficiency. The research questions were concerned with 1) the students' involvement in carrying out the given oral tasks; 2) the features of communication and interaction strategies; 3) thematic vocabulary, and 4) the students' experiences and conceptions of the communicative oral tasks used. The study consisted of two groups of students from a Helsinki-area school (a group of upper secondary school students, Swedish Level A, Courses 2 and 3, n=9; and a group of basic education students, Swedish Level B, Course 2, n=13). The study was carried out as a pedagogically oriented case study which included certain features of ethnographic research and where the students' teacher acted as a researcher of her own work. The communicative oral practice contained five different tasks. The research data were gathered through systematic observation, audio recordings and by a questionnaire. The data were analysed through ethnographic content analysis methods. The main research finding was that a good deal of social interaction, collaboration and communication took place between the students when involved in communicative oral practice in Swedish. The students took almost optimal advantage of the allocated training time. They mostly used Swedish when participating in interactional communication. Finnish was mostly used by the students when they were deciding how to carry out a given task, aiming at intersubjectivity or negotiating meaning. The students were relaxed when practising Swedish. They also asked for and gave linguistic help in the spirit of collaborative learning principles. This resulted in interaction between students that highlighted certain features of negotiation of meaning, scaffolding and collaborative dialogue. Asking for and giving help in language issues concentrated mainly on vocabulary, and only in a few cases on grammar or pronunciation. The students also needed the teacher as a mentor. As well, the students had an enjoyable time when practising, which was most often related to carrying out the oral tasks. The thematic vocabulary used by the students corresponded well to the thematic lexis that served as a basis for the practice. At its most efficient, this lexis was most evident when the basic education students were carrying out schema-based tasks. The students' questionnaire answers agreed with the research findings gained through systematic observation and the analysis of audio recordings. The communicative tasks planned by the teacher and implemented by the students were very much in line. The language-didactic theory as presented in this study and the research findings can be widely utilised in pre-service and in-service teacher education, as well as, more generally, when developing communicative language teaching. Key words: communicative oral practice; the Swedish language; foreign language; didactic teaching-studying-learning process; communicative language teaching; collaborative task; schema-based task; elaboration task.

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The aim of this qualitative study is to chart the operational context of the upper-secondary school principals and the historical, cultural and structural factors that steer their day-to-day work. The concepts regarding the study environment and operational culture are defined and analysed in terms of how they are interrelated. Furthermore it is explained why the upper-secondary schools must describe their operational culture within the curriculum. The study also aims to connect the description of the operational culture with the operational system of the upper-secondary school and to analyse the descriptions of the five upper-secondary schools in relation to the commitment to developing a study environment conducive to learning and participation, as well as conducive to supporting interaction. Interview data is used to provide the background for the description of the operational culture and to particularise the results of the analysis. According to the theory used in this study, the steering sources of the day-to-day work of the upper-secondary school are the rules system of the state, the municipality, the curriculum, and on the level of the upper-secondary school administration. The research data consist of the literature concerning the steering, steering forms and the principals professional picture in general terms, from 1950 to the present, and the steering texts concerning the educational environment and operational culture. Furthermore the research data include five descriptions of the operational culture concerning the upper-secondary school, the action reports and student guides. The methods of analysis include the level model and content analysis. The first is a part of the theory used in this study. For the purpose of content analysis, moreover, classifying grounds are established on the basis of theoretical and empirical research data. A result of this study is that, from the perspective of steering, the function of describing the operational culture is clearly linked to the evaluation supporting the goals and the vision of a learning organization. From an administrative point of view, a description is a problem-solving strategy and an instrument of evaluation. The study environment is a structural context in and through which the actors of the school create, change and renew the elements of the structure rooted in the context; this structure is their historically and culturally mediated way of thinking and acting. The initial situation and orientation of the students affect the emphasis of the operational culture descriptions; principals also have their own personal style of leadership. Key words: source of steering, educational environment, operational culture, self-evaluation, learning organisation

