Mobility and transition of pedagogical expertise in Finland

Abstract

Mobility and transition of pedagogical expertise in Finland is a publication based on the project “Mobility among pedagogical experts”, which was funded by the European Social Fund. The project was carried out in 2010–2013 in collaboration with the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, Finnish National Board of Education and the Vocational Teacher Education College, Jyväskylä University of Applied Sciences. The publication gives an overall view of the teacher mobility and transition in the Finnish education system and discusses the key findings from the report on Mobility among pedagogical experts. Data for the above-mentioned project was collected by an online questionnaire (n = 4500) and interviews with former teachers (n = 15). In Finland people consider teaching an appealing occupational choice for various reasons. Teacher’s work is autonomous, highly appreciated and found diverse and challenging. However, at some point in their teaching careers many teachers start to look for opportunities for career development and possibly consider another occupation altogether. Reasons for considering intra- and transprofessional mobility are very individual and usually connected to professional development, work contracts, working conditions, or seeking new challenges. The beginning of the teaching career is loaded with huge responsibility. In the Finnish education system, teachers’ have full pedagogical and juridical responsibility since their first day of employment. Although induction is very important in the transition from teacher education to actual teachership, Finland does not have any statutory national induction programme for teachers. This leads to a variety of induction practices because every municipality is responsible for organising the induction for new teachers. 8 According to teachers, their profession has become increasingly diverse in terms of skill requirements. The future teacher is a multitalented professional who is collaborating with colleagues and multidisciplinary groups. Besides subject knowledge and pedagogical skills, information and communication technology skills are essential in the future. While pupils and students call for more individual attention, knowledge and skills of special education and differentiation are needed in the classroom.