Relatório de Estágio de Qualificação Profissional

No âmbito do Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.ºCiclo do Ensino Básico, desenvolveu-se o presente relatório de qualificação profissional, em que será analisada de forma reflexiva a Prática Pedagógica Supervisionada da mestranda, em contexto da Educação Pré-Escolar. O objetivo fulcral da desta intervenção em contexto educativo consistiu em promover a construção de aprendizagens que permitissem uma tomada de consciência do compromisso e responsabilidade atribuída ao Educador de Infância. A formanda teve oportunidade de desenvolver um perfil próprio enquanto futura Educadora de Infância, tendo como base as Orientações Curriculares para a Educação Pré-Escolar, num processo ativo de investigação-ação. Comparando a ação educativa da formanda em momentos iniciais do estágio, com momentos já mais avançados neste processo, reconhece-se uma evolução nas dimensões da observação, planificação, ação, reflexão e avaliação, que compõem o ciclo reflexivo da metodologia supracitada, evolução essa que resultou num progressivo desenvolvimento de competência profissionais. Durante a intervenção no contexto educativo, a formanda recorreu a estratégias e instrumentos de reflexão, nomeadamente os guiões de pré- observação, as planificações, as narrativas colaborativas, os diários de formação, as notas de campo e as reuniões com o Supervisor Institucional, a Educadora Cooperante e a díade de formação. A organização do ambiente educativo consistiu numa das preocupações da formanda, que procurou atender à necessidade de organizar de forma flexível o espaço, tempo e grupo.

Entre a oposição e a negociação : Um projeto de investigação-ação sobre o papel do adulto na prevenção e mediação de conflitos entre pares na infância

Esta investigação surgiu da identificação de dificuldades ao nível da interação e gestão de conflitos entre pares, que a investigadora teve a oportunidade de observar no grupo de crianças com quem desenvolvia a sua prática educativa. Este estudo tem como objetivo compreender de que forma a transformação da praxis do educador influencia os processos de prevenção e a mediação dos conflitos entre pares no jardim-de-infância. Tendo em conta as formas e as características das relações entre pares na infância bem como o desenvolvimento moral das crianças em idade préescolar, a investigadora levou a cabo um projeto de investigação-ação com um grupo de vinte e quatro crianças de cinco anos. Ao longo do projeto, a investigadora procurou conhecer e experimentar estratégias de prevenção e mediação de conflitos interpares, monitorizando esse processo através da reflexão sobre a ação, assim como compreender os efeitos dessa experimentação no desenvolvimento profissional e na aprendizagem das crianças. Os processos do projeto são apresentados através de uma descrição densa dos eixos centrais da ação: construção do quadro de regras, organização do tempo e do grupo, organização do espaço e dos materiais, experimentação de instrumentos de pilotagem, reunião de grande grupo e estratégias de resolução de conflitos. Os dados apresentados resultam da interpretação das categorias emergentes da análise das entrevistas e das notas de campo. Através dessa interpretação, foi possível constatar os efeitos positivos do projeto, não apenas ao nível das competências de escuta e de negociação das crianças, mas também para a prática profissional da investigadora, que desenvolveu competências de reflexão e de autossupervisão.

Relatório de estágio em Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

Relatório EPE - Relatório de estágio em Educação Pré-Escolar: O presente relatório de estágio foi realizado no âmbito da Unidade Curricular (UC) de Prática Pedagógica Supervisionada na Educação Pré-Escolar, inserida no Mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico. Sendo que este perspetiva o percurso de formação da mestranda, importa conceptualizar os referenciais teóricos e legais que sustentaram a sua ação e a metodologia utlizada durante todo o processo – investigação-ação – que inclui os seguintes processos educativos: a observação, a planificação, a ação, a avaliação e a reflexão. A Prática Pedagógica Supervisionada realizou-se na valência de creche, no Colégio Novo da Maia e teve como principais objetivos o desenvolvimento das competências profissionais e disposições subjacentes ao Perfil Geral e Específico de Desempenho do Educador de Infância. Apoiando a sua prática através da observação, recolha de dados, análise constante da ação e reflexão crítica permanente, a formanda, regulou-se pela metodologia de investigação-ação enquanto “processo em que os participantes analisam as suas próprias práticas educativas de uma forma sistemática e aprofundada” (Coutinho et al, 2009, p.360), com vista ao desenvolvimento de competências relativas a um educador enquanto investigador da própria ação. Importa acrescentar que o período de estágio foi de 210 horas e decorreu em díade de formação. A colaboração entre todos os atores intervenientes no contexto da prática pedagógica supervisionada “visa a construção de um perfil profissional que promova o desenvolvimento das competências socioprofissionais e pessoais, de forma fundamentada, reflexiva, integrada e autonomizante, à luz do princípio da aprendizagem ao longo da vida” (Ribeiro, 2013, p.2).