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Gender-specific division of crafts is significant in Finnish culture. The aim of craft education in comprehensive schools has been to unify education for both girls and boys during the thirty years of modern comprehensive education, but in reality crafts has diverged into two different subjects for girls and boys. Craft education has taught different things: girls have been taught things that are feminine and included in private life, while the boys’ education has been mostly directed at public and working life. At the same time girls and boys have been educated and socialized towards a certain womanhood and manhood. Craft as a hobby is also very gender divided but there are some clues that tell of the changing positions on the border areas. The starting point of this study has been the assumption that gender structures within crafts can be transformed. But it is important to know the background that creates and maintains these constructions and the expedients for dismantling the structures. The main purpose of this study is to find out how the gender-specific crafts are changing and how they are still maintained. My study analyses why men and woman have chosen untypical hobbies and through that I shall discuss how gendered structures can be dismantled. In the autumn of 2008 I interviewed borderline breakers within crafts: men who had an interest in textile crafts and women who had an interest in technical work. Informants of this study were 20-31 years old and they studied behavioural sciences. The data was collected in 12 theme interviews and document analysis was used to study the results. The dismantling of the gender divide in crafts is slow, but new borders are drawn all the time. The informants have started textile and technical handicrafts soon after comprehensive school or during their studies at university. A main motivation for the new hobby has been the possibility to study for a teacher’s degree with technology or textile studies as a main or a secondary subject. Gender-specific division of crafts is constructed early in childhood as different skills are taught to girls and boys. School teaches gender specific skills and the different skills of girls and boys have not been taken into account. Instead, it has been assumed through comprehensive school that both girls and boys share certain basic skills, and attention has not been paid to the differences between genders. At university the same assumption has still thrived. Skill levels between men and women are substantial and that may have hindered a move by women to technical studies and by men to textile studies. Hence an assumption of naturally gendered crafts has been developed.

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In this study the researcher wanted to show the observed connection of mathematics and textile work. To carry this out the researcher designed a textbook by herself for the upper secondary school in Tietoteollisuuden Naiset TiNA project at Helsinki University of Technology (URL:http://tina.tkk.fi/). The assignments were designed as additional teaching material to enhance and reinforce female students confidence in mathematics and in the management of their textile work. The research strategy applied action research, out of which two cycles two have been carried out. The first cycle consists of establishing the textbook and in the second cycle its usability is investigated. The third cycle is not included in this report. In the second cycle of the action research the data was collected from 15 teachers, five textile teachers, four mathematics teachers and six teachers of both subjects. They all got familiar with the textbook assignments and answered a questionnaire on the basis of their own teaching experience. The questionnaire was established by applying the theories of usability and teaching material assessment study. The data consisted of qualitative and quantitative information, which was analysed by content analysis with computer assisted table program to either qualitative or statistical description. According to the research results, the textbook assignments seamed to be applied better to mathematics lessons than textile work. The assignments pointed out, however, the clear interconnectedness of textile work and mathematics. Most of the assignments could be applied as such or as applications in the upper secondary school textile work and mathematics lessons. The textbook assignments were also applicable in different stages of the teaching process, e.g. as introduction, repetition or to support individual work or as group projects. In principle the textbook assignments were in well placed and designed in the correct level of difficulty. Negative findings concerned some too difficult assignments, lack of pupil motivation and unfamiliar form of task for the teacher. More clarity for some assignments was wished for and there was especially expressed a need for easy tasks and assignments in geometry. Assignments leading to the independent thinking of the pupil were additionally asked for. Two important improvements concerning the textbook attainability would be to get the assignments in html format over the Internet and to add a handicraft reference book.

