Yhteisöllisyys voimavarana yliopisto-opetuksen ja -opiskelun kehittämisessä

A sense of community as a resource for developing university teaching and learning The aim of this doctoral research was to determine how a sense of community can be a resource for developing university teaching and learning. The theoretical background is linked to social sciences, social psychology, university pedagogy and educational sciences. The thesis is comprised of two separate studies. Study I consisted of an action research project in which a model of cooperatively developing a teaching and learning culture was created and tested. The focus of study I was the university pedagogy programme of the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry. The results demonstrated that the theoretical framework and the methods of cooperative learning provide useful tools for developing an academic learning and teaching culture. The approach helps to create a benevolent learning atmosphere. The cooperative learning culture used in the action research project reflected the traditional academic learning culture and also caused a collision between the two cultures. The aim of study II was to determine how Open University students and Bachelor’s degree students experience their teaching-learning environment and the importance of the learning community and peer support to their studies. The results indicated that, with the exception of support from other students, the Open University students experienced their teaching-learning environments on average more positively than the Bachelor’s degree students. According to the Open University students, their own motivation and interest was the most important factor that enhanced studying. Furthermore, the most common factors delaying their studies were their life situation and a lack of time. The sense of community and social relations mainly promoted studying. Open University students experienced that they were supported by their teachers, tutors, other students, the working community, family and hobbies. The research demonstrated that the methods that make good use of communal resources are negotiation of shared goals and rules, working in various small groups, emphasis on shared and individual responsibilities and assessment of the product and the process of learning. The resources of the academic community can be developed if the members of the community develop, in addition to the communal working methods, their communal sensitivity. In other words, they should have an understanding of social psychological and sociological concepts that they can use for observing communal phenomena.

Onko varhaisen tuen päiväkoti mahdollinen? : Tutkimus varhaiskasvatuksen yhteisöllisestä kehittämisestä

Is the early childhood day care facility possible? The research considering communal development of the early education. In Finland mothers and fathers look after 400 000 pre-school children. Half of these attend day care facilities, in which 50 000 staff are employed. The aim of this research is to develop co-operation practices within the day care centre. This research refines and expands my own interest in and knowledge of day care management and content development. The basis of the research draws upon ethnographic material covering the period 1999–2005. The day care centre chosen as a central informant was the first suburban centre founded in 1963, and it provided a rich local and welfare state research perspective. It became clear that the day care facility’s co-operation practices formed the basis of bringing up children and at the same time produced a new multi-operational and multi-layered community for child participation. Adult day care centre workers bringing up the children as a professional work and solutions defining the conditions for the work are expressed in a child’s upbringing. This obviously has an impact in where as the development of communities. From the human and community scientific point of view, the group of youngest children will take up a future position as key players in communities as essential actors and reformers. The research was carried out as multiphase and multiscientific practical research and iterative data formation. The results verified that the co-operation between parents and day care staff produces important benefits for all the stakeholders. However, the day care staff has difficulties in implementing the benefits. During the research process, it became clear that conceptually day care staff saw the practices as ”very important, but not easily realised in practice”. As a result this demanded further research to address this issue and to extend this to the carefacility’s co-operation practises and their communal and social conditions. The research looks at the carefacility’s co-operation with key stakeholders. At the same time it undertakes an analytical and historical examination of carefacilitys’s with an experimental focus as two day care centres chosen as experimental objects. The results of the research showed that the benefits gained by children were determined by the day care centre’s socio-political structure and the parent’s resources. The research framework categorised early childhood education as generational and gender based structures. As part of the research, the strains endemic to these formations have been examined. The system for bringing up children was created as part of a so called welfare state project by implemented by the Day Care Act in year 1973. The law secured the subjective right for every pre-school child to have access to day care facilities. The law also introduced a labour and sosiopolitical phase and the refinement of the day care facility’s education-care concept. The latest phase that started during the early 1990´s was called the market-based social services strategy. As a result of this phase, state support was limited and the screening function of the law was relaxed. This new strategy resulted in a divisive and bureaucratic social welfare system, that individualised and segregated children and their parents, leaving some families outside the communal and welfare state benefit net. The modern day care centre is a hybrid of different aims. Children spend longer and more irregular time in day care. The families are multicultural and that requires more training for the staff. The work in day care has been enhanced, for example he level of education for the staff has been lowered and productivity has been improved. However, administrative work and different kinds of support and net work functions together with the continuous change have taken over from the work done face to face with children. Staff experiences more pressure as the management and the work load has increased. Consequently the long-term planning and daily implementation of the nuclear task of the day care facility is difficult to control. This will have an effect on both motivation and manageability of the work. Overall quality of the early childhood upbringing has been weakened. The possibilities for the near future were tested in the two day care centres chosen as an experi-ment objects. The analysis of these experiments showed that generative interaction work will benefit everyone: children, parents and employees. The main results of the research are new concepts of an early support day care centre, which can be empirically and theoretically possi-ble for development the near future. Key words: Day care facility’s co-operation practises, early childhood education as generational structure, child’s multi-operational and multi-layered community, multi-subjective operator, generative interaction work, communal composition.

