The effectiveness of short-term literacy skills intervention on children at risk of reading and writing difficulties in Tanzania : a study of grade one children with dynamic assessment approach

The aim of the study was to create and evaluate an intervention programme for Tanzanian children from a low-income area who are at risk of reading and writing difficulties. The learning difficulties, including reading and writing difficulties, are likely to be behind many of the common school problems in Tanzania, but they are not well understood, and research is needed. The design of the study included an identification and intervention phase with follow-up. A group based dynamic assessment approach was used in identifying children at risk of difficulties in reading and writing. The same approach was used in the intervention. The study was a randomized experiment with one experimental and two control groups. For the experimental and the control groups, a total of 96 (46 girls and 50 boys) children from grade one were screened out of 301 children from two schools in a low income urban area of Dar-es-Salaam. One third of the children, the experimental group, participated in an intensive training programme in literacy skills for five weeks, six hours per week, aimed at promoting reading and writing ability, while the children in the control groups had a mathematics and art programme. Follow-up was performed five months after the intervention. The intervention programme and the tests were based on the Zambian BASAT (Basic Skill Assessment Tool, Ketonen & Mulenga, 2003), but the content was drawn from the Kiswahili school curriculum in Tanzania. The main components of the training and testing programme were the same, only differing in content. The training process was different from traditional training in Tanzanian schools in that principles of teaching and training in dynamic assessment were followed. Feedback was the cornerstone of the training and the focus was on supporting the children in exploring knowledge and strategies in performing the tasks. The experimental group improved significantly more (p = .000) than the control groups during the intervention from pre-test to follow-up (repeated measures ANOVA). No differences between the control groups were noticed. The effect was significant on all the measures: phonological awareness, reading skills, writing skills and overall literacy skills. A transfer effect on school marks in Kiswahili and English was found. Following a discussion of the results, suggestions for further research and adaptation of the programme are presented.

Strike hard, strike sure - Operation Musketeer : British military planning during the Suez Crisis, 1956

Operation Musketeer, a combined joint Anglo-French operation aimed at regaining control of the Suez Canal in 1956, has received much attention from scholars. The most common approach to the crisis has been to examine the political dimension. The political events that led Prime Minister Anthony Eden’s cabinet to decide to use military force against the wishes of their superior American ally and in the face of American economic pressure and a Soviet threat to attack Paris and London with rockets have been analysed thoroughly. This is particularly the case because the ceasefire and eventual withdrawal were an indisputable defeat of British policy in the Middle East. The military operation not only ruined Prime Minister Eden’s career, but it also diminished the prestige of Britain. It was the beginning of the end, some claim. The British Empire would never be the same. As the consequences of using force are generally considered more important than the military operations themselves, very little attention has been paid to the military planning of Operation Musketeer. The difference between the number of publications on Operation Corporate of the Falklands War and Operation Musketeer is striking. Not only has there been little previous research on the military aspects of Musketeer, the conclusions drawn in the existing works have not reached a consensus. Some historians, such as Correlli Barnett, compare Musketeer to the utter failures of the Tudor landings and Gallipoli. Among significant politicians, Winston Churchill, who had retired from the prime ministership only a year before the Suez Crisis, described the operation as “the most ill-conceived and ill-executed imaginable”. Colin McInnes, a well-known author on British defence policy, represents the middle view when he describes the execution as “far from failure”. Finally, some, like Julian Thompson, the Commander of 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands War, rate the military action itself as being successful. The interpretation of how successful the handling of the Suez Crisis was from the military point of view depends very much on the approach taken and the areas emphasised in the subject. Frequently, military operations are analysed in isolation from other events. The action of a country’s armed forces is separated from the wider context and evaluated without a solid point of comparison. Political consequences are often used as validated criteria, and complicated factors contributing to military performance are ignored. The lack of comprehensive research on the military action has left room for an analysis concentrating on the military side of the crisis.