Reconceptualising public spaces of (IN)equality: sensing and creating layers of visibility

Tese apresentada para cumprimento dos requisitos necessários à obtenção do grau de Doutor em Geografia e Planeamento Territorial - Especialidade: Geografia Humana

Saber cooperar para saber aprender: contributos da aprendizagem cooperativa na promoção de competências sociais e no sucesso educativo através do desenvolvimento de um projeto curricular integrado

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1.º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

O papel de crianças e adultos no desenvolvimento de um Trabalho de projeto: relato de um caso

Relatório de estágio de mestrado em Educação Pré-Escolar e Ensino do 1º Ciclo do Ensino Básico

Aplicação de princípios e ferramentas lean numa unidade de cirurgia de ambulatório de um hospital

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Engenharia Industrial

Second-hand tobacco smoke in prison: tackling a public health matter through research.

OBJECTIVES: This action-research study conducted in a Swiss male post-trial detention centre (120 detainees and 120 staff) explored the attitudes of detainees and staff towards tobacco smoking. Tackling public health matters through research involving stakeholders in prisons implies benefits and risks that need exploration. STUDY DESIGN: The observational study involved multiple strands (quantitative and qualitative components, and air quality measurements). This article presents qualitative data on participants' attitudes and expectations about research in a prison setting. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were used to explore the attitudes of detainees and staff towards smoking before and after a smoke-free regulation change in the prison in 2009. Specific coding and thematic content analysis for research were performed with the support of ATLAS.ti. RESULTS: In total, 77 interviews were conducted (38 before the regulation change and 39 after the regulation change) with 31 detainees (mean age 35 years, range 22-60 years) and 27 prison staff (mean age 46 years, range 29-65 years). Both detainees and staff expressed satisfaction regarding their involvement in the study, and wished to be informed about the results. They expected concrete changes in smoke-free regulation, and that the research would help to find ways to motivate detainees to quit smoking. CONCLUSION: Active involvement of stakeholders promotes public health. Interviewing detainees and prison staff as part of an action-research study aimed at tackling a public health matter is a way of raising awareness and facilitating change in prisons. Research needs to be conducted independently from the prison administrators in order to increase trust and to avoid misunderstandings.

IPH response to 'Towards a Childcare Strategy' (Northern Ireland)

The remit of the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) is to promote cooperation for public health between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the areas of research and information, capacity building and policy advice. Our approach is to support Departments of Health and their agencies in both jurisdictions, and maximise the benefits of all-island cooperation to achieve practical benefits for people in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Giving every child the best start in life is recognised by governments worldwide as the most effective way to improve life chances and health outcomes.  This is one of IPH’s key strategic action areas in our Business Plan and we endorse the need for early intervention, particularly in tackling health inequalities and improving the health and wellbeing of children in the most disadvantaged communities.  International evidence is increasingly pointing towards investment in the early years as a critical component of any sensible approach to improving population health and tackling health inequalities across the life course (WHO, 2008 and Marmot, 2010).  It is also apparent that Northern Ireland public policy is now reorienting towards achieving better and fairer outcomes in the early years, as demonstrated through the recent draft public health strategy (DHSSPS, 2012a) and the draft early years strategy (Department of Education, 2012).

Mercury analysis in hair: comparability and quality assessment within the transnational COPHES/DEMOCOPHES project

