The aim of this article is to introduce an ecosystemic approach to mentoring, inspired by the theory of ecologies of practices (Kemmis, Edwards-Groves, Wilkinson, & Hardy, 2012). It is suggested that relationships between practices and their environment resemble in many ways the relationships between natural organisms and ecosystems. From this perspective, mentoring is understood as a social practice that exists in the midst of other social practices and derives its essential qualities and its existence from its relation to other practices. The theory of ecologies of practices is based on the conception of practices as 'living entities'. From the perspective of ecologies of practice, practices of mentoring and induction can be regarded as ecosystems of their own within the wider ecosystems of social, political and educational practices. In the research literature, the concept of ecosystem has been represented in a number of different variations. The concept was first introduced in education research by the developmental psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner (1979), who described human development and socialisation in terms of nested circles of varying sizes. Lately, the ecosystem concept has also been used in the context of learning in ways that have been influenced by research in the fields of economics, business and information technology. The theory of ecologies of practices is rooted in an ontological understanding of the importance of learning for human existence: the human species exists as part of the natural ecosystem and, consequently, social practices are based on how the species acts to survive and thrive in the ecosystem. Based on these assumptions, ten ecological principles are introduced and applied to practices of mentoring: (1) networks, (2) nested systems, (3) niches, (4) interdependence, (5) diversity, (6) cycles, (7) flows, (8) development, (9) dynamic balance, and (10) resilience. Finally, some limitations and criticisms of the ecosystem approach are reflected upon. ; peerReviewed
Various epistemological changes – such as the linguistic, narrative, and cultural turns that have influenced humanistic and social scientific studies since the 1980s – have contributed to the increased academic interest in politics, discourses, processes, and practices of belonging. During the recent decades, the idea of belonging or notbelonging have been discussed and theorized in various fields with diverse parallel and/or overlapping conceptualizations. These include, for example, identity, placemaking, displacement, and their representational, intersectional, and fluid nature. In recent years, several scholars have aimed to discuss the topics framed by the above mentioned concepts and points of view with a new conceptualization: 'Belonging' has been operationalized as a theoretical and analytical tool in the investigation of various contemporary forms of communal interaction. This paper explores 'belonging' as a scholarly concept with the method of concept analysis. By analysing a selection of recent academic publications in various fields we seek to answer the following questions: What does 'belonging' comprise? How is it used and defined in recent research? How does it relate to other similar concepts employed in the studies of belonging? What kind of added value does the concept bring to these studies? As a result, the paper presents tables and figures indicating the diversity in the notions of belonging and the links and relations between it and other related concepts. The paper concludes by discussing the problems and advantages of the concept of belonging in research. ; nonPeerReviewed
In this study, we delve into the perceived quality of recommendations provided by AI-based virtual service assistants (VSAs). Specifically, the role of the social presence of VSAs in influencing recommendation perceptions is investigated. We also explore how the social presence of a VSA is formed and how perceived anthropomorphism plays a vital role in shaping social presence and eventually instilling trust in VSAs among consumers. These relationships are examined in the context of online government services. The results indicate that consumer interaction with VSAs - manifesting via perceived anthropomorphism, social presence, dialog length, and attitudes - improves recommendation quality perceptions, which further instills trust in VSA-based recommendations. Perceived anthropomorphism was found to strongly influence the formation of social presence, whereas trust and recommendation quality - the outcomes of social presence - were found to be partially conditional on the dialog length and the degree of positive attitudes toward VSAs. The findings additionally suggest that a VSA can be considered a social actor that possesses the capability to bring a "human touch" to online services, therefore improving the overall online service experience. ; peerReviewed
Lectio praecursoria viestinnän väitöskirjaksi tarkoitetun tutkimuksen Hallinnollinen vuorovaikutus sairaalatyöyhteisössä tarkastustilaisuudessa Jyväskylän yliopistossa 6.4.2018. Vastaväittäjänä toimi yliopistonlehtori, dosentti Tuula-Riitta Välikoski (Tampereen yliopisto) ja kustoksena yliopistonlehtori, FT Leena Mikkola (Jyväskylän yliopisto).