Mikä jatko-opiskelijaa motivoi? Tavoitteet ja tiedeyhteisö väitöskirjaprosessissa.

Motivation has an important role in academic learning for learning is regulated by motivation. Further motivation is centrally manifested by goals. Goals reflect values and regulate individual s orientation and what they strive for. In spite of the central role of motivation in academic learning, discussions on post-graduate education has somewhat overlooked motivational processes and concentrated on the excellence of performance. The aim of this study was to investigate what kind of goals PhD students have and how they experience their role in their own scientific community. It was also purpose to study how these goals and experienced roles are in relation with study each other, context, possible intentions of quitting studies and prolongation of studies. Furthermore, the aim was to investigate how different postgraduates differ in terms of how they experience their learning environment. The data was collected with the From PhD students to academic experts survey (Pyhältö & Lonka, 2006) from four complementary domains: medicine, arts, psychology and education. The survey consisted of both likert-scaled items and open ended questions. The participants were 601 postgraduate students. The goals and the experienced role in scientific community were analysed in terms of qualitative content analysis. The relation between goals and experienced role and background variables were tested using ?² and the differences between different postgraduate groups using one way analysis of variances (ANOVA). The results indicated that postgraduates goals varied based on whether they brought up goals related to the product (outcome of the thesis process), the process (thesis process as whole) or both the product and the process. Product goals consisted of for example career qualification and better status as process goals consisted for example of learning and influencing ones own discipline. The experienced role of the postgraduates differed in terms of whether the conception was organised, unorganised or controversial. Both the goals and the experienced roles were in relation with study context and commitment to the studies. The different postgraduate groups also differed in terms of how they experienced their own learning environment.

Jaksaako opettaja kehittyä? : Ammatillisen kehityksen ja täydennyskoulutuksen merkitys opettajien työssä jaksamisessa

