Implementation of educational change in Finland: The case of the undivided basic education reform

For the past decades, educational large-scale reforms have been elaborated and implemented in many countries and often resulted in partial or complete failure. These results brought researchers to study policy processes in order to address this particular challenge. Studies on implementation processes brought to light an existing causal relationship between the implementation process and the effectiveness of a reform. This study aims to describe the implementation process of educational change in Finland, who produced efficient educational reforms over the last 50 years. The case study used for the purpose of this study is the national reform of undivided basic education (yhtenäinen peruskoulu) implemented in the end of the 1990s. Therefore, this research aims to describe how the Finnish undivided basic education reform was implemented. This research was carried out using a pluralist and structuralist approach of policy process and was analyzed according to the hybrid model of implementation process. The data were collected using a triangulation of methods, i.e. documentary research, interviews and questionnaires. The data were qualitative and were analyzed using content analysis methods. This study concludes that the undivided basic education reform was applied in a very decentralized manner, which is a reflection of the decentralized system present in Finland. Central authorities provided a clear vision of the purpose of the reform, but did not control the implementation process. They rather provided extensive support in the form of transmission of information and development of collaborative networks. Local authorities had complete autonomy in terms of decision-making and implementation process. Discussions, debates and decisions regarding implementation processes took place at the local level and included the participation of all actors present on the field. Implementation methods differ from a region to another, with is the consequence of the variation of the level of commitment of local actors but also the diversity of local realities. The reform was implemented according to existing structures and values, which means that it was in cohesion with the context in which it was implemented. These results cannot be generalized to all implementation processes of educational change in Finland but give a great insight of what could be the model used in Finland. Future studies could intent to confirm the model described here by studying other reforms that took place in Finland.

Implementation of educational change in Finland: The case of the undivided basic education reform

For the past decades, educational large-scale reforms have been elaborated and implemented in many countries and often resulted in partial or complete failure. These results brought researchers to study policy processes in order to address this particular challenge. Studies on implementation processes brought to light an existing causal relationship between the implementation process and the effectiveness of a reform. This study aims to describe the implementation process of educational change in Finland, who produced efficient educational reforms over the last 50 years. The case study used for the purpose of this study is the national reform of undivided basic education (yhtenäinen peruskoulu) implemented in the end of the 1990s. Therefore, this research aims to describe how the Finnish undivided basic education reform was implemented. This research was carried out using a pluralist and structuralist approach of policy process and was analyzed according to the hybrid model of implementation process. The data were collected using a triangulation of methods, i.e. documentary research, interviews and questionnaires. The data were qualitative and were analyzed using content analysis methods. This study concludes that the undivided basic education reform was applied in a very decentralized manner, which is a reflection of the decentralized system present in Finland. Central authorities provided a clear vision of the purpose of the reform, but did not control the implementation process. They rather provided extensive support in the form of transmission of information and development of collaborative networks. Local authorities had complete autonomy in terms of decision-making and implementation process. Discussions, debates and decisions regarding implementation processes took place at the local level and included the participation of all actors present on the field. Implementation methods differ from a region to another, with is the consequence of the variation of the level of commitment of local actors but also the diversity of local realities. The reform was implemented according to existing structures and values, which means that it was in cohesion with the context in which it was implemented. These results cannot be generalized to all implementation processes of educational change in Finland but give a great insight of what could be the model used in Finland. Future studies could intent to confirm the model described here by studying other reforms that took place in Finland.

Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland

Janamittakaava: Nautical Miles 60 to a degree.

Sweden, Denmark, Norway & Finland

Janamittakaava: Nautical Miles 60 to a degree.