Human biomonitoring (HBM) is an effective tool for assessing actual exposure to chemicals that takes into account all routes of intake. Although hair analysis is considered to be an optimal biomarker for assessing mercury exposure, the lack of harmonization as regards sampling and analytical procedures has often limited the comparison of data at national and international level. The European-funded projects COPHES and DEMOCOPHES developed and tested a harmonized European approach to Human Biomonitoring in response to the European Environment and Health Action Plan. Herein we describe the quality assurance program (QAP) for assessing mercury levels in hair samples from more than 1800 mother-child pairs recruited in 17 European countries. To ensure the comparability of the results, standard operating procedures (SOPs) for sampling and for mercury analysis were drafted and distributed to participating laboratories. Training sessions were organized for field workers and four external quality-assessment exercises (ICI/EQUAS), followed by the corresponding web conferences, were organized between March 2011 and February 2012. ICI/EQUAS used native hair samples at two mercury concentration ranges (0.20-0.71 and 0.80-1.63) per exercise. The results revealed relative standard deviations of 7.87-13.55% and 4.04-11.31% for the low and high mercury concentration ranges, respectively. A total of 16 out of 18 participating laboratories the QAP requirements and were allowed to analyze samples from the DEMOCOPHES pilot study. Web conferences after each ICI/EQUAS revealed this to be a new and effective tool for improving analytical performance and increasing capacity building. The procedure developed and tested in COPHES/DEMOCOPHES would be optimal for application on a global scale as regards implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

Innovative Culture – Searching for Innovativeness in a Construction Company

The purpose of the thesis is to study innovativeness in a context of the construction industry especially the front-end of the innovation process. The construction industry is often considered an old-fashioned manufacturing industry. Innovations and innovativeness are rarely linked to the industry. The construction industry, as well as other industries in Finland, is facing challenges such as productivity, the climate change and internationalization. The meaning of innovations is greater than ever in continuously changing markets, for standing out from competitors or increasing the competitiveness. Traditional production methods, tight building regulations, unique buildings, one-of-a-kind project organizations and highlighting the cheapest price in building contracts are particular challenges in the construction industry. The research questions of the thesis were: - What kind of factors shift the existing company culture towards innovativeness? - What are the phases of the front-end of the innovation process? - What kind of tools and methods enable managing the front-end of the innovation process? The theoretical part of the thesis bases on the literature review. The research methodology of the empirical part was the action research and qualitative approach. Empirical data was collected by the theme interviews from three companies. The results were practical methods and experiences from innovation activities of the companies. The results of the thesis can be clarified as follows: enhancement of the innovation activities requires support and commitment of the top management, innovative culture and innovation strategy. Innovativeness can be promoted by systematical methods for example collecting ideas from employees. Controlling and managing the front-end phase is essential to succeeding. Despite that managing the front-end is the most challenging part of the innovation process, development and management of that save companies’ money, resources and prevents useless investments. Further clarification and studies are needed to find out furthermore functional tools and methods to manage innovations and implementing them to the culture of the companies.

Reflexive model of research-based theatre – processing innovation at the crossroads of theatre, reflection and practice-based innovation activities

Contemporary organisations have to embrace the notion of doing ‘more with less’. This challenges knowledge production within companies and public organisations, forcing them to reorganise their structures and rethink what knowledge production actually means in the context of innovation and how knowledge is actually produced among various professional groups within the organisation in their everyday actions. Innovations are vital for organisational survival, and ‘ordinary’ employees and customers are central but too-often ignored producers of knowledge for contemporary organisations. Broader levels of participation and reflexive practices are needed. This dissertation discusses the missing links between innovation research conducted in the context of industrial management, arts, and culture; applied drama and theatre practices (specifically post-Boalian approaches); and learning – especially organising reflection – in organisational settings. This dissertation (1) explores and extends the role of research-based theatre to organising reflection and reflexive practices in the context of practice-based innovation, (2) develops a reflexive model of RBT for investigating and developing practice-based organisational process innovations in order to contribute to the development of a tool for innovation management and analysis, and (3) operationalises this model within private- and publicsector organisations. The proposed novel reflexive model of research-based theatre for investigating and developing practice-based organisational process innovations extends existing methods and offers a different way of organising reflection and reflexive practices in the context of general innovation management. The model was developed through five participatory action research processes conducted in four different organisations. The results provide learning steps – a reflection path – for understanding complex organisational life, people, and relations amid renewal and change actions. The proposed model provides a new approach to organising and cultivating reflexivity in practice-based innovation activities via research-based theatre. The results can be utilised as a guideline when processing practice-based innovation within private or public organisations. The model helps innovation managers to construct, together with their employees, temporary communities where they can learn together through reflecting on their own and each others’ experiences and to break down assumptions related to their own perspectives. The results include recommendations for practical development steps applicable in various organisations with regard to (i) application of research-based theatre and (ii) related general innovation management. The dissertation thus contributes to the development of novel learning approaches in knowledge production. Keywords: practice-based innovation, research-based theatre, learning, reflection, mode 2b knowledge production

