1. How Do We Get Great Teachers
How Do We Get Great Teachers? – Part I: Finnish Teacher Education Model Learning from the International Experience: Lifting U. S. Students to World Class Levels of Performance A Conference Organized by the Harvard’s Program on Education Policy and Governance Harvard Kennedy School, Cambridge MA, USA August 17-19, 2011
Jari Lavonen Professor of Physics and Chemistry Education, Head of the Department
Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Finland

2. What is common in teacher education in high performing PISA countries?
McKinsey &Company

3. attrition työntekijöiden) poistuma
Teaching considered as an academic career

4. Finnish educational context
Helsinki, February 2011, 12:00
Finnish educational context

5. Characteristics of Finnish Education Halinen (2008); Jakku-Sihvonen & Niemi (2006); Laukkanen (2008)
Common, consistent and long-term policy
- models for teacher and compulsory education are 40 years old
Educational equality (especially in comprehensive school) - education is free (books, meals, health care, …) - schools do not select their students (there are school districts) - well-organised special education (inclusion) and counselling
3. Devolution of decision power to the local level - a headmaster is a pedagogical leader (leadership) - local authorities (together with the teachers) plan local curriculum, allocate resources, school based and encouraging assessment
The culture of trust and co-operation: national level – district – school – families - no inspectors, no national exams … - no private tutoring or evening schools

6. Finnish teacher education programmes
Teachers are academic experts who are able to - autonomous decision making, - plan and implement learning activities - evaluate their own teaching and student s’ performance - lifelong learning (professional development)
Helsinki university main building
Finnish teacher education programmes

7. Teacher Education Development Programme (2002): The teacher education programmes should help students to acquire:
high-level subject knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, and knowledge about nature of knowledge, …
academic skills, like research skills; skills needed in developing a curricula, …
social skills, like communication skills; skill to co-operate with other teachers, …
knowledge about school as an institute and its connections to the society (school community and partners, local contexts and stakeholders),
moral knowledge and skills, like social and moral code of the teaching profession,
skills needed in developing one’s own teaching and the teaching profession.

8. A secondary (subject) teacher
typically teaches at grades 7 to 12 (ages 13 to 19)
teaches typically one major and one minor subjects (e.g. math and physics)
An elementary (primary) school teacher (a class teacher)
teaches at grades 1 to 6 (ages 7 to 13)
teaches typically all 13 subjects

9. Subject teacher education programme
Framework for designing the teacher education programme at the University of Helsinki
Research on subject and
Research on teaching and learning
→ Content
Research on teacher education - Structure of teacher knowledge - Forms of knowledge: professional … practical
Own research on teacher education
EU and
National strategies
Students’ learning outcomes and evaluations of the programme Feedback from muncipalities
Outcomes,
Collection
of students’ evaluations
Co-operative planning of the programme: Teachers from the subject departments, Department of teacher education, school teachers and the student teachers
Subject teacher education programme

10. Teachers
benefit of the research orientation
while they make the school curriculum,
plan, implement
and evaluate
teaching and learning
Structure of the Master’s degree of a secondary teacher: years, 300 cr
Master’s level (120 cr)
Bachelor’s level (180 cr)
180
Teachers
need strong competency in the subject (experts’ knowledge) when they guide students’ learning and problem- solving
160
Master- thesis
140
Subject knowledge, knowledge about teaching and learning, and school practise are integrated into the students’ own personal pedagogical theory
120
1 cr. = 26 hours of work (60 cr. = 1 study year)
Study credits
100 80
BSc thesis 60
Ped. thesis 40
Teaching practice 20
Major Subject
(e.g. physics)
Minor Subject (e.g. chemistry)
Pedagogical
Communication
studies
and language
studies

11. Structure of the master degree of a primary teacher: 3 + 2 years
Bachelor ’
s level (180
s level (180 cr)
Master ’
s level (120 cr)
180
160
Master -
thesis
140
120
1 cr. = 26 hours of work (60 cr. = 1 study year)
Study credits
100
Pedagogical studies 80
BSc thesis 60 40 20
Major
Multi- disciplinary studies
Minor
Communication
Subject:
Subject
and language
Education
studies

