This thesis considers the education of children of immigrants in Finland, focusing on attainment and transitions around the age of 16. It is the first detailed representative study on the topic in Finland. Compared to international research it is amongst the ones to most fully explore the different aspects of education around this age. For the most part, it is limited to studying structural explanations for differences between students and ethnic groups. The majority of the analyses in the thesis are done using register data. Statistical modelling of this data is done using multivariate regression analyses. The results are supplemented with evidence from interviews with both majority students and children of immigrants. With regards to school achievement at the end of comprehensive school, many immigrant-origin groups are seen to have lower average grades than the majority. However, this is explained by lower parental resources. After controlling for parental resources, very few disadvantages remain. On the other hand, the gender gap evident amongst the majority is not found amongst many immigrant-origin groups. Looking at continuation to upper secondary education compared to dropping out, most children of immigrants are seen to have a higher probability of dropping out than the majority. This is explained by their lower school achievement and higher parental non-employment. Nevertheless, the difference between children of immigrants and the majority remains evident at the very low end of the achievement scale. Considering the choice of upper secondary school type, children of immigrants can be seen to be more likely than the majority to continue to vocational school. Yet, after controlling for prior school achievement and parental resources, almost all immigrant-origin groups are more likely than the majority to continue to general rather than vocational school. Interviews suggest that when considering their school choices, majority students tend to be driven by their interests and see their decision making as being independent of others. On the other hand, children of immigrants tend to have more specific future plans and to take the wishes of their parents more into consideration.

TITLE: The use of the child songs lyrics in literary education at primary school SUMMARY: The subject of this dissertation are the texts of children's songs and composited poetry for children and their using in teaching literary education at primary school. The tagret to achieve was to develop a series of literary education lessons built on the principles of constructivist teaching methods using work with interactive text. Based on the assumption that work with the song leads students to a sensitive perception and understanding of texts, the recitation and the development of children's reading skills. Result of this work is a series of ten lesser-known songs with a specific practical methods of working with text in which the student actively participates. KEYWORDS: children song, literary education, primary school, lyrics

Developmental dyslexia is a common disorder affecting around 10% of the British population characterized by difficulties with reading despite adequate intelligence and education (IDA, 2007). Although most researchers and practitioners would agree that early identification is key in limiting negative consequences of reading problems, this is still difficult to achieve due to theoretical and practical inconsistencies in the field. This thesis focuses on investigating a novel, computer and tablet-based “dot-to-dot” (DtD) task that may aid the process of identification particularly in pre-reading children and English as additional language (EAL) individuals who, by definition, are more susceptible to misidentification. Performance on this task was tested in primary school children (N = 457) and in adults (N = 111) together with a set of dyslexia-sensitive, vision and reasoning tests. Performance on DtD (especially the first sector error) demonstrated significant differences between children at high and low risk of dyslexia (as assessed by Lucid Rapid), as well as between children prospectively identified as poor and typical readers. DtD measures added small but statistically significant unique contributions to the models predicting reading scores and reading level group membership, and DtD measures could distinguish between poor and typical readers as well as between adults with and without diagnosed dyslexia. The findings provide evidence for the DtD test to be a useful addition to existing tests as it presumably relates to a number of mechanisms in line with automaticity and cerebellar deficits theories of dyslexia. It also has a potential to identify a distinct type of dyslexia that is not related to phonological processing which has important theoretical and practical implications.

This thesis explores the impact on children of working as co-researchers, raising their own research questions around the topic of science education, designing and carrying out the data collection and interpreting and disseminating the results. This project is a case study in that there are clear boundaries both in terms of the timescale of initiation, interventions, co-researcher activity, write up and dissemination and also in terms of the children’s engagement in the project as distinct from their school and social life (Flyvbjerg 2011). A multi-method approach to data collection was designed to capture the experience from the viewpoint of the co-researchers, with triangulation from other actors in the immediate social setting. The use of a range of qualitative methods as primary data collection techniques is also characteristic of a case study approach. (Denzin and Lincoln 2011). The study employs grounded theory which Glaser and Strauss (Glaser and Strauss 2009) describe as ‘discovery of theory from data’ using comparative analysis as a key strategy. I was influenced by Charmaz’s perspective that ‘we construct our grounded theories through our past and present involvements and interactions with people, perspectives, and research practices.' (Charmaz 2006). The simultaneous analysis and data collection, the use of coding to develop themes from the data itself and the development of theory during analysis are hallmarks of the grounded theory approach, (Charmaz 2006). Working with children in research has undergone considerable evolution over recent years and a growing body of researchers are developing participatory models to ensure that this is conducted not only ethically but with respect for the children’s rights, interests and contribution. Smit identifies 4 types of motives for doing so; legal motives which recognise children’s rights to contribute to the decision making process; social motives which identify this as an important step towards them becoming democratic individuals; innovative motives that value their contribution to knowledge; and pedagogical motives that reflect adults’ desires to include and encourage children in this way (Smit 2013). My research suggested the importance and influence of task value (supporting Osborne 2003) and significant others (supporting Sjaastad 2012) in engaging young people in their learning. Within it the co-researcher group identified ownership, reflection, confidence and value as significant themes. The co-researchers also reported enhanced ontological understanding, reflection on their own learning, confidence in expressing and arguing for their own ideas and development of key skills which they were able to apply to other areas of learning. There were also benefits to the school through the reports the young researchers produced which offered insights into effective revision, the potential influence of science clubs, the relationship between teachers and students interests and into differences in attitude to science between year 7 and 8 and between boys and girls. During the project a Participation Model was developed to define characteristics of participation and power sharing. This added to previous models (Hart 1992; Wilcox 1994; Hanley et al. 2004) and took due notice of issues of power sharing (Bucknall 2012) and adult commitment (Shier 2001). A model of co-researcher engagement was also developed during the analysis phase which provides a clearer idea of what it means to be a co-researcher from the co-researcher viewpoint. There are also implications for policy and practice that should not be underestimated. Raising children’s aspirations to be part of a research group in this way has considerable benefits but it also has the potential for disillusionment should the outcome of their work not be recognised (McLaughlin 2006). To protect against this the school community needs to actively commit to working collaboratively with young people through conscious sharing of decision making (Bucknall 2012) and allocation of resource to protect its continuation (Kellett 2014). Shier identifies this as reaching the obligation level of commitment in which working collaboratively is the expected norm in an educational setting (Shier 2001).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 512-543). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2001. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI/Dissertation Abstracts International.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Michigan, 1979. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 298-309).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 170-182). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Psy.D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in School Psychology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-72).

Thesis (Psy.D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in School Psychology." Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-123).