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This book explores the partnership between Finnish universities and the university-affiliated teacher training schools known as 'normal schools'. It examines the benefits of school-based learning combined with Master's-level teacher education, uncovering the advantages of this unique school-university partnership. This book also explores the possibility of Finnish teacher education, and more specifically, the normaalikoulu, and its potential as an international export product. Although policy borrowing theory has long warned about the difficulties in successful transfer, interest in Finnish teacher education continues to rise. Therefore, this book investigates, in depth, the historical, cultural, and current context