Internationalisation has been a major trend in higher education since early 1990s. The Finnish polytechnics came to exist at the same time. A lot of interest and efforts were focused on their internationalisation since early on. There were, however, no clear-cut models or guidelines on why, how and what polytechnic internationalisation should be all about. As a polytechnic Head of Internationalisation in 1995-2001, the author of the present study came to work on exploring and defining higher education internationalisation through a case study. The study was introduced in 1997 by semi-structured interviews of some 20 different actors of Vantaa Temporary Polytechnic (VAMK). Questions were posed to teachers, students and managers concerning conceptions of internationalisation in general and at VAMK. The interviews, as typed out, comprise some 300 pages of text. The theoretical study revealed there was very little written theory or studies concerning higher education internationalisation. Also, a more recent phenomenon, globalisation, was introduced into the same sphere as internationalisation, making the picture more blurred. Un understanding of internationalisation is approached through examining definitions of the term as well as by a brief study on globalisation. Another small study is done on Finland's internationalisation process with the EU membership in 1995 as a crucial turning point. More extensively, the author examines definitions of higher education internationalisation with particular focus on the rationales or motivations of the phenomenon. The research approach as concerns the empirical data is mainly ethnographic, i.e. the researcher is, typical of internationalisation study perhaps, setting on a journey of discovery, investigating the phenomenon as it was experienced by the various actors in the target institution. The research is also a discourse analysis focusing both on the discourse of the polytechnic actors as well as some political, academic and media texts of the time of the study, mid to late 1990s. The focus of the empirical study is on the rationales of internationalisation. While considering her research approach, the author had intuitively looked for metaphors as characteristic phrasings of internationalisation in the empirical data. One metaphor is used in the title of the study, under a bright star, which an informant used in order to describe how internationalisation was organised and targeted at VAMK in the early years. In the final phases of the study, metaphors formed a vital tool in the study besides the more conventional text analysis. Through the study of the empirical data the author has been able to refresh the mainstream typology of the rationales of higher education internationalisation as well as to contribute to the definition of the phenomenon. The author contends that the role of unofficial internationalisation rationales is bigger than conveyed in mainstream definitions. The metaphor study helped describe and understand concepts of polytechnic (higher education) internationalisation, at least at its early stages, by suggesting root metaphors or common underlying understandings of internationalisation such as travel, natural forces and fears of the foreign (languages). As this is a case study, it is not meaningful to make generalisations of the findings. They may, however, be helpful in understanding and analysing the features of education internationalisation, especially as concerns the early stages of the phenomenon in an institution. KEY WORDS: Higher education internationalisation, globalisation, rationales of internationalisation, metaphors of internationalisation.
Mitä luottamus oikein on? Mitä luottamus on suomalaisten työpaikkojen esimies-alaissuhteissa? Koulutuspäällikkö Nina Laine on väitöskirjassaan tutkinut luottamusta suomalaisten esimiesten ja alaisten välillä. Väitöskirjan mukaan luottamus rakentuu yhdistelmästä tunnetta ja kokemusperäistä tietoa. Esimiehet voivat lisätä luottamusta omalla käytöksellään. Luottamaan on mahdollista oppia. Esimiestyön oppiminen tapahtuu usein käytännön työelämässä ja sitä tuetaan esimiesvalmennuksilla. Ensin opitaan yksi ammatti (esim. insinööri tai opettaja) ja sitten opitaan johtamistaitoja esimiestehtävään siirryttäessä. Luottamus on yksi toimivan esimies-alaissuhteen peruselementti. Tämän vuoksi esimieheksi siirtyvän on opittava myös luottamuksen rakentamista. Aiempi luottamustutkimus on perustunut pitkälti kysely- ja tilastotutkimuksiin. Laine on ensimmäisiä työpaikkojen luottamusta laadullisesti analysoineita tutkijoita. Väitöstutkimuksen aineistona oli suomalaisilta esimiehiltä kerätyt syvähaastattelut ja kirjoitukset. Laineen tutkimuksessa uutta on tunteen, moraalin ja oppimisen korostaminen. Se poikkeaa aiemman luottamustutkimuksen valtavirrasta, jossa luottamuksen keskeisimpänä tekijänä on pidetty tietoa. ; This qualitative study in the field of vocational education explores the phenomenon of trust in superior-subordinate relationship. The study, using phenomenological research method, is based on the constructivist paradigm. The research data was collected in Finland, in Finnish. The writing process was conducted in English, both in Finland and in the United States. The data consisted of in-depth interviews and writings. Informants were from business world and public sector, and included both men and women. Becoming a manager requires learning to lead people and to manage organization s operations. Often these skills are learned at the workplace and in extension studies. Therefore learning to become a leader can be seen as vocational education learning the profession of leadership. Building trust is essential in leadership and