Teaching: A practical or research-based profession? Teacher candidates' approaches to research-based teacher education

This article analyses teacher training in Finland from the teacher candidate's perspective. The focus is on two key concepts, the Teacher as a Researcher and the Personal Practical Theory, which characterise the agenda of Finnish teacher education. Cluster analysis divided the respondents into...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inTeaching and teacher education Vol. 74; pp. 170 - 179
Main Authors Puustinen, Mikko, Säntti, Janne, Koski, Anna, Tammi, Tuure
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.08.2018
Subjects
Cluster grouping
Personal practical theory
Preservice teachers
Teacher education
Teacher researchers
Theory–practice relationship
Cluster grouping
Preservice teachers
Teacher researchers
Teacher education
Theory–practice relationship
Personal practical theory
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Summary:This article analyses teacher training in Finland from the teacher candidate's perspective. The focus is on two key concepts, the Teacher as a Researcher and the Personal Practical Theory, which characterise the agenda of Finnish teacher education. Cluster analysis divided the respondents into five groups, and each cluster had a short textual description. Qualitative data were included in the summary. According to our analysis, the main concepts of the Teacher as a Researcher and the Personal Practice Theory are unclear to teacher candidates and are appreciated differently. Subject teacher candidates in particular, who come from other academic cultures, might consider these concepts educational jargon that have no substance. We also argue that teacher students are not always able to connect the theoretical parts of their studies with practice. These results challenge the claim that Finnish teacher education has resolved the demanding relationship between theory and practice. •Teacher candidates appreciate research based teacher education differently.•The concepts Teacher as a Researcher and Personal Practical Theory are unclear.•Theoretical and practical elements of teacher training are not constantly integrated.•Respondents do not always see connections between education and teacher's daily work.•Open section answers indicate need for more practical education.
ISSN:0742-051X
1879-2480
DOI:10.1016/j.tate.2018.05.004