Browsing by Subject "opettajankoulutus"

Aims. The aim of my research was to study those teachers who have not undergone any teacher education and their thinking about teacher's work. This phenomenon was chosen as the research subject because it has been studied very little compared to the research on regular teachers in Finnish schools. My research task was to study the thoughts on and experiences of working as a teacher and formal qualifications of teachers without teacher education. Moreover, the aim was to outline the teaching career of these teachers as well as their thoughts on and experiences of teacher education and professional development. Methods. The research was conducted through literature and through the narratives of six people who either are working or have been working as teachers without any teacher education. Three of these people worked as teachers without any teacher education at the time of the research whereas the other three had applied and been accepted into teacher education after having already worked as teachers. One of the latter had also already graduated with a certificate of education. This was a qualitative study and the data was gathered by doing theme interviews and analysed by using inductive qualitative analysis. Results and conclusions. Many similarities were found in the narratives of the interviewees and a more detailed examination of the themes revealed some outliers. The ways the interviewees had ended up working as teachers were very similar but their plans for the future differed. The thoughts on and experiences of working as a teacher were quite similar whereas formal qualifications elicited contradictory thoughts among the interviewees. Teacher education also divided their opinions. The interviewees who had undergone teacher education evaluated the effectiveness of the education in a similar manner. Nearly all the interviewees also criticised teacher education widely. The interviewees felt they had progressed in different areas during their career, even though most of them had not actively sought personal or professional development. Overall, the research elucidated a phenomenon that had been studied very little beforehand. It also revealed some important themes in education policy, which merit further study.

This qualitative study examined professional agency during teacher studies in the context of part time special education. The study aims to answer following questions: How does professional agency occur in the context of practical training in teacher studies? What kind of dimensions does professional agency consist of and how do these dimensions relate to each other? Agency can broadly be described as an ability to act intentionally defined by autonomy, will, freedom and choice. Professional agency occurs when professional subjects make choices, use their possibilities to influence and take a stand in ways that effect their work and professional identities. Professional agency is implemented purposefully, and it is defined by dynamic factors of the workplace. Professional agency does not occur merely as accommodation to external demands but also as realistic and critical understanding of personal boundaries and acting in accordance with them. Professional agency has been suggested as a tool for teachers to face educational reforms as it has been seen to enable cultivation of new work forms. Previous research claims that teachers’ agency should be defined in more detail. Teacher training and first years at work are significant phases in cultivating professional agency, yet research in this context is narrow. In addition, Finnish studies regarding part time special education are few. Research material consisted of 13 reports written by teacher students. Reports were produced as a part of the compulsory practical training in the pedagogical studies of special education teacher training between spring 2020 – fall 2021. The study was conducted using qualitative theory driven content analysis. In the context of special education practical training professional agency manifested in four dimensions that were agency in the workplace framework, agency in the immediate social community, agency as identity work and agency as emotional work. Furthermore, professional agency occurred in two levels, community level and individual level, within which agency has divergent goals. At the community level professional agency appeared to aim for a functional work community and pupils’ learning. At the individual level it appeared to aim for teacher students’ professional development and personal wellbeing. Results suggest that interaction in the immediate social community and emotional factors are central to the enactment of professional agency. Results are in accordance with previous studies that claim professional agency to manifest in the framework of dynamic factors at both community level and individual level. The results of this study suggest that more research on the relation between community and individual level as well as on the importance of immediate social community and emotional factors are needed.

The purpose of this thesis was to describe use of the digital equipments in education. Making of the products, is understood as new curriculum (POPS 2014) is suggesting, coaching student to pervasive knowledge, multimaterial use, fenomena based and 21st century skills learning abilities. Theory of this work is based on invention pedagogy where students are making inventions from their own life. Inventionpedagogy is supporting pervasive knowledge skills as kritical thinking and selfregulated learning abilities. Student based learning is changing the way how teaching is implemented. There are no models you can use, product goals are driven in real life. That is problem based learning, fenomena based or challenge based learning. Use of technology and integrating it to learning is spreading slowly. Equipments are expensive and sofware unfamiliar. Teachers education is aming to advance technology based invention pedagogy and need of knowledge. In InnoKomps training teachers are designing project using these methods. Innokomp is nation wide research, whitch is pointed to teachers and teacher education. InnoKomp training is still going on. Material of this thesis was given 2018 and it contains starting point inquiry (N35) and ending poin inquiry (N14). Permission to use this material was given from participating universities. Teachers answers were analysed by Atlas.ti program and content analyse. Research method is qualitative. Teachers feelings and experiences toward digitality and future aims were collected from material. Results are reflected to changing of craft teaching and reform of curriculum. Research outcomes turn out that 21 teacher have previous experience on digital modeling. On the other hand 11 teacher have few or none. From these teachers, 8 got benefit of the training and they learned something new. Teachers feelings toward digitality were vast, dislike to enthustiasm. InnoKomp training was conceived good. Teachers own objectives to the training were to understand and learn new things. To complete professional skills to meet up OPS 2014 goals. To bring new equipments to craft teaching and new ways of teaching future skills.

