Contemporary Finnish Emigrants: Finnish Expatriate Families in North America

Finnish emigration was and still is typically labor-based. Temporariness and higher education are two characteristics of contemporary Finnish emigration. Modern Finnish emigrants can be called expatriates. This study focuses on the resources and adjustment problems of Finnish expatriate families. Research data were gathered by an online survey questionnaire completed by parents (N = 202) who had repatriated to a large city in Finland. One fourth of the families (n = 44) had lived in North America. The main finding concerning family resources was that social support within the family itself was the most substantial resource in expatriation. Finnish expatriate families had few problems in North America. Clearly, the number of problems in North America was significantly lower in terms of local culture, climate, language proficiency, and transportation. North America emerges as an excellent host continent for Finnish expatriate families.</p

Psychological Adjustment of Expatriate Children in Cultural Transitions

The aim of the current study was to define the factorial structure of the psychological adjustment (PA) of Finnish expatriate children (EC) and to construct a model consisting of three child-level variables (age, school success, and attitude toward moving). Survey data concerning Finnish EC (N = 324) who had lived temporarily abroad were gathered from the EC's parents. The mean age of the children was 4.8 years in the expatriation context and 8.2 years in the repatriation context. PA was examined using the Zung Self-Rating Depression Scale (ZSDS). Survey data were subject to a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM). A hypothesized two-factor structure (physiological and affective factors) of PA was fitted for the sample using the CFA. A SEM of PA was presented, where the child-level explanatory variables were the age of the child, school success, and attitude toward moving. The main findings were the following: First, there is a two-factor structure of Finnish EC's PA with both physiological and affective factors. Second, a model of PA with three child-level variables (age, school success, and attitude toward moving) was constructed. The results contribute to the understanding of PA in general and EC's PA in particular. This study increases our understanding of EC's PA in unique and novel contexts of dual cultural transitions. This comprehension is important in an increasingly globalized world, especially in clinical and other support contexts, where professionals work for children's mental well-being

Korona opettajan osaamisen haastajana

Tarkastelemme suomalaisen opettajan osaamista suhteessa korona-ajan tuomiin uusiin opettajuuden haasteisiin. Opettajan työ on monipuolista osaamista edellyttävää asiantuntijatyötä. Opettajan keskeinen osaaminen on koottu seitsemän yliopiston yhteistyönä tutkimusperustaiseen Opettajan osaamisen karttaan. Siinä opettajan ammatillinen kehittyminen nähdään jatkumona opiskelijavalintavaiheesta koulutuksen kautta työelämään. Keväällä 2020 koronapandemia muutti opettajan työtä radikaalisti. Siirtyminen etäopetukseen ja oppijoiden tukeminen kriisissä ovat asettaneet opettajien osaamiselle uudenlaisia haasteita. Koronatilanteen eri vaiheissa ovat korostuneet erityisesti kolme näkökulmaa Opettajan osaamisen kartasta: yleiset kognitiiviset taidot ja toimijuus, hyvinvointiosaaminen sekä tasa-arvo- ja yhdenvertaisuusosaaminen. Opettajan osaamisen karttaan koottu tutkimusperusteinen, yhteisöllinen näkemys opettajan osaamisesta antaa hyvät lähtökohdat toimia muuttuvissa tilanteissa sekä tukee opettajan osaamista myös tulevaisuudessa.</p

Debunking the myth of high achievers in Finnish primary teacher education: first-year preservice teachers' learning strategies and study success

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 currently seem to attract and select mediocre secondary school graduates from academic perspective, contrary to previous studies. Furthermore, women enter the programmes with higher exam scores than men and have more success in their studies. Based on their learning strategies, students were divided into subgroups of deep and independent learners, and reproductive and support-dependent learners. Previous study success was positively associated with first-year study success. It is important for teacher educators to acknowledge that the students are rather mediocre in the academic sense, even reproductive and lacking regulation skills, and thus might need support in developing into professional learners

Epistemic agency in student teachers’ engagement with research skills

In today’s knowledge intensive and post-factual world, student teachers’ relationship towards knowledge is a vital element in learning to teach. Student teachers must have a sense of epistemic agency to see themselves as productive participants in knowledge-laden activities. However, little attention has been paid to the role of agency in the interconnections between research and teaching in higher education. This study aims to identify how epistemic agency is manifested in student teachers’ expressions when they are provided with tools for knowledge production (educational research skills). Epistemic agency was examined as a narrative practice in student teachers’ texts (N = 73), and a data-driven analysis was conducted. The results explore the four dimensions of professional practice towards which the students directed their epistemic agency: ‘the self’, ‘the class’, ‘the research literature’, and ‘the everyday life’. The study makes visible the variety of how engagement with research skills can promote epistemic agency.</p

Multiple mini-interviews as a selection tool for initial teacher education admissions

This study investigates the reliability of multiple mini interviews (MMIs) to select students for classroom and special education teacher programs (n = 418) using intraclass correlations and cross-classified multilevel modeling. The results indicated mostly small effects of clustering of applicants to different interviewers and five-station circuits. The largest variance components in the MMI total score were for applicants (63.3%) and measurement error (20.6%), while the variance component for the interviewer was relatively small (11.6–14.4%). The applicants' and interviewers' perceptions were positive. This study provides evidence for the use of MMIs as a reliable tool for initial teacher education selection.</p

A multidimensional adapted process model of teaching

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 active construction of a shared understanding and an interpretation of the discourse in the field, the experts reviewed literature on teaching. The resulting teacher competence model, the multidimensional adapted process model of teaching (MAP), represents a collective conception of the relevant empirical literature and prevailing discourses on teaching. The MAP is based on Blömeke et al.’s, Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 223, 3–13, (<a title="Blömeke, S., Gustafsson, J., & Shavelson, R. (2015). Beyond dichotomies: Competence viewed as a continuum. Zeitschrift für Psychologie, 223, 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1027/2151-2604/a000194 ." href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11092-021-09373-9#ref-CR14">2015) model which distinguishes among teacher competences (referring to effective performance of teachers’ work), competencies (knowledge, skills, and other individual competencies underlying and enabling effective teaching), and situation-specific skills of perceiving, interpreting, and making decisions in situations involving teaching and learning. The implications of the MAP for teacher education and student selection for initial teacher education are discussed. </p