Teaching practicums are widely recognised as a fundamental component of teacher education. However persistent challenges continue to surround them highlighting the need for refinement of policies and practices. To support evidence-based development scholars are often encouraged to provide explicit policy and practice recommendations drawn from their research findings. This qualitative study examines the recommendations for supervised teaching practicums presented in academic research articles. The data set consisted of 74 peer-reviewed empirical studies focusing on practicums in the context of Finland. Through thematic analysis four key themes for recommendations emerged: (1) fostering collaboration (2) enhancing coherence (3) developing supervisor competencies and (4) refining the supervisory process. The recommendations were mostly complementary to each other with only a few instances of contradictory suggestions. The incompatible views primarily revolved around the practicum setting - debates over whether practicums should take place in teacher training schools or other contexts - and somewhat differing perspectives on structured versus unstructured approaches to supporting student teachers' reflective processes during the practicum. This study contributes to the growing yet still limited body of literature that investigates recommendations proposed in scholarly publications while also serving as a stimulus for further analyses of policy and practice recommendations in teacher education.

This study focuses on Finnish and Austrian pre-service teachers' (PST) commitment and swirling paths toward a teaching career. The longitudinal research material consists of annual interviews with 25 pre-service teachers, in which three types of orientations toward teaching were identified: 1) fully committed, 2) conflicting commitment, and 3) career change. We present these orientations through three cases from both countries, which are further analyzed using Kelchtermans's (2017) framework of teacher attrition and retention as an educational issue, encompassing four distinct dimensions. The findings show contextual and individual variation in commitment.

Finnish teacher education is highly competitive, and teachers still hold a high status in society. However, some signs indicate that this situation could be changing. This study investigated pre-service teachers (PSTs) who expressed that they would not enter the teaching profession after graduation. We focused on the tensions that had caused these PSTs' doubts. Nine PSTs participated in focus group interviews that were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. The analysis produced three themes of tension that affected PSTs' commitment towards a teaching career. These themes were: Teacher education; Well-being, self, and values; and Teachers' work. The results show that the tensions experienced were not only related to personal issues, but also to teacher education and teachers' work more broadly. This study clearly illustrates how ideals play a crucial role in becoming a teacher. Furthermore, it also indicates that PSTs' values are more oriented towards self. The role of society is significant in sustaining the status of the teaching profession, as we can see the negative effects of societal discussion in the results of this study.

Koulu kompleksisena ja jännitteisenä toimintakulttuurina, johon yhteiskunnalliset ja globaalit ilmiöt yhä enemmän heijastuvat, suuntaa valon kysymykseen, millaisia opettajia ja millaista opettajankoulutusta koulu tarvitsee. Tässä artikkelissa vastaukseksi hahmotellaan holistista opettajankoulutuksen orientaatiota, jossa opiskelijoiden henkilökohtainen identiteetti otetaan kokonaisvaltaisemmin huomioon. Artikkelissamme holistinen opettajankoulutuksen orientaatio perustuu Lauri Rauhalan holistiseen ihmiskäsitykseen, jossa situationaalisuudella eli elämäntilanteella on merkittävä rooli identiteetin rakentumisessa. Identiteetin puolestaan nähdään muodostuvan dialogisen minäteorian mukaan erilaisista minä-positioista, joilla kullakin on oma äänensä ja tarkoituksensa. Tämän laadullisen tapaustutkimuksen aineisto koostuu opetusalaan epäröivästi suhtautuvien luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden haastatteluista. Aineisto ilmentää opettajaksi opiskelevien henkilökohtaisen identiteetin ja situationaalisuuden keskeistä roolia heidän opettajaidentiteettinsä rakentumisen prosessissa. Esitämme, että opettajankoulutuksen tulisi tukea opettajaksi opiskelevien sivistysprosessia ja tällöin opettajaksi opiskelevien olisi saatava opettajankoulutuksen aikana mahdollisuus itsekasvatukseen. Itsekasvatuksella tarkoitetaan sitä, että yksilö tunnistaa ja nostaa kriittisen tarkastelun kohteeksi henkilökohtaisesta identiteetistä nousevia uskomuksia ymmärtääkseen, miten ne rajaavat ja mahdollistavat esimerkiksi maailmassa vallitsevien ilmiöiden tarkastelua, syvemmän ymmärryksen ja viisauden saavuttamista, kriittistä ajattelua sekä vuoropuhelua teorian ja käytännön kanssa.

Becoming a teacher is a tricky road paved with struggles. The purpose of this reconstructive educational case study is to exemplify the complex construction of teacher identity by following the five-year journey of one student teacher in the process of qualifying as a primary schoolteacher in Finland. With the heuristic analysis of longitudinal thematic narrative interviews in the frame of Dialogical Self Theory (DST), the key results of the study make a substantial contribution by illustrating how struggles are entrenched in various I-positions of teacher identity. According to our results, we conclude that four I-positions should be carefully supported in teacher education: I as a person, I as a foreigner, I as an academic student and I as a teacher. The role of teacher education in supporting student teachers in this respect is discussed in light of the results.

