At the roots of the pedagogy of Finnish teacher training: Practicum as a core of teacher training in Teacher College of Tornio in the 1920s

Abstract

Good teacher training guarantees the functioning of good schools. Finnish schooling is world-widely known for its international success, which lead us to ask, what kind of roots does the teacher training pedagogy has and how it was brought out in teaching practicum. The purpose of this research is to clarify what kind of pedagogical currents influenced teacher training and especially teaching practicum at the teacher training college of Tornio in northern Finland in 1920s. The research data is based on archive sources, especially the text books of didactics used between 1921 and 1930. The results show, how Herbart-Zillerism was adopted as the model for teacher training philosophy. The moral-religious rearing and tradition, where teacher’s role is to guarantee discipline, order, and security has reflections in today’s school as well. Key words: Teacher training, Herbart-Zillerism, Finland, Teacher Training College of Tornio, teaching practicum.