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The main purpose of the research was to illustrate chemistry matriculation examination questions as a summative assessment tool, and represent how the questions have evolved over the years. Summative assessment and its various test item classifications, Finnish goal-oriented curriculum model, and Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy of Cognitive Objectives formed the theoretical framework for the research. The research data consisted of 257 chemistry questions from 28 matriculation examinations between 1996 and 2009. The analysed test questions were formulated according to the national upper secondary school chemistry curricula 1994, and 2003. Qualitative approach and theory-driven content analysis method were employed in the research. Peer review was used to guarantee the reliability of the results. The research was guided by the following questions: (a) What kinds of test item formats are used in chemistry matriculation examinations? (b) How the fundamentals of chemistry are included in the chemistry matriculation examination questions? (c) What kinds of cognitive knowledge and skills do the chemistry matriculation examination questions require? The research indicates that summative assessment was used diversely in chemistry matriculation examinations. The tests included various test item formats, and their combinations. The majority of the test questions were constructed-response items that were either verbal, quantitative, or experimental questions, symbol questions, or combinations of the aforementioned. The studied chemistry matriculation examinations seldom included selected-response items that can be either multiple-choice, alternate choice, or matching items. The relative emphasis of the test item formats differed slightly depending on whether the test was a part of an extensive general studies battery of tests in sciences and humanities, or a subject-specific test. The classification framework developed in the research can be applied in chemistry and science education, and also in educational research. Chemistry matriculation examinations are based on the goal-oriented curriculum model, and cover relatively well the fundamentals of chemistry included in the national curriculum. Most of the test questions related to the symbolism of chemical equation, inorganic and organic reaction types and applications, the bonding and spatial structure in organic compounds, and stoichiometry problems. Only a few questions related to electrolysis, polymers, or buffer solutions. None of the test questions related to composites. There were not any significant differences in the emphasis between the tests formulated according to the national curriculum 1994 or 2003. Chemistry matriculation examinations are cognitively demanding. The research shows that the majority of the test questions require higher-order cognitive skills. Most of the questions required analysis of procedural knowledge. The questions that only required remembering or processing metacognitive knowledge, were not included in the research data. The required knowledge and skill level varied slightly between the test questions in the extensive general studies battery of tests in sciences and humanities, and subject-specific tests administered since 2006. The proportion of the Finnish chemistry matriculation examination questions requiring higher-order cognitive knowledge and skills is very large compared to what is discussed in the research literature.

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The Population Register – run by the Church or the state? The problem posed by the obligation to belong to a religious community in the registration of births and deaths in Finland between 1839 and 1904 The Lutheran Church of Finland is the nation’s largest church; approximately 82 per cent of Finns were members in 2007. The Church ran an official register of its members until 1999, when the state then undertook this task. The registration of births and deaths by the Church has a long history dating back to the 17th century, when Bishop Johannes Gezelius Sr. decreed that all parish members would have to be recorded in parish registers. These registers were used to control how well parish members knew the Christian doctrine and, gradually, also if they were literate. Additionally, the Church attempted to ensure by means of the parish registers that parish members went to Holy Communion annually. Since everyone was a member of the Lutheran Church, the state also took advantage of the parish registers and used them for the purposes of tax collection and conscription. The main research theme of “The Population Register – run by the Church or the state?” goes back to these times. The actual research period covers the years of 1839–1904. At that time Finland was under Russian rule, although autonomous. In the late 19th century the press and different associations in Finland began to engage in public debate, and the country started moving from a submissive society to a civic one. The identity of the Lutheran Church also became more prominent when the Church Act and the General Synod were realised in 1869. A few years earlier, municipal and parish administrations had been separated, but the general registration of births and deaths was left to the Church to see to. In compliance with the constitution of the country, all the inhabitants in principle still had to be Lutheran. In practice, the situation was different. The religious and ideological realms diversified, and the Lutheran concept of religion was no longer acceptable to everyone. The conflict was reflected in the registration of births and deaths, which was linked to the Lutheran Church and its parish registers. Nobody was allowed to leave the Church, there was no civil register, and the Lutheran Church did not consent to record unbaptized children in the parish registers. Therefore such children were left without civil rights. Thus the obligation to belong to a religious community had become a problem in the registration of births and deaths. The Lutheran clergy also appealed to the 1723 privileges, according to which they had been exempted from the drawing up of additional population registers. In 1889 Finland passed the Dissenters Act. By virtue of this act the Baptists and the Methodists left the state Church, but this was not the case with the members of the free churches. The freethinkers had to retain their church membership, as the law did not apply to them. This meant that the unbaptized children of the members of the free churches or those of freethinkers were still not entered in any registers. The children were not able to go to school, work for the state or legally marry. Neither were they able to inherit property, as they did not legally exist. The system of parish registers was created when everyone was required to be a member of the Lutheran Church, but it did not work when liberal attitudes eventually penetrated the sphere of religion, too. The government´s measures to solve the problem were slow and cautious, partly because Finland was part of Russia, partly because there were only about 100 unbaptized children. As the problem group was small and the state´s resources were limited, no general civil register was established. The state accepted the fact that in spite of the problems, the Evangelical Lutheran Church and the congregations of dissenters were the only official establishments to run populations registers in the country, and for social purposes, too. In 1900 the Diet of Finland finally approved a limited civil register, which unbaptized children and unregistered foreigners would be recorded in. Due to political reasons the civil register did not come into existence until 1917, after the actual research period.

