Teacher Education In Finland Research Articles

Proměny profesní přípravy učitelů ve Finsku

The article discusses the issue of the transformation and reform of teacher education in Finland with an accent on the 20th century. In the context of the issues of education transfer, borrowing and lending policy, it reflects on the characteristics of Finnish education policy, which is also reflected in the discussion of teacher education. The paper reconstructs the main premises of teacher training reforms in Finland in the 20th century and asks how these premises can be helpful in the Czech debate on teacher education reform.

Transformative Way of Becoming a Teacher: A Phenomenological-Hermeneutic Analysis of Class Teacher Education in Finland

Transformative learning in teacher education qualitatively changes future teachers’ meaning systems of learning, teaching, and education. In this study, I explored transformative learning in Finnish class teacher education. Data were collected by observing student teachers over two academic years. Data also contains writings that student teachers produced during that period. A phenomenological analysis focused on the general characteristics of the transformative way of becoming a teacher and identified a process consisting of four phases: starting point, crack, ambivalence, and transformation. A hermeneutic analysis was used to interpret how the process occurred in practice. The results suggest a long and ambivalent process, which challenges educational policy discourses that emphasize efficiency and speed.

Acknowledging Sámi as indigenous people in early childhood teacher education in Finland – A study in the light of values, knowledge, and competencies

The study examines if and how the Sámi, their languages, culture, and rights as indigenous people are acknowledged in early childhood teacher education in Finland. In addition, it assesses what kinds of competencies connected to language, culture and rights are taught in early childhood teacher training programmes and what competencies future teachers need to develop. The data consists of focus group discussions with teacher educators from two universities. The discussions, led by the corresponding authors, included semi-structured questions, analysed using inductive content analysis. The results show that early childhood teacher educators see a discrepancy between the idealistic formulations in the different steering documents and the, at times, more complex real world. While the languages, culture, and rights of the indigenous Sámi people are acknowledged in different courses at both universities, teacher educators find it difficult to have more in-depth discussions because of their position as outsiders and a lack of knowledge. However, they also see the importance of better acknowledging the Sámi and their rights so that future early childhood teachers have a deeper understanding of the Sámi people, linguistic and cultural diversity within Finland, and additional competencies to support children and their identity construction.

Exploring the research-based approach of academic classroom teachers in Finland

ABSTRACT Teacher education in Finland has followed a research-based approach for decades, but the approach has rarely been investigated from the viewpoint of in-service teachers. This study explores how in-service teachers experienced the meaning of educational science, research and theory (ESRT) and how teachers engage with educational research as part of their work. Using a phenomenologically oriented analytical approach, the informants were grouped into three categories. In the first category, teachers understood the meaning of ESRT broadly, whereas those in the second group viewed the meaning as primarily instrumental, and those in the third group considered it insignificant. The informants reportedly engage with educational research only rarely due to a lack of time and opportunities, and the fact that their working conditions do not support a research-based work orientation. This should be noted when developing both initial and in-service teacher education.

Student teachers’ experiences of practical training in a foreign culture

ABSTRACT Teacher education is usually located in a national context. In this study, the focus is on teacher education located in a foreign studying environment. Student teachers from the southern part of Africa started their teacher education in Finland. The context is their first practicum in Finnish teacher training school. The data consist of one portfolio task of 18 student teachers concerning teaching experiences in a practicum. The content of reflective tasks were analysed based on three dimensions: sensitising, contextual and technical reflection. In addition, the transformation of the teachers’ understanding of teaching work was analysed. Despite cultural and linguistic differences, it is possible to find meaningful sensitising, contextual and technical content in reflective tasks. Teachers’ understanding of teaching work transformed during their first experience abroad.

Språkmedvetet på skärmen?

Distance education due to Covid-19 put the teachers' linguistically sensitive teaching to the test. In this study, teachers' experiences of distance education with a focus on linguistically sensitive teaching and relationships are examined. The data consists of 10 teacher interviews working in the Swedish-medium teacher education in Finland. The interviews were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Teachers experienced challenges in making their distance education linguistically sensitive, due to individual external and individual internal reasons. The results established a need to strengthen teachers' ability of linguistically sensitive teaching for future distance education, and the importance of creating good relationships in contact teaching before unexpected situations arise.

