Leena Krokfors

Investigating Finnish teacher educators’ views on research‐based teacher education

In this article, we examine teacher educators’ views on research‐based teacher education. Finnish research‐based teacher education has four characteristics: (1) the study programme is structured according to a systematic analysis of education; (2) all teaching is based on research; (3) activities are organized in such a way that students can practice argumentation, decision‐making and justification when inquiring about and solving pedagogical problems; and (4) the students learn formal research skills during their studies. According to the results, teacher educators appreciate the research‐based approach to which the university is committed, although they were sceptical about how well this vision transfers to the students.

Learning a teacher's work

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to bridge the theoretical perspectives of workplace learning and teacher learning. Teacher learning takes place, for example, in the course of a teachers work as well as in the institutional setting of a school. This article describes research conducted on such learning.Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a mixed methods approach. It includes interviews (n=8), which are analysed according to a qualitative content analysis, as well as a survey, which is analysed quantitatively (n=113). In the quantitative analysis descriptive statistics as well as a factor analysis were used.Findings – The research indicates that teacher learning takes place in several different settings; when these are taken into account teacher education is shown to be important. The study also shows that teacher education has succeeded in integrating work and study to some degree when the perspective of workplace learning is taken into account.Originality/value – There seem to be few st...

Researching Pupils, Schools and Oneself. Teachers as Integrators of Theory and Practice in Initial Teacher Education.

Researching can be viewed as a way of analysing issues of schooling by linking theoretical knowledge with perceptions of educational reality already during teacher education. Not only does practicing teaching provide a context for analysing instruction, learning, school culture, diversity, or any other issue related to schooling, also researching these issues provides future teachers opportunity to view schooling as complex and problematic. This case study surveyed and interviewed a group of recently graduated teachers who had worked as teachers during their education. The interest was on their experiences of M.A. thesis research as well as the integration of theory and practice during the education. The respondents had experienced researching as useful as well as meaningful, although they also had development ideas concerning it.

The Finnish National Core Curriculum

The national core curriculum as a means for enabling and managing educational change has an important development role in the Finnish school system. In Finland, the national core curriculum is a framework around which local curricula are designed. The national core curriculum contains the objectives and core contents of teaching for all school subjects, and also describes the mission, values, and structure of education. It describes the conception of learning and goals for developing the learning environment, school culture and working methods.

Time to think? Primary school teacher students reflecting on their MA thesis research processes

The aim of the study is to investigate reflective processes which take place in primary school teacher education, especially when conducting research for a masters thesis and reflecting on that process. Written reflection has been studied widely, but the point of view taken in this research seems to be new. This research seeks to answer two questions: (1) What kind of reflective learning processes can be found in students’ conceptions of research processes; and (2) How do students view their development during the research process? The data of this article consists of essays by nine class teacher students. The results of this study show that conducting research is a significant learning event in a teacher student’s journey towards becoming a teacher, and by reflecting on their research processes the students are able to analyze their development as researchers as well as their learning during the research process.

Educating inquiry-oriented teachers: students' attitudes and experiences towards research-based teacher education

In this article, we will discuss research-based teacher education as an organizing theme of teacher education. We will report the results of two surveys in which students expressed their attitudes towards the research-based approach and their experiences of research-based teacher education. The construct validity of the inventory was tested using both exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The comparison of the factor means revealed that the multimode teacher education group had a statistically higher mean score than the traditional class teacher education group for factors which dealt with the pedagogical content knowledge of those subjects that class teachers teach in their classes. When the experienced implementation of the research-based approach was analyzed, the results ran in the same direction. The difference between the attitudes and experiences concerning the research-based approach was remarkable. However, our results suggest that the research-based approach is an appreciated general level organizer for teacher education.

A qualitative literature review of educational games in the classroom: the teacher’s pedagogical activities

Abstract The interest towards research on learning games is continuously growing, however, the integration of games in teaching is still a somewhat unexplored area of study. In this qualitative literature review, we were interested in the pedagogical foundations that underpin empirical studies and especially in the teacher’s role/activities regarding the use of games in education. The data collection method was based on the systematic literature review models. The data consisted of 35 articles that were coded by using interpretive approach. The results indicate that the teacher’s role was pedagogically active in 21 articles. The teacher’s pedagogical activities became evident in various game-based learning processes: in planning, in orientation, during the gaming, and after the game-play sessions.

From action to understanding – student teachers’ learning and practical reasoning during teaching practice

This paper reports the findings of a study where student teachers’ practical reasoning and the development of professional knowledge were investigated during teaching practice in pre-service class teacher education. The model of student teachers’ supervision applying the philosophy and principles of the practical argument approach was used in the study and data collection. In this model practical argument premises can be situational, empirical, stipulative or they can be based on value assessments. The videos of student teachers’ lessons, stimulated recall interviews and critical incidents, were used in order to grasp the situationality and contextuality of the classroom reality. Results show that student teachers mainly expressed situational and empirical premises in their practical argumentation. Stipulative and value premises were also present, but to a lesser degree. During the process, the student teachers developed their arguments from situational and empirical premises towards new value premises and reflections on the stipulative premises guiding their work.

‘I’ll take care of the flowers!’ Researching agency through initiatives across different learning environments

ABSTRACT This case study examined how the agency of a fifth-grade pupil appeared across different learning environments in the primary school context. In this study, agency is defined as the initiatives taken by an individual in interactive situations. The research question is: how does a pupil’s agency manifest and vary through taking initiatives across different learning environments within curriculum-based education? The empirical data consist of 50 video episodes including learning activities in a classroom, in a vegetable garden and on a nearby farm. The findings show that the pupil’s agency varied across learning environments, manifesting itself through complementing, supportive, constructive and challenging initiatives. When developing pedagogy that supports learning across formal and informal learning environments, it is essential to enable pupils to take different kinds of initiatives and to exercise their agency in versatile contexts.

Primary Schools Crossing Boundaries

One of the most-discussed topics in the educational research field is how schools open up to society and thereby acknowledge the meaning of learning in everyday situations and in out-of-school environments (e.g., Sefton-Green, 2011; Yamazumi, 2014).