learning to build trusting work relationships is leaders task, among others. Trust is an intriguing topic to study because it is relevant both socially and scientifically. Nowadays people live in an interdependent world where globalization brings forth new challenges for cooperation. As people working together tend to have ever tighter interlinkages, trust becomes a necessity. This has led to a contradiction: While trust is at the same time diminishing in Western countries, it s significance is increasing and new forms of building trust are evolving. Scientifically trust has raised interest in different literatures psychology, sociology, political science, economics, anthropology, history, and social biology but each literature has approached trust with its own disciplinary lenses and filters. Remarkably little effort has been made to integrate these different perspectives. Trust in superior-subordinate relationship merits to be researched because, for majority of people, social networks at work are central in their daily human interaction. Also, the power hierarchy in superior-subordinate relationship makes it scientifically interesting. Being a superior and subordinate are work related roles, which are always affected by power asymmetries. Another reason for studying trust in superior-subordinate relationship is the need of empirical qualitative research related to trust. According to this study, trust is both emotion and knowledge, but the emphasis is clearly on emotion. The building blocks of trust are: Integrity of talk and action, respecting and allowing emotions related to trust, active communication, and taking time to build trusting relationships. Also, superior s support is essential in trust. However, superior-subordinate relationship is reciprocal and subordinates impact is crucial, too. This study binds learning and trust together by presenting three aspects: 1) learning to trust in relationships, 2) learning to trust as single-loop and double-loop learning (see below), and 3) learning to trust as a transformative process. Learning in relationships refers to constant mirroring of our values, thoughts and actions with other people. All this enables trust. Learning to trust can also be described by using Argyris s (1982) theory of single-loop and double-loop learning. In single-loop learning, learning to trust may be based on generalizations and what is taught. In double-loop learning, ideas are confronted and challenged, and the processes are disconfirmable and not self-sealing. When people challenge themselves to take a double look over their views, they can remodel their operating norms and come to conclusion that their criteria for trust or distrust were too narrow. Learning to trust can sometimes be a transformative process, which fundamentally changes the frame of reference and affects values and attitudes of the trustor. Theoretically this research has added to previous theories of trust a view that puts priority on feelings and binds learning and trust together. It has brought forth, to a concrete level, the topic related differences and similarities of superiors and subordinates viewpoints. The study has also stressed the moral and value related aspects of leadership and trustworthiness by describing leaders transformative learning processes and personal narrative moral stories, both of which emerged spontaneously from the data. In addition, this study has contributed to the research of trust in leadership by addressing the lack of empirical qualitative study. In addition to theoretical contribution, this study has several managerial (practical) implications. These are related to the development of leadership and promoting well-being at work. This research has created new knowledge about trust in work context, and can provide tools for thinking for leaders. Getting acquainted with different aspects of trust in superior-subordinate relationship can help leaders to realize its significance.
After decades of forced interruption the social work profession development started again in 1990´s. Since then social work is a rapidly developing profession in Estonian society. Now, when there is more than fifteen years of work practice, professional development and academic teaching, it is time to research how social workers experience self-development and development of social work profession. The theoretical framework of this research ties together different conceptions of social workers self and professional self context, professional growth and factors supporting it and development of social work profession in society. Important models and theories in this research are London and Mone´s (1987) three-dimensional interpretation of factors motivating professional growth (with professional identity as one dimension of thereof), conceptions of development of professional identity and professional growth according to Dubin (1990), Farr and Middlebrooks (1990), Maurer and Tarulli (1994), Ruohotie (1995, 1999), Ruohotie?s (2005) theory of growth-oriented atmosphere and model of Lord, Brown and Freiberg (1999) about working self-concept. The study goal is to describe the development of professional identity and opportunities for professional growth of social workers and get an overview of the self-concept tendencies of social workers and social work students; understand how social workers perceive the development of a new profession based on their experiences. The sample (N=122) consisted of social workers that had received academic education in the Tallinn University (N1=41/vilistlased), undergraduate students of the Open University engaged in practical social work, who one month after participating in the survey graduated from