Vidrörd av livet i dödens närhet - att varda som människa och vårdare i vårdandets gemenskap

The overall aim of the study is to create a theory model of “becoming” as a human being and health care provider in the caring communion at the end-of-life. The theoretical perspective of the study is caring science as it is developed at Åbo Academy University in Finland outlined in Eriksson's theory of caritative caring with focus on caring ethics. The thesis consists of four sub-studies reported as scientific articles and a summary section. The study has an overarching hermeneutic research approach. The sub-studies I-IV are reinterpreted from viewpoint of the overall question. Empirical assumptions could then be discerned from the substance of the four substudies, which raised questions. The answers to these questions were sought in dialogue with selected texts by Kierkegaard and resulted in a theory model. The theory model results in following theses: 1. To “become” as a human being is to remain in an endless guilt. Guilt is a form of love. It is guilt that give strength and willingness to act in love and mercy when caring for patients at the end-of-life. The guilt as love allows becoming as a human being to be at home in love and mercy. 2. The human being’s courage is characterized as the willingness to obtain contact with the life of fellow human beings. This courage develops over time to stand for itself, with a foundation of belief in human beings, and resulting in a selfless, loving way to help the patients grieve and reconcile at the end-of-life. 3. To be “touched” can be illustrated as an inner awakening; an inner movement towards consciousness for the examination of the love for one another, and to love unselfishly. 4. The human being’s evolution in its own understanding of life occurs in the care of another human being who is at the end-of-life, as well as to be at home in ethos, love and mercy. Becoming in this context means that the human being evolves to become responsive to the heart's inner voice; an inner strength and joy which opens to the eternal and holy. 5. To overcome external obstacles is characterized as serving human beings in a selfless love; a caring in love that has requirements that need to be expressed by what is true, beautiful and good for patients at the end-of-life. An awareness and understanding of what it means to become as a human being and health care provider in caring community can help health care providers to easily focus on the patient.

En jämförelse av olika kommunikationstekniker och systemarkitekturiska lösningar vid uppbyggnad av nätverk i naturen.

Att konstruera ett tidtagningssystem för enduro i skogen leder till flera frågor som måste undersökas och besvaras. Vilken kommunikationsteknik ska användas och vilken systemarkitekturisk lösning passar bäst? Att dra kabel ute i skogen är ett bra sätt att lösa det kommunikationstekniska problemet, lösningen är säker och relativt billig. Visst påverkas priset av distansen mellan olika klienter ute i skogen, men alla positiva egenskaper hos tekniken gör denna kostnad värd sitt pris. De geografiska variationer som kan finnas är de som kan spela ut de övriga teknikerna i form av stabilitet. En snabb resultatförmedling kräver ett system som har en väl uppbyggd systemarkitektur. Vid tidtagning kommer data i form av tider skickas från klienterna direkt till huvudservern, ingen mellanlagring sker utan data lagras centralt vilket förespråkas i IRM. Dessutom kommer ingen redundans att accepteras, vilket även det förespråkas av IRM. Det finns även flera andra parametrar som väger för att välja IRM, vilket är det som rekommenderas utifrån den analys som gjorts i denna uppsats.

Utveckling av karttjänst i ASP.NET

Syftet med projektet var att tillverka en webbaserad kartvisningstjänst för att visualisera geografiska och infrastrukturella förändringar över tiden. Detta genom att historiska och dagsaktuella kartor överlappas och presenteras som en bild.Applikationen utvecklades i ASP.NET med programspråket Visual Basic. Som databashanterare användes Microsoft SQL-server 2000. För bearbetning av kartmaterialet användes Arcview 8. Som utvecklingsmetod användes David Siegels modell för att konstruera webbplatser. Rapporten tar upp Ben Schniedermans principer för att skapa användarvänliga webbapplikationer.Examensarbetet genomfördes våren 2004 vid Högskolan Dalarna, campus Framtidsdalen, Borlänge.

Med hängslen & livrem : Rusthåll för Finlandskämpar i Finskt vinterkrig, 1939-1940

