Swedish Teacher Education Research Articles

Digital Citizenship and Professional Digital Competence \u2014 Swedish Subject Teacher Education in a Postdigital Era

Teacher education (TE) is not only about skills and knowledge but also about citizenship formation as student teachers are prepared for the democratic assignment of school. In a postdigital era, blurred boundaries between digital technologies and physical reality place new demands on citizenship, teacher education institutions (TEIs), and teacher educators (TEDs). This paper explores Swedish TEDs’ views of digital citizenship and the professional digital competence (PDC) required for teaching subject student teachers to teach for digital citizenship. Seven TEIs participated and 16 semi-structured interviews were conducted with TEDs teaching a Core Education Subjects module on education and democracy mandatory for all student teachers. TEDs generally believe that the digitalization of society impacts the democratic assignment and addressing this requires specific PDC. Conceptualizations of digital citizenship tend to foreground source criticism as well as ethical, safe, and sound use of digital technologies, and to some degree also (im-)material means of democratic participation. While generally believing that TE should address questions relating to digital citizenship and that TEDs have an important role in this regard, digital technologies are discussed in the module coincidentally and TEDs are unsure to what degree student teachers receive such training. Challenges include lack of time and unclear Degree Objectives. To develop TEDs’ PDC to include questions relating to digital citizenship in their teaching, support is needed through policy and continuous professional development for TEDs, including reviews of course content and program structure. Future TE research needs to explore digital citizenship in the school subject social studies.

Rec. av Christensson, Johan: Teacher Identity as Discourse. A Case Study of Students in Swedish Teacher Education (2021)

Rec. av Christensson, Johan: Teacher Identity as Discourse. A Case Study of Students in Swedish Teacher Education (2021)

Care as technology for exclusion

In this article, we explore and problematise admission tests to specialist music teacher education in Sweden from a governing perspective, where higher music education is considered a discursive practice. It illustrates how power operates in legitimating the tests. The study uses stimulated recall in jury members’ talk about assessing applicants for music teacher education programmes, and uses Foucault’s concept of governmentality to reveal entrance tests as something regarded as generally good for all. This operating discourse is built on governmental rationality and processes that make it possible to reach conclusions about the applicants’ personalities and prospects for learning and developing in the future. Through care as technology of power, failing applicants are excluded from becoming music teachers and at the same time they are rescued from struggling in the future. The results are discussed in relation to issues of democratic music education, ethics and requirements for widened access to higher music education.

Linguistic norms in preschool education: A critical perspective

The aim of this article is to generate knowledge about language ideologies in teacher education in Sweden from a critical perspective. In order to achieve an equal education, we argue that it is important that teachers are able to develop an approach and pedagogy that can support all pupils despite their linguistic background to achieve the goals in school. The focus of this article is on language ideologies in teacher education for preschool teachers and how ideological and implementational spaces for language diversity is constructed and negotiated in the education. The empirical material was produced during four years through observations, individual interviews and focus group interviews with educators in the teacher education and a group of ten students in the preschool teacher program, who were admitted to the program based on their migration background. The analysis shows that there is a monolingual standardized norm for Swedish both prevailing in the teacher education and pointing towards their future jobs as preschool teachers. In order to become legitimate members in the group of preschool teacher students and a future community of practice of preschool teachers, the students adjusted to this norm. We identified ideological spaces for multilingualism in the education but the possibilities to implement them were few. Thus, there was a tension between pluralism and diversity on the one side and a strong demand for adjustment to a monolingual standardized language norm for minority students on the other side. As teacher educators we realize the value and necessity of a common language norm, and we are as scholars reproducing such norms of academic language through the writing of this article. At the same time, we argue that it is important to include a multilingual pedagogy in the teacher education that can i) include and support the linguistic repertoires of students in the program and ii) prepare students for their future work in language heterogenous preschools and schools

“The teacher educator’s perceptions of professional agency – a paradox of enabling and hindering digital professional development in higher education”

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to investigate professional agency in the context of higher education as manifested in Swedish teacher educators’ perceptions regarding their working life in a digital society and to seek to obtain insights on salient factors influencing professional agency and identity. Eighteen semi-structured interviews with teacher educators working at four different universities were analysed using directed content analysis. The theoretical perspective taken is a subject-centred socio-cultural approach to professional agency. This is an approach where the social context (the socio-cultural conditions) and individuals’ agency (professional subjects) are mutually constitutive but analytically separate. Agency is something that is exercised, and in this study, professional agency was explored in the work context, in teaching practice and in relation to the professional identity. The results of this study not only confirm the complexity of being a professional TE in the times of digitalisation but more importantly demonstrate a paradox in the TE’s perceived high agency that both enables and hinders self-development (the individual) as well as development of the working community, the organisation, and the university. The study implies that considerations and understanding of the TE’s autonomy and perceived agency are significant for professional and work development.