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The aim of this study was to explore the sociocultural value orientations of Finnish adolescents and their attitudes toward information society. In addition, this study explored the association between values and attitudes toward information society. I investigated whether values and attitudes follow social development and whether they can be divided into value categories such as traditional, modern and postmodern. This study falls into the category of youth research. The study uses a multimethodological approach and straddles the following disciplines: the science of education, religious education, sociology and social psychology. The theoretical context of the study is modernisation, understood as a two level process. The first level represents the transition from a religious-based traditional society to a modern industrial society. The second level of modernisation refers to the process of development established after the second world war, called postmodernisation, which is understood as the transition from an emphasis on economical imperatives to an emphasis on subjective well-being and the quality of life. Postmodernisation influences both social organisations and individuals´ values and worldviews. The target group of this survey-study comprised 408 16- to 19-year-old Finnish adolescent students from secondary school and vocational school. The data were gathered with a quantitative questionnaire during the second half of 2001. The results of the study can be generalised to the population of Finnish 16- to 19-year-olds. The data were analysed quantitatively using ANOVA and multivariate analyses such as cluster analysis, factor analysis and general linear modeling. Bayesian dependence modeling served to explore further how the values predict the attitudes toward information society. The results indicate that values are associated not only with attitudes toward information society, but with many other sociocultural indicator as well. Especially strong interpreting indicators included gender and identity or lifestyle questions. The results also indicate an association between values, attitudes and social development and a two-level modernisation process. Values formed traditional, modern and postmodern value systems. Keywords: values, attitudes, modernisation, information society, traditional, modern, postmodern

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In this research I ask what is interpreted as sex-based harassment by 15-16-year old girls and boys. By sex-based harassment I refer to one-sided, unwanted attention that is based on gender and that makes the target feel embarrassed, frightened, hurt or angry. My focus is not on the most overt cases of harassment but rather on everyday encounters. While young people differentiate between harassing and non-harassing attention, at the same time they define, assign value to and construct differences and power relations on the basis of gender, age and ethnicity, for example. My main data consists of essays (N 104, 54 girls, 54 boys) and thematic interviews (N 14; 20 girls, 3 boys) of ninth graders of a secondary school in Helsinki. In the essays and interviews, students construe the border between pleasant and unpleasant, tolerable and intolerable attention as clear in principle, but, they suggest that in practice this border is ambivalent, negotiable and contextual. The interpretations of incidents are justified by referring to features of the target, the scene or the perpetrator. Targets of harassment are most often construed as being girls who are characterized as thin-skinned, but at the same time they are expected to be understanding toward any sex-based attention they may get, particularly when it is not physical. On the other hand, girls are regarded as equal and even active participants in incidents of harassment. Such statements include considerations of how girls either reject or invite particular kinds of attention by their actions and outward appearance. Forms of harassment, ways of understanding it as well as overcoming it vary according to spatial context. By situating incidents in different spaces and places, young people contrast their experiences with ordinary and predictable non-harassment that takes place e.g. in discos and unusual and unexpected harassment that takes place e.g. in the city streets in the daytime. The behaviour of boys harassing a girls is naturalized by appealing to young masculinity and the childishness but also strong sexual drive which is seen as characteristic of teenage boys. On the other hand, sex-based harassment is racialized and pathologized in ways that separate the phenomenon from young, Finnish, normal masculinity. Both the material experiences of the young people and the definitions of the parties involved in harassing incidents are gendered. Girls encounter and deal with sexualized commenting and unwanted approaches much more often and in a more intensive way than boys. Furthermore, there is a vast cultural repertoire of acceptable accounts that can be mobilised in order to excuse male harassers, to critically evaluate the appearance or action of the female targets and to divide the responsibility between the female target and the male perpetrator.