The main purpose of this study was to find out what kind of means the home economic teachers use to ease pupils who need support in the learning process. The goal of this study was learn how information of the support needed was transferred to teacher and to learn what kind of additional resources are available. In addition, this study focuses on teachers’ reactions to integrate the pupils in a normal teaching situation. Also this study focuses on tools that teacher education offers to meet pupils needing special support. The data for the qualitative study were collected during the spring 2014 in two separate stag-es: by collecting critical incidents and semi-structured interviews. The data were collected by discretionary sampling. Ten home economics teachers working in Pirkanmaa and Uudenmaa region took part in this study. The data were analyzed by qualitative content analysis. According to the main outcome, pupils are heterogeneous groups and the need for support varies from minor to major. The main problems areas for pupils according to teachers are learning and behavioral problems. Also social and psychological problems have increased. The information of support needed among new students was transferred from class teacher to home economics teacher but in some cases the need for support was noticed during clas-ses. Teachers have several means to support pupils’ learning. For example, the teachers used demonstrative means, graphic guidance and they split working stages into smaller de-tails. Sometimes it was also possible to get a supportive person into the classroom. The teachers used more time and effort to evaluate the pupils in need of assistance and assigned more practical tasks for them. The communication between teacher and parent is very im-portant according to the interviewees. The idea of integration of the pupils needing support into the normal teaching program is good, but to bring this into practice is challenging. According to the teachers their education did not give them the tools needed in teaching special pupils. Many teachers would like to have more practical guidance to support their teaching methods. Hopefully the findings of this study will raise discussion and help the newly graduated home economics teachers to meet special pupils at their work in the future.

Self-regulated learning (SRL) is a goal-oriented process in which the learner monitors and regulates his or her own learning. Meta-skills of learning such as SRL are important both in formal education and in professional development taking place in working environments. For the teaching profession, it is crucial that teacher education supports its students' abilities to critically reflect on and research and develop their own work. In short, teachers need competences for continuous professional learning. This master's thesis analyzes the connection between student teachers' SRL and competences in continuous professional learning. SRL was defined as forethought of learning, learning strategies, and learning skills. Competences in continuous professional learning were constructed on an understanding of the teacher as a professional capable of researching and developing his or her work. Because there are structural and content differences between class and subject teacher education, this thesis also analyzes whether there are differences in continuous professional learning competences between the two programmes. The data were collected using a web-based survey as part of a research project on teacher education. SRL was measured using a self-report instrument for higher education students, including questions about regulatory strategies of learning and motivational factors. The instrument for continuous professional learning focused on teaching professions' reflective features and professional development. Both constructs were measured using a five-point likert-scale. The respondents were student teachers from University of Helsinki and University of Oulu studying to be either class or subject teachers (N = 417). Data analysis was conducted using correlations, t-tests, and linear regression analyses. In addition, confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses were conducted in the preliminary analysis. Students' competences in continuous professional learning correlated with the different constructs of self-regulated learning, although none of the correlations could be described as strong. Regression analysis indicated that in the forethought of learning dimension, utility value of studies and self-concept as a learner best explained competences in continuous professional learning. In the dimension of learning strategies, self-management was the only statistically significant explanatory variable. In the learning skills dimension, application of theories and rehearsal best explained continuous professional learning. There was a significant difference between class and subject student teachers in continuous professional learning, although the effect size was moderate. The division between class and subject teachers was also a significant explanatory variable in all regression models. Depending on the model, 6.9 to 11.5 percent of variance in continuous professional learning could be explained. The results indicate that self-regulated learning is connected to continuous professional learning competences, but the explanatory power of SRL is not very strong. In the future, it will be important to investigate whether these results are due to an actual relationship between the two phenomena or a matter of data and measurement. Class and subject teacher education seems to some extent to produce differences in continuous professional learning competences. This could indicate that there is a need to develop subject teacher studies in order to make sure that all teachers, regardless of their training, have the necessary competences to develop professionally.

