Browsing by Subject "teoria ja käytäntö"

Teacher education is often perceived as a means to change society. Despite this, research on teacher education curricula is scarce; and there are even fewer comparative studies on teacher education curricula. The purpose of this study is to shed light on teacher education curricula using a comparative perspective. The study aims to analyse the Finnish and the English academic primary teacher education curricula as entities; with their aims and objectives, syllabus, methodology and assessment. The targets of the study were the teacher education curricula of Helsinki University and University of Exeter. The study was based on a qualitative document analysis. The research material consisted, in addition to the curricula and module descriptions, of the school placement web-sites and handbooks. Theory-bound content analysis was used to be able to recognise and analyse the key concepts, as well as to contrast and compare them within the theoretical framework. Helsinki University teacher education curriculum is based on a humanistic philosophy that emphasises a student’s “growth” into an autonomous expert teacher and a professional. The curriculum is discipline and subject matter based, with an emphasis on declarative knowledge, scientific thinking and content. Theory and practice remain partially separate and the curriculum could benefit from combining some courses and subjects into cross-curricular modules. The curriculum of the University of Exeter PGCE programme is mostly based on meeting the statutory criteria; the statutory policies are reflected in the university curricula. The structure of the teacher education programme is sound, with different parts of the programme linked together. However, the theoretical and subject knowledge modules are likely to remain too superficial. The curriculum is very practice-orientated.