the university with a BA degree (N2=52/lõpetajad) and future social workers, first year social work students (N=29/statsionaar). The criterion for inclusion in the sample was academic vocational education from the Tallinn University. The present research is descriptive multi-strategy research, where the first part of the research is survey type and the second part is based on theme interviews and covers the conceptions of social workers about their development to professional social workers and development of the social work profession in Estonian society. Survey data were analyzed by using statistical methods (factor analysis, bivariate correlation, variance analysis) in order to describe and explain relation between self-concept and professional identity of social workers; and to find the differences between the sample groups. Survey results show that social workers´ and social work students´ self-concept components are empathy, innovativeness, self-confidence and need of achievement. These self-identity components are extremely suitable for shaping the social workers professional identity. Professional-self of social workers is characterized by commitment to work, professional growth, willingness to take risk and ability to cooperate. They also feel togetherness and strong commitment to collective (work team). All above mentioned characteristics form the basis for the development of professional identity of social workers. The qualitative data added depth and context to the results of survey. On the basis of the conceptions of social workers, the qualitative content analysis brought out eight main categories and fifty-three subcategories. These categories show professional identity elements of social workers and different aspects of their work on the basis of conceptions of social workers about their experiences of their personal development and the development of social work profession in the newly independent Estonia. Respondents have all experienced stress and as social work is stressful to psyche, the workers? psychosocial coping should not be just their personal work problem. However, the organizational support mechanisms (such as supervision services) are not available for everyone and therefore social workers have only few personal coping strategies at their disposal support from the colleagues (who are also burdened) or family and network of friends. Too often, work difficulties also bring social workers too often to the limits of their endurance there is too much bureaucracy and politicization. Research results describe social workers as innovative and ready to take risks enterprising people with strong self-confidence and strong need for achievement. Surprisingly, the features remind one of successful entrepreneurs in the business field. All this might be explained by the fact that in our society both social system and social work profession are in developmental phase, the well-organised system waits yet to be established. During the developmental phase the people participating in the process have more opportunities to find different workable solutions but they also have to be more creative and driven to implement a vision. Based on my research results it may be concluded that in the future social work may be threatened by lack of recognition. Social workers are often left alone with their heavy workload and they do not receive necessary understanding and support from their organization nor society in general (lack of recognition is proved by the relatively low level of salaries). As there is a clear need of professionals in social work, the society and organizations should support these professionals with strong professional identity and growth motivation that are committed to their work. There should be more acknowledgement and support e.g. with salary rise and by enabling every social worker with supervision service, before the number of those leaving from the field due to the burnout increases. In summary, it can be said that the research has shed light upon professional identity and professional growth of social workers and the development of social work profession in Estonia. As social work as profession has been little researched in Estonia, it is natural that this research brought out many topics that would need further research. New knowledge is needed in vocational education, it would also be used to help and support social workers in their work environment. ; After decades of forced interruption the social work profession development started again in 1990´s. Since then social work is a rapidly developing profession in Estonian society. Now, when there is more than fifteen years of work practice, professional development and academic teaching, it is time to research how social workers experience self-development and development of social work profession. The theoretical framework of this research ties together different conceptions of social workers self and professional self context, professional growth and factors supporting it and development of social work profession in society. Important models and theories in this research are London and Mone´s (1987) three-dimensional interpretation of factors motivating professional growth (with professional identity as one dimension of thereof), conceptions of development of professional identity and professional growth according to Dubin (1990), Farr and Middlebrooks (1990), Maurer and Tarulli (1994), Ruohotie (1995, 1999), Ruohotie?s (2005) theory of growth-oriented atmosphere and model of Lord, Brown and Freiberg (1999) about working self-concept. The study goal is to describe the development of professional identity and opportunities for professional growth of