Jag har i denna uppsats undersökt Rusthållningsrörelsen som den förekom under det finska vinterkriget. Jag har forskat kring hur utbredningen av denna rörelse sett ut och kommit fram till att organisationen var rikstäckande – om än ej helt homogen! Rusthållen bildades för att ge ekonomiskt bistånd till svenskar från regionen som åkte över till Finland för att strida sida vid sida med våra finska ”bröder”. En tid efter det att de lokala rusthållen bildats grundades Centrala Rusthållet. Centrala Rusthållets målsättning var att skapa en likformighet i de utbetalade ekonomiska understöden, samt att kunna verka som ett stöd på de orter och i de regioner där det inte fanns några lokala eller regionala rusthåll. Den lokala föreningen betalade ut pengar både till de frivilligas anhöriga och direkt till de frivilliga som kompensation för bland annat förstörda kläder. I uppsatsen har jag granskat ett lokalt Rusthåll vid namn Strängnäs-Mariefredsortens Rusthåll för Finlandskämpar. I denna förening har jag kommit fram till att det finns en socioekonomisk bredd bland den anslutna medlemspopulationen. Jag har kommit fram till detta genom att dela in medlemmarnas yrken i grupper så som kyrka, vård och skola etcetera. Jag har även, för att styrka detta, letat upp medlemmarna i 1940 års taxeringslängd och där hittat en väldigt stor spridning på inkomstnivåerna bland de enskilda medlemmarna. Vidare har jag kunnat konstatera att denna förening till största delen består av män. Det går därför att hävda att den lokala föreningen i Strängnäs-Mariefred har en könstendens. En tendens som understryks av de facto att föreningens styrelse enbart består av män!

Folkskoleseminariet i Falun : En geografisk rekryteringsstudie av folkskoleseminarister 1875-1950

Denna studie ska undersöka den geografiska rekryteringen av de antagna eleverna vid det kvinnliga folkskoleseminariet i Falun från 1875 till 1950. Resultaten jämförs med två liknade studier samt ställs mot den urbanisering och befolkningsökning som skedde under den studerade perioden. Resultaten visar små förändringar över tiden, där rekryteringen var nära nog rikstäckande med en majoritet från nuvarande Dalarnas län och närliggande län. De antagna var i huvudsak från landsbygden, där det inte skedde några förändringar trots befolkningsökning och urbanisering under den studerade perioden. Detta visar på att Faluns seminarium var betydelsefullt för den lokala bildningen, och då framför allt på landsbygden. Resultatet visar dessutom på en kontinuitet i den geografiska rekryteringen.

Vilka är det som stryker omkring? : En studie av lösdriveriet i Östersund 1885-1899

Uppsatsens syfte är att utifrån lösdrivarprotokoll från stadsfiskalen i Östersund att kartlägga och utforska lösdriveriet i Östersund under åren 1885-1899. Dessa protokoll har sammanställts för att kunna besvara frågor om lösdriveriets omfattning i staden, lösdrivarnas demografi, omständigheterna kring deras fasttagande och mantalsskrivningsort. Uppsatsens resultat har också, i en komparativ del, satts i relation till studier över lösdrivarsituationen i andra städer under den aktuella tiden, för att på så sätt jämföra Östersunds lösdriveri i förhållande till andra delar av Sverige.Resultatet visar att totalt 304 fall av lösdriveri finns dokumenterat i Östersund under den aktuella tiden, och den största andelen anhölls mellan åren 1889-1893. En stor majoritet av lösdrivarna var män, kvinnorna utgör endast 9 procent av Östersunds lösdrivare. Medelåldern var strax under 36 år och det vanligaste yrket var arbetare. Studien visar att den geografiska spridningen av lösdrivarna mantalsskrivningsort var stor och nästintill alla Sveriges län finns representerade.

Geografiundervisning om eller med GIS : En intervjustudie om gymnasielärares didaktiska val för implementering av GIS i geografiundervisningen

I studien har gymnasielärares didaktiska val för implementering av geografiska informationssystem (GIS) i geografiundervisningen undersökts. Resultatet baseras på intervjuer med sex stycken respondenter, vilka har framhållit sina erfarenheter, tillämpnings- och förhållningssätt till GIS. De slutsatser som framkommer är att respondenterna enbart använder webbaserade och kostnadsfria GIS-program i undervisningen. I dessa tillämpas GIS som ett verktyg för att behandla olika frågor i undervisningen, och därmed är det undervisning, med hjälp av GIS, som karakteriserar respondenternas användning. De didaktiska valen behandlar naturgeografiska förhållanden, såsom landformer. Vissa respondenter använder också GIS till att behandla frågor med utgångspunkt i kulturgeografiska förhållanden, till exempel olika typer av befolkningsfrågor. Att arbeta tvärvetenskapligt i GIS, således mot ämnets två vetenskapliga discipliner, är inte karakteristiskt för alla respondenter. Dessutom använder ett fåtal respondenter fortfarande kartboken, eller låter eleverna rita kartor för hand.   Nästan alla respondenter anser att de vill, och behöver, öka användningen av GIS i och med utformningen av de nya kursplanerna för geografiämnet i Gy11. Emellertid hämmas respondenternas möjligheter att undervisa i geografiska informationssystem av en kombination av brist på tid, resurser och kunskap. 

