In the present study, we aimed to specify the key competence domains perceived to be critical for the teaching profession and depict them as a comprehensive teacher competence model. An expert panel that included representatives from seven units providing university-based initial teacher education in Finland carried out this process. To produce an…

Managerialism in higher education has gained prominence in recent decades. One of the crucial elements of this approach is the steering of the higher education sector, including the introduction of multiple forms of evaluation of academic work. Little is known about how academics evaluate themselves in comparison to their colleagues. Therefore,…

This study reports findings from an interview study with eleven teacher educators from a physics teacher training program in Finland. They represented the four training environments that students encounter during their education, i.e. the Department of Physics, the Department of Mathematics and Science Education, the Department of General…

Research shows that professional learning can have a powerful effect on teacher skills and knowledge, and on how well students learn. To be effective, however, professional learning for teachers needs to be conducted in the ways that it is in many high achieving countries--continuously, collaboratively, and with a focus on teaching specific…

Two studies are reported: "Elements of 'Good Teaching': A Comparison of Education Students' Perceptions in Botswana, California, Finland, and Zimbabwe" (John Yoder, Larry Shaw, Ben Siyakwazi, Kaarina Yli-Renko) and "Intercultural Communication: A Challenge to German Language Teacher Education" (Kaarina Yli-Renko). The first…

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…