Research Based Teacher Education at the University of Helsinki Jari Lavonen, Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Finland Jari.Lavonen@Helsinki.Fi

Content of the presentation Finnish education context Research orientation as a part of strategy - teacher educators research Teacher education program - is designed based on research - student teachers become familiar with research - reflective activities Discussion

Department of Teacher Education in the University of Helsinki 40 years of experience in research-based teacher education 200 staff members and 3000 degree students: 6 Master level degree programs in various fields from kindergarten to secondary school level International Secondary Teacher Education Program 310 Masters and 15 PhDs yearly. 21 research centres, focusing on, for example, research in teaching and learning, use of technology in education, playful learning, … Top-ranked in international comparisons: 44th in the world list (QS ranking was based on academic reputation, and research impact). 

1. Finnish education context

Comparison of Finnish model to Outcome based model Aims as Learning outcomes Broad aims for teaching/ learning Important level National/district level planning and assessment Assessment and planning at the level of a school and classrooms +a learner knows what he/she should learn - competitive school culture: ranking of students and schools - “teaching to the test” +co-planning +a teacher conducts assessment for enhancing learning processes - problematic to compare the quality of learning outcomes and select students to next level *Spelling correction for district *removed “Too” from the focus for outcome based-model *The format on here might be too large for the slide?

Values and Aims of a Finnish School Professional teachers Knowledge base Collaboration Life-long learning Local curriculum and environments Broad aims Learning environments Leadership and quality culture Goal orientation and interaction Quality culture Networks & partnerships Design and adoption of educational innovations Finnish society Partners Global Stakeholders Parents Diverse learners A Finnish school

2. Research orientation as a part of strategy

Key focus areas in research University level: Thinking and learning individual Health and well-being Climate, environment and natural resources Culture and Society Department level: Education, society and culture Learning and interaction

$16 milj department budget, $ 5 milj external research funding International research collaboration is a tool for better research: Examples from year 2014 EU funded 13 projects 7th Framework projects; Horizon Erasmus+; Comenius Collaboration with almost all European countries Finnish Science foundation 9 projects Chile-, US- and South-Africa collaboration Finnish Innovation foundation 7 projects Stanford-collaboration Nordic research foundation 12 projects Collaboration with Nordic and Baltic countries Ministry of Education 11 projects Municipalities/cities 7 projects $16 milj department budget, $ 5 milj external research funding

An example of data used for facilitating assessment discussions 600 400 200 Continious assessment of the strategy implementation: Assessment for improvements 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

3. Teacher education at the University of Helsinki - is designed based on research - student teachers become familiar with research 3. Teacher education at the University of Helsinki

Program for Pedagogical Studies Framework for designing a teacher education programme at the University of Helsinki Research on subject matter, teaching and learning, engagement, development and needs of learners, policy, history, ... → Content to the programs. Research on teachers and teacher education - Professional/effective teacher, - Structure and origins of teacher knowledge, - Teacher identity, agency, ... - University pedagogy. Program for Pedagogical Studies EU and National strategies - Teacher education strategy, - National level curriculum; Forms and role of assessment. Feedback - Students’ learning outcomes and evaluations, - Staff members’ self-evaluations of the programme, - Municipality stakeholders’ feedback.

National Teacher Education Strategy: The teacher education programmes should help students to acquire: high-level subject knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, contextual knowledge, knowledge about nature of knowledge, … social skills, like communication skills, skills to use ICT, moral knowledge and skills, like moral code of the teaching profession, knowledge about school as an institute and its connections to the society (school - community partnership; local contexts and stakeholders), skill to co-operate with other teachers, parents, … skills needed in developing one’s own teaching and the teaching profession, academic skills, like research skills, skills needed in processes of developing a curricula, …. high quality knowledge base networks & partnerships life-long- learning

Research on teacher professionalism refers to status of teachers and depends on … (Müller et al, 2010; TALIS 2008 survey) All important individual characteristics (teacher knowledge, teaching philosophy, interaction skills, …) school level factors (shared leadership, collaboration, school-society-family partnership …) cultural and education policy factors at state level or context (accountability policy  trust culture, …)

Individual characteristics of professional teacher (Hargreaves & Goodson, 1996; Evans, 2008; Freidson, 2001; Urban & Dalli, 2011; Evetts, 2012) Conceptual knowledge base Self-regulation of and -control over the work (self-assessment). Specific professional ideology, incl. shared understanding of professional values and ethics code . Include social and individual elements Strong institutionalization of an occupational group. Autonomous role in planning and implementation (academic expertise). Work (activities) is complex and not easy to standardize. high quality knowledge base networks & partnerships life-long- learning

Teacher leadership (Lieberman, 1992, Katzenmeyer & Moller, 2001; Harris, 2003) A teacher leader… has a clear vision and is goal oriented can plan, implement and assess his/her own practice and pupils’ learning has deep understanding on teaching and learning is able to work collaboratively with other teachers is a facilitator, coach, mentor or a trainer of other teachers is able to consume research based knowledge Is a curriculum specialist and innovator for new approaches is able to use assessment outcomes for school development. … high quality knowledge base networks & partnerships life-long- learning