Tuotehyväksynnän hallinta rakennusliikkeessä

Rakennusalan tuotehyväksyntä muuttuu EU:n rakennustuoteasetuksen astuessa voimaan 1.7.2013, jolloin CE-merkintä tulee pakolliseksi suurella osalle rakennustuotteita. Muutos aiheuttaa toimia yli 4000 suomalaisyrityksessä, jotka joutuvat hankkimaan tuotteelleen CE-merkinnän. Rakennustuoteasetus vaikuttaa kaikkiin alan toimijoihin. Tämä diplomityö on toteutettu toimintatutkimuksena, johon sisältyvien teemahaastattelujen kautta saatujen tutkimustulosten perusteella kehitettiin tuotehyväksynnän hallintaan työkalu, YIT-tuotehyväksyntäkortit. Ne laadittiin tuotehyväksynnän teoriaan pohjalta palvelemaan koko YIT Rakennus Oy:tä ja muokattiin yrityksen tarpeisiin sopiviksi soveltaen toimintatutkimuksen tuloksia. YIT-tuotehyväksyntäkortiston avulla pyritään kehittämään yrityksen toimintatapoja vaikuttamalla organisaation henkilöstöön osallistamalla ja vastuuttamalla heitä. Tuotehyväksynnän vaikutuksia rakennushankkeen eri vaiheisiin tutkittiin havainnoivan keskustelun avulla ja teemahaastatteluiden tuloksia analysoiden. YIT-tuotehyväksyntäkortistoa hallinnan välineenä testattiin pääasiassa haastattelujen avulla, sillä mallikortit eivät vielä mahdollistaneet laajempaa testausta käytännössä. Työn tuloksina esitellään YIT-tuotehyväksyntäkorttien laadintaprosessi ja paneudutaan tarkemmin korttien sisältöön.

Enabling Change in Universities: Enhancing Education for Sustainable Development with Tools for Quality Assurance

Enabling Change in Universities: Enhancing Education for Sustainable Development with Tools for Quality Assurance This thesis deals with enabling change in universities, more explicitly enhancing education for sustainable development with tools for quality assurance. Change management is a discipline within management that was developed in the 1980s because business changed from being predictable to unpredictable. The PEST mnemonic is a method to categorize factors enabling change; such as political, economic, socio-cultural and technological factors, which all affect higher education. A classification of a change, in either hard or soft, can help understanding the type of change that an organization is facing. Hard changes are more applied to problems that have clear objectives and indicators, with a known cause of the problem. Soft changes are applied to larger problems that affect the entire organization or beyond it. The basic definition for sustainable development is: the future generations should have similar opportunities as the previous. The UN has set as a global goal an integration of education for sustainable development (ESD) at all levels of education during 2005- 2014. The goal is set also in universities, the graduates of which are future leaders for all labor markets. The objective for ESD in higher education is that graduates obtain the competence to take economic, social and environmental costs and benefits into account when making decisions. Knowledge outcomes should aim for systematic and holistic thinking, which requires cross disciplinary education. So far, the development of ESD has not achieved its goals. The UN has identified a need for more transdisclipnary research in ESD. A joint global requirement for universities is quality assurance, the aim of which is to secure and improve teaching and learning. Quality, environmental and integrated management systems are used by some universities for filling the quality assurance requirements. The goal of this thesis is to open up new ways for enhancing ESD in universities, beyond the forerunners; by exploring how management systems could be used as tools for promoting ESD. The thesis is based on five studies. In the first study, I focus on if and how tools for quality assurance could be benefitted for promoting ESD. It is written from a new perspective, the memetic, for reaching a diversity of faculty. A meme is an idea that diffuses from brain to brain. It can be applied for cultural evolution. It is a theory that is based on the evolutionary theory by Darwin, applied for social sciences. In the second Paper, I present the results from the development of the pilot process model for enhancing ESD with management systems. The development of the model is based on a study that includes earlier studies, a survey in academia and an analysis of the practice in 11 universities in the Nordic countries. In the third study, I explore if the change depends on national culture or if it is global. It is a comparative study on both policy and implementation level, between the Nordic countries and China. The fourth study is a single case study based on change management. In this study, I identify what to consider in order to enable the change: enhancing ESD with tools for quality assurance in universities. In the fifth Paper, I present the results of the process model for enhancing ESD with management systems. The model was compared with identified drivers and barriers for enhancing ESD and for implementing management systems. Finally, the process model was piloted and applied for identifying sustainability aspects in curricula. Action research was chosen as methodology because there are not already implemented approaches using quality management for promoting ESD, why the only way to study this is to make it happen. Another reason for choosing action research is since it is essential to involve students and faculty for enhancing ESD. Action based research consists of the following phases: a) diagnosing, b) planning action, c) taking action and d) evaluating action. This research was made possible by a project called Education for Sustainable Development in Academia in the Nordic countries, ESDAN, in which activities were divided into these four phases. Each phase ended with an open seminar, where the results of the study were presented. The objective for the research project was to develop a process for including knowledge in sustainable development in curricula, which could be used in the quality assurance work. Eleven universities from the Nordic countries cooperated in the project. The aim was, by applying the process, to identify and publish examples of relevant sustainability aspects in different degree programs in universities in the Nordic countries. The project was partly financed by the Nordic Council of Ministers and partly by the participating pilot universities. Based on the results of my studies, I consider that quality, environmental and integrated management systems can be used for promoting ESD in universities. Relevant sustainability aspects have been identified in different fields of studies by applying the final process model. The final process model was compared with drivers and barriers for enhancing ESD and for implementing management systems in universities and with succeeding with management systems in industry. It corresponds with these, meaning that drivers are taken into account and barriers tackled. Both ESD and management systems in universities could be considered successful memes, which can reflect an effective way of communication among individuals. I have identified that management systems could be used as tools for hard changes and to support the soft change of enhancing ESD in universities with management system. Based on the change management study I have summarized recommendations on what to consider in order to enable the studied change. The main practical implications of the results are that the process model could be applied for assessment, benchmarking and communication of ESD, connected to quality assurance, when applied. This is possible because the information can be assembled in one picture, which facilitates comparison. The memetic approach can be applied for structuring. It is viable to make comparative studies between cultures, for getting insight in special characteristics of the own culture. Action based research is suitable for involving faculty. Change management can be applied for planning a change, which both enhancing ESD and developing management systems are identified to be.