Integration or a Greek tragedy?: How crisis spillovers affect Central and Eastern European States

Tutkielma siitä, miten Euroopan entisten sosialistivaltioiden markkinoiden integroituminen on edistynyt Kreikan ja EMU-alueen kanssa euron käyttöönoton ajalta. Tutkimus vertaa maiden markkinoiden reaktioita Kreikasta ja EMU-alueelta kantautuviin sokkeihin ennen ja jälkeen vuonna 2007 alkanutta kriisiä.

Emancipating and developing learning activity: Systemic intervention and re-instrumentation in higher education.

The central theme of this thesis is the emancipation and further development of learning activity in higher education in the context of the ongoing digital transformation of our societies. It was developed in response to the highly problematic mainstream approach to digital re-instrumentation of teaching and studying practises in contemporary higher education. The mainstream approach is largely based on centralisation, standardisation, commoditisation, and commercialisation, while re-producing the general patterns of control, responsibility, and dependence that are characteristic for activity systems of schooling. Whereas much of educational research and development focuses on the optimisation and fine-tuning of schooling, the overall inquiry that is underlying this thesis has been carried out from an explicitly critical position and within a framework of action science. It thus conceptualises learning activity in higher education not only as an object of inquiry but also as an object to engage with and to intervene into from a perspective of intentional change. The knowledge-constituting interest of this type of inquiry can be tentatively described as a combination of heuristic-instrumental (guidelines for contextualised action and intervention), practical-phronetic (deliberation of value-rational aspects of means and ends), and developmental-emancipatory (deliberation of issues of power, self-determination, and growth) aspects. Its goal is the production of orientation knowledge for educational practise. The thesis provides an analysis, argumentation, and normative claim on why the development of learning activity should be turned into an object of individual|collective inquiry and intentional change in higher education, and why the current state of affairs in higher education actually impedes such a development. It argues for a decisive shift of attention to the intentional emancipation and further development of learning activity as an important cultural instrument for human (self-)production within the digital transformation. The thesis also attempts an in-depth exploration of what type of methodological rationale can actually be applied to an object of inquiry (developing learning activity) that is at the same time conceptualised as an object of intentional change within the ongoing digital transformation. The result of this retrospective reflection is the formulation of “optimally incomplete” guidelines for educational R&D practise that shares the practicalphronetic (value related) and developmental-emancipatory (power related) orientations that had been driving the overall inquiry. In addition, the thesis formulates the instrumental-heuristic knowledge claim that the conceptual instruments that were adapted and validated in the context of a series of intervention studies provide means to effectively intervene into existing practise in higher education to support the necessary development of (increasingly emancipated) networked learning activity. It suggests that digital networked instruments (tools and services) generally should be considered and treated as transient elements within critical systemic intervention research in higher education. It further argues for the predominant use of loosely-coupled, digital networked instruments that allow for individual|collective ownership, control, (co-)production, and re-use in other contexts and for other purposes. Since the range of digital instrumentation options is continuously expanding and currently shows no signs of an imminent slow-down or consolidation, individual and collective exploration and experimentation of this realm needs to be systematically incorporated into higher education practise.

Enhancing human security through crisis management : opportunities and challenges for learning