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The aim of this study is to explore trust at school and its meaning for 9th grade students. The intent is to investigate students views about trust and mistrust in school relationships. Three research questions are posed: 1) what meanings do students give to their experiences of trust and mistrust at school and how do they evaluate connection of these experiences to their well-being and enjoyment in the classroom? 2) what and how important, is the teacher s role according to the students writings, and 3) what might the different pedagogical and administrative structures of schools reveal about trust and mistrust in a particular school culture? The data consists of 134 writings of 9th grade students (secondary school) from three schools in one of the biggest cities in Finland. The schools differ from others in terms of their pedagogical or structural backgrounds. The study is restricted to the micro-level of, disposition of Educational Sociology, focusing on trust in schools relationships. The theoretical framework of the study is trust, as a part of social capital; however trust is also approached from the sociological, the psychological and philosophical perspective. The methodological approach is narrative research concerning school practice . Analysis of narrative consist mostly content analysis, but also some elements of holistic-content reading, thematic reading and categorical content. The analysis found three main themes: 1) individual stories of trust, 2) the teachers role in making trust possible in the classroom, and 3) school as a community of trust. According to the study trust at school (1) is a complex phenomenon consisting of people s ability to work together and to recognize the demands that different situations present. Trust at school is often taken for granted. In the students experiences trust is strongly connected to friendship, and the teacher s ability to connect with students. Students experiences of mistrust stem from bulling, school violence, lack of respect as well as teachers lacking basic professional behavior. School relationships are important for some students as source of enjoyment, but some feel that it is difficult to evaluate the connection between trust and enjoyment. The study found that students trust of teachers (2) is linked to the teacher s professional role as a teacher, a caring human being open to dialogue. In other words, the students describe teachers abilities to create a sense of trust in terms of three expectations: the teacher was better, the same or worse than expected. Better than expected, means the teacher engender a high degree of trust and has excellent communication skills. Same as expected means the teacher comes across as familiar and secure, while lower than expected means the teacher creates no trust and has poor communication skills. Finally, it was shown that trust at school (3) should not only exist between some individuals, but between (all) members of the school community. In other words, according to the study there is some evidence that trust is strongly committed to school culture. Further, trust seems to depend on (school-) cultural background, values, beliefs, expectations, norms as well as staff behaviour. The basic elements of an optimum level of trust at school are favourable school structure and pedagogical background; however, good relationships between teachers and students as well as high professional skills are also needed. Trust at school is built by good communication, working together and getting to know each other.

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This study focuses on self-employed industrial designers and how they emerge new venture ideas. More specifically, this study strives to determine what design entrepreneurs do when they create new venture ideas, how venture ideas are nurtured into being, and how the processes are organized to bring such ideas to the market in the given industrial context. In contemporary times when the concern for the creative class is peaking, the research and business communities need more insight of the kind that this study provides, namely how professionals may contribute to their entrepreneurial processes and other agents’ business processes. On the one hand, the interviews underlying this study suggest that design entrepreneurs may act as reactive service providers who are appointed by producers or marketing parties to generate product-related ideas on their behalf. On the other hand, the interviews suggest that proactive behaviour that aims on generating own venture ideas, may force design entrepreneurs to take considerable responsibility in organizing their entrepreneurial processes. Another option is that they strive to bring venture ideas to the market in collaboration, or by passing these to other agents’ product development processes. Design entrepreneurs’ venture ideas typically emerge from design related starting points and observations. Product developers are mainly engaged with creating their own ideas, whereas service providers refer mainly to the development of other agents’ venture ideas. In contrast with design entrepreneurs, external actors commonly emphasize customer demand as their primary source for new venture ideas, as well as development of these in close interaction with available means of production and marketing. Consequently, design entrepreneurs need to address market demand since without sales their venture ideas may as well be classified as art. In case, they want to experiment with creative ideas, then there should be another source of income to support this typically uncertain and extensive process. Currently, it appears like a lot of good venture ideas and resources are being wasted, when venture ideas do not suite available production or business procedures. Sufficient communication between design entrepreneurs and other agents would assist all parties in developing production efficient and distributable venture ideas. Overall, the findings suggest that design entrepreneurs are often involved simultaneously in several processes that aim at emerging new product related ventures. Consequently, design entrepreneurship is conceptualized in this study as a dual process. This implies that design entrepreneurs can simultaneously be in charge of their entrepreneurial processes, as they operate as resources in other agents’ business processes. The interconnection between activities and agents suggests that these kinds of processes tend to be both complex and multifaceted to their nature.

