Significant Trends in the Development of Finnish Teacher Training Education Programs (1860-2010)

Authors

  • Satu Uusiautti University of Lapland
  • Kaarina Määttä University of Lapland

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v21n59.2013

Keywords:

education, elementary education, teacher training, comprehensive education, compulsory education, educational system

Abstract

The roots of teacher training in Finland extend to the 1860s. The evolution of teacher training was closely connected to the history of elementary education and changes in educational policy and the Finnish society. Recently, the Finnish educational system and its teacher education programs have fared extremely well in international comparisons. This raises a question concerning the kinds of initiatives and policies that this story has involved. This article will provide some answers, and it also discusses the trends and developmental aspirations that have molded the approaches to teacher training in this country. The article is based on Finnish research literature on teacher training and relevant contemporary developmental reports and laws. The main purpose is to provide a review of the historical development of Finnish teacher training—its significant achievements and the most crucial turning points—and then to discuss their contribution to the educational outcomes in the current system.

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Author Biographies

Satu Uusiautti, University of Lapland

Satu Uusiautti, PhD, is a specialist at University of Lapland. She has also worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Lapland. In addition to numerous articles in Finnish and international journals, she has published a book called Early Education and Care in Finland (K. Määttä & S. Uusiautti, ed.) published in 2012 by Routledge and Many Faces of Love (authored by K. Määttä and S. Uusiautti) published in 2013 by Sense Publishers. Forthcoming books include Sámi education (authored by P. Keskitalo, K. Määttä and S. Uusiautti) by Peter Lange Publishing and What are Finnish teachers made of? The history of elementary school teacher education in Finland (authored by M. Paksuniemi, S. Uusiautti and K. Määttä) by Nova Publishers.

Kaarina Määttä, University of Lapland

Professor Kaarina Määttä, PhD, is the Professor of Educational Psychology and a Vice-rector of the University of Lapland. During her career, she has supervised 45 doctors, published dozens of articles and books on education and its sub-disciplines in Finnish and English. Her latest books published in 2012 are Obsessed with the doctoral theses. Supervision and support in the phases of dissertation process (K. Määttä, ed.) published by Sense Publishers and Early Education and Care in Finland (K. Määttä & S. Uusiautti, ed.) published by Routledge.

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Published

2013-07-14

How to Cite

Uusiautti, S., & Määttä, K. (2013). Significant Trends in the Development of Finnish Teacher Training Education Programs (1860-2010). Education Policy Analysis Archives, 21, 59. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v21n59.2013

Issue

Vol. 21 (2013)

Section

Articles