This study aimed to explore the admitted students of Finnish primary teacher education programmes from the viewpoint of learning strategies, and academic success. An overall view was derived from national register data, which were supplemented with questionnaire data gathered from three teacher education units (N = 216). Primary teacher programmes…

Studies have shown that failure experiences play a role in pre-service teachers' development. Given that autobiographical experiences are a foundation of learning and that failure is a wide-spread experience, particularly in mathematics, we need further insight into what kind of experience failure actually is. This paper draws on 59 pre-service…

This article presents a discussion about primary school visual arts education from the point of view of social sustainability and in the context of teacher education in Finland. The study focuses on the student teachers' understanding and pedagogic thinking of the equality construction in visual arts. In this case study the research data comprises…

This study aims to find out how student teachers' meaning-oriented reflection can be enhanced with the help of video in a primary school teacher education programme. The study shows how student teachers (n = 10) and their supervisors (n = 9) followed the video-enhanced reflection procedure during one practicum period. The data were collected…

The educational transition between early childhood education and primary education is a complex moment of change with repercussions throughout the academic life of the students. For this reason, it is important to seek continuity between both educational stages. A successful transition produces for the social, cognitive and emotional well-being of…

This study investigated student teachers' (N = 82) learning of action-oriented knowledge (AOK), triggering incidents in teaching practice, and the relationships between these two. Student teacher's action-oriented knowledge is understood as core capability for the practice of teaching, and learning of action-oriented knowledge needs to be…

Using the story constellations (Craig, 2007) approach to narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000), this study draws upon the experiences of six Finnish educators. Participants' narratives confirmed that research-based approaches are critical to elementary teacher education programs and for decision-making (Jakku-Sihvonen, Tissari, Ots,…

This study examines first-year student teachers' (N = 310) self-evaluated, study-related anxiety and exhaustion, and self-regulated learning (SRL) skills. Our presumption is that feelings of anxiety and exhaustion can be reduced with cognitive and motivational SRL skills. The association of cognitive and motivational SRL skills with feelings of…

This paper discusses the processes and practices that link crafts and gender in the upbringing and education of girls. The paper is based on a study conducted among female primary school trainee teachers in Finland. The data are comprised of their experiences with crafts as schoolgirls. The methods of the study were memory work and writing of…

This study investigated whether infusing "causal" story elements into mathematical word problems improves student performance. In one experiment in the USA and a second in USA, Finland and Turkey, undergraduate elementary education majors worked word problems in three formats: 1) standard (minimal verbiage), 2) potential causation…

Examines gendered structures and processes of primary teacher education in Finland from a historical perspective, asserting that Finnish female teachers have been and are educated to be the "responsible other" and to be marginalized in comparison to male teachers. The paper states that primary education is considered one of the…

This paper is presented as one stage of a dissertation project titled "Educational Reform as a Social Field: Structuration of Discourse in Teacher Education in Finland." It examines educational transformations and continuities through a discourse analysis of governmental committee reports on teacher education, focusing primarily on the…

This study compared and investigated the attitudes toward educating for international understanding in college students preparing to become elementary school teachers in Finland and the United States--particularly California. The study also explored whether participants thought their respective teacher education programs had prepared them to…

A study of science teaching insecurity in preservice elementary school teachers (N=56) in Finland is presented. Based upon Maslow's theory of basic needs, it was believed that individuals who feel insecure about science or science teaching cannot function at a higher need level until these insecurities are met. A 20-item instrument was used to…

The debate about what constitutes good teaching in the industrialized countries of the world tends to be carried over into the developing world without examining ways in which social and cultural contexts of the originating countries differ from those of the receiving ones. This study explores differences in perceptions of elementary education…