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Human Rights Education in a Finnish Upper Secondary School: Alien Yet Obvious This study focused on conceptions of human rights and human rights education (HRE) among students and teachers. I examined how human rights and HRE are understood by the students and teachers in one general upper secondary school located in southern Finland. I also examined teacher and student discourses about foreigners and immigrants. In the theoretical part of the study I dealt with the history of human rights, the different emphases in HRE and how HRE is handled within the curriculum of upper secondary schools in Finland. In the empirical part of the study I examined HRE in one particular general upper secondary school located in southern Finland where I carried out 28 student interviews and 18 teacher interviews. The study is based on qualitative theme interviews, which I analysed using qualitative content analysis. The aims of HRE as specified in UN documents on education seem not to have been achieved in the Finnish context. The students' knowledge of human rights seemed weak and very limited. Few teachers were familiar with the concept of human rights education. The concept of human rights was also unclear to many of the students. Freedom of speech was the most well-known and the most often-cited human right mentioned in the interviews. Students were not well acquainted with the different human rights instruments or the organisations dealing with human rights. In a way, human rights were both familiar and strange to the students. Materials related to HRE were used very little in the school or not at all. Yet human rights seemed to be very well implemented in the institution. The upper secondary school studied here does not seem to have substantial problems with equality among either the teachers or the students. In the interviews human rights problems were often considered someone else's problem in some other country. The teachers and students connected HRE especially with religious education, history and social studies. Human dignity is mostly dealt with in religious education, while matters concerning the history of human rights are mostly dealt with in history classes. Teachers appear to be human rights educators in the sense that they try to follow human rights principles in their daily work and respect the human dignity of everyone. The special role of a human rights educator was usually assigned to someone else — a teacher or an expert outside the school. HRE was not an intentional or conscious part of teachers´ educational work and was not seen either as belonging to the curriculum or as an obligation prescribed by international documents. There is a need to strengthen the presence of HRE in teacher education. HRE plays an important role in creating a culture of human rights. It is important to implement HRE so that the international aims for HRE will be fulfilled.

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The purpose of this Master s thesis is on one hand to find out how CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) teachers and English teachers perceive English and its use in teaching, and on the other hand, what they consider important in subject teacher education in English that is being planned and piloted in STEP Project at the University of Helsinki Department of Teacher Education. One research question is also what kind of language requirements teachers think CLIL teachers should have. The research results are viewed in light of previous research and literature on CLIL education. Six teachers participate in this study. Two of them are English teachers in the comprehensive school, two are class teachers in bilingual elementary education, and two are subject teachers in bilingual education, one of whom teaches in a lower secondary school and the other in an upper secondary school. One English teacher and one bilingual class teacher have graduated from a pilot class teacher program in English that started at the University of Helsinki in the middle of the 1990 s. The bilingual subject teachers are not trained in English but they have learned English elsewhere, which is a particular focus of interest in this study because it is expected that a great number of CLIL teachers in Finland do not have actual studies in English philology. The research method is interview and this is a qualitative case study. The interviews are recorded and transcribed for the ease of analysis. The English teachers do not always use English in their lessons and they would not feel confident in teaching another subject completely in English. All of the CLIL teachers trust their English skills in teaching, but the bilingual class teachers also use Finnish during lessons either because some teaching material is in Finnish, or they feel that rules and instructions are understood better in mother tongue or students English skills are not strong enough. One of the bilingual subject teachers is the only one who consciously uses only English in teaching and in discussions with students. Although teachers good English skills are generally considered important, only the teachers who have graduated from the class teacher education in English consider it important that CLIL teachers would have studies in English philology. Regarding the subject teacher education program in English, the respondents hope that its teachers will have strong enough English skills and that it will deliver what it promises. Having student teachers of different subjects studying together is considered beneficial. The results of the study show that acquiring teaching material in English continues to be the teachers own responsibility and a huge burden for the teachers, and there has, in fact, not been much progress in the matter since the beginning of CLIL education. The bilingual subject teachers think, however, that using one s own material can give new inspiration to teaching and enable the use of various pedagogical methods. Although it is questionable if the language competence requirements set for CLIL teachers by the Finnish Ministry of Education are not adhered to, it becomes apparent in the study that studies in English philology do not necessarily guarantee strong enough language skills for CLIL teaching, but teachers own personality and self-confidence have significance. Keywords: CLIL, bilingual education, English, subject teacher training, subject teacher education in English, STEP