Objectives. The purpose of this study is to compare Mexican and Finnish classroom teachers’ perceptions of the role and status that teachers have in a society. I also aim to find out reasons for choosing a teaching career. The theoretical background of this study will introduce both Mexican and Finnish educational systems, as well as teachers’ training. In addition, the concepts of vocational selection and teacher’s role and status are under scrutiny. Methods. Eleven Mexican and nine Finnish classroom teachers participated to this qualitative and comparative study via semi-structured e-mail inquiry. Mexican respondents come from all over Mexico, while most of the Finnish respondents come from Southern Finland. Both ages and teaching experience of all the respondents vary significantly. The research material was analyzed by means of content analysis. The role of theory was directional in the analysis. Results and conclusion. The results of this study showed that Mexican and Finnish respondents had similar thoughts about their vocational choice and congruent understanding of teachers’ role in both school environment as well as in society at large. Among both respondent groups, there were six types of similar definitions concerning vocational choices: (1) desire to teach and help the children learn, (2) the possibility to have an impact on children, (3) attachment to work with children, (4) diverse and creative vocation, (5) the influence of family and friends on the choice of career, and (6) employment. Regarding teachers’ role in schools and in society, nine groups of similar perceptions emerged: (1) educator (2) a role model (3) a mentor (4) a ’parent’ for the childen, (5) many roles outside teacher’s profession (6) producer of good citizens (7) supporter, (8) authority, and (9) companion. The results indicate that teachers’ vocational choices and the variety of roles inside the teaching profession are a global phenomenon. However, the social status of teachers is, according to Mexican teachers, bad, while Finnish teachers consider their social status to be good. Regarding the social status of teachers, there were three groups of similar perceptions among both respondent groups: (1) low wage, indicating the lack of appreciation, (2) liberty to choose the teaching methods and, lastly, (3) good status/position in relation to the pupils.

The purpose of this study is to compare special education teacher training programs of University of Helsinki and University of Jyväskylä trough the lenses of inclusion. Study has been made by comparing curriculums of special education using a theory of core-values of inclusion. According to Watkins and Donnelly (2014) there are four core-values of inclusion: valuing learner diversity, supporting all, working with others and professional personal growth. Study has been made by using qualitative content analysis. This study is a part of Oppijan oikeus – Opettajan taito -project, which aims to create com-mon teaching materials and equalize special education teacher training in universities and universities of applied sciences in Finland. This study is a part of the first step of the project: to find out what is the current situation of special education teacher training in Finland and what are the most important issues curriculums consist. Results show that all four core-values of inclusion are highly included in both curriculums of the universities, alltough the word inclusion does exist only once in curriculum of Jyväskylä. Common contents in both curriculums are special education in science and in practice, varie-ty of special needs in education, to plan, execute and evaluate the support in learning, work-ing with others and personal professional growth. The differences in curriculums are primarily in perspectives that contents are presented. Positive pedagogy, criminology, social exclusion, Finnish in second language -teaching and psychiatry exist only in curriculum of Helsinki. Mul-ti-professional teamwork, disablement and challenges in behavior are more visible in curricu-lum of Jyväskylä. Both of curriculums include rhetoric about troubles and hardships.