Learning to teach as a two-sided endeavor: mentors’ perceptions of paired practicum in initial teacher education

ABSTRACT In this article, mentors’ perceptions of paired practicum in initial teacher education in Sweden are studied. Taking the mentors’ perspective, we describe the potentials and the pitfalls of paired practicum. The pros and cons of the model are analyzed from a perspective of learning the vocation of teaching as a two-sided endeavor. Inspired by a modified Aristotelian perspective, we use the terms participant knowledge and spectator knowledge to conceptualize the learning of two different forms of knowledge. Qualitative data were gathered through interviews with five mentors and analyzed using an abductive process. The analysis reveals that paired practicum facilitates a potential for learning mainly a distanced and propositional spectator knowledge while the learning of a contextual and practical participant knowledge seems to be obstructed. For instance, paired practicum seems to prolong the peripheral position of the students and their opportunities to gain participatory knowledge. Results also show that there is a discrepancy between the pedagogical intentions of paired practicum and the concrete possibilities for realizing these in practice. The limitations of the paired practicum model, and how these can be overcome, both at individual and organizational level, are highlighted.

Conditions for professional digital competence: the teacher educators’ view

ABSTRACT This study explores how Swedish teacher educators view individual, collegial, and organisational conditions framing the fulfilment of their dual didactical task, which is to use digital technology in a way that ensures student teachers graduate from teacher education (TE) with the professional digital competence (PDC) needed for their future working lives in a digitalised school. Using a purposive sampling approach, we used thematic coding to analyse 13 semistructured interviews with teacher educators representing 21 mandatory courses in educational science at one teacher education institution in Sweden. The findings cover aspects of the teacher educators’ PDC, how to act as a digital role model for the student teachers, support in educational policy and assignments, and the possibilities for participating in continuous professional development (CPD) in PDC. This study demonstrates an urgent need to improve conditions for successful fulfilment of teacher educators’ dual didactical task. For example, TE policy requires a strong focus on digital technology and PDC. CPD activities should be easy to access in order for teacher educators to develop their PDC. Moreover, leaders at the organisational level in TE institutions should acknowledge and place higher value on teacher educators’ work to digitalise educational practices.

Learning as Peers in Practice ‐ an Obstacle or Support for Student Teachers’ Vocational Learning?

Re-organization of practicum within Initial Teacher Education in Sweden has initiated changes of support for student teachers. This article discusses learning during practice, where student teachers are placed with peer students, and what this method of learning indicates how student teachers should learn the profession of teaching. This article examines perceived consequences when student teachers collaborate during practice within ITE. I make use of the concepts ofparticipatory perspective, where practical knowledge is learned through taking part in practice, andspectator perspective, where practical knowledge is learned through reflecting together with peers. This article illuminates how different forms of learning are experienced and valued in this part of teacher education. A case study was conducted among ITE preschool students implementing their final period of practice. Findings show that when student teachers implement practice together, perceptions are that learning through aspectator perspectiveis seen as an obstacle for learning the profession of teaching authentically.

Global Demands – Local Practices

Gender equality is a global aim that has been presented in numerous documents. However, teacher education programs in many countries still lack sustainable strategies for working towards gender equality in education. Working successfully in this area may promote more sustainable practices in schools to reach gender-fair societies. The Nordic countries are known for pro-active gender policies and they provide interesting cases for investigating achievements and struggles in the field. The purpose of this article is, from an international comparative perspective, to explore the rationales and practices when working with issues of gender equality in Finnish and Swedish teacher education and to reflect on related concepts. We describe, analyse and compare local practices, theoretical frameworks and challenges by revisiting gender and teacher education research and equality projects from the 1980s up to today. The comparative methodology chosen facilitates understanding examples from two neighbouring countries, illustrating different ways to develop policies and strategies. Local actors not only follow global claims to work with gender and equality in teacher education but also play an active role and contribute to these discourses. Our study suggests that gender equality cannot be achieved overnight; appropriate strategies need to be negotiated constantly in specific national and institutional contexts at universities and teacher education institutions.

