Fieldwork is an important part of biology as well as science and biology education. However, teachers perceive several reasons for the limited use of fieldwork in schools. Further, outdoor education is often organised as a single fieldtrip guided by outdoor educators, and little research has been done on fieldwork as a regular part of formal…

Purpose: This article describes how Finnish health education teachers verbalise and construct their teacher identity based on their lifestyle, subject area and relationships with their students. Design/methodology/approach: Narrative interviews were conducted amongst eight secondary and upper secondary school teachers. The nexus analysis was used…

COVID-19 pandemic has caused a massive transformation in K-12 settings towards online education. It is important to explore the factors that facilitate online teaching technology adoption of teachers during the pandemic. The aim of this study was to compare Learning Management System (LMS) acceptance of Finnish K-12 teachers who have been using a…

This paper contributes to the pedagogical discussion on how to promote critical thinking among adolescents in modern media environments. It argues that teachers play an essential role in guiding students' assessment of and decision between credible information sources. The study was carried out among eighth-grade health education teachers and…

Although Finnish basic education is based on inclusion, 37% of students receiving special support still study in either separate schools or separate classes in comprehensive schools. In this study we explore how policies of inclusion are implemented in a school with separated special educational needs (SEN) and general education (GE) classes. More…

This paper focuses on teachers' written memories of Finland's comprehensive school reform in the 1970s and examines teachers' reminiscences of this major change, when elementary (primary) schools and lower secondary (grammar) schools were transformed into comprehensive schools, thereby guaranteeing nine-year basic education with a unified…

Implicit theories concerning the malleability of human qualities are known to have a powerful impact on motivation and learning, but their role in moral education is an under-researched topic. In this qualitative case study, we examined the impact of implicit theories on four Finnish teachers' practices of teaching morally and in teaching…

In this case study, we explore pedagogical practices that could promote powerful knowledge in school history. We analyse teaching sessions conducted by two teachers. The cases were selected from an observation study that focused on historical literacy in Finnish schools. While Michael Young's ideas of powerful knowledge have gained considerable…

This article explores the link between the OECD TALIS 2013 survey's framework for defining the ideal teacher and national educational goals by focusing on the teacher self-efficacy items, using cross-country comparisons. Surprisingly, cross-country analysis of the TALIS 2013 data combined with World Value Survey data about Desired Child Qualities…

This study sets two main objectives to address this research gap in CLIL materials design: to identify and to evaluate teachers' approaches to text modification. The study focuses on four secondary teachers who teach non-language subjects to grades 7-9 in Finland, in English. The qualitative data consist of interviews and teaching materials…

Whereas science is fundamentally a result of a dialogic debate, the authoritative approach has been conceived of as a fundamental part of school science. Dialogic interactions encompass the mutual appreciation of different ideas manifested in teacher supportiveness toward students and, in authoritative interactions, the focus is more on the…

This article presents the results from a survey investigating 708 Swedish and 1583 Finnish teachers' perceived autonomy with a focus on the teachers' perceptions of who makes the most important decisions in school. Teacher autonomy is seen as exercised at different levels; by teachers individually in the classroom or by teachers as a collective in…

Background: Good teacher-pupil relationships support the well-being of pupils and promote a good atmosphere in school settings. However, pupils' diverse needs and behavioural problems can cause challenging situations for teaching staff. There is currently limited understanding about the nature of these situations and how teachers respond and…

This survey-based study (N = 161) investigates the direct and indirect effects of teacher- and school-level factors on subject-teachers' use of ICT in Home Economics (HE). Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesised relationships between perceived usefulness of ICT in Home Economics, age, digital competence, ICT infrastructure,…

This study examines social representations of teachership based on students' and teachers' drawings. Fifty-nine students and thirty-nine teachers in upper-secondary education in Finland participated in the research, drawing a picture of a typical teacher and commenting on their drawings verbally. The study focuses on what kinds of social…