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

2. 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

3. 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). 

4. 1. Finnish education context

5. 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?

6. 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

7. 2. Research orientation as a part of strategy

9. 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

10. $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

11. An example of data used for facilitating assessment discussions
600
400
200
Continious assessment of the strategy implementation:
Assessment for improvements

12. 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

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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, …)

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. Teacher education at the University of Helsinki
University of Helsinki (11 faculties, students, 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

20. 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
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

21. 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,…

22. 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
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

23. 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.

24. 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

25. 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

26. 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)

27. 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

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

29. 4. Discussion

30. – 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

31. Thank you for your attention!
Kösönöm szépen – kiitos!

32. Thank you!

33. 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
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