Teachers in Finland 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 primary (elementary) school teacher (a class teacher) - teaches at grades 1 to 6 (ages 7 to 13) - teaches typically all 13 subjects

Teacher education at the University of Helsinki University of Helsinki (11 faculties, 38 000 students, 7 400 staff members) Faculty of Behavioural Sciences Faculty of Arts Faculty of Science Faculty of Biosciences Faculty of Theology Faculty of Social Sciences Dept. of Teacher Education Teacher Training Schools Secondary teacher education: pedagogical studies + subject studies Primary teacher education

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: 3 + 2 years, 300 cr Master’s level (120 cr) Bachelor’s level (180 cr) 180 160 Master- thesis 140 Subject matter knowledge, knowledge about teaching and learning, and school practise are integrated into the students’ own personal pedagogical view 120 cr = 27 hours of work Study credits 100 80 BSc thesis 60 Ped. thesis 40 Teaching practice 20 Major Subject Minor Subject Pedagogical Communication studies and language studies

The structure of the pedagogical studies in secondary teacher education programme in Finland (60 cp.) General courses on Subject pedagog y (PCK) Educational research Teaching practice educatio n, teaching and 17 cp 10 cp 20 cp learning 13 cp - Psychology of - Psychological basis of - Research - Supervised basic development and teaching and learning methodology in teaching practice 7 cp learning 4 cp of a subject 5 cp education 3 cp - Supervised applied - Special needs - Curriculum - Teacher as a teaching practice 5 cp education 4 cp development and researcher - seminar 3 cp - Supervised advanced - Social, historical, and planning of teaching - Minor thesis in teaching practice 8 cp philosophical basis of 5 cp pedagogy 4 cp - Ref lection supported by education 5 cp - Evaluat ion of teaching portfolio assessment and learning, work evaluation of a curriculum 7 cp In Finland huge amount of PCK is taught also at the departments of Physics, Chemistry,…

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: 3 + 2 years Master ’ s level (120 cr) Bachelor ’ s level (180 s level (180 cr) 180 160 Master - thesis 140 120 cr = 27 hours of work Study credits 100 Pedagogical studies Teaching practice 80 60 BSc thesis 40 20 Major Multi- disciplinary studies Minor Communication Education or Ed. Psych. Subject and language studies

The pedagogical studies helps the students … to integrate subject matter knowledge, knowledge about teaching and learning and school practice into their own personal pedagogical view; to become aware of the different dimensions of the teacher profession: social, philosophical, psychological, sociological, and historical basis of education; to be able to collaborate in different networks and partnerships; to be able to reflect on their own personal pedagogical “theory/view” (reflection for, in and on action ~ research type of activity); to act as autonomous professional in planning, implementing and assessing teaching and learning; to develop potentials for lifelong professional development through research orientation.

Assessment of teachers Finnish trends Opposite trends (an example) Qualification Master degree Teachers in US apply to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (use of portfolio, videotaped lesson, …) Standards for teachers No standards Australian professional standards for teachers Assessment (appraisal) Self-assessment and development discussions with the headmaster External appraisal and writing of evaluation sheets (S. Korea) Inspectors No-inspectors Heavy inspection in England Testing No-national testing Teachers are valued based on their students’ success in national tests

Comparison of aims in Finnish and Korean Teacher Education programs 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

Teacher knowledge 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) - Contextual knowledge, … + Knowledge about how to produce and/or consume research based knowledge in education (RES) + Moral and ethical knowledge Origins of teacher knowledge could be divided into: practitioner (practical) and professional (theoretical) knowledge (Hiebert et al., 2002)

Number of different aims in the curriculum of the pedagogical studies PCK Reflection Producing educational research Consuming educational research PCK School practice Korea Learning of teacher's attitude Finland Learning of educational reality Designing instruction based on the nature of science PCK Use of ICT in learning GPK The role of education in society GPK Different needs of students PCK Planning, teaching and assessing 5 10 15 20 25

From the point of view of the origins of teacher knowledge: Korea Practitioner knowledge Theoretical knowledge Finland 10 20 30 40 50

4. Discussion

– In education we need … more ... less ... teacher professionalism learned in a research based program – bureaucracy long term policy and a vision connected to the research ad hoc ideas coming from the politicians decentralization, decision making, assessment and quality culture at the local level standardization, inspection, national testing and heavy quality control trust based on responsibility (self-evaluations, listening of students and municipality people/ parents voice) test and inspection based accountability collaboration, networking and partnerships competition and rankings

Thank you for your attention! Kösönöm szépen – kiitos!

Thank you!

University of Helsinki (UH) in Brief The oldest and largest university in Finland, founded in 1640 The widest range of disciplines in Finland 11 faculties and 4 campuses within Helsinki 7400 staff members 38 000 enrolled degree students Ranked among the best 100 universities in the world Nearly 3000 international students from over 100 countries Instruction in Finnish, Swedish, and English