This is the first special issue that JPHE hosts—and could there be a more suitable forum for an issue dedicated to exploring and encouraging a critical dialogue around transformative intercultural communication teaching practices in higher education (HE)? What has led us to engage with the theme of making intercultural education meaningful is a shared observation that there seems to be an increasing disconnect between recent developments in intercultural communication theory and practice. With so much critique published over the years, we are perplexed as to why traditional notions of culture still prevail not only in mainstream intercultural communication research but also in institutional discourses in HE and in popular discourses as articulated by the people who sit—or have once sat—in our classrooms. In this editorial and Special Issue, we approach intercultural communication from a critical angle, akin to the theorization of interculturality as a discursive and contingent, unstable and contradictory, political and ideological construct. We are thrilled to see this approach gain ground in the field of intercultural communication. However, at the same time, we are worried that the terrain of intercultural communication teaching across HE settings has become quite unruly and is characterized by pedagogical solutions that do not have a stable connection to state-of-the-art theory, and that might lead to naive, simplistic, and essentialist understandings of 'culture' and 'the other'. ; nonPeerReviewed
Puheviestinnän asiantuntijuutta tarvitaan vahvasti erilaisissa työpaikoissa, joissa palveluita tarjotaan asiakaslähtöisyys strategisena kärkenä. Yksi alamme tärkeä näytön paikka on piilotettu kuntaorganisaatioihin. Kunta saattaa vaikuttaa työnantajana jokseenkin vieraalta puheviestinnän asiantuntijan näkökulmasta. Miten vuorovaikutus näkyy kuntatyössä ja miten sitä voidaan kehittää?
Työrauhaongelmat ovat viimeaikoina herättäneet runsaasti peruskoulua koskevaa keskustelua. Vuorovaikutus työrauhan takaamiseksi kouluissa näyttää nousevan keskeiseksi opettajan asiantuntijuudessa. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on ymmärtää työrauhan rakentumista opettajan ja oppilaan välisessä vuorovaikutuksessa. Tavoitteena on selvittää, millaisissa tilanteissa työrauha estyy ja millaisilla luokanhallintakeinoilla opettajat puuttuvat oppilaiden työrauhaa häiritsevään käyttäytymiseen. Neljää peruskoululuokkaa havainnoitiin yhden koulupäivän ajan, yhteensä viisitoista oppituntia. Aineistoanalyysinä käytettiin teoriaohjaavaa sisällönanalyysiä. Oppilaiden työrauhaa häiritsevää käyttäytymistä esiintyi luokkahuoneessa tapahtuvassa vuorovaikutuksessa suhteellisen usein, mutta häiriötilanteet olivat lieviä. Suurin osa häiriöistä oli verbaalisia, esimerkiksi viittaamatta vastaamista tai oppilaiden välistä keskustelua. Opettajat puuttuvat selvästi eniten yksittäisten poikaoppilaiden häiritsevään käytökseen luokassa. Opettajat rakensivat työrauhaa luokissa käyttäen monipuolisia, mutta suhteellisen reaktiivisia luokanhallintakeinoja häiriötilanteissa. Oppilaan nimellä kutsuminen, työrauhapyynnöt, viittominen ja suorat vetoomukset olivat opettajien useimmin käyttämät luokanhallintakeinot työrauhan takaamiseksi. Tutkimuksen mukaan lievät työrauhahäiriöt ovat jatkuvasti läsnä kouluarjessa. Lisätutkimusta vaatisi kuitenkin, miten opettaja saisi häiriötilanteiden toistuvuutta vähennettyä oppitunneilla. Vuorovaikutus on tärkeä osa opettajan asiantuntijuutta ja sen kehittäminen tulisi huomioida vahvemmin myös opettajien koulutuksessa.
In the 2000s, European societies have transformed quickly due to the networked global economy, deepening a European integration process, forced and voluntary movement of people to and within Europe, and influence of social media on culture, communication, and society. Europe has become an increasingly diverse and pluricultural continent where many people simultaneously identify with multiple different cultural and social groups. In such "super-diversified" (Vertovec in New complexities of cohesion in Britain: Super-diversity, transnationalism and civil-integration, Communities and Local Government Publications, Wetherby, 2007) European societies diversity itself is broad, multidimensional, and fluid (Vertovec in New complexities of cohesion in Britain: Super-diversity, transnationalism and civil-integration, Communities and Local Government Publications, Wetherby, 2007; Blommaert and Rampton in Language and Superdiversity. Diversities 13(2):1–21, 2011). Different social locations and identities intersect within them-whether cultural, ethnic, national, social, religious, or linguistic. At the same time, however, European societies have faced the rise of diverse populist and radical right-wing movements promoting profoundly monoculturalist views and cultural purism. What are the means to confront this polarization of views and attitudes in Europe? ; peerReviewed
Tässä artikkelissa tarkastellaan, mistä johtamisessa on oikeastaan kysymys ja mikä on viestinnän ja johtamisen suhde toisiinsa. Artikkelin aluksi johtaminen sijoitetaan nykyiseen tietointensiiviseen työelämään, jonka jälkeen tehdään analyysiä johtamiseen liittyvistä käsitteistä. johtamisen tutkimukseen esitellään kolme eri näkökulmaa. Artikkelissa pohditaan, miten viestintä ja vuorovaikutus käsitteellistetään johtamisen tutkimuksessa osaksi menestyksellistä johtamista ja millaisia lähtökohtia johtamistutkimuksen eri näkökulmilla on johtamisen kehittämiseen. Lisäksi tarkastellaan, millaista viestintäosaamista johtajalta edellytetään tietointensiivisessä ja dynaamisessa työelämässä. Tavoitteena on lisätä ymmärrystä johtamisen haasteista ja johtamisen kehittämisestä viestintäosaamisen näkökulmasta.
