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Teaching for Civil Society in Finland: A Canadian Perspective on Finnish Educators\u27 Reflections
No full textThis article describes a study that took place in Helsinki, Finland in late 2015. A Canadian education professor conducted individual interviews with Finnish educators: six practicing teachers in Helsinki schools, two education professors at the University of Helsinki, and the advisor to the president of Finland’s teachers’ union. Although all five Nordic countries are known to support the social welfare state, Finland was chosen because it is considered to be the most economically left. The study is an exploration of how Finnish educators consider their role and the role of the school regarding civil society and the commons in Finland. The actual research question for the study was, “How do Finnish educators think about the school’s role in supporting the commons and in fostering social cohesion with immigration?” The nine participants were unanimous in their support of the commons and Finland’s generous social welfare state, apparently the result of a collectivist mentality in Finnish society. However, there appears to be growing social, economic, and political discrimination for immigrants and refugees who look different from White Finns. The six teacher-participants expressed uncertainty around how best to deal with these tensions, and were committed to attempting neutrality in their teaching of these social problems, or perhaps even ignoring them altogether. Despite the small sample set, I believe it represents a cross section of views of educators in contemporary Finland. Recent studies mentioned in the literature review support this position. Some comparisons with similar studies in Canada are briefly mentioned. Keywords: teaching for social justice; comparative education; Finnish education; controversial issues; Nordic social democracy
The Authoring of School Mathematics: Whose Story Is It Anyways?
No full textIn this essay, Armstrong connects the act of mathematical problem posing with that of authoring a story
Critical Friendship and Inter-Faculty Collaborative Inquiry: Teacher Education and Nursing Education
No full textThis paper explores how three researchers utilize critical friendship to systematically examine the nuanced roles of Teacher Education and Nursing Education practices in a community of inquiry. An ancillary theme investigates sustainable structures for supporting the professional learning of teacher and nursing educators. Respectively from two faculties on one campus, university educators came together in September 2015 to form the Critical Friendship in Nursing and Education (CFiNe) community of inquiry. Data collection includes research notes, teaching notes, journaling, and monthly meetings. This community of inquiry has the potential to provide the foundations of critically infused professional development paradigms promoting interdisciplinary and collaborative stances in higher education
Audit Culture and a Different Kind of Publishing Crisis in the Academy
No full textAn essay on the publishing crisis within the Academy due to the current misapplied audit culture
The Experiences of Selected Teachers in Implementing Place-Based Education.
No full textThis study explores the experiences of selected teachers undertaking place-based education (PBE) in a prairie region, the challenges they encounter, and their understanding of the knowledge and skills required to implement PBE. PBE is defined and described. Five individual teachers and one teaching team of two who practice PBE are interviewed. The findings are reported thematically and implications for teacher education are discussed. The varied practice of these teachers is instructive for educators interested in holistic, inquiry-based methodologies rooted in local settings and points to directions for teacher education programs to take in implementation.Keywords: Place-based education; outdoor learning; community engagement; experiential learning; curriculum outcomes; assessment; teacher education; deschoolin
The Light to the Left: Conceptions of Social Justice Among Christian Social Studies Teachers
No full textThis article describes a study that took place in Saskatchewan, Canada, during 2013-2014. Ten practicing high school social studies teachers who self-identified as Christian answered an unsolicited invitation to participate in a qualitative study about the ways in which they think about social justice. Almost evenly split between Catholic and Protestant, female and male, and urban and rural, most participants were very progressive in their thinking about important economic and social issues. For example, all supported paying taxes and the social welfare state, and almost all supported gay rights and feminism. As well, an important emergent theme arose: The majority spoke about breaking from the teachings of their church if the teachings did not fit with contemporary society. All of them claimed that their faith influenced their thinking about social justice. The study challenges some secular notions about the values held by Christian social studies teachers. Situated in Canada, the study challenges American research findings about the political ideology and values of Christian social studies teachers. Keywords: social studies education; teaching for social justice; controversial issues; teacher beliefs; Christian teachin
Making Sense of Divides and Disconnects in a Preservice Teacher Education Program
No full textThis study’s purpose was to make sense of divides and disconnects in a teacher education program that included university-based courses combined with school-based field experiences. The study took place in Québec, Canada, which has the longest practicum of all provinces and programs designed to develop professional autonomy and competency. Data collection relied on documents, interviews, surveys, and focus groups with 44 preservice teachers along with field supervisors and instructors. Analysis relied on cultural historical activity theory and its principle of contradictions. Findings revealed that contradictions resulted in unintended and unfavourable outcomes such as teacher candidates feeling unprepared and untouched by the program. Resolution of contradictions may be realized through expansion of the division of labour to include more peer and self-assessment and through expansion of tools to support boundary crossing between theory, practice, schools, and university. Keywords: Preservice teacher education; cultural historical activity theory; contradictions; school-university partnerships; divides and disconnect
Mollenhauer’s Representation: The Role of Preservice Teachers in the Practices of Upbringing
No full textOur recent research study investigated an international field experience for preservice teachers, labelled as a service-learning internship, a term often used to refer to a student teacher in a Bachelor of Education (BEd) program. Relying on what we know to be advantages and benefits of similar international field experiences for preservice teachers to frame our investigation, we explored the impact of a service-learning internship upon beginning teachers, particularly as it related to their professional growth as teachers. To gain insight into teacher education, we drew on the work of Mollenhauer (2014) to critically examine the foundations of how we prepare teachers in our BEd program. Analysis of questionnaire responses, tracked by a digital discussion forum via Moodle™, revealed two dominant themes: (a) gaining a deeper understanding of children, and (b) learning to be flexible regardless of curricular constraints. Results from this study might be of interest to those who share a similar interest in international field experiences, teacher education, and pedagogy. Keywords: pedagogy, Bildung; teacher education; international; field experience; service learning; global teachin
Changing Our Practices: Resisting Habits as an Approach to Self Study
No full textSince 2011, we have been working at an independent high school with a small group of teachers interested in studying their own teaching practices in ways that support both their individual and collective learning. The participating educators are engaged and challenged by their personal interests in deepening formative assessment practices while creating pedagogic practices that create classroom relevance for their students and themselves. For this paper, we have chosen to explore the self-study of one teacher’s journey, in which he engages in the process of examining his own practices, biases, beliefs, and his changing relationships with students. We set the stage for the individual study by discussing the complexity of the interactions between the university faculty and the independent school educators.Keywords: Self-study; professional development; teacher learnin