The aim of this study was to investigate the connection between teachers' burn-out and professional development. In addition, the study aimed at clarifying teachers' conceptions of the significance of in-service training on work-related well-being. The theoretical starting points of the study were based on a model of burn-out (Kalimo & Toppinen1997) and a model of teachers' professional development (Niemi 1989). Present study can be seen as an independent follow-up study for a working ability project called "Uudistumisen eväät" that was followed through in Kuopio. The study was carried out in two phases. First, the connection between teachers' burn-out and professional development was charted with the help of a quantitative survey study. 131 teachers participated in the survey. Some of them were from schools that participated in the working ability project and the remainder were from other schools in Kuopio. The questionnaire consisted of self-constructed instruments of burn-out and professional development. According to the results, burn-out and professional development were strongly correlated with each other. Burn-out was summed up in three factors: emotional exhaustion, feelings of depersonalization and low feelings of personal accomplishment. Professional development was summed up in four factors: personality and pedagogical skills, learning-orientation, social skills and confronting change. Personality and pedagogical skills and skills of confronting change were correlated strongest with burn-out and its symptoms. A teacher, who has not found his/her own personal way of acting as a teacher and who considers change as something negative, is more likely to become exhausted than a teacher, who has developed his/her own pedagogical identity and who regards change more positively. In the second phase of this study, teachers' conceptions of the significance of in-service training on well-being was investigated with the help of group interviews (n=12). According to the results, the importance of in-service training was significant on the well-being of teachers. It appeared that in-service training promotes well-being by providing teachers with motivation, professional development and the possibility of taking a break from teaching and cooperating with other teachers. It has to be based on teachers' own needs. It has to be offered to teachers frequently and early enough. If teachers are already exhausted, they will neither have enough resources to participate in training, nor will they have the strength to make good use of it in practice. Both professional development and well-being are becoming more and more essential now that society is changing rapidly and the demands set on teachers are growing. Professional development can promote well-being, but are teachers too exhausted to develop themselves? Professional development demands resources and teachers may regard it as a threat and an additional strain. When the demands are so high that teachers cannot cope with them, they are likely to suffer stress and see reduction of commitment to their work and its development as a means to survive. If teachers stop caring about their work and their own development, how can we expect them to promote pupils' learning and development? It should be considered in the planning and implementation of in-service training and in arranging teachers' working conditions, that teachers have enough time and resources to develop themselves. Keywords: Teachers, burn-out, well-being, professional development, in-service training

Datorstödda studier i hälso- och socialvård : MuPSiNet-projektet

The aim of the study was to explore why the MuPSiNet project - a computer and network supported learning environment for the field of health care and social work - did not develop as expected. To grasp the problem some hypotheses were formulated. The hypotheses regarded the teachers' skills in and attitudes towards computing and their attitudes towards constructivist study methods. An online survey containing 48 items was performed. The survey targeted all the teachers within the field of health care and social work in the country, and it produced 461 responses that were analysed against the hypotheses. The reliability of the variables was tested using the Cronbach alpha coefficient and t-tests. Poor basic computing skills among the teachers combined with a vulnerable technical solution, and inadequate project management combined with lack of administrative models for transforming economic resources into manpower were the factors that turned out to play a decisive role in the project. Other important findings were that the teachers had rather poor skills and knowledge in computing, computer safety and computer supported instruction, and that these skills were significantly poorer among female teachers who were in majority in the sample. The fraction of teachers who were familiar with software for electronic patient records (EPR) was low. The attitudes towards constructivist teaching methods were positive, and further education seemed to utterly increase the teachers' readiness to use alternative teaching methods. The most important conclusions were the following: In order to integrate EPR software as a natural tool in teaching planning and documenting health care, it is crucial that the teachers have sufficient basic skills in computing and that more teachers have personal experience of using EPR software. In order for computer supported teaching to become accepted it is necessary to arrange with extensive further education for the teachers presently working, and for that further education to succeed it should be backed up locally among other things by sufficient support in matters concerning computer supported teaching. The attitudes towards computing showed significant gender differences. Based on the findings it is suggested that basic skills in computing should also include an awareness of data safety in relation to work in different kinds of computer networks, and that projects of this kind should be built up around a proper project organisation with sufficient resources. Suggestions concerning curricular development and further education are also presented. Conclusions concerning the research method were that reminders have a better effect, and that respondents tend to answer open-ended questions more verbosely in electronically distributed online surveys compared to traditional surveys. A method of utilising randomized passwords to guarantee respondent anonymity while maintaining sample control is presented. Keywords: computer-assisted learning, computer-assisted instruction, health care, social work, vocational education, computerized patient record, online survey

