Teacher education in Finland

by

Tun Min

Introduction

Finnish teachers are highly trained professionals. Since they have strong professional autonomy, they need to undergo high training level (Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE), n.d.-a, para.1). Further, it is strongly believed in Finland that pre-service teacher education is “the most important arena for developing professional knowledge” (Afdal, 2012, p.169). Hence, this essay will first present how teacher education policy originated and developed in Finland. Next, it will turn to how student teachers are normally selected and how initial Finnish teacher education is being implemented. Then, the author will make a brief explanation of teacher recruitment and in-service teacher training that were covered by one of the group members during the seminar presentation, before concluding the essay.

The origin and development of teacher education policy in Finland

According to Afdal (2012), the most recent policy making processes for Finnish teacher education (TE) policy took place from 2003 to 2006. National recommendations for how and what TE should be were made as the results of a 3-year-networking project called “National-Level Coordination of Degree Program Development in Teacher Education in the Sciences of Education” (The VOKKE Project). The actors included: the appointed leader of the steering commission being the then Vice Rector of the University of Helsinki, university representatives, stakeholders, and students’ organizations. Hence, it was “a multilevel, multi-professional, and multi-disciplinary process” (Afdal, 2012, p.175). The Ministry gave responsibilities for policy making to the faculties of TE without using its authority. Large cooperative culture has been prevalent between various universities to reach a shared knowledge system in teacher education. No orders for change are given by the government or the Ministry of Education. If a change is to be made, it has to be discussed (Afdal, 2012). Hence, highly democratic principles are prevalent in the nature of communication between the government and the stakeholders.

The implementation of teacher education policy in Finland

Selection of student teachers for pre-service teacher education

To be selected for class teacher educations, student teachers are required to undergo two-phase entrance examinations (Malinen, Vaisanen & Savolainen, 2012). In 2007, there was a reform on the student teacher selection process with an introduction of the VAKARA exam, which is a nationwide literary test. The first selection phase is the VAKARA that is based on approximately 180-page articles. All those eligible for higher education including new secondary education graduates can enter the exam. The second selection phase requires the applicants who have passed the first phase to do the aptitude test that usually includes an interview and a group discussion task. The aptitude test is administered by relevant universities that usually invite approximately three or four times more applicants than necessary. Its purpose is to evaluate the applicants’ “suitability, motivation and commitment to teacher education and the teacher’s work” (Malinen et al., 2012, p.572). The matriculation exam scores are also part of the second selection phase for some of the Finnish universities. Experienced teacher educators conduct interviews with the applicants based on the guidelines set out by each university. In recent years, although there has been approximately 7000 applicants for class-teacher education programs, about 900 student teachers are annually selected. Hence, it is a rigorous selection process.

Teacher education providers and teachers produced

According to Malinen et al. (2012), TE in Finland is provided by eight universities in 11 campuses which are nationally distributed in different regions. Further, according to the university law in 2009, Finnish universities nowadays are autonomous ones. Hence, they seem to have full decentralization and autonomy. There are usually two types of TE depending on whether it is aimed at educating general school teacher students or vocational education teacher students. Teacher education for teachers in general education is provided by the specific comprehensive universities (Niemi & Jakku-Sihvonen, 2011). The teachers in general education institutions include class teachers (G-1-6), subject teachers (G-7-9), and special needs teachers and special class teachers. Special needs kindergarten teachers within early childhood education and care must have a kindergarten teacher qualification and specialization in special needs education (European Commission, 2013, para.2). As with student teachers for vocation TE, there are no specific teacher training schools practice and they have to conduct practice teaching at different vocational institutions. Although teacher educators have to be equally qualified as other university teachers, they also need a pedagogical teacher qualification. Universities have their own teacher training schools for student teachers’ practice teaching (Niemi & Jakku-Sihvonen, 2011).

TE programs and the main elements of TE curricula

Generally, Finnish TE emphasizes the balanced development of the student teacher’s personal and professional competences (Sahlberg, 2013). Hence, TE programs and curricula reflect such foci. On 1st August 2005, Finnish TE was changed into a two-tier degree system as part of the Bologna process which is a reform process for European higher education (Niemi & Jakku-Sihvonen, 2011). Subject teacher students for primary and secondary levels of general education and for vocational institutions have to complete both a 3-year Bachelor’s degree and a 2-year Master’s degree in relevant subjects. The kindergarten teacher has to hold a Bachelor of Education (180 ECTS) and all the other teachers have to hold a Master’s degree (BA 180 + MA 120 = 300 ECTS, where 1 ETCS equals approximately 27-hour work).

