Browsing by Subject "teoria–käytäntö-suhde"

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.