Arvot intialaissyntyisten maahanmuuttajien akkulturaatioprosessissa

The study examined immigrants´ attitudes towards acculturation, in other words the social and cultural changes that take place in the adaptation process. The perspective of acculturation studies was also expanded by examining immigrants´ cultural values and their experiences of majority´s expectations. In addition, special interest was directed to the relations between acculturation attitudes and values and both factors´ relevance on psychological well-being. Indian born immigrants were selected as subjects as they are one of the fastest growing ethnic minorities in Finland. This minority has not been included in immigration studies previously. The seventy-five immigrants that participated as subjects represent a highly educated subgroup of Indian born immigrants. The study was carried out with posted questionnaires. Most of the subjects received an inquiry of their motivation to participate by e-mail or phone before the postal questionnaire. The results were in line with previous studies in Finland as the attitudes emphasising cultural integration were dominant. However, attitudes towards marriage, reflecting deeper and less flexible parts of culture, were dominated by separation motives. Immigrants´ perceptions of majority´s expectations reflected partly the real assimilation wishes demonstrated in previous studies. Against hypotheses, discrepancies between acculturation attitudes and experiences of majority´s expectations did not predict immigrants´ psychological well-being in a clear way. The highly educated Indian born immigrants emphasised self-direction and universalism in their values. This separates them from the traditional cultural values of India. The hypotheses made of the predictive relations between values and acculturation attitudes were partly confirmed. Also, the assumptions concerning both the stress buffering role of collectivistic values and the positive effect of achievement values on feelings of mastery were confirmed. Despite the limitations in the data, this study strengthens the view that cultural and personal values play a significant role in immigrants´ adaptation process. Information about values can benefit individuals making hard decisions and coping with cultural change as well as officials modifying Finnish immigration policy and planning the support system for immigrants.

Laadukasta yliopisto-opetusta kehittämässä : Laadukkaan yliopisto-opetuksen kehittäminen ja yliopistopedagogisen koulutuksen yhteys opetuksen kehittämiseen Helsingin yliopiston opettajilla

Objectives. The purpose of this study was to examine the development of high-quality university teaching among the teachers of the University of Helsinki. Furthermore, the relation of university pedagogical training to development of teaching was analyzed. This study introduces a new perspective to the research of quality of university teaching by considering quality from the teaching development perspective. The individual level examination was done from teacher's perspective. The development of high-quality university teaching was approached through three factors of teaching development defined by Biggs (2003). These factors are 1) the level of thinking about teaching on which the teaching development is based on (can also be called the quality model), 2) the methods for and 3) the impediments to teaching development. The research of Trigwell and Prosser (1996), Lindblom-Ylänne, Nevgi and Postareff (2004) and Postareff, Lindblom-Ylänne and Nevgi (2007) and the ideas of Ramsden (1992) have been central sources to this study. Methods. This study was a survey study. The data was collected with an electronic questionnaire in the spring of 2007. The sample consisted of 655 person of which some had and some had not university pedagogical training. Total of 251 answered the study. The data was mainly analyzed with SPSS statistical programme. Item analysis, principal component analysis, nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests, correlation and crosstabulation were the methods used to analyze the data. Results and conclusions. According to the results it seems that the teachers of the University of Helsinki have good basis for developing high-quality university teaching. The 3rd level of thinking about teaching, which emphasizes student-centred features, could be identified on majority of the teachers. The use of teaching development methods was comprehensive. Most frequently used methods were related to the enhancement of content knowledge. In general the impediments to teaching development were not considered to be very significant. The most significant impediments were the factors related to lack of appreciation of teaching and factors related to lack of time meant for the planning and developing of teaching. Differences were found according to sex, teaching experience, degree, position and faculty. This study also showed that university pedagogical training seems to have a positive relation to the development of high-quality university teaching among the teachers of University of Helsinki. According to the results when the amount of teachers university pedagogical training increased, the 3rd level of thinking about teaching could be identified more often. Teachers also used more often teaching development methods related to cooperation and active participation and enhancement of pedagogical skills. Furthermore, they considered the factors related to lack of pedagogical skills and motivation to be lesser impediments to teaching development.