Appreciating situations of breakdown for researcher reflexivity

Responding to the identified need for reflection, critique, and evaluations of appreciative inquiry (AI), a form of action research, this article presents a critical reflection on an application of AI in a cross-cultural music education research project. AI was selected as it appeared to both have potential for addressing the complexities related to power imbalances, ethnocentrism, and coloniality inherent in a project aiming to co-develop music teacher education in Finland and Nepal, and because its 4D model supported the co-constructing of visions, which was central to the project. The critical reflection presented in this article focused on three situations of breakdown that occurred during the research process. Analysis of these breakdowns highlighted the need for researchers to engage responsibly in research as participants, account for dreaming as an unevenly distributed capacity when working with visions or aspirations, and develop skills facilitating collaborative spaces that cultivate listening for and appreciating difference. The article concludes by recognising the limitations of undertaking this reflection independently rather than collaboratively and by cautioning against the instrumentalization of appreciation, calling instead for sincere appreciation. Overall, the article contends that the process of identifying and generating new understandings of breakdowns is a powerful approach for stimulating researcher reflexivity.

Five decades of persistent decontextualisation of academic teacher education in Finland

Aiming at constructive criticism, this article analyses the historical development of Finnish teacher education from the perspective of decontextualisation. The article suggests that essential contexts for teacher education are daily schooling, the historically constructed structures of school, and finally the whole society. The results indicate that as an unintended consequence of the academisation of Finnish teacher education, the socio-historical context of teaching and learning has narrowed, and ties between educational theory and practical schooling have loosened. This may hinder the good intentions underpinning the Finnish teacher education system and produce a discourse that unreflectively silences the complexity of education.

Exploring the Connections of Education for Sustainable Development and Entrepreneurial Education—A Case Study of Vocational Teacher Education in Finland

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Entrepreneurial Education (EE) are quite abstract and demanding concepts for teacher students. Yet, Key Sustainability Competences and Entrepreneurial Competences entail important qualities of future citizens and workers, and teacher students should become prepared to accommodate education for these competencies in their teaching practice. This paper explores teacher students’ process of sense-making of sustainable development and how becoming a teacher who practices ESD connects with entrepreneurship. EE serves as a good mirroring surface to ESD as they both have their roots in Transformative Learning (TL) but pursue transformation towards different goals. The case study follows the vocational teacher education (VTE) students’ sensemaking of Sustainable Development as a part of teacher’s work during one semester which included integrated Thematic Studies of Sustainable Development. The qualitative content analysis of students’ texts focused on signs of transformative learning and was guided by the dimensions of sustainable development and learning goals set for teacher’s sustainability competences in the VTE curriculum. The results indicate that transformative learning is possible. Furthermore, they address the importance of certain entrepreneurial capabilities in the actualization of change agency.

VALIDATION IN ART TEACHER AND PROFESSIONAL TEACHER EDUCATION CURRICULA IN FINLAND

<p>Intention and opportunity for validation of competences acquired in different contexts are considered influential to meet the incremental changes in the world of work. Positioned in the universities of applied sciences delivering art and professional teacher education in Finland, we study emergence of validation of prior learning in the intended, or planned, curricula. The Nordic Quality Model for Validation was employed as the empirical frame of reference. Data were collected from the institutions’ open websites. The critical discourse analysis revealed differences in curricular discourses between and across the institutions. Texts with more indicators of validation were found within larger providers of professional teacher education, whereas those were more scarce in texts from smaller institutions. Validation texts are shorter in length and more fragmented in art teacher curricula. Despite its centrality in educational policy, validation remains in the margins of art and professional teacher education curricula. It is unlikely that the intended curricula facilitate teacher trainers’ efforts to form a shared repertoire of a community of practice in validation of non-formal and informal learning. We suggest further study on the enacted and experienced curricula to examine the role of validation in art teacher and professional teacher education.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0893/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Visions for intercultural music teacher education in complex societies

This article presents a synthesis of findings from a large-scale research project, the Global Visions Through Mobilizing Networks—Co-developing Intercultural Music Teacher Education in Finland, Israel and Nepal ( https://sites.uniarts.fi/web/globalvisions/home ), and conveys its theoretical and practical explorations and insights. By envisioning 21st-century music teacher education from the perspective of interculturality and through transnational collaboration, Global Visions has engaged with international societal changes and struggles related to the rising tides of xenophobia, populism, and social disharmony, by focusing on what happens at the boundaries, in dialogue, and in conflict when difference is encountered, experienced, and reflected upon. While the dominant culturalist view presents music as neutral and diversity as tied mainly to ethnicity, Global Visions has recognized, analyzed, exemplified, and increased understanding of the complex politics of diversity. Resulting in envisioned music teacher education programs as innovative game changers, the project has enhanced professional reflexivity through considering the responsibility and moral aspects of music teacher education. Six main focus areas of the project are presented with recommendations for future research and practice in music teacher education: (a) research education and research as intervention; (b) reflexivity and professional learning in intercultural encounters; (c) the capacity to aspire in music teacher education; (d) the development of intersectional praxis; (e) intercultural music education as a political engagement; and (f) transcultural professional development and international professionalization.

