Diversity in the Workplace (5 cr)

Evaluation scale

Pass/Fail

Content scheduling

Start-up webinar on Wed 1.10.2025 klo 15-18
Guidance webinar I on Wed 22.10.2025 klo 15-18
Guidance webinar II on Tue 25.11.2025 klo 15-18

Objective

The purpose of the course

During this course, you will explore factors that challenge learning and their impacts in the workplace. You will find ways and methods to support the learning and working of students or employees at the workplace in collaboration with other stakeholders. Additionally, you will examine the impact of support needs on a person's career and educational choices and employment. You can consider various support methods in the workplace from the perspective of your own work.

Course competences

In this course, you will promote and develop your interpersonal competence, facilitating learning and agency skills.

Interpersonal competence refers to teacher’s ability to strengthen learners’ competence. You will be able to support learners’ competence for continuous learning, such as self-regulation and reflection skills, and the ownership of their own learning process. As a teacher, you will also have the ability to take into account learner diversity and learners’ personal starting points and goals when planning and carrying out learning sessions and guiding learning. Your approach is dialogical and ethical in a way that supports the well-being of learners.

Facilitating learning skills refer to a teacher's collaborative approach and ability to planning, implementing, assessing, and developing learning and guidance processes taking into consideration the diversity of learners. It also refers to understanding of group processes and group phenomena in learning, employment of versatile and working life-oriented learning resources and ability to design, implement and facilitate learning processes in digital environments in a pedagogically meaningful way.

Agency refer to a teachers’ proactive approach to creating their own professional development path, ability to set goals for their professional development. It also refers to teachers' ability to make creative, work-related decisions on the basis of professional pedagogical knowledge. You will be able to manage your own work in an appropriate manner, participating in joint knowledge creation processes, and possessing the competence to work in diverse learning environments to further develop your own and the work community’s activities.

Learning objectives

You will explore factors that challenge learning and their impacts in the workplace. You will find ways and methods to support the learning and working of students or employees at the workplace in collaboration with other stakeholders. You will examine the impact of support needs on a person's career and educational choices and employment.

Content

Diversity and learning challenges in the workplace,
The impact of learning difficulties on the learner's educational and career choices, employment, and work performance,
Guidance and support methods for students or employees in the workplace,
Collaboration in supporting the individual needs of students.

Materials

Kosunen, S., Juvonen, S. & Huilla, H. (2024). Koulu ja eriarvoisuus (soveltuvin osin)
Brunila, K., Hakala, K., Lahelma, E. & Teittinen, A. (2013). Ammatillinen koulutus ja yhteiskunnalliset eronteot (soveltuvin osin)

You will find additional learning materials and assignments in the online learning environment.

Teaching methods

Opintojakso toteutetaan verkko-opintoina ja perustuu itsenäiseen työskentelyyn ja vertaistyöskentelyyn. Opintojaksoon sisältyy verkossa tapahtuvaa ohjausta. Opintojaksolla on kolme webinaaritapaamista, joissa käsitellään oppimistehtävien esiin nostamia teemoja. Webinaareissa saat palautetta omista tehtävistäsi muilta opiskelijoilta sekä opettajilta. Muutoin ohjaus ja oppimistehtävien rakentaminen toteutuvat verkossa ja itsenäistä työtä tehden. Toteutustavat syventävät ammatillista osaamista ja oman ammattialan kehittämistä.

Student workload

In total, the course consists of 135 hours (5 x 27h) of students’ work:
- Orientation / pre-task 6 h
- Webinars 9 h
- Self-directed learning in online environment, reading the learning materials, completing the learning assignments 120 h

Assessment criteria, approved/failed

The criteria for assessing the approved level are as follows:

Interpersonal skills:
You will support learners' continuous learning skills and ownership of their own learning process. You will consider learners' personal backgrounds and goals.

Facilitating learning skills:
You will be able to plan, implement, and evaluate learning and guidance processes to support students in need at the workplace. You will consider the diversity of learners and their individual needs. You will utilize various support methods, including digital tools, to support learners.

Agency skills:
You will strengthen your agency skills by creatively making various work-related decisions based on knowledge. You will participate in building communal knowledge and be able to operate in diverse learning environments to develop your own and your work community's activities.

Further information

The assessment is qualitative and is based on learning objectives. The methods for evaluation of the learning process are feedback and self-assessment. Competence assessment is based on criteria and the teacher educator makes the assessment decision once all the learning tasks have been completed. The assessment material consists of the learning tasks of the course and participation in the webinars.