In this paper, we explore the views of Finnish university faculty leaders, such as deans and directors, concerning teacher educators’ professional development. Although teachers’ professional development has been investigated for decades, teacher educators’ professional development has until recently been under-researched. Faculty leaders could be viewed as pedagogical leaders of their teaching staff. We set out to investigate what the leaders’ understanding of teacher educators’ professional development is, as well as how they think it should be promoted. We interviewed seven leaders. The main results of the interviews show that the leaders did not have a clear understanding of what teacher educators’ professional development is. They viewed it as an autonomous, individual issue and also as related to the research that these PhD level teacher educators conduct as part of their everyday work. However, they had a very supportive attitude towards professional development, considered it to require some structuring or systematising and were also willing to invest resources in it.

Teaching is a highly complex profession, one in which teachers have to make continuous pedagogical decisions. In this study, we argue that practical wisdom is needed in order to act thoughtfully and effectively. The prerequisite for using practical wisdom is teachers’ awareness of the pedagogical beliefs behind the decision-making. In this study, this has been described as personal practical theories: PPTs. In other words, practical wisdom is possible if PPTs are consistent with pedagogical decision-making and furthermore teaching practice. The aim of this study is to seek the ways teacher education may support the cultivation of practical wisdom in student teachers. For that purpose, we carried out a qualitative descriptive study by interviewing 15 primary school student teachers about their experiences with PPTs, and their manifestation in their practicum studies. Further, what factors support the manifestation, or create obstacles to them. Based on the results, in this study, we suggest ways in which practical wisdom could be promoted in initial teacher education.

Effective teaching is understood very differently in Finland than in many other countries. In fact, it is not considered a relevant aspect of the education system. All Finnish schools are considered to be good, and all the teachers have the same high quality educational preparation. Thus, when it comes to considerations for determining or assessing teacher effectiveness, a culture of trust is a specific feature of the Finnish education system. Teachers and schools are trusted, both on the grassroot level by the parents, and on the governance level by the education authorities at the local and the national levels. This chapter explores teacher effectiveness in Finland.

This case study explores one novice teacher's journey during her first year of teaching from the viewpoint of teacher identity. By considering teacher identity from the Dialogical Self Theory (DST) point of view, the study goes deep into the complex phenomenon of the first year of novice teachers. The findings show that struggles at the beginning of the career are rooted in fundamental questions relating to personal matters, not just issues of how to teach effectively or working with young people. Based on the findings, the role of teacher education in preparing student teachers is discussed.

Teacher education (TE) plays a pivotal role in fostering student teachers’ teacher identity development, and furthermore, their readiness and motivation for continuous professional development. In this article, we explore the differences in student teachers’ teacher identity during TE. For this purpose, we investigated personal practical theories) of beginning and advanced primary school student teachers. Personal practical theories (PPTs) are defined as pedagogical beliefs that guide classroom actions. We found out that there are gradual qualitative differences in student teacher identities as TE proceeds. However, the results indicate that the overall differences in teacher identities are minor during TE. On the basis of the results, we consider the ways TE may promote student teachers’ continuing professional development

This research focuses on the identity development of ten student teachers during a one-year Teacher's Pedagogical Studies program in Finland. The students wrote narratives that represented their beliefs of 'good' teaching, and in this study, these beliefs are called as personal practical theories (PPTs). After two teaching practicum experiences, the students were interviewed about the realisation of their PPTs. The most significant change, based on both the narratives and the realised PPTs, was related to contextual factors (such as collaboration with school members and shared organisational culture) that became increasingly significant as teacher education proceeded, which may narrow the potential gap between the student teachers' ideals and the real world of the schools. On the basis of the results, we see that it is extremely important that future subject teachers should have the opportunity to focus on topics that fundamentally affect their forthcoming work, that is, their personal images, ideals, and values regarding teaching.

Education makes a difference and teacher educators are an important part of that circle. However, there is very little research done in Finland on teacher educators’ professional development. The main purpose of this study was to develop and test the psychometric properties of three scales that measure the components of teacher educators’ professional development, namely (a) developmental needs, (b) preferred ways of fulfiling those needs and (c) hindrances to fulfiling developmental needs. The differences between different occupational groups were also discussed. The survey was distributed in May 2019 to all eight Finnish universities that offer teacher education. The final sample size was 354. Using scale development techniques, we succeeded in generating items to all three inventories. We also tested the psychometric properties and the construct validity of the inventories. Our study revealed that teacher educators are not a homogenous group. Different occupational groups have different professional development interests.

Opettajankouluttajat kokevat vertaisryhmän hyödylliseksi ammatilliselle kehittymiselleen. Ryhmässä käsiteltävien aiheiden tulisi nousta opettajankouluttajien omasta arjesta, ja kollegan työn seuraaminen tukee omaa kehittymistä.

This research focused on personal practical theories of Finnish student teachers, on how they argued for them and what they contained, and the data were analysed using Korthagen's onion' model of reflection (e.g. 2004). The framework of this research consists of reflection and personal practical theories (PPTs). Personal practical theories are viewed as important for a teacher's identity: they guide the teacher's work, action, and reactions before, during, and after a teaching event. Reflecting on teaching, then again, has been one of the most significant issues and focus of numerous studies for several decades. This is a case study of six elementary school student teachers, who had constructed their PPTs before the practicum. We examined their reflections using the onion model of reflection, according to which a person reflects on different levels. The data were collected by interviewing the student teachers after their final practicum. The results show that most of their reflection focused on Environment and Behaviour, so it was located mostly in the outer layers of the onion model. The categorization of the reflection also showed that Competence was the smallest category.