Teaching for a monolingual school? (In)visibility of multilingual perspectives in Swedish teacher education

ABSTRACT This article analyses the knowledge about linguistic and cultural diversity that is delineated in the syllabi of teacher education programmes for pre-, primary and secondary schools at two Swedish universities. A quantitative search for 14 chosen keywords preceded a closer analysis of the concepts *language* and *cultur*, when using truncation, in 192 syllabi. This showed that linguistic diversity was to a certain extent evident, mainly through the subjects Swedish and English, while for one university cultural diversity was mainly identified in the syllabi of Educational Work and English. If knowledge about linguistic and cultural diversity is limited to language subjects, and to some extent to pre-school and earlier school years, the risk is high that student teachers are not prepared to support equity in education for multilingual and non-dominant groups. Thus, we find that students studying the current Swedish teacher education programme are unlikely to be well equipped to meet the challenges related to creating equal educational opportunities for students in situations of linguistic and cultural diversity.

Fragmented boundary zones between theory and practice in preschool teacher education in Sweden

Research dealing with preschool teacher education has been, for a long time, criticalof a binary divide between theory and practice. Based on that issue, this studyinvestigates a preschool teacher education programme in Sweden. It focusses onreflection upon theory and practice as an affordance offered to students in studies andwork. The study used a questionnaire with two groups: campus studentsfollowing the regular programme and students who were nurses already working atpreschools. Analysis shows a fragmented education where the groups faced differentproblems, but also that neither of them could connect reflections on theory andpractice at the workplace to their own learning approaches in either studies orworking matters. How the students experienced affordances depended on theireducational skills and knowledge, and the programme relied mostly on individualreflection as the solution to the binary divide. This reliance seemed to work better forcampus students, who were challenged by the new environmental affordances. Thestudents in the field-based programme were close to the preschools’ pedagogicalmicro-practice, which limited the possibility for critical reflection on theory andpractice and its contextual conditions, especially for students who were nurses.Workplace routines seem to structure the students’ learning instead.

Teacher educators’ perceptions of their profession in relation to the digitalization of society


 
 
 This study takes an exploratory approach to investigating Swedish teacher educators’ perceptions regarding their profession in relation to the digitalization of society and education, including higher education. Eighteen semi-structured interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings show that the teacher educators perceive digitalization on a scale that ranges from simply using tools to being part of a technology-initiated revolution of educational institutions and society. From this range of digital developments emanate individual, group, and organizational requirements/demands, needs, and consequences for being, that is, personal experiences of how digitalization affects the work, and acting, that is, doing something in response to the demands of using and teaching with digital technology. The teacher educator is situated primarily in being with the requirements for working professionally and acting as a teacher, which creates tensions and challenges for the individual and the professional self.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Children's rights in Swedish teacher education

In 2020, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was incorporated into Swedish domestic law. In the proposals for new legislation, it is emphasised that steps be taken to develop knowledge of children’s rights among professionals at all levels. This article explores the presence and status of children’s rights in Swedish teacher education. A total of 362 teacher-education course plans and syllabi at 12 universities were examined, and a questionnaire was conducted among 156 teacher educators. Although teacher educators judge knowledge around children’s rights to be important for pre-service teachers, the syllabi provide little guidance as to what knowledge pre-service teachers need. Using the framework for analysing human rights education designed by educational specialist Felisa Tibbitts, it is concluded that Swedish teacher education fits with a Values and Awareness Model, which is associated with socialisation but not with social change.

Institutionalisation of validation and the transformation of vocational knowledge - the case of admission into the vocational teacher education in Sweden

The aim of this thesis was to understand the validation of vocational knowledge prior to entry into vocational teacher education in Sweden. From this aim the following research questions were devel...

Growing student teachers’ reflective practice: explorations of an approach to video-stimulated reflection

ABSTRACT In Swedish teacher education, student teachers commonly work with assignments in small groups. To enable student teachers to grow, both personally and professionally, they need to reflect both individually and collectively with their teacher educators and fellow student teachers. However, research shows that there is a risk in teacher education to narrow reflection into a tool for teacher learning, and not recognizing it as an activity that challenges thought. To avoid this risk, the approach to video-stimulated reflection (VSR) explored in this study, considers not only the notion of reflection, but also the reflective process itself, and its potential for growing student teachers to create a reflective space collaboratively. Three groups of student teachers participated in the VSR on a field practice at a local science center. Two of the groups were preparing for teaching science in lower and upper primary school. The third group was preparing for teaching science in secondary school. A reflective cycle analysis was applied to detect reflection in the VSR interviews. The results demonstrate that the approach to VSR enabled a reflective process in all three groups. The affordances and constraints of the VSR and the role of the facilitator are discussed.

