RELA-project, funded by the Academy of Finland (2020-2024), is being carried out at the Faculty of Education and Psychology, University of Oulu, Finland. The project explores what changing working conditions mean for teachers’ relationships in their work, and how teachers make sense of their changing relationships. Several data sets were collected. The first data set consists of 25 narrative interviews with teachers working in Finnish basic education (teaching students from 7 to 16 years of age). The participant teachers have various years of teaching experience, live in different areas in Finland and belong to various teaching fields (e.g., primary school teachers, special education teachers and subject teachers, teaching different subject combinations). Teachers were asked to tell about their work, the current relationships in their work, as well as about the changes they have experienced in their work and in the relationships. The main themes emerging from the interviews included student-teacher relationships, parent-teacher relationships, co-teaching, multi-professional cooperation, teamwork, leadership, diversity, open architecture, social media, educational technologies, emotions and pandemic. The data set is available in Finnish language. The second data set consists of 21 narratives written by in-service basic education teachers. The years of teaching experience varies among the participant teachers, and they are teaching in different areas around Finland. Via a call to participate in the research, the teachers were asked to answer a Webropol survey with an open question “Please tell, what is teachers’ work today like?”. The data set is available in Finnish language. The third data set consists of teachers’ creative writings produced in creative writing workshops and video-recordings of the workshops. Two creative writing workshops for 8 teachers working in Finnish basic education were organized. The participant teachers have various years of teaching experience, live in different areas in Finland and belong to various teaching fields. Teachers engaged in several creative writing exercises, through which they narrated the stories of what it is like to be a teacher and about the relationships in their work. Two researchers facilitated the workshops. The data set is available in Finnish language.

2023