Technologies for computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) are playing an increasingly prominent role in educational contexts, especially as teachers and students strive to deal with pandemic-related constraints. However, the technologies being used for collaboration on a daily basis are not sufficiently equipped to promote collaborative learning as both a cognitive and a socio-emotional process. They may even run the risk of hindering the constructive exchange of ideas and provoking disputes and negative encounters. In this squib, we argue that the field of CSCL is failing to address this risk, because our research efforts are far too scattered and siloed. We introduce a manifesto of social sensitivity: increasing interdisciplinary efforts to enhance constructively critical, respectful, and cohesive collaborations in technology-supported environments. We call for concrete actions in CSCL research that ultimately contribute to more democratic and equitable collaborations. ; peerReviewed
The paper proposes big-data-augmented ethnography as a novel mixed-methods approach to studying political discussions in a hybrid media system. Using such empirical setup, the authors examined candidate–candidate online interaction during election campaigning. Candidate–candidate interaction crossing party boundaries is scarce and occurs in the form of negative campaigning via social media, with the shaming of rival candidates and engaging in battles with them. The authors posit that ethnographic observations can be used to contextualize the computational analysis of large data sets, while computational analysis can be applied to validate and generalize the findings made through ethnography. ; peerReviewed
Tarkastelemme artikkelissa tiedon yhteistuottamista asuinalueiden kehittämisessä. Asuinalueiden kehittämishankkeet tuovat yhteen erilaisia toimintakulttuureita, toimijoita ja tiedon muotoja, mikä synnyttää tarpeen tarkastella, millaisen tiedon tai kenen asiantuntijuuden pohjalta asuinalueita kehitetään ja millaisia menetelmiä ja valmiuksia tämä edellyttää. Tarkastelemme kahdessa tamperelaisessa lähiökehittämishankkeessa, miten tietoa asuinaluekehityksessä yhteistuotetaan. Tesoman osallistuvan budjetoinnin ja Annala-Kaukajärven yhteiskehittämishankkeen aineisto on kerätty toimintatutkimuksella ja havainnoimalla. Jäsennämme tiedon yhteistuottamisprosessia teema-areenan käsitteellä teeman luonnetta ja kontekstia, toimijoita, vuorovaikutuksen paikkoja ja keskustelun kulkua analysoimalla. Tiedon yhteistuottaminen edellyttää organisaatiolta epävarmuuden sietoa ja yhteistuottamisen ymmärtämistä kahdensuuntaisena vuorovaikutusprosessina. Se vaatii resursseja, vastuiden määrittelyä ja strategista suunnittelua. Organisaatioiden sisäiset vuorovaikutus- ja viestintäprosessit ja tiedon yhteistuotannosta vastaavien ammattilaisten vuorovaikutustaidot vaikuttavat prosessin onnistumiseen.
This open access book analyses intercultural dialogue as a concept, policy and ideal in European education policy documentation. The core European transnational organizatons – the Council of Europe and the European Union – have actively promoted policies to engender inclusive societies and respond to challenges that diversification may entail. This book, in turn, offers suggestions for improving education policies in super-diversified Europe and beyond, where there is an increasing need for cultural understanding and constructive dialogue. The authors utilize concept analysis to reveal how these organizations seek to deal with dialogue between cultures, as well as weight given to cultural differences and intercultural encounters. This book will be of interest and value to scholars of intercultural dialogue and European education policies. ; peerReviewed