Research or teaching? Contradictory demands on Swedish teacher educators and the consequences for the quality of teacher education

Based on a policy analysis and interviews with assistant lecturers and lecturers (with a PhD) who are heavily involved in teacher education, the present article addresses contemporary tensions and challenges in Swedish teacher education. The point of departure is the theoretical framework of mission stretch and the third space professional in teacher education with the aim of investigating how teacher educators experience and navigate their daily work. The findings of the study illustrate the tensions teacher educators experience between research and teaching tasks, between a constant flow of tasks, large student groups, and demands of high-quality teaching. The findings also show a gap between the practical anchoring of some research in teacher education and feelings of tension between teaching practices and the value of research. In conclusion, teacher education would seem to be developing into a cluster of tasks, challenges, expectations, and skills. This indicates that teaching and research are not the only missions and cannot be taken for granted in light of how teachers struggle to define their professional knowledge and value with respect to increasingly strong competitive demands for research performance.

Teacher Educators in Neoliberal Times: A Phenomenological Self-Study

In Sweden, and most Western countries, pervasive neoliberal policies have dramatically transformed the entire education sector in a matter of decades. As teacher educators, we have experienced how neoliberal currents have pushed Swedish teacher education towards a teacher training paradigm which may risk undermining the foundations for professional judgement. Moreover, the Bologna Process and the introduction of New Public Management have had significant consequences for what it means to be a teacher educator. In this study, we present our everyday experiences of being teacher educators, immersed in a teacher education culture in Sweden which has evolved under the pressures of neoliberalism. To address these complex lived experiences we engaged in a phenomenological first-person account. Three main themes emerged from an analysis of lived experience descriptions: (a) Alignment Slaves; (b) Audit Puppets; (c) Techno Phobes. These themes reflect different lived dimensions of being teacher educators confronted with neoliberal agendas. The paper concludes with a call for resistance to bring about change within teacher education.

Study Demands, Social Support and Mental Health in Teacher Education Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

The aim of this paper was to investigate relationships between psychosocial factors in a study environment and mental health in teacher education students. Study objectives were explored in 593 Swedish teacher education students (80% women). Psychosocial variables were measured with the standard Swedish demand-control-support questionnaire. Associations to mental health were calculated with logistic regression analyses, stratified by gender. Female students, on average reported higher demands, exhaustion and anxiety, than men. High study demands were associated with severe exhaustion in both men and women, even in models including all potential confounders and social support. Although, social support was related to lower exhaustion in women and less anxiety in men, this variable only contributed to minor effect changes in the associations study demands to mental ill-health. High study demands seem important for mental health in teacher education students. Future studies, perhaps using qualitative methods, would benefit the state of knowledge regarding students’ psychosocial conditions and poor mental health. Such knowledge could assist universities in interventions to enhance both health status and future stress resilience.

Allt eller inget? Barns rättigheter i lärarutbildning

In 2020, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is incorporated into Swedish law. In the proposals for new legislation, capacity building was emphasized to generally develop knowledge about children’s rights among professionals at all levels. This article explores the content and aims related to children’s rights in syllabi for Swedish teacher education. 49 programme study plans and 313 syllabi at twelve universities were examined. Results suggest that the teaching of children’s rights in teacher education programs focuses on values rather than knowledge. University syllabi closely mirror national aims, often using exact wording with little effort to elaborate or concretize these aims. The content is expressed in general terms, and courses provide little guidance in what teachers need to know to be prepared for human rights education. Further, it seems that knowledge about children’s rights is considered more important for preschool and primary school teachers, than for teachers in secondary and upper secondary school

Teacher education cultural diversity, social justice and equality: Policies, challenges and abandoned possibilities in Swedish teacher education

There is a history of policies from the late 1940s to 2000 for the introduction of research based knowledge in Sweden for supporting the intellectual preparation of future teachers for an integrated and inclusive school system. The development of these policies was initiated following the National School Commission Inquiry into the possibilities for a common unitary comprehensive school, which had identified the historical divisions (duality) in teacher education as an obstacle. Pulling these divisions together and educating teachers in a shared content developed from a common research base in the education field about the challenges faced in the realization of the comprehensive school vision was expressed as a possible solution. However, the project failed. The divisions have remained. Schools have not overcome social reproduction. And in recent decades challenges have intensified as hyper-diversity, globalization and a recent turn towards market governance have added new complications.