University of Lapland

About: University of Lapland is a education organization based out in Rovaniemi, Finland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Arctic & Context (language use). The organization has 665 authors who have published 1870 publications receiving 39129 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Rovaniemi & Lapin yliopisto.

Changing voices in early years curricula. An example from Finnish pre-school education

Abstract: This paper aims at investigating the changing constructions of childhood in two Finnish pre-school education curricula during the time of pre-school reform in the late 1990s and early 2000s. These constructions are part of the underlying curriculum containing postulates and values that influence the written curriculum documents. They determine the positions of children and educators and help define the purposes of education. Discourse analysis was used to identify the constructions of childhood in the curriculum documents from 1996 and 2000. The results indicate a paradigm change in a relatively short period of time. The agreed-upon notion of an innocent, capable, and self-contained child transformed into a multifaceted view of the child in relation to the educator and to the outside world. The changing constructions of childhood had an impact on how the functions of pre-school education were seen and how educators and children were positioned. Tracking changes in the early years curricula is important, b...

The Legal Question of Morality: Seal Hunting and the European Moral Standard

Abstract: The commercial seal hunt has faced significant opposition through campaigns and public opinion. Based on this opposition, the European Union (EU) adopted a regime in 2009, effectively shutting down...

New significance test methods for Fourier analysis of geophysical time series

Abstract: When one applies the discrete Fourier transform to analyze finite-length time series, discontinuities at the data boundaries will distort its Fourier power spectrum. In this paper, based on a rigid statistics framework, we present a new significance test method which can extract the intrinsic feature of a geophysical time series very well. We show the difference in significance level compared with traditional Fourier tests by analyzing the Arctic Oscillation (AO) and the Nino3.4 time series. In the AO, we find significant peaks at about 2.8, 4.3, and 5.7 yr periods and in Nino3.4 at about 12 yr period in tests against red noise. These peaks are not significant in traditional tests.

Finnish and Russian teachers supporting the development of social skills

Abstract: We argue that a key aspect of inclusive pedagogy is the interaction between the learners, their teachers and the environment. For effective interaction, learners need to develop social competence. This study explores how teachers support the development of the key social skills in schools in Finland and in Russia. The data were collected by questionnaires and observations, and analysed by theory-guided content analysis. While all teachers supported the development of social skills, their pedagogical choices reflected their personal interaction style. The teachers who favoured informal interactions engaged in real-life situations with learners, whereas those favouring formal interactions chose separate activities for practising social skills. The study highlights aspects that deserve more attention in developing teacher education programmes for inclusion.