This article presents a case study of a group of approximately 70-year-old women who are learning to play rock band instruments in a formal music school context. The study examines the individual and shared meanings that the participants assigned to taking part in the rock band. The study aligns with John Dewey's view that the meanings of present…

This paper explores the traits of the leadership dexterity of special students. Leadership in special students is not an expected phenomenon. Cases of special students studying at the University of Tampere, Finland are reported on here. Each case contributes uniqueness and offers qualitative insight into this phenomenon. Interviews were conducted…

The nature of vocational education needs has changed. In authentic vocational classroom contexts, there is a rising need to develop new ways to integrate ongoing and overlapping processes of students' personal learning environments and collaborative knowledge construction. However, there is currently very little knowledge about how teachers…

This paper first looks at the contexts and situation of Finnish adult education in basic mathematical skills. Challenges for and observations of adults' learning of basic mathematics in Finland will be illustrated. Studying mathematics and numeracy are considered against its role in social and personal empowerment. Case studies of Finnish adults'…

This paper is based on the assumption that action research always affects the micropolitical balance characteristic of a certain school setting. The authors claim that micropolitics, that is the patterns of formal power and informal influence, has largely been neglected in the literature on action research in schools. This means that action…

This qualitative case study describes a portfolio program in the teaching of English as a foreign language in two Finnish upper secondary schools. Approximately 100 students participated in the portfolio program, whose topic area was culture. First, the purpose of this action research was to try out and develop portfolios in foreign language…