Browsing by Subject "Opettajankoulutus"

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate what kind of ideals of a teacher and teaching con-structed in the curriculum texts of teacher education. The research questions are: 1) what kind of discourses can be read out from curriculum texts and 2) what kind of ideals and val-ues are attached in teachers in teacher education curriculum texts. The material of the thesis consists of general descriptions of the program catalogues of teacher education in the univer-sities of Helsinki, Lapland, Tampere and Turku, which were valid in the academic year 2017-2018. The theoretical background draws from curriculum research as well as research on the teacher ideals. The research method is discourse analytical reading of curriculum texts. There are three discourses on teacher education in the curriculum texts. The first discourse is discourse of science that relates teaching to academic teacher education. The second dis-course relates teaching to society considering teachers as actors of social change. I have named the second discourse as the discourse of social change. The third discourse empha-sises the effectiveness of teacher education in responding to the needs of the working life by producing teaching professionals. I have named the third discourse as Discourse of labour market and efficiency. The fourth discourse is an individual-centred discourse in which teaching is discussed as a means to the individual’s own development and the growth of in-dividual strengths. In general, all four discourses are present in each curriculum. The strong-est of these is the discourse of social change. The most significant exception is the University of Lapland where the teacher education cur-riculum text highlights locality, the significance of individual's own internal capabilities and problematisation of gender. The history of the University of Lapland provides the curriculum the specific nature. The question to be considered further is whether it is possible to find strength and new perspectives for teacher education from the strengths of each university in-stead of following the narratives and phrasing of educational ideologies alike in other univer-sities.

Academic, research-based education has long been the main organizing principle of Finnish teacher education. The research-based approach is used to refer to the academic nature of teacher education but also to the objectives and contents of teacher education. Research skills are considered to be an essential part of teachers' proficiency. The aim is to educate teachers who will continuously develop their own as well as school practice through inquiry. The purpose of this study is to find out what kind of skills teachers gain from research-based teacher education. The focus is on the teachers' personal experiences. The aim is also to find out how teachers reflect their experiences in every day work in relation to the goals of teacher education. The research data was gathered by interviewing five class teachers. The teachers had graduated from the teacher education program in the university of Helsinki during 2007–2012. They had worked as class teachers for 2–7 years. The data consisted of individual semi-structured interviews. The analysis was based on the categories that were found from the data. Overall, the teachers of this study were content with their education and thought that it had provided them with a good basis for teacher's practical work. The studies in education were thought to be a necessary basis for teaching. Together with the studies in research, teachers thought that the educational courses had developed their professional thinking and ability to reflect their own and school practice critically. Teachers recognized the goals of the research-based approach and described their attitude towards their work as research-orientated. They were continuously trying to improve their professional skills and pedagogical thinking. Also collegiality, which is often thought to be a characteristic of the new kind of professional teaching culture, was thought to be an important part of their work as a teacher. However, the results indicate that the theoretical approach in their education was somewhat irrelevant to the teachers' practical work. The teachers would have hoped more practice-oriented studies in their education. In general, the theoretical approach was appreciated but the theory in teacher education should be more connected to teachers’ practical work. According to teachers’ experiences, emphasizing the importance of academic skills and research in teacher education weakens the connection between the teacher education and the teaching profession.