Transcript Ei dian otsikkoa - Helsingin yliopisto

Advancing Research in and on
Teacher Education
The TEPE conference 2008: Teacher Education
in Europe: mapping the landscape and looking
to the future, Ljubljana, 21-23 Feb 2008
Hannele Niemi
Vice-Rector
University of Helsinki
Contents
 Why do we need research in teacher education?
 How should we promote research on teacher education?
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Why do we need research in
teacher education?
Teaching as a well-qualified profession
(Improving the quality of teacher education 3.8.2007)
 “All teachers are graduates from higher education
institutions”. (The recommendations 2007)
 “To ensure that there is adequate capacity within Higher
Education to provide for the quantity and quality of
Teacher Education required, and to promote the
professionalisation of teaching, teacher education
programmes should be available in the Master and
Doctorate (as well as the Bachelor) cycles of higher
education.”
4
Why do we need research in teacher
education?
 Teacher education must be grounded on
 concepts
of the teaching profession and
 knowledge creation.
5
The aims of teacher education
 Provide teachers with studies that guide them to
considering themselves as accountable professional
actors,
 Make teachers aware that they have rights and
obligations to contribute to the development of education.
 Their task is to facilitate different learners to learn better.
 Teachers have a strong societal function, and this
perspective should be integrated into the TE curricula.
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From knowledge reception to knowledge
producing - promoting active and collaborative
learning
 Learning as an active individual process, but also a
process based on sharing and participation.
 Teachers need the most recent knowledge and research
about the subject matter and
 how the subject matter can be transformed in relevant
ways to benefit different learners -> lifelong learning
 They should be familiar with the curricula and learning
environments in educational institutions and in non-formal
educational settings
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Generic skills or focused professionalism?
 The academic contents of TE and practical skills must not
be seen as separate or exclusive; they are always
complementary in the teaching profession.
 Teachers as experts work in complex situations

research-based knowledge and research-informed
knowledge + tacit knowledge + confidence to carry out their
expertise in demanding unique situations.
 Progressive problem solving, that is, tackling problems
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Promoting research- and evidence-based
practice
 If the teaching profession aims to have a high professional
status, teacher education must prepare teachers to work
using an evidence-based approach in their work
 They need the competence to use different kinds of
evidence, including the evidence that research provides.
 They must have also the capacity to carry out action
research in their classrooms and schools.
 The pre-service teacher education curriculum provides a
foundation, but without research-oriented in-service
training, teachers’ potentiality to renew and develop their
own profession will stagnate.
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Applications
Knowledge
creation
Interactive learning
process of researchers,
policy-makers,
and practitioners
Research
-mode 1
-mode 2
-Triple Helix
Evidence
•Personal experiences
•from documents or archives
•artefacts
•observations
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Social contexts
Economy
Working
conditions
and
organizational
structures for
support of
evidence-based
practice
-time
-space
Cultural
factors
Quality of
evidence
-multidisciplinary
-complexity
Delivery and
dissemination
of
evidence
Evaluation
culture
-tool of
development
Application of knowledge
Competence of practitioners to
use and produce evidence
Evidence/research-based
education (e.g. teacher education)
Professional
networking
© Niemi 2007
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How should we promote research
on teacher education?
Continuum of teacher education
Pre-service TE
(5years)
Induction
(3years)
In-service TE
(Career-long)
Research-based/evidence-based work
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The LUMA Centre is an example of cross-boundary
activities. It is serving science teachers, students and
researchers.
The centre is coordinated by the Faculty of Science
in the University of Helsinki
promoting the teaching of biology, chemistry,
geography, mathematics, physics and technology and
enhancing interaction between schools, universities
and business and industry.
http://www.helsinki.fi/luma/english/
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The LUMA Centre
Encourages teachers to play an active role in developing their
own teaching using the latest research and being also an action
researcher in their own schools. Student teachers are involved.
Provides support (in Finnish, partly also in Swedish and English)
for teachers: information on experimental work and modelling &
latest research news
The website also illustrates materials and tools for science
teaching.
Invites also pupils to work with researchers. They can joint to
virtual clubs on the web or participate science days or camps.
Young pupils may work with club assignments also with their
parents.
LUMA-newsletters to 70 000 teachers and students teachers
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Research-based teacher education – the case
of Finnish teacher education
 The two-cycle degree (3 + 2), Ph.D.( 4 years, including
60-80 ECTS as course work closely integrated with the
doctoral thesis.)
 Academic disciplines; a major or minors depending on the
qualification being sought.
 Research studies consist of methodological studies, a BA
thesis and a MA thesis.
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Study
years
5
4
Advanced Practicum (MA level, 8 ECTS):
Different options for developing expertise,
can be connected with the Master’s Thesis
Major in
Education
MA thesis &
research
methods and
seminars
Mainly in Municipal field schools
3
Intermediate Practicum (BA level, 12 ECTS):
Starting with specific subject areas, moving towards
more holistic and pupil-centred approaches
2
University teacher training schools
1
Practicum integrated with theoretical studies
BA thesis &
research
methods and
seminars
Research
methods,
observations
Integrating theory and practice in the Finnish TE
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Elements of a professional development system (Borko, 2004, p. 4)
Facilitators
PD Program
Teachers
Context
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At a European level
 European level research programmes, in which
teaching, school administration, educational policy and
teacher education are in focus: Learning together –
improving education
 European level developmental projects: Evaluation
and evaluation culture – towards more participatory and
communicative culture.Active interaction of researchers,
practitioners and policymakers is needed.
 European doctoral programs: Enhancement of
learning in different cultural and societal contexts (3rd
cycle of the Bologna process).For teachers, principals and
teacher educators
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At a national level
 Action research programs as a part of teachers’ and
other professionals’ continuous education.
 Local or regional action research projects should be
collected into larger programmes in which researcher as
facilitators are actively involved.
 National doctoral programmes for teachers, principals
and teacher education (3rd cycle of the Bologna process)

a close cooperation with the European doctoral
programmes.

a close cooperation with higher education institutions and
researchers
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At a local level
 Multi-professional networking: researchers, teachers,
social-workers, working-life partners.
 Teacher’ action research projects in schools and
networking these schools
 Networks of learners - Supporting learning at different
age levels in formal and informal settings.
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Teacher education on research-based
foundations
 Teachers need a profound knowledge of the most recent
advances of research in the subjects they teach. In
addition, they need to be familiar with the latest research
on how something can be taught and learnt.
 Teacher education in itself should also be an object of
study and research
 The aim is that teachers internalise a research-orientated
attitude towards their work.
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