Teachers are facing increasingly diverse classrooms globally. To support all students efficiently, teachers need to know their students. Drawing from the literature of teacher learning and inclusive education, we explored how teachers learn to know their students in a co-teaching context. Analysis of interviews and diaries of five co-teaching…

Co-teaching has become a well-known way of working among Finnish teachers in recent years. Teachers' collaboration is becoming increasingly important in light of the rising number of diverse students in regular classes. In an ideal co-teaching context, teachers collaborate as equals, recognise and respect each other's skills and competencies, and…

This study examined the factors shaping co-teaching within a Finnish primary school's community. The qualitative study was conducted by teacher and principal interviews and teacher surveys. Thematic content analysis revealed five factors establishing the co-teaching practices: providing collegial support, team building, continuous professional…

In Finland, technology education is a multidisciplinary field where team teaching serves as a basis for the integration of technology across different school subjects. However, Finnish teacher education does not adequately prepare the student teachers for multidisciplinary technology education, and the professional competency is often gained…

The aim of this article was to examine primary school teachers' perceptions about their sense of belonging in co-teaching. We were particularly interested in investigating the factors which enhance or hinder teachers' sense of belonging in their co-teaching relationships. The data were collected using the method of empathy-based stories (MEBS)…

Inclusive education is an increasingly adopted approach to pedagogy, and it is based on values that should inform school policies and daily practices. It is about creating school cultures that cherish participation: learning, playing and working with others as well as making choices about, and having a say in, what happens in the school community.…

In the 21st century, teachers' learning is viewed through the lens of sustainable development as a holistic, transformative and collaborative learning process. Acknowledging that teacher professional development is a prerequisite for educational quality, it becomes necessary to look for professional development factors that could be relevant to…

Finnish education has recently experienced reforms with respect to guidelines forming the curriculum framework for basic education and school architecture. Since 2016, all new schools incorporate open and flexible design, at least to some extent. The more open school design challenges the conventional organisation of space and pre-defined…

A new special education strategy was launched in Finland by the Ministry of Education in 2007. The new Basic Act was enacted in 2010 and the new national core curriculum concerning three-tiered support for pupils in 2011. Since the 1990s, teachers across Finland have participated in developing Finnish basic education towards greater inclusion. The…

Through the concept of teacher identity, this article examines in detail the factors in the process through which the two teachers under study changed from traditional teachers into co-teaching professionals. The interview data were analysed by thematic narrative analysis. The results showed that the teachers' own attitudes, conflicts in their…

In this follow-up study, development of co-teaching was studied in four different schools in Helsinki, Finland. Teachers, altogether 54, 51 and 26, respectively, responded to an electronic questionnaire three times during one year. The attitudes towards co-teaching were positive although the frequency of co-teaching remained low. Co-teaching was…