Suomi tiellä sivistyskieleksi. Suomenkielisen maantieteen sanaston kehittyminen ja kehittäminen 1800-luvulla

Tutkimukseni käsittelee suomen kielen sanaston kehitystä 1800-luvulla eli aikana, jolloin suomen kielestä kehittyi monialainen sivistyskieli. Esimerkkiaineistona on yhden erikoisalan, maantieteen sanasto. Suomen kirjakieli syntyi 1500-luvulla, mutta aluksi kirjoitettua kieltä tarvittiin pääasiassa uskonnollisissa yhteyksissä. 1800-luvun aikana kielen käyttöalat monipuolistuivat ja uutta sanastoa tarvittiin monien erikoisalojen tarpeisiin. Ryhdyttiin tietoisesti kääntämään tietokirjallisuutta ja kirjoittamaan eri aiheista. Tutkimukseni selvittää maantieteen sanaston kehittymistä sadassa vuodessa erityisesti maantieteen oppikirjoissa. Tutkimus kuvaa sanaston kehitystä teoreettisesti uudenlaisista lähtökohdista tarkastelemalla leksikaalista variaatiota. Variaatiota on kuvattu tarkasti sekä yksittäisten käsitteiden nimitysten kehityksenä että ilmiönä yleisesti. Tutkimus hyödyntää myös kognitiivista lähestymistapaa, etenkin sosiokognitiivisen terminologian teoriaa. Aineiston analyysin pohjalta syntyy kuva sanaston kehityksestä ja vakiintumisesta. Tutkimus kuvaa myös tapoja, joilla uusia käsitteitä nimettiin. Se pohtii eri nimeämistapojen suhdetta sekä kirjoittajien ja aikalaisten roolia sanaston vakiintumisessa. 1800-luvun maantieteen sanastossa on runsaasti variaatiota; vain harvojen käsitteiden nimitykset ovat vakiintuneita tai vakiintuvat nopeasti. Tämän variaation kuvaaminen leksikaalisena variaationa osoittautui tutkimuksessa hyväksi metodiksi. Koska kirjakieli oli vakiintumatonta, nimityksissä esiintyy paljon kontekstuaalista variaatiota esimerkiksi sanojen kirjoitusasuissa. Kirjoittajat myös pohtivat havainnollista tapaa nimetä käsitteitä, ja tästä aiheutuu onomasiologista variaatiota. Semasiologinen variaatio taas kertoo käsitejärjestelmän vakiintumattomuudesta. Aineiston sanaston lähtökohdat ovat vanhan kirjasuomessa, mutta tältä pohjalta luodaan valtava määrä uutta sanastoa tai otetaan aiemmin kirjakielessä käytettyjä nimityksiä uuteen merkitykseen. Tärkeä rooli on sekä nimitysten muodostamisella kotoisista aineksista että kääntämisellä, jossa malli saadaan toisesta kielestä mutta nimitysten ainekset ovat omaperäisiä.

Enhancing absorptive capacity in a non-research and development. An action research approach to converting individual observations into organisational awareness

The ability to recognize potential knowledge and convert it into business opportunities is one of the key factors of renewal in uncertain environments. This thesis examines absorptive capacity in the context of non-research and development innovation, with a primary focus on the social interaction that facilitates the absorption of knowledge. It proposes that everyone is and should be entitled to take part in the social interaction that shapes individual observations into innovations. Both innovation and absorptive capacity have been traditionally related to research and development departments and institutions. These innovations need to be adopted and adapted by others. This so-called waterfall model of innovations is only one aspect of new knowledge generation and innovation. In addition to this Science–Technology–Innovation perspective, more attention has been recently paid to the Doing–Using–Interacting mode of generating new knowledge and innovations. The amount of literature on absorptive capacity is vast, yet the concept is reified. The greater part of the literature links absorptive capacity to research and development departments. Some publications have focused on the nature of absorptive capacity in practice and the role of social interaction in enhancing it. Recent literature on absorptive capacity calls for studies that shed light on the relationship between individual absorptive capacity and organisational absorptive capacity. There has also been a call to examine absorptive capacity in non-research and development environments. Drawing on the literature on employee-driven innovation and social capital, this thesis looks at how individual observations and ideas are converted into something that an organisation can use. The critical phases of absorptive capacity, during which the ideas of individuals are incorporated into a group context, are assimilation and transformation. These two phases are seen as complementary: whereas assimilation is the application of easy-to-accept knowledge, transformation challenges the current way of thinking. The two require distinct kinds of social interaction and practices. The results of this study can been crystallised thus: “Enhancing absorptive capacity in practicebased non-research and development context is to organise the optimal circumstances for social interaction. Every individual is a potential source of signals leading to innovations. The individual, thus, recognises opportunities and acquires signals. Through the social interaction processes of assimilation and transformation, these signals are processed into the organisation’s reality and language. The conditions of creative social capital facilitate the interplay between assimilation and transformation. An organisation that strives for employee-driven innovation gains the benefits of a broader surface for opportunity recognition and faster absorption.” If organisations and managers become more aware of the benefits of enhancing absorptive capacity in practice, they have reason to assign resources to those practices that facilitate the creation of absorptive capacity. By recognising the underlying social mechanisms and structural features that lead either to assimilation or transformation, it is easier to balance between renewal and effective operations.

Innovation in a Non-Formal Adult Education Organisation – Multi-Case Study in Four Adult Education Centres

More than ever, education organisations are experiencing the need to develop new services and processes to satisfy expanding and changing customer needs and to adapt to the environmental changes and continually tightening economic situation. Innovation has been found in many studies to have a crucial role in the success of an organisation, both in the private and public sectors, in formal education and in manufacturing and services alike. However, studies concerning innovation in non-formal adult education organisations, such as adult education centres (AECs) in Finland, are still lacking. This study investigates innovation in the non-formal adult education organisation context from the perspective of organisational culture types and social networks. The objective is to determine the significant characteristics of an innovative non-formal adult education organisation. The analysis is based on data from interviews with the principals and fulltime staff of four case AECs. Before the case study, a pre-study phase is accomplished in order to obtain a preliminary understanding of innovation at AECs. The research found strong support for the need of innovation in AECs. Innovation is basically needed to accomplish the AEC system’s primary mission mentioned in the ACT on Liberal Adult Education. In addition, innovation is regarded vital to institutes and may prevent their decline. It helps the institutes to be more attractive, to enter new market, to increase customer satisfaction and to be on the cutting edge. Innovation is also seen as a solution to the shortage of resources. Innovative AECs search actively for additional resources for development work through project funding and subsidies, cooperation networks and creating a conversational and joyful atmosphere in the institute. The findings also suggest that the culture type that supports innovation at AECs is multidimensional, with an emphasis on the clan and adhocratic culture types and such values as: dynamism, future orientation, acquiring new resources, mistake tolerance, openness, flexibility, customer orientation, a risk-taking attitude, and community spirit. Active and creative internal and external cooperation also promote innovation at AECs. This study also suggests that the behaviour of a principal is crucial. The way he or she shows appreciation the staff, encouragement and support to the staff and his or her approachability and concrete participation in innovation activities have a strong effect on innovation attitudes and activities in AECs.