Previous studies indicate that positive learning experiences are related to academic achievement as well as to well-being. On the other hand, emotional and motivational problems in studying may pose a risk for both academic achievement and well-being. Thus, emotions and motivation have an increasing role in explaining university students learning and studying. The relations between emotions, motivation, study success and well-being have been less frequently studied. The aim of this study was to investigate what kind of academic emotions, motivational factors and problems in studying students experienced five days before an exam of an activating lecture course, and the relations among these factors as well as their relation to self-study time and study success. Furthermore, the effect of all these factors on well-being, flow experience and academic achievement was examined. The term academic emotion was defined as emotion experienced in academic settings and related to studying. In the present study the theoretical background to motivational factors was based on thinking strategies and attributions, flow experience and task value. Problems in studying were measured in terms of exhaustion, anxiety, stress, lack of interest, lack of self-regulation and procrastination. The data were collected in December 2009 in an activating educational psychology lecture course by using a questionnaire. The participants (n=107) were class and kindergarten teacher students from the University of Helsinki. Most of them were first year students. The course grades were also gathered. Correlations and stepwise regression analysis were carried out to find out the factors that were related to or explained study success. The clusters that presented students' problems in studying as well as thinking strategies and attributions, were found through hierarchical cluster analysis. K-means cluster analysis was used to form the final groups. One-way analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis test and crosstabs were conducted to see whether the students in different clusters varied in terms of study success, academic emotions, task value, flow, and background variables. The results indicated that academic emotions measured five days before the exam explained about 30 % of the variance of the course grade; exhaustion and interest positively, and anxiety negatively. In addition, interest as well as the self-study time best explained study success on the course. The participants were classified into three clusters according to their problems in studying as well as their thinking strategies and attributions: 1) ill-being, 2) carefree, and 3) committed and optimistic students. Ill-being students reported most negative emotions, achieved the worst grades, experienced anxiety rather than flow and were also the youngest. Carefree students, on the other hand, expressed the least negative emotions and spent the least time on self-studying, and like committed students, experienced flow. In addition, committed students reported positive emotions the most often and achieved the best grades on the course. In the future, more in-depth understanding how and why especially young first year students experience their studying hard is needed, because early state of the studies is shown to predict later study success.

Global education deals with wide-ranging and complex global phenomena. In this dissertation, the theory of global education is examined primarily from a postcolonial perspective. Although global education is a cross-cutting theme in Finnish primary education, its implementation varies in schools as well as in teacher education. The dissertation examines the views of teacher educators, especially about the aims of critical global education and the challenges and opportunities of its implementation in teacher education. The research material acquired on the principles of action research consisted of group discussions of a workshop on critical global education for teacher educators, text material related to the workshop, and registration and feedback forms. The workshop was based in part on a discussion method which utilizes critical literacy issues. The workshop was organized in co-operation with global education organisation Taksvärkki ry and was attended by five (5) teacher educators from three Finnish universities. Most of the participating teacher educators had previous knowledge about the themes of global education. The material was analysed by inductive content analysis. In the speech of teacher educators, global education appeared as a starting point for education and teacher training. However, the discussions highlighted various tensions, for example in relation to the value base of global education, the nature of change and action. In teacher education, opportunities to address broad and complex themes were presented through, for example, dialogue, criticality and changing of perspectives, experiential learning, student encounters, and extensive collaboration. Challenges to the implementation of global education included a solid division of subjects, the ambiguity of global education, efficiency and lack of time, broad learning objectives, and formal learning environments. On the other hand, the introduction of critical thinking through subject didactics, a holistic approach to all teaching and the strengthening of the role of the educator in teacher education were also mentioned as examples. It is important to discuss global education and its goals both inside and outside teacher education and to co-operate in the wide-ranging implementation of global education.

Objectives. The aim of the current study was to explore whether there are temperament traits characteristic to those applying and those selected to study in classroom teacher education. Temperament refers to the biological, relatively stable core of personality, which emerges early in life and manifests as differences in styles of functioning and reacting to emotional stimuli. Temperament has been found to be associated with physical as well as psychological well-being and to affect educational and occupational career. Temperament has also been found to be associated with adjustment in school as well as academic achievement in all educational levels. Although associations between teachers' core traits and various outcomes have been found, so far, the study on temperament traits characteristic to teachers has been scarce. Methods. The study was conducted by assessing the EAS -temperament traits of individuals applying to classroom teacher education program at the University of Helsinki (N = 1035) and considering the traits as predictors of applying and being selected to the program. Roughly representative Finnish population estimates were used as a reference. The effects of age, gender, parental SES and previous academic achievement were controlled for, as these have been found to have associations with educational career. Results and conclusions. Applicants to teacher education scored higher on sociability and lower on emotionality than the reference group. Also teacher candidates were higher on sociability and lower on emotionality than the reference group. These differences remained relatively unchanged after controlling for potential confounders, after which teacher applicants also scored lower on activity than the reference group. No differences in temperament were observed between teacher candidates and those applicants not selected to teacher education. Based on the results of this study, it can be suggested, that as a group applicants to teacher education and teacher candidates have distinctive temperament profile. This might have concrete, positive as well as negative outcomes, that should be taken into account in teacher education and when discussing teacher well-being. The differences were caused by characteristics of individuals choosing to apply to classroom teacher education in the first place. More research is needed to clarify the role of temperament in well-being and achievement in teacher education as well as in teachers' occupation.