Building a Roadmap for a Market Intelligence function in a Global B2B company

Tämän diplomityötutkimuksen tarkoituksena on luoda markkinaälyyn (MI) erikoistunut funktio suurelle, globaalisti toimivalle B2B-yritykselle. Tämän päivän muut-tuvilla markkinoilla, teollisuusyrityksen on oltava markkinalähtöinen selviytyäkseen. Markkinatiedon tehokas hyödyntäminen ei pelkästään luo tietoa markkinoista, vaan tuottaa kilpailukykyistä tietoa ja toimii strategisen päätöksenteon tukena pitkällä aikavälillä. Tämä tutkimus on kvalitatiivinen toimintatutkimus, joka sisältää kirjallisuuskat-sauksen, yritystapaustutkimuksen sekä syväanalyysin yrityksen MI-ympäristöstä. Kirjallisuuskatsaus pitää sisällään teoriaa liittyen markkinaälyyn useassa eri kon-tekstissa, asiakassuhteeseen, sekä prosessinmallintamiseen. Empiiriseen osaa seuraa tutkimusmenetelmäkappale, joka sisältää kaksivaiheisen tutkimuksen mukaan lu-kien 20 päällikkötason haastattelua sekä yhden laaja-alaisen työryhmätapaamisen. Työn tuloksena syntyy kolmivaiheinen tiekartta, jonka tarkoitus on toimia pohjana uuden MI-funktion rakentamiselle Case-yrityksessä. Tuloksen mukaan MI-funktio tulisi sijoittaa yrityksen asiakasrajapintaan sekä tukea yksiköiden välistä integraa-tiota. Markkinaälyn jakaminen yrityksen sisällä vaatii käytäntöjen, tarpeiden ja ta-voitteiden systemaattista viestintää eri organisaatiotasoille, jotta yritys voi edelleen saada asiakkaalta tarpeeseen vastaavaa tietoa. Viestintä yrityksen ja asiakkaan välil-lä on oltava molemminpuolista, jotta tulokset voisivat parantaa asiakassuhdetta. Kun asiakassuhde paranee, yritys voi oppia asiakkaalta arvokasta tietoa, markkinaälyä.