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The purpose of the research was to determine how well Finnish children and youngsters in different ages recognize poisonous and eatable wild plant species and to which characteristics they pay attention to when identifying plants. The purpose was also to find out, how well the pupils and students can estimate if the wild plants are either poisonous or eatable. The goal was to gather knowledge about what factors explain these recognition and estimation skills. Also information was wanted about attitudes of children and youngsters towards recognizing and learning the poisonous and eatable wild plants. The research was made on subjects of 48 children and youngsters from grade 6 in primary school, grade 8 in lower- secondary school and vocational school. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. A plant recognition test, where 38 pictures on plants was presented, was made for the all subjects. The subjects were requested to name the plants and classify them to be either poisonous or eatable. In addition six students were interviewed from each class, altogether 18 subjects. The themes of the interviews were the attitudes towards eatable and poisonous wild plants and to learn to recognize species. During the interview pictures of plants were looked at and the subjects told which characteristics they pay attention to when trying to recognize it. The results showed that on average wild plants were recognized insufficiently. Standard variation in responses was large in all classes researched. The subjects got better results in classifying of the plants to be either poisonous or eatable than in naming the plants. This research shows that even when a subject cannot name a plant it is still possible for the subject to classify the plant to be either poisonous or eatable. Gender and being an immigrant explained the recognition skills of poisonous and eatable plants so that girls were somewhat better to recognize plant species and native Finns recognized poisonous and eatable plants better that immigrants. Age did not explain the skills to recognize species directly, since students in lower- secondary school recognized the poisonous and eatable plants better than primary school and vocational school students. In skills to estimate plants poisonous or eatability there was no difference according to gender, age, or immigrant background. The subjects considered the skills to recognize poisonous and eatable plants important. Learning to recognize plants at school was not considered interesting however. Since the recognition of plants in neighborhood belongs to tasks of general education it is important to think about how the teaching could be made interesting. According to findings of this study, especially the recognition of poisonous plants was considered important by the subjects. This knowledge as well as teaching about possibilities to utilize plants could be used as a way to motivate and teach the students. Avainsanat Nyckelord - Keywords Plant species recognition, recognition of poisonous plants, recognition of eatable plants, plant species education

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The aim of this study is to find out how urban segregation is connected to the differentiation in educational outcomes in public schools. The connection between urban structure and educational outcomes is studied on both the primary and secondary school level. The secondary purpose of this study is to find out whether the free school choice policy introduced in the mid-1990´s has an effect on the educational outcomes in secondary schools or on the observed relationship between the urban structure and educational outcomes. The study is quantitative in nature, and the most important method used is statistical regression analysis. The educational outcome data ranging the years from 1999 to 2002 has been provided by the Finnish National Board of Education, and the data containing variables describing the social and physical structure of Helsinki has been provided by Statistics Finland and City of Helsinki Urban Facts. The central observation is that there is a clear connection between urban segregation and differences in educational outcomes in public schools. With variables describing urban structure, it is possible to statistically explain up to 70 % of the variation in educational outcomes in the primary schools and 60 % of the variation in educational oucomes in the secondary schools. The most significant variables in relation to low educational outcomes in Helsinki are abundance of public housing, low educational status of the adult population and high numbers of immigrants in the school's catchment area. The regression model has been constructed using these variables. The lower coefficient of determination in the educational outcomes of secondary schools is mostly due to the effects of secondary school choice. Studying the public school market revealed that students selecting a secondary school outside their local catchment area cause an increase in the variation of the educational outcomes between secondary schools. When the number of students selecting a school outside their local catchment area is taken into account in the regressional model, it is possible to explain up to 80 % of the variation in educational outcomes in the secondary schools in Helsinki.