social workers and get an overview of the self-concept tendencies of social workers and social work students; understand how social workers perceive the development of a new profession based on their experiences. The sample (N=122) consisted of social workers that had received academic education in the Tallinn University (N1=41/vilistlased), undergraduate students of the Open University engaged in practical social work, who one month after participating in the survey graduated from the university with a BA degree (N2=52/lõpetajad) and future social workers, first year social work students (N=29/statsionaar). The criterion for inclusion in the sample was academic vocational education from the Tallinn University. The present research is descriptive multi-strategy research, where the first part of the research is survey type and the second part is based on theme interviews and covers the conceptions of social workers about their development to professional social workers and development of the social work profession in Estonian society. Survey data were analyzed by using statistical methods (factor analysis, bivariate correlation, variance analysis) in order to describe and explain relation between self-concept and professional identity of social workers; and to find the differences between the sample groups. Survey results show that social workers´ and social work students´ self-concept components are empathy, innovativeness, self-confidence and need of achievement. These self-identity components are extremely suitable for shaping the social workers professional identity. Professional-self of social workers is characterized by commitment to work, professional growth, willingness to take risk and ability to cooperate. They also feel togetherness and strong commitment to collective (work team). All above mentioned characteristics form the basis for the development of professional identity of social workers. The qualitative data added depth and context to the results of survey. On the basis of the conceptions of social workers, the qualitative content analysis brought out eight main categories and fifty-three subcategories. These categories show professional identity elements of social workers and different aspects of their work on the basis of conceptions of social workers about their experiences of their personal development and the development of social work profession in the newly independent Estonia. Respondents have all experienced stress and as social work is stressful to psyche, the workers? psychosocial coping should not be just their personal work problem. However, the organizational support mechanisms (such as supervision services) are not available for everyone and therefore social workers have only few personal coping strategies at their disposal support from the colleagues (who are also burdened) or family and network of friends. Too often, work difficulties also bring social workers too often to the limits of their endurance there is too much bureaucracy and politicization. Research results describe social workers as innovative and ready to take risks enterprising people with strong self-confidence and strong need for achievement. Surprisingly, the features remind one of successful entrepreneurs in the business field. All this might be explained by the fact that in our society both social system and social work profession are in developmental phase, the well-organised system waits yet to be established. During the developmental phase the people participating in the process have more opportunities to find different workable solutions but they also have to be more creative and driven to implement a vision. Based on my research results it may be concluded that in the future social work may be threatened by lack of recognition. Social workers are often left alone with their heavy workload and they do not receive necessary understanding and support from their organization nor society in general (lack of recognition is proved by the relatively low level of salaries). As there is a clear need of professionals in social work, the society and organizations should support these professionals with strong professional identity and growth motivation that are committed to their work. There should be more acknowledgement and support e.g. with salary rise and by enabling every social worker with supervision service, before the number of those leaving from the field due to the burnout increases. In summary, it can be said that the research has shed light upon professional identity and professional growth of social workers and the development of social work profession in Estonia. As social work as profession has been little researched in Estonia, it is natural that this research brought out many topics that would need further research. New knowledge is needed in vocational education, it would also be used to help and support social workers in their work environment.
Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan palvelun laadun arviointia moniportaisessa julkisessa organisaatiossa. Laatutyöhön kuuluu keskeisenä osana laadun arviointi. Ongelmallista julkisten organisaatioiden tuottamien palvelujen arvioinnissa on se, että lainsäädäntö jättää usein viranomaisten harkinnan varaan sen, millaisina palvelut tosiasiallisesti tuotetaan eivätkä kunnalliset päätöksentekijätkään välttämättä aseta palvelujen laadulle kovin tarkkoja tavoitteita. Jos em. tahot asettavat palvelun laatua koskevia tavoitteita, ne asetetaan yleensä palvelun lopputulokselle eikä palvelun tuotantoprosessin välivaiheille. Moniportaisissa organisaatioissa ja organisaatiohierarkian eri tasoilla ylempien organisaatiotasojen osuus palvelujen tuottamisessa jää usein arvioinnissa mm. tavoitteiden puutteellisuuden vuoksi vähemmälle huomiolle kuin asiakasrajapinnassa toimivien organisaatiotasojen. Asiaan vaikuttaa myös tulosjohtamiseen liittyvä käytäntö, jossa ylempi organisaatiotaso arvioi alempaansa eikä päinvastoin. Tulosjohtaminen on ankkuroitunut Suomen julkiseen hallintoon aiemmin ja vahvemmalla otteella kuin laatujohtaminen. Selkeiden laatua koskevien tavoitteiden puute hankaloittaa arvioimista, erityisesti tavoiteperusteista arviointia, jossa toimintaa verrataan asetettuihin tavoitteisiin. Tavoitteiden puutteellisuus asettaa paineita arvioida toimintaa eri intressitahojen näkemykset huomioon ottavan monitahoarvioinnin avulla. Palvelun laadun intressitahoja julkisessa hallinnossa ovat palvelujen käyttäjien lisäksi mm. poliittiset päätöksentekijät ja kansalaiset, palvelua tuottavan organisaation johto sekä palvelua tuottava henkilöstö ja moniportaisissa organisaatioissa vielä organisaation eri tasot. Eri intressitahojen näkökulmat ja vaateet palvelun laadulle määräytyvät niiden suhteesta palveluun samoin kuin niiden asema ja tehtävät arvioinnissa ja arviointitiedon hyväksikäytössä. Moniportaisissa organisaatioissa keskeisin intressitaho ylemmän organisaatiotason tuottamalle palvelulle on alempi organisaatiotaso. Alemman organisaatiotason näkökulmasta katsottuna ei ole riittävää arvioida moniportaisissa organisaatioissa ylemmän organisaatiotason toimintaa esim. laatupalkintokriteereiden avulla, vaan ylemmän organisaatiotason toimintaa on tarpeen arvioida palvelukohtaisesti. Tämä puolestaan edellyttää sitä, että palvelukohtaisesti määritellään ylemmän ja alemman organisaatiotason työosuus (osapalvelu) moniportaisen organisaation palveluketjussa. Tutkimuksessa päädyttiin myös näkemykseen, jonka mukaan palvelut on varsinkin ylemmän organisaatiotason toiminnan suhteen syytä suunnitella moniportaisissa organisaatioissa etukäteen eri intressitahojen vaateita yhteen sovittaen. Tutkimuksen tuloksena syntyi arviointikehikko moniportaisten julkisten organisaatioiden tuottamien palvelujen laadun arviointiin. Arviointikehikossa otetaan kantaa siihen, miten arvioinnin eri vaiheissa olisi tarkoituksenmukaista edetä ja millaisia näkökohtia eri vaiheissa on tarpeen ottaa huomioon. ; EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY OF SERVICES IN A PUBLIC MULTI-LEVEL ORGANIZATION The task of the study was crystallized in the following questions: 1. In what way is it justifiable in public organizations to evaluate the activi-ties of upper organizational levels in producing high quality services? 2. Accordingly, in what way is it justifiable to evaluate the guidance and support directed to the school assistants work and carried out by the ad-ministrative level in the Education Department of the City of Helsinki.? The study showed that the way in which it is justifiable to evaluate the qual-ity of services in public organizations is determined by the special features of public administration. These features have an effect on the definitions of the ser-vice and quality in public administration. The definition is especially influenced by the community orientation of public organizations, the lack and the vagueness of the goals which guide the quality of services, and many interest groups of services. In this study the quality of the service produced by a public organization has the following definition: the quality of the service and the process with help of which the users of the service receive the service must satisfy the integrated de-mands of the users of the service and its various interest groups in all the features of quality. In public administration, interest groups for the quality of services include not only the users of the services but also political decision makers, the leaders and the personnel of the organization producing the services and in a multilevel organization, the different levels of the organization. The quality demands made by these groups, their opportunities to evaluate the service and their interests in utilizing the evaluation data at least partly differ from each other. In a multi-level organization the lower level, often the so called performing level of the organization, is one of the interest groups in relation to how the up-per level takes care of its own tasks in the service chain. The culture of manage-ment by results has rooted in the public organizations earlier than quality culture. Management by results assumes that the upper organizational levels evaluate the lower levels and not the other way around. Quality culture, however, places the direction of the evaluation upside down, bottom-up and not top-down. In service chain thinking there is a need for the lower level to give feedback to the upper organizational level about how it has for its own part supported the work of the lower level in producing value added to the ultimate users of the services. From the point of view of the lower organizational level the emphasis in evaluation should be on the quality of those parts of the services that are pro-duced by the upper organizational level. Evaluation should take place by evaluat-ing one service at a time. The main interest of the lower level is in evaluating whether or not the upper level supports the lower level well enough in producing individual services. In order to be able to define what is good enough in each case it is necessary to specify the responsibilities of both the upper and lower organizational levels service by service in the service chain. Multiple constituency evaluation or stakeholder-based evaluation is an approach to evaluation in which activities are evaluated from the points of views of many different interest groups. The choice of the approach is determined by the purpose of the evaluation. Purposes of evaluation can be for instance evaluation for development work or evaluation for accountability. Multiple constituency evaluation is suitable for situations where there is a lack of goals for the quality of public services or the goals are vague. The case example of the study showed the lack and vagueness of goals in the guidance and support directed to the school assistants work and carried out by the administrative level of the Hel-sinki City Education Department. Multiple constituency evaluation is suitable for evaluations for both accountability and for development. However, if there were clear goals defined for the quality of the services the natural choice of the ap-proach in the purpose of evaluation for accountability would be the goal-attainment evaluation.