MÖJLIGHETER OCH HINDER INOM PREVENTIVT HIV/AIDS-ARBETE : En intervjuundersökning, i Zambia, om rådgivares upplevelser

HIV/Aids är ett av de största globala problemen och utmaningar av idag. Södra Afrika är särskilt drabbat och detta påverkar många olika delar av mänskligt liv. Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att söka ökad förståelse för hur maktstrukturer, utifrån fem rådgivares upplevelser, påverkar det preventiva HIV/Aids arbetet. Vilka faktorer som utgör möjligheter och hinder samt ifall maktstrukturer bidrar till att inte förändring av beteende sker trots kunskap om dess risker, har getts stort fokus. Det geografiska området för studien var södra Zambia. Det finns inget givet svar på vår forskningsfråga, utan resultatet visar snarare på motsatser och komplexitet. Vår utgångspunkt har varit att det inte finns något självklart rätt eller fel och inte heller en enda sanning. Dock är vår slutsats att de möjligheter som finns kan basera sig i att ta hänsyn till lokala förhållanden och maktstrukturer.

Partial melting within the lower crust – Constraints from bulk rock geochemical data and trace element mineral analyses of granulites and migmatites from Central Finland

This PhD thesis concerns geochemical constraints on recycling and partial melting of Archean continental crust. A natural example of such processes was found in the Iisalmi area of Central Finland. The rocks from this area are Middle to Late Archean in age and experienced metamorphism and partial melting between 2.7-2.63 Ga. The work is based on extensive field work. It is furthermore founded on bulk rock geochemical data as well as in-situ analyses of minerals. All geochemical data were obtained at the Institute of Geosciences, University of Mainz using X-ray fluorescence, solution ICP-MS and laser ablation-ICP-MS for bulk rock geochemical analyses. Mineral analyses were accomplished by electron microprobe and laser ablation ICP-MS. Fluid inclusions were studied by microscope on a heating-freezing-stage at the Geoscience Center, University Göttingen. Part I focuses on the development of a new analytical method for bulk rock trace element determination by laser ablation-ICP-MS using homogeneous glasses fused from rock powder on an Iridium strip heater. This method is applicable for mafic rock samples whose melts have low viscosities and homogenize quickly at temperatures of ~1200°C. Highly viscous melts of felsic samples prevent melting and homogenization at comparable temperatures. Fusion of felsic samples can be enabled by addition of MgO to the rock powder and adjustment of melting temperature and melting duration to the rock composition. Advantages of the fusion method are low detection limits compared to XRF analyses and avoidance of wet-chemical processing and use of strong acids as in solution ICP-MS as well as smaller sample volumes compared to the other methods. Part II of the thesis uses bulk rock geochemical data and results from fluid inclusion studies for discrimination of melting processes observed in different rock types. Fluid inclusion studies demonstrate a major change in fluid composition from CO2-dominated fluids in granulites to aqueous fluids in TTG gneisses and amphibolites. Partial melts were generated in the dry, CO2-rich environment by dehydration melting reactions of amphibole which in addition to tonalitic melts produced the anhydrous mineral assemblages of granulites (grt + cpx + pl ± amph or opx + cpx + pl + amph). Trace element modeling showed that mafic granulites are residues of 10-30 % melt extraction from amphibolitic precursor rocks. The maximum degree of melting in intermediate granulites was ~10 % as inferred from modal abundances of amphibole, clinopyroxene and orthopyroxene. Carbonic inclusions are absent in upper-amphibolite facies migmatites whereas aqueous inclusion with up to 20 wt% NaCl are abundant. This suggests that melting within TTG gneisses and amphibolites took place in the presence of an aqueous fluid phase that enabled melting at the wet solidus at temperatures of 700-750°C. The strong disruption of pre-metamorphic structures in some outcrops suggests that the maximum amount of melt in TTG gneisses was ~25 vol%. The presence of leucosomes in all rock types is taken as the principle evidence for melt formation. However, mineralogical appearance as well as major and trace element composition of many leucosomes imply that leucosomes seldom represent frozen in-situ melts. They are better considered as remnants of the melt channel network, e.g. ways on which melts escaped from the system. Part III of the thesis describes how analyses of minerals from a specific rock type (granulite) can be used to determine partition coefficients between different minerals and between minerals and melt suitable for lower crustal conditions. The trace element analyses by laser ablation-ICP-MS show coherent distribution among the principal mineral phases independent of rock composition. REE contents in amphibole are about 3 times higher than REE contents in clinopyroxene from the same sample. This consistency has to be taken into consideration in models of lower crustal melting where amphibole is replaced by clinopyroxene in the course of melting. A lack of equilibrium is observed between matrix clinopyroxene / amphibole and garnet porphyroblasts which suggests a late stage growth of garnet and slow diffusion and equilibration of the REE during metamorphism. The data provide a first set of distribution coefficients of the transition metals (Sc, V, Cr, Ni) in the lower crust. In addition, analyses of ilmenite and apatite demonstrate the strong influence of accessory phases on trace element distribution. Apatite contains high amounts of REE and Sr while ilmenite incorporates about 20-30 times higher amounts of Nb and Ta than amphibole. Furthermore, trace element mineral analyses provide evidence for magmatic processes such as melt depletion, melt segregation, accumulation and fractionation as well as metasomatism having operated in this high-grade anatectic area.

