Browsing by Author "Kangasharju, Erja"

Objectives. The objectives of the first task of this Master's thesis were to identify the University of Helsinki field school network teachers, their supervision theories, instructions and efforts taken to supervise. The second objective was to explore the impact of the teacher training provided by University of Helsinki to the supervisor's pedagogical thinking and performance. As the researcher, I also wanted to find out the views of the different supervisors in regard to successful training and the qualities of a good supervisor. The theoretical framework of the thesis is based on teacher training studies from Jyrhämä (2002), Krokfors (1997), Kiviniemi (1997), Väisänen & Silkelä (2000) and Liinamaa (2014). Whereas, the theoretical narrative is based on Säntti (2007) and Estola (1999). Methods. The research methods used in the thesis were surveys and questionnaires as well as the narrative "snowball" research methods to bringing real life context and biographical sections to the thesis. The surveyed audiences for the thesis were 32 supervisors of kindergarten teacher trainees from the metropolitan area and the three supervisors who have written biographies. Results and conclusions. The impact of the teacher training programme the field school network was significant, because changes took place in pedagogical thinking, in the performance and in the views of the instructions. Furthermore, the roles of the supervisors and the required teaching work became clearer, and the work styles became reflexive and dialogic. The supervisors emphasized the importance of finding the trainees' own teaching style and professional identity, but also have time reflect on their own work. Based on the findings, a succesful student-supervisor relationship was interactive, collaborative and based on two-way dialogue. Successful supervisors for teacher training have great interpersonal and collaboration skills, in addition to having the abilities listen and share their own experiences and ways of working. It is important that the supervisors are enthusiastic and passionate about their own work and as well as guiding teacher trainees. In addition to the above points, great teacher training supervisor are open, honest and trustworthy.