Scientifically Designed Teacher Education

This paper investigates teacher educators’ perceptions of scientifically designed teacher education in Finland and Norway and asks the following research questions: How do teacher educators in Finland and Norway perceive scientifically designed teacher education? How do they perceive teacher education regarding the research-led, research-tutored, research-based, and research-oriented dimensions? The study is comparative and uses a quantitative methodological approach based on a questionnaire survey administered to teacher educators in three departments of teacher education, two in Norway and one in Finland. The findings indicate overall positive and quite similar perceptions between the two countries. Despite the similarities, there were differences, particularly in the dimension concerning teacher-focused activities and in the research-tutored dimension. Furthermore, teacher educators’ perceptions were more varied among the Norwegian teacher educators, compared to the Finnish respondents.

A Comparative Analysis of Objective Statements in Syllabi for English Teacher Education in Finland and South Korea

[연구목적] 이 연구는 한국과 핀란드의 영어교사 교육과정을 비교하였다. 연구의 목적은 두 가지로 요약할 수 있다. 첫째, 두 나라의 교사교육에서 추구하는 전문적 교사 역량은 무엇인가 하는 것과 둘째, 그러한 역량이 교육과정에 어떻게 반영되어 있는가를 살펴보았다. [연구방법] 연구 자료는 두 연구자가 소속된 대학의 교육과정의 교수요목을 분석한 것이다. 특히 지식, 기술, 그리고 품성으로 구성된 교사역량 체계를 기반으로 강좌의 목표를 분석하였다. [연구결과] 연구 결과, 한국의 교사교육 강좌에서는 기술영역보다는 지식 영역이 더 강조된 반면, 핀란드의 경우에는 기술영역이 강조되는 것으로 나타났다. 이것은 각 대학의 교육 프로그램이 실제성에 두는 비중이 다른 데에서 비롯된 것으로 보인다. 핀란드의 영어교사 교육은 다양한 실습 과목에 기술 영역을 통합한 반면, 한국의 영어교사 교육은 실습이 다소 제한적이었다. 교사로서의 가치와 품성 영역은 기본적인 교사의 역량임에도 불구하고 두 나라의 교사교육 과정에서 중요성이 드러나지 않았다. [결론] 교사역량을 구성하는 큰 범주인 지식, 기술, 그리고 품성 영역 간의 균형뿐만 아니라 영역 내부의 요소 간에도 균형이 필요하다. 특히 일반 교육학 지식 중심의 강의 목표설정에서 벗어나 세부적인 교과교육학 지식과의 균형있는 관점이 필요해 보인다. 또한 정보통신 기술의 적극적인 통합과 같은 미래지향적인 관점의 도입이 필요하다.

The Challenge of Educating Purposeful Teachers in Finland

This article discusses the challenges of educating teachers in Finland. As a goal in teacher education for the 21st century we propose the purposeful teacher, referring to a teacher who has a long-term moral commitment to serve students, the school community and society. Our data collected from student (N = 912) and practising (N = 77) teachers yielded information on the purposes they identified as important in their lives. The survey included quantitative instruments and open- ended questions. The teachers identified happiness, relationships, work and self-actualisation as the most important contents of their aspirations. All the content categories could be understood as potential purposes in that the benefit extended beyond the teachers themselves. However, almost half of the student teachers (46%) and over half of teachers (55%) revealed only self-orientation. Less than half of them (43%, 36%, respectively) showed a beyond-the-self orientation, which is indicative of a purposeful teacher. Among the practising teachers, teaching appeared to be mainly a mediating factor in realising their purposes or aspirations. These results have implications related to contemporary teacher education in Finland. Both pre- and in-service teachers need to know about purposeful teaching in order to find meaning in their work.

Student teachers’ views of competence goals in vocational teacher education

ABSTRACT Competence-based education (CBE) is an international educational trend and a core issue in developing Finnish vocational upper secondary and higher education. The theory and practice of the competence-based approach should preferably be included in vocational teacher studies. Yet, there are still relatively few organisations implementing competence-based vocational teacher education in Finland. This article examines the realisation of competence-based vocational teacher education. The small-scale mixed-method case study explains the student teachers’ conceptions of the competence goals in their studies. The competence goals describe the competencies to be achieved as a result of training. According to the research findings, competence goals clarify the student teachers’ understanding of the demands of a teacher’s work, facilitate students to reflect on their competences and help in preparing individual study plans and promoting their studies. However, the student teachers need university teachers’ guidance to get their studies started and to promote the competences flexibly.

