Riitta Jyrhämä

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.

Research-Orientation in a Teacher’s Work

Finnish teacher education is research-based and all teachers are educated to the master’s level. Every teacher also writes a Master’s Thesis as part of his or her studies. During teacher education, we emphasize the importance of the teacher’s pedagogical thinking, personal practical theory, reflection, and inquiry-orientation, and these are also practised in many ways during theoretical as well as practical studies.

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.

“Good Pal, Wise Dad and Nagging Wife” – And Other Views of Teaching Practice Mentors

At the University of Helsinki teacher education the network of teaching practice schools has become an important part of teacher education for both educational and societal reasons. The network guarantees a diversity of teaching practice experiences and therefore extensively prepares students to work as professionals. The fact that some municipal schools offer teaching practice is a prime example of how universities, in addition to serving as research and teaching facilities, also influence society.