Inhimilliseen turvallisuuteen kriisinhallinnan kautta – oppimisen mahdollisuuksia ja haasteita Kylmän sodan jälkeen aseelliset konfliktit ovat yleensä alkaneet niin sanotuissa hauraissa valtioissa ja köyhissä maissa, ne ovat olleet valtioiden sisäisiä ja niihin on osallistunut ei-valtiollisia aseellisia ryhmittymiä. Usein ne johtavat konfliktikierteeseen, jossa sota ja vakaammat olot vaihtelevat. Koska kuolleisuus konflikteissa voi jäädä alle kansainvälisen määritelmän (1000 kuollutta vuodessa), kutsun tällaisia konflikteja ”uusiksi konflikteiksi”. Kansainvälinen yhteisö on pyrkinyt kehittämään kriisinhallinnan ja rauhanrakentamisen malleja, jotta pysyvä rauhantila saataisiin aikaiseksi. Inhimillinen turvallisuus perustuu näkemykseen, jossa kunnioitetaan jokaisen yksilön ihmisoikeuksia ja jolla on vaikutusta myös kriisinhallinnan ja rauhanrakentamisen toteuttamiseen. Tutkimukseen kuuluu kaksi empiiristä osaa: Delfoi tulevaisuuspaneeliprosessin sekä kriisinhallintahenkilöstön haastattelut. Viisitoista eri alojen kriisinhallinta-asiantuntijaa osallistui paneeliin, joka toteutettiin vuonna 2008. Paneelin tulosten mukaan tulevat konfliktit usein ovat uusien konfliktien kaltaisia. Lisäksi kriisinhallintahenkilöstöltä edellytetään vuorovaikutus- ja kommunikaatiokykyä ja luonnollisesti myös varsinaisia ammatillisia valmiuksia. Tulevaisuuspaneeli korosti vuorovaikutus- ja kommunikaatiotaitoja erityisesti siviilikriisinhallintahenkilöstön kompetensseissa, mutta samat taidot painottuivat sotilaallisen kriisinhallinnan henkilöstön kompetensseissakin. Kriisinhallinnassa tarvitaan myös selvää työnjakoa eri toimijoiden kesken. Kosovossa työskennelleen henkilöstön haastatteluaineisto koostui yhteensä 27 teemahaastattelusta. Haastateltavista 9 oli ammattiupseeria, 10 reservistä rekrytoitua rauhanturvaajaa ja 8 siviilikriisinhallinnassa työskennellyttä henkilöä. Haastattelut toteutettiin helmi- ja kesäkuun välisenä aikana vuonna 2008. Haastattelutuloksissa korostui vuorovaikutus- ja kommunikaatiotaitojen merkitys, sillä monissa käytännön tilanteissa haastateltavat olivat ratkoneet ongelmia yhteistyössä muun kriisinhallintahenkilöstön tai paikallisten asukkaiden kanssa. Kriisinhallinnassa toteutui oppimisprosesseja, jotka usein olivat luonteeltaan myönteisiä ja informaalisia. Tällaisten onnistumisten vaikutus yksilön minäkuvaan oli myönteinen. Tällaisia prosesseja voidaan kuvata ”itseä koskeviksi oivalluksiksi”. Kriisinhallintatehtävissä oppimisella on erityinen merkitys, jos halutaan kehittää toimintoja inhimillisen turvallisuuden edistämiseksi. Siksi on tärkeää, että kriisinhallintakoulutusta ja kriisinhallintatyössä oppimista kehitetään ottamaan huomioon oppimisen eri tasot ja ulottuvuudet sekä niiden merkitys. Informaaliset oppimisen muodot olisi otettava paremmin huomioon kriisinhallintakoulutusta ja kriisinhallintatehtävissä oppimista kehitettäessä. Palautejärjestelmää olisi kehitettävä eri tavoin. Koko kriisinhallintaoperaation on saatava tarvittaessa myös kriittistä palautetta onnistumisista ja epäonnistumisista. Monet kriisinhallinnassa työskennelleet kaipaavat kunnollista palautetta työrupeamastaan. Liian rutiininomaiseksi koettu palaute ei edistä yksilön oppimista. Spontaanisti monet haastatellut pitivät tärkeänä, että kriisinhallinnassa työskennelleillä olisi mahdollisuus debriefing- tyyppiseen kotiinpaluukeskusteluun. Pelkkä tällainen mahdollisuus ilmeisesti voisi olla monelle myönteinen uutinen, vaikka tilaisuutta ei hyödynnettäisikään. Paluu kriisinhallintatehtävistä Suomeen on monelle haasteellisempaa kuin näissä tehtävissä työskentelyn aloittaminen ulkomailla. Tutkimuksen tulokset kannustavat tutkimaan kriisinhallintaa oppimisen näkökulmasta. On myös olennaista, että kriisinhallinnan palautejärjestelmiä kehitetään mahdollisimman hyvin edistämään sekä yksilöllistä että organisatorista oppimista kriisinhallinnassa. Kriisinhallintaoperaatio on oppimisympäristö. Kriisinhallintahenkilöstön kommunikaatio- ja vuorovaikutustaitojen kehittäminen on olennaista tavoiteltaessa kestävää rauhanprosessia, jossa konfliktialueen asukkaatkin ovat mukana.