FINNISH PRIMARY AND PRESCHOOL TEACHERS REFLECTING ON GENERIC SKILLS: HELSINKI UNIVERSITY GRADUATES’ PERCEPTIONS

Lately there has been much interest in how university level studies develop students’ generic skills and to what extent university education meets the requirements of working life. Generic skills are needed in every profession and field. The term has been widely used during the past few decades due to the rapid change in society and working life. In order to develop teacher education in Finland, several research projects have been launched. The aim of this research was to find out preschool and primary school teachers’ perceptions to what extent and what kind of generic skills their teacher’s pedagogical studies had supported most. The data used in this study was collected electronically by E-lomake that was distributed through different social media channels. The received answers of induction phase teachers (n = 23) were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. To gain a better insight, two of the respondents were also interviewed and the answers analysed qualitatively.The results revealed that in general the respondents found that the attained generic skills helped them to cope with working life. Communication in a foreign language, acting in a multicultural environment, digital and communicative skills, and coping with stress were mentioned as not relevant or needing more attention.

Student Teachers Building a Sustainable Future Through Constructing Equality in Visual Arts Education

Abstract This article presents a discussion about primary school visual arts education from the point of view of social sustainability and in the context of teacher education in Finland. The study focuses on the student teachers’ understanding and pedagogic thinking of the equality construction in visual arts. In this case study the research data comprises the learning portfolios of student teachers (N=25) from the visual arts teaching course at the University of Helsinki in which they designed and carried out pedagogical workshops of visual arts to promote equality. The data were examined with the methods of qualitative content analysis. In this context, the student teachers found engaging elements in the aims and practices of visual arts to be the way to enhance equality. Visual arts education was found to offer a functional space for enhancing the agency, social skills and values needed in a sustainable future.

Finnish student teachers’ conceptions and experiences of nature

ABSTRACT Based on the premise that outdoor-oriented learning relies on students’ perceptions of nature, this study contributes to the development of outdoor-based education in the Arctic and northern context. The study analyses conceptions and lifetime experiences of nature as reported by students (N = 46) in Sustainability and Outdoor Education-Oriented Teacher Education in Finland. A web-based questionnaire was used to gather data for content analysis. The results revealed variations in the students’ perceptions, although all were very aware of their connection to nature in the Arctic. The findings confirm the need for teachers to be aware that students’ perceptions and lived experiences of nature affect their ability to work with nature-related issues. As those perceptions vary according to background, personal connections and existing knowledge, student-centred education for teachers should take account of these factors.

EFL Teacher Education in Finland: Manifestations of Professional Agency in Teacher Educators’ Work

ABSTRACT English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher educators play a key role in the development of university-based teacher education and the preparation of preservice EFL teachers. However, the professional agency of EFL teacher educators in developing their work remains understudied. Employing a Vygotskian sociocultural theoretical perspective, this research considers the individual and collective professional agency of eight EFL teacher educators at two Finnish universities. Findings demonstrate that individual professional agency is enacted in the expression of professional identity and the development of professional relationships, and in offering and receiving professional assistance. Findings also demonstrate that collective agency occurs in the shared development of routine practices and the transformation of EFL education, and in responding to shifts in power dynamics. These findings affirm the roles of identity and relational agency in enacting professional agency as well as the object-oriented nature of EFL teacher educators’ collective agency.

Talking About Sustainability in Teacher Preparation in Finland and the United States

This article reports on empirical research findings from a case study of teacher education in Finland and the United States. A sociological perspective was deployed for investigating how the concept of sustainability was addressed in two teacher education programs. One of the programs was located in Finland and the other in the US. The study was carried out in 2015 and 2016. Seventeen semi-structured, open-ended, audio-recorded interviews form the core of the research materials. A thematic analysis of interviews was conducted for identifying articulations related to sustainability in subject-matter specialized teacher preparation. Findings from this study contribute to research on teacher preparation. Notably, by articulating how context-specific culture and social norms contribute to local models of teacher education. Findings from this study indicate that teacher training practices in Finland have encouraged students to articulate sustainability in relation to critical thinking, whereas in the US, sustainability has been articulated in relation to social justice. The key point supported by the evidence is that sustainability was by teachers and teacher educators conceptualized as being about the popularization of knowledge about ecology and biodiversity. The kind of communication that was by teachers and teacher educators described as effective for popularizing knowledge about scientific phenomena were forms of teaching that expanded on content-specific knowledge by connecting it to ethical and civic frameworks of the societies in which students live.