Nuorten henkilökohtaisten tavoitteiden profiilit ja subjektiivinen hyvinvointi

Personal goals offer an important aspect of personality and motivation. Personal goals are conscious and subjectively motivated objectives by which a person directs his or her life over time. Personal goals are related to adolescents' subjective well-being. The aim of the present research was to find out, what kinds of groups of adolescents can be formed by the content of personal goals and how these groups differ in goal appraisals, meaningful life events and subjective well-being. The second aim of the study was to detect gender differences and differences between vocational and high school students in goal appraisals, meaningful life events and subjective well-being. Adolescents in upper secondary education (N=1144) were grouped together by the content of their personal goals using a person oriented approach and a cluster analysis. Clusters found in the analysis were named by the centre goal as (1) a property group, (2) a vocation group, (3) a future education and personal relationships group and (4) a selffocused group. Adolescents in the property group put a little effort into their career goal, they were not exhausted in school work and their subjective well-being was average. Adolescents in the vocation group felt progress in their career goal and put effort into it. They had goals related to life-style. They did not feel exhausted and their subjective well-being was average. The future education and personal relationships group put effort into their career goal and considered progressing in it. Personal relationships were important in their lives. They were exhausted in their school work but they did not feel cynicism. Their own health was one of their goals and they felt satisfaction in their life. Adolescents in the self-focused group did not put effort into their career goal nor considered progressing in it. They were exhausted and especially cynical in their school work. They suffered from almost clinically significant depression. They had low life-satisfaction and low self-esteem. The following gender and educational differences were found. Compared with boys, girls felt their career goal was more important and stressful, and girls also put more effort into it. Girls were more exhausted, depressed and they had lower selfesteem than boys. High school students felt more stress with their career goal than vocational school students. High school students were more exhausted, but still they felt more satisfaction with their lives. In practice, to cover adolescents' personal goals is a possibility to find distressed individuals who might be in need for extra support.

Nuorten hyvinvointi, opiskelu ja opinto-ohjaus erityisen koulutustehtävän saaneessa lukiossa

This is a case-study of students well-being studying in Sibelius Upper Secondary School which has got a special educational task in dance and music. The first purpose of this study is to analyse the students well-being, motivation, studying satisfaction and try to find out what kind of problems the students meet when studying in Upper Secondary School. The second purpose of this study is to try find means in counselling to help students in their Upper Secondary School Studies. The data were gathered in three parts. The first questioning was based on Allardt s (1976; 1998) well-being theory. In this questioning (N = 187) the students described their satisfaction in having (material things), loving (social relationships) and being (free time). The second data was collected by interviews (N = 19). The third data is a follow-up questioning (N = 10) for graduated students. The whole data was analysed with qualitative methods. The gathered qualitative data were compared with the quantitative data gathered by the National Institute for Health and Welfare. Results of this study indicate that the students in this case-study are mainly satisfied with their well-being, social and material things in their studying environment including counselling and teaching. The research results show that some of the students are exhausted due too muchtime spent in studying. This was verified also in the quantitative data gathered by the National Institute for Health and Welfare. These students suffer for the lack of free time and rest. Students who are motivated and have reached the autonomous way of studying do better in their Upper Secondary School Studies than those who study in unautonomous way.A quite wide range of students tend to make individual studying programmes and spend four or more years in Upper Secondary School instead of the three year programme. The individual programme gives them more time for practicing their special skills in the field of the school s special educational task and to give themselves more time for studying the basic subjects of the Upper Secondary School. Some of the students who tend to take extra years in Upper Secondary School have difficulties in their studying skills and are unsure of their studying motivation. The competition among students in Upper Secondary School with the special educational task causes stress and exhaustion for some of the studied students. These students have difficulties with integrating themselves into the social environment. For the other students the school s social environment works as a motivator for their studies and increases their well-being in their studies. According to the results of the follow-up questioning in this study the students value most the network with the other students they made while studying at the Sibelius Upper Secondary School. According to this study the students would need more counselling in all stages of their Upper Secondary School Studies. The autonomous students do quite well in their studies despite of the small amount of given counselling. They would also need more counselling in planning their further studies after Upper Secondary School. The biggest challenges to student counselling in Sibelius Upper Secondary School are helping the students to find their individual ways of studying and helping them to learn the ways of autonomous studying skills. Keywords: Upper Secondary School with a special educational task, well-being, talent, Upper Secondary School, Young person in Upper Secondary School, motivation, counselling, studying

Käsityön sukupuolirajat ja rajojen rikkojat

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.

Tekstiilityötä ja matematiikkaa yhdistävän oppimateriaalin käyttökelpoisuus perusopetuksen yläluokilla

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.