Work-related crisis exposure : psychological trauma and PTSD in news journalists

I avhandlingen undersöktes hur journalister själva reagerar efter att ha arbetat med en plötslig krissituation, samt vilka faktorer som kan bidra till en förhöjd risk för allvarliga långsiktiga stressymptom. Temat undersöktes (1) genom att se på hur journalisters tidigare erfarenheter av krisuppdrag och traumatiska upplevelser i privatlivet var relaterade till stressymptom (posttraumatiskt stressyndrom, sekundär traumatisk stress, depression och utmattningssyndrom), och (2) genom att studera riskfaktorer i en identifierad typ av kris, de finländska skolskjutningarna 2007-08. Avhandlingens resultat baserades på enkätsvar från finländska nyhetsjournalister (N = 503) och intervjuer med personer som jobbat på plats vid skolskjutningar (N = 28). En klar majoritet av journalisterna hade inte allvarliga långsiktiga stressymptom vid tiden för undersökningen. De som varit på ett tidigare krisuppdrag där man bevittnat många obehagliga detaljer hade fler allvarliga stressymptom. En annan riskfaktor var att ha ett förflutet med fler traumatiska händelser i privatlivet. Bland de som arbetat med skolskjutningar var starka kortsiktiga reaktioner, t.ex. hjälplöshet och chock, relativt vanliga. Reaktionerna hörde ändå oftast till den normala återhämtningsprocessen, och ledde inte till en långsiktig försämring av måendet. Journalister som i hög grad identifierade sig med krisen, t.ex. personer med egna barn, hade större risk för att drabbas av allvarliga symptom på lång sikt. Detsamma gällde de som på plats upplevt journalistiska etiska dilemman, t.ex. att beordras av överordnade till uppdrag som gick emot egna principer. För att förebygga psykisk stress bland journalister är det viktigt att inom branschen sprida kunskap om stressreaktioner och utveckla rekommendationer för etisk krisjournalistik. Därmed kan journalister få bättre verktyg för att minimera risken att via sitt yrkesutövande orsaka ytterligare skada åt krisdrabbade.

The us subprime crisis and stock market integration: evidence from the BRICS

The aim of this study is to examine the level of stock market co-movement in the BRICS countries and three major industrialized countries (Japan, UK and USA). While analyzing the interdependence and integration of markets, two subsets are examined: before (2000 – 2007) and during the global financial crisis (2007-2011). Generally, interdependence across markets is likely to increase during a highly volatile period. This is problematic because if it were true, the main benefit of international diversification would be reduced at times when it is most needed. The results reveal the dominant role of the US financial markets over the examined time period. Empirical studies of this research paper indicate that cross-market linkages have become slightly stronger during the ongoing subprime crisis than before crisis. However, results also show that an investor may obtain some international diversification benefits by investing especially in the BRICS countries despite the fact of unstable economic condition and growing globalization.