12. Structure of the master degree of a primary teacher: 3 + 2 years
Finnish language, PCK
Mathematics, PCK
Physics, PCK
Chemistry, PCK
Biology, PCK
Geography, PCK
History, PCK
Religion/ethics PCK
Sports
Arts
Music
Crafts
Structure of the master degree of a primary teacher: years
Master ’
s level (120 cr)
Bachelor ’
s level (180
s level (180 cr)
180
160
Master -
thesis
140
120
1 cr. = 26 hours of work (60 cr. = 1 study year)
Study credits
100
Pedagogical studies 80
BSc thesis 60 40 20
Major
Multi- disciplinary studies
Minor
Communication
Subject:
Subject
and language
Education
studies

13. Aims of the pedagogical studies (in all teacher education programmes) are to help the students …
to integrate subject knowledge, knowledge about teaching and learning and school practice into their own personal pedagogical theory,
to become aware of the different dimensions of the teacher profession: social, philosophical, psychological, sociological, and historical basis of education,
to be able to reflect on their own personal pedagogical “theory” (reflection for, in and on action),
to develop potentials for lifelong professional development.

14. Question for the content analysis of the aims of the pedagogical studies
What kind of support the pedagogical studies offers to the construction of teacher knowledge from the point of view of - structure of the knowledge - origin of the knowledge

15. Theoretical framework

16. A structural perspective to teacher knowledge
A knowledge base for a professional teacher: - Subject matter knowledge, - Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) - General Pedagogical Knowledge (GPK) (Shulman, 1987; Carlsen, 1999; Hashweh, 2005)
+ Knowledge about how to produce and/or consume research based knowledge in education (RES)
Origin of teacher knowledge
Teacher knowledge could be divided into:
practitioner (practical) and
professional (theoretical) knowledge (Hiebert et al., 2002)

17. Academic General pedagogical knowledge (GPK) ↔ Teachers personal pedagogical knowledge
Research based General pedagogical knowledge (GPK) consists of 1) classroom management and organisation, 2) instructional models and strategies, 3) classroom communication and discourse.
Teachers personal pedagogical knowledge is divided into 1) personal beliefs, 2) personal practical experience
Importance of interplay between GPK and personal pedagogical knowledge through reflection
e.g. Gore & Gitlin, 2004 Morine-Dershimer & Kent, 1999

18. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK)
PCK is a knowledge domain that is synthesis of all knowledge needed for teaching and learning a specific content
PCK is - content specific, - event- and story-based pedagogical construction an experienced teacher has developed
as a result of repeated - planning and teaching and - reflection on the teaching of the most regularly taught topics.
Is it possible to organise a course on PCK?
e.g. Grossman, 1990; Bromme, 1995
Hashweh, McCaughtry, 2005 Nilsson, 2008

19. Output of the analysis

20. The main categories of the contents
GPK
PCK

21. Output of the analysis

22. Number of single aims, recognised based on the analysis of course descriptions (pedagogical studies)9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Educ. res.
PCK
GPK

23. From the point of view of the origins of teacher knowledge:
58% of the aims emphases professional (theoretical) knowledge
42% of the aims emphasises practitioner (practical) knowledge

24. From the point of view of the origins of teacher knowledge:
Number of single aims, recognised based on the analysis of course descriptions (pedagogical studies) 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Educ. res.
PCK
GPK
From the point of view of the origins of teacher knowledge:
- 45 of the aims were emphasising professional (theoretical) knowledge and
- 33 of the aims were emphasising practitioner (practical) knowledge

25. The research orientation in Finnish teacher education programme
Altogether 30% of the aims are linked to the research orientation
Finnish student teachers - are critical consumers of research based knowledge while they read academic books and conceptualise their teaching practice experiences - engage in reflective activities which have characteristics of ‘research making’ and collaboration, - producers of educational research while they engage in their pedagogical research project.
 The research orientation aims to enhance student teachers’ capacity for independent critical thinking (in planning and assessment) and life-long-learning

26. Conclusions
The challenge is to support future teachers in fulfilling their potential as academic professionals through integrating
theoretical knowledge,
individual experiences and
knowledge created in practice.
Awareness of structural and epistemological assumptions underlying the teacher education programme: emphasis also to the origin of knowledge when designing the programme