The six main elements of all TE curricula involve studies in: (1) academic subjects; (2) studies on research competences and implementation (e.g. BA thesis and MA thesis); (3) studies on pedagogy (which alone will take a minimum of 60 ECTS); (4) studies on communication, language and ICT competences; (5) personal study plan preparation; and (6) optional studies (that may include different courses by which student teachers can choose to fulfil their studies and qualifications) (Niemi & Jakku-Sihvonen, 2011). Based on the main elements of TE curricula, it may be analysed that student teachers are expected to gain personal competences from the fourth and fifth fields of studies and professional competences from the other ones as well as from the fourth.

The qualifications, evaluation and certificates

Since Finnish universities and vocational higher education institutions have significant autonomy, they apply multiple methods to assess student teachers’ achievements (European Commission, 2013, para.46). The assessment methods include written examinations or learning assignments that are assessed through Pass/Fail or the excellent-to-sufficient scale, and practice teaching that is assessed by marks “pass” or “supplementary work needed.” The practice teaching assessment is conducted by teacher educators or teachers in teacher training schools where the students have done their practical teaching.

When they have successfully completed all the required studies, students receive a degree certificate. However, students who has had enrolment for concurrent TE continue to do the pedagogic studies that are integrated into the Bachelor’s degree for the Master’s degree. A separate certificate is presented to those who have finished separate teacher’s pedagogical studies or vocational teacher studies.

Recruitment of teachers

Since the process of teacher recruitment spans the lives of teacher students and in-service teachers, it is regarded as appropriate to present how Finnish teachers are normally recruited. Finnish teacher recruitment system is unique in five characteristics (FNBE, n.d.-b). One of the unique characteristics is that teacher recruitment is the education providers’ responsibility. They specify the requirements for the needed posts and advertise them in the media. The second characteristic is that the individuals or group responsible for the appointment of new teachers is or are determined by each education provider. The responsible person may range from the education committee to the principal depending on the importance of the posts. The third is that the potential teachers must have a Master’s degree and pedagogical training and meet the other requirements prescribed by the relevant education provider. The fourth is concerned with the full-time or part-time employment of teachers depending on the amount of working hours. The last unique characteristic is that the appointed teachers can be terminated only when there is a legitimate reason such as the teacher’s inability to make adequate implementation of his duties.

Ongoing or in-service teacher education

While pre-service teacher education is essential for developing professional knowledge and skills of student teachers, ongoing or in-service teacher education is also indispensable for the appointed teachers. In Finland, although the municipalities must provide an annual allocation of three days for in-service training or professional development to the teachers, research shows that the in-service teachers spent an average time span of approximately seven days annually for that matter (Sahlberg, 2012). The central government sets an annual allocation of about US$30 million from the state budget for the in-service training of teachers and principals with the aim of providing equal access to further studies. Additionally, the government is the person responsible for deciding the training focus which is based on the current needs for national educational development. By 2016, the budget allocation for teacher professional development is planned to be doubled. Teachers who hold a Master’s degree also have the opportunities to do their doctoral studies in education for professional development.

Conclusion

In conclusion, teacher education in Finland has contributed to the high success of the education system of the country because of its significantly good aspects including a rigorous student teacher selection process, the remarkable autonomy given to the TE departments of the universities and to the polytechnics, the meaningful combination of theory and practice for student teachers, the application of non-standardised assessment methods, the research studies and accompanying thesis writing, good in-service teacher education, and a widespread appreciation and value of teaching profession.

References

Afdal, H. W. (2012). Policy making processes with respect to teacher education in Finland and Norway. Journal of Higher Education, 65, 167-180. doi:10.1007/s10734-012-9527-2

European Commission. (2016). Finland: Teachers and education staff. Retrieved from https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/fpfis/mwikis/eurydice/index.php/Finland:Teachers_and_Education_Staff

Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE). (n.d.-a). Teacher education. Retrieved from http://www.oph.fi/english/education_system/teacher_education

Finnish National Board of Education (FNBE). (n.d.-b). Teachers in Finland – trusted. Retrieved from http://www.oph.fi/download/148962_Teachers_in_Finland.pdf

Malinen, O. P., Väisänen, P., & Savolainen, H. (2012). Teacher education in Finland: a review of a national effort for preparing teachers for the future. The Curriculum Journal, 23(4), 567-584. doi:10.1080/09585176.2012.731011

Niemi, H., & Jakku-Sihvonen, R. (2011). Teacher education in Finland. In M. V. Zuljan & J. Vogrinc (Eds.), European dimensions of teacher education - similarities and differences (pp. 33-51). Kranj, Slovenia: Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana & The National School of Leadership in Education.

Sahlberg, P. (2012). The most wanted: Teachers and teacher education in Finland. In L. Darling-Hammond &. A. Lieberman (Eds.), Teacher education around the world: Changing policies and practices (pp. 1-21). Oxon, UK: Routledge.