Family-based dietary intervention in the STRIP study – influences on diet and diet-related attitudes

The focus of this dissertation was to investigate the effects of family-based dietary intervention during childhood and adolescence. The participants comprised of children and parents who participated in a longitudinal, randomised atherosclerosis prevention trial (STRIP study). The intervention families (n=540) took part in a dietary intervention since the child’s age of 8- months. The control group (n=522) did not receive any tailored dietary intervention. The main focus of the intervention was to improve the quality of dietary fat. The diet of children and parents was evaluated by daily food records and dietrelated attitudes by a questionnaire. The dietary intervention influenced, favourably, the dietary fat quality in children and parents. Fat quality improved mainly by the decrease of saturated fat intake. Some minor effects of the intervention were also observed in children’s fruit and vegetable (F&V) consumption although the F&V consumption was very low. The intervention increased parental interest in healthy eating, but there was no difference in interest in natural products or in attitudes towards hedonic eating attitudes between the intervention and control parents. Parents’ interest in healthy eating associated with parents’ and children’s high fruit and vegetable consumption but not with their fat quality ratio. On the other hand, dietary fat quality improved at every level of interest in healthy eating. It seems that the main target of the intervention, the dietary fat quality of the children, was promoted effectively. In the future, more emphasis should be given on increasing unsaturated fat intake and on elevating F&V consumption in children. Children’s diet, especially F&V consumption, associated with diet-related attitudes of the parents. Therefore, co-operation with parents and family-based premises for working should be capitalized upon when promoting healthy eating in children and adolescents.

Exchange rate volatility and the use of foreign currency derivatives: Impact of 2008 global financial crisis

This thesis examines the impact of foreign exchange rate volatility to the extent of use of foreign currency derivatives. Especially the focus is on the impacts of 2008 global financial crisis. The crisis increased risk level in the capital markets greatly. The change in the currency derivatives use is analyzed by comparing means between different periods and in addition, by linear regression that enables to analyze the explanatory power of the model. The research data consists of financial statements figures from fiscal years 2006-2011 published by firms operating in traditional Finnish industrial sectors. Volatilities of the chosen three currency pairs is calculated from the daily fixing rates of ECB. Based on the volatility the sample period is divided into three sub-periods. The results suggest that increased FX market volatility did not increase the use foreign currency derivatives. Furthermore, the increased foreign exchange rate volatility did not increase the power of linear regression model to estimate the use foreign currency derivatives compared to previous studies.

Entrepreneurial orientation in small and medium-sized enterprises during economic crisis

The economic importance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship has increased significantly in recent decades and entrepreneurial activity and SMEs are deemed vital to economic progress. Therefore, it is justifiable to study how small firms and entrepreneurs can enhance their performance and emergence in the turbulent economic environment. The concept of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) has recently attracted considerable attention in the field of entrepreneurship research. EO generally refers to a firm’s propensity to be innovative, to be proactive and to take risks. A majority of EO studies so far have found that adopting EO associated entrepreneurial behaviors will help firms to create or sustain a high level of performance. This dissertation explores the main drivers and performance implications of EO for SMEs in time of economic crisis. Hence the first objective of this dissertation is to examine the performance implications of EO and to test the role of EO on how firms are treated by the crisis at operative level. The second objective is to expand the prevailing understanding of determinants of EO by exploring the relationship between owner's work related values, attitudes, demographic characteristics, firm’s financial resources and EO. EO was found to be a significant and positive factor behind a firm’s long run growth. Hence it can be said that EO has positive implications for firm performance. But on the other hand, during a time of economic crisis the different dimensions of EO had both positive and negative effects on performance of SMEs. The performance implications varied across different stages of the crisis and were also dependent on what measure was used for measuring the performance. The main drivers of EO in SMEs were the personal work related values of the entrepreneur and his/her prior experience as an entrepreneur. The intrinsic work values related to interest, responsibility, challenge, self-development or intellectual stimulation and values related to status, power, achievement and recognition had a positive effect on the level of EO. On the other hand, extrinsic values related to high income, material possessions, benefits such as generous holidays, job security, and comfort through good working conditions decreased the level of EO