Teologian opiskelijoiden henkilökohtaiset projektit ja opintomenestys

Motivation and personal goals play an important role in the ways in which people direct their behavior. Personal goals are closely connected with well-being but they also relate to how people perform in different achievement domains. Many studies show that evaluating study-related goals as important, easy to attain and non stressful, predict better academic achievements than evaluating them as non attainable and stressful (Salmela-Aro & Nurmi, 1997b). The aim of this study was to describe motivational factors among theology students. They form an interesting group in terms of exploring connections between motivation, spiritual goals and academic achievements. The average duration of graduation at the Faculty of Theology is among the highest at the University of Helsinki. On the other hand, it may be assumed that many theology students have spiritual goals which affect their studies. A special focus was paid on the different evaluations of study-related personal projects and how they are related to academic achievement. A methodology of personal projects (Little, 1983) was used to study what kind of personal goals theology students are engaged in during their studies. In the first part of the questionnaire the subjects (N=133) were asked to describe important personal projects. They were given four numbered lines for their written responses. In the second part the subjects were asked to rate projects concerning their studies according to 13 dimensions using a 7-point Likert-scale. Three subgroups were formed on a K-Means Cluster Analysis on the basis of evaluations of the study-related projects. The groups were named committed, self-fulfillers and non-committed according to their evaluations of their study related projects. Academic achievements among the different groups varied substantially. After two years of studying the students who were in the committed group had completed on an average twenty study credits more than those who were in the non-committed group. Self-fulfillers placed in the middle of the three groups. Committed and self-fulfiller students also reported higher levels of intrinsic reasons for striving towards study-related goals. The results indicate that goals reported at the beginning of studies predicted academic achievement later on. The results also showed that different evaluations of goals have long lasting connections to progress in studying. Implications for student well-being and how these results can be utilized for student counseling are discussed.

Early Childhood Caries and a Community Trial of its Prevention in Tehran, Iran

Varhaislapsuuden karies ja sen ehkäisy kehittyvän terveydenhuollon maassa Varhaislapsuuden karies on merkittävä kansanterveysongelma varsinkin lapsirikkaissa maissa ja väestöissä. Karieksen hoitaminen vie paljon voimavaroja ja aiheuttaa mittavia taloudellisia seuraamuksia. Karies voi ilmaantua lapselle jo vauvaikäisenä, pian ensimmäisten maitohampaiden puhjettua suuhun. Alle 3-vuotiaiden karieksesta on kuitenkin niukasti tilastotietoja. Maailman terveysjärjestökin suosittaa tietojen keräämistä vasta 3-vuotiaiden ikäryhmästä. Heistä kariesta sairastaa Suomessa 16 %, Yhdysvalloissa 25 %, Englannissa 30 %, Iranissa 46 % ja Saudi-Arabiassa 61 %. Tämä väitöstutkimus selvitti karieksen esiintymistä ja sen vaaratekijöitä 1─3-vuotiailla Teheranissa. Lisäksi tutkimus arvioi perusterveydenhuoltoon sisällytetyn karieksen ehkäisyn tuloksellisuutta. Tutkimuskohteiksi arvottiin Teheranista 18 neuvolaa. Jokaisessa oltiin 4 päivää, jolloin kaikkia rokotuksiin tulleita 1─3-vuotiaita äiteineen pyydettiin osallistumaan tutkimukseen. Kahta lukuun ottamatta kaikki äidit suostuivat, ja aineistoon tuli kaikkiaan 504 lasta äiteineen. Kaikki 1-vuotiaat, 242 lasta äiteineen, valittiin karieksen ehkäisykokeiluun. Sitä varten neuvolat jaettiin kolmeen ryhmään, joista kaksi (A ja B) oli koeryhmiä ja yksi (C) oli vertailuryhmä. Tutkimus alkoi äidin haastattelulla. Siinä selvitettiin perheen koulutus- ja tulotaso sekä lapsen ruokinnasta imetyksen kesto, yösyötöt ja päiväaikaan nautitut makeat. Vielä kysyttiin lapsen ja äidin suuhygieniatavoista ja äidin kokemuksista lapsen suun puhdistamisessa. Sitten hammaslääkäri tutki lapsen suun ja kirjasi karieksen ja hammasplakin esiintymät. Suun tutkimuksen jälkeen äiti ja lapsi siirtyivät rokotushuoneeseen. Koeryhmissä (A ja B) äidit saivat terveydenhoitajalta suunterveyttä koskevan esitteen ja kehotuksen lukea se huolellisesti. Lisäksi ryhmässä A terveydenhoitaja kertoi suun ja hampaiden terveydenhoidosta saman esitteen avulla, ja neuvolan henkilökunta muistutti suunhoidon tärkeydestä puhelimitse kahdesti seuraavan puolen vuoden kuluessa. Vertailuryhmässä äideille ei annettu suunhoidon ohjeita. Kaikissa ryhmissä äitejä muistutettiin seuraavan rokotuskerran ajankohdasta, muttei mainittu tulevaa toista hammastarkastusta. Varhaislapsuuden kariesta sairasti ikäryhmästä riippuen 3─26 % tutkituista 1─3-vuotiaista, ja 65─76 %:lla oli hammasplakkia. Äideistä 68 % harjasi hampaansa päivittäin ja 39 % puhdisti lapsensa suun päivittäin. Mitä useammin äiti harjasi omat hampaansa, sitä paremmin hän huolehti lapsen suun puhtaudesta. Rintaruokinta oli yleistä eikä lisännyt kariesvaaraa. Yöllä pullomaitoa saavilla karies oli 5 kertaa yleisempää kuin muilla. Neuvolassa saatu ohjeistus ehkäisi selvästi karieksen syntyä puolen vuoden kokeessa.