Restoration of forest wetlands: Case studies in Michigan and Finland

Forested wetlands throughout the world are valuable habitats; especially in relatively species-poor northern regions, they can be considered biological hotspots. Unfortunately, these areas have been degraded and destroyed. In recent years, however, the biological importance of wetlands has been increasingly recognized, resulting in the desire to restore disturbed habitats or create in place of destroyed ones. Restoration work is taking place across the globe in a diversity of wetland types, and research must be conducted to determine successful techniques. As a result, two studies of the effects of wetland restoration and creation were conducted in forested wetlands in northern Michigan and southern Finland. In North America, northern white-cedar wetlands have been declining in area, despite attempts to regenerate them. Improved methods for successfully establishing northern white-cedar are needed; as a result, the target of the first study was to determine if creating microtopography could be beneficial for white-cedar recruitment and growth. In northern Europe, spruce swamp forests have become a threatened ecosystem due to extensive drainage for forestry. As part of the restoration of these habitats, i.e. rewetting through ditch blocking, Sphagnum mosses are considered to be a critical element to re-establish, and an in-depth analysis of how Sphagnum is responding to restoration in spruce swamp forests has not been previously done. As a result, the aim of the second study was to investigate the ecophysiological functioning of Sphagnum and feather mosses across a gradient of pristine, drained, and restored boreal spruce swamp forests.

Estimation of scots pine defoliation by the common pine sawfly (<i>Diprion pinii> L.) using multi-temporal radar data

In 1998-2001 Finland suffered the most severe insect outbreak ever recorded, over 500,000 hectares. The outbreak was caused by the common pine sawfly (Diprion pini L.). The outbreak has continued in the study area, Palokangas, ever since. To find a good method to monitor this type of outbreaks, the purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of multi-temporal ERS-2 and ENVISAT SAR imagery for estimating Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) defoliation. Three methods were tested: unsupervised k-means clustering, supervised linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and logistic regression. In addition, I assessed if harvested areas could be differentiated from the defoliated forest using the same methods. Two different speckle filters were used to determine the effect of filtering on the SAR imagery and subsequent results. The logistic regression performed best, producing a classification accuracy of 81.6% (kappa 0.62) with two classes (no defoliation, >20% defoliation). LDA accuracy was with two classes at best 77.7% (kappa 0.54) and k-means 72.8 (0.46). In general, the largest speckle filter, 5 x 5 image window, performed best. When additional classes were added the accuracy was usually degraded on a step-by-step basis. The results were good, but because of the restrictions in the study they should be confirmed with independent data, before full conclusions can be made that results are reliable. The restrictions include the small size field data and, thus, the problems with accuracy assessment (no separate testing data) as well as the lack of meteorological data from the imaging dates.