Kirja käsittelee kasvatuksen disiplinaarisia kiistoja kolmesta näkökulmasta. Ensimmäisen osan artikkelit analysoivat kasvatuksen disiplinaarista luonnetta käytäntönä ja instituutioina. Toisessa osassa kohteena on teoriaa ja käytäntöä välittävän kasvatustiedon oikeutus. Kolmannessa osassa pohditaan kasvatuksen päämääriä ja tarkoituksia, jotka ovat kriittisiä sitä koskevien disiplinaaristen kiistojen ymmärtämisen kannalta. Vaikka kirjoitukset kohdistuvat kasvatuksen eri muotoihin, aikakausiin ja konteksteihin, ne tarjoavat aineksia myös yleisempään keskusteluun kasvatuksen eklektisistä ja vaihtelevista teorioista ja käytännöistä. CONTENTS Preface 9 Anja Heikkinen, Jenni Pätäri, Gabriele Molzberger Introduction. The many meanings of disciplinary struggles in education 11 Anja Heikkinen, Jenni Pätäri & Gabriele Molzberger Section 1: Discipline in Education Control justified. Discipline as moral regulation in adult education 25 Leena Koski 'How to cultivate freedom through coercion'. Defining discipline in anarchist education 41 Ivan Zamotkin Struggles for identity. A Finnish university's identity transition in its own policies after reform 61 Henry Yuan Wang Section 2: Justification of Educational Knowledge Disciplinary struggles in and between adult, vocational and general education in the Academy. Lessons from Finland 83 Anja Heikkinen, Jenni Pätäri & Sini Teräsahde (Re)thinking the disciplinary relationship between the researcher and object of study in educational practices in the Brazilian context 117 Lais Oliveira Leite Thinking outside the box. De-structuring continuing and higher education 135 Markus Weil & Balthasar Eugster Multiculturalism in education and political philosophy 155 Tarna Kannisto Changing vocational special needs education. From teacher to developer 173 Maija Hirvonen & Raija Pirttimaa Section 3: Meanings and Functions of Education Ecological wisdom as a challenge for the philosophy of education 195 Kari Väyrynen How does phenomenological psychology contribute to current concepts of sustainability in Germany's vocational education system? A brief historical outline and remarks on current problems 215 Burkhard Vollmers, Werner Kuhlmeier & Sören Schütt-Sayed Financing and institutions as key elements of the future of adult education. Disciplinary struggles about empirical observations 239 Lorenz Lassnigg & Stefan Vogtenhuber ; This book discusses disciplinary struggles in education from three perspectives. The chapters in the first section analyse the disciplinary character of educational practice and institutions. The second section focuses on justification of educational knowledge in transmission between theory and practice. The contributions of the third section problematise the aims and functions of educational practice and theory, which are critical for understanding the implications of disciplinary struggles in education for the future. Although the chapters focus on certain historical periods, forms and contexts of education, they provide insights, which are useful and relevant for a wider discussion in the eclectic and diverse theories and practices of education. CONTENTS Preface 9 Anja Heikkinen, Jenni Pätäri, Gabriele Molzberger Introduction. The many meanings of disciplinary struggles in education 11 Anja Heikkinen, Jenni Pätäri & Gabriele Molzberger Section 1: Discipline in Education Control justified. Discipline as moral regulation in adult education 25 Leena Koski 'How to cultivate freedom through coercion'. Defining discipline in anarchist education 41 Ivan Zamotkin Struggles for identity. A Finnish university's identity transition in its own policies after reform 61 Henry Yuan Wang Section 2: Justification of Educational Knowledge Disciplinary struggles in and between adult, vocational and general education in the Academy. Lessons from Finland 83 Anja Heikkinen, Jenni Pätäri & Sini Teräsahde (Re)thinking the disciplinary relationship between the researcher and object of study in educational practices in the Brazilian context 117 Lais Oliveira Leite Thinking outside the box. De-structuring continuing and higher education 135 Markus Weil & Balthasar Eugster Multiculturalism in education and political philosophy 155 Tarna Kannisto Changing vocational special needs education. From teacher to developer 173 Maija Hirvonen & Raija Pirttimaa Section 3: Meanings and Functions of Education Ecological wisdom as a challenge for the philosophy of education 195 Kari Väyrynen How does phenomenological psychology contribute to current concepts of sustainability in Germany's vocational education system? A brief historical outline and remarks on current problems 215 Burkhard Vollmers, Werner Kuhlmeier & Sören Schütt-Sayed Financing and institutions as key elements of the future of adult education. Disciplinary struggles about empirical observations 239 Lorenz Lassnigg & Stefan Vogtenhuber