Community forestry and environmental literacy in northern Thailand : Towards collaborative natural resource management and conservation

Conservation and sustainable management of tropical forests needs a holistic approach: in addition to ecological concerns, socio-economic issues including cultural aspects must be taken into consideration. An ability to adapt practices is a key to successful collaborative natural resource management. Achieving this requires local participation and understanding of local conceptions of the environment. This study examined these issues in the context of northern Thailand. Northern uplands are the home of much of the remaining natural forest in Thailand and several ethnic minority groups commonly referred to as hill tribes. The overall purpose of this study was to grasp a regional view of an ethnically diverse forested area and to elicit prospects to develop community forestry for conservation purposes and for securing people s livelihood. Conservation was a central goal of management as the forests in the area were largely designated as protected. The aim was to study local perceptions, objectives, values and practices of forest management, under the umbrella of the concept environmental literacy, as well as the effects of forest policy on community management goals and activities. Environmental literacy refers to holistic understanding of the environment. It was used as a tool to examine people s views, interests, knowledge and motivation associated to forests. The material for this study was gathered in six villages in Chiang Mai Province. Three minority groups were included in the study, the Karen, Hmong and Lawa, and also the Thai. Household and focus group interviews were conducted in the villages. In addition, officials at district, regional and national levels, workers of non-governmental organisations, and academics were interviewed, and some data were gathered from the students of a local school. The results showed that motivation for protecting the forests existed among each ethnic group studied. This was a result of culture and traditions evolved in the forest environment but also of a need to adapt to a changed situation and environment and to outside pressures. The consequences of deforestation were widely agreed on in the villages, and the impact of socio-economic changes on the forests and livelihood was also recognised. The forest was regarded as a source of livelihood providing land, products and services essential to the people inhabiting rural uplands. Traditions, fire control, cooperation, reforestation, separation of protected and utilisable areas, and rules were viewed as central for conservation. For the villagers, however, conservation meant sustainable use, whereas the government has tended to prefer strict restrictions on forest resource use. Thus, conflicts had arisen. Between communities, cooperation was more dominant than conflict. The results indicated that the heterogeneity of forest dwellers, although it has to be recognised, should not be overemphasised: ethnic diversity can be considered as no major obstacle for successful community forestry. Collaborative management is particularly important in protected areas in order to meet the conservation goals while providing opportunities for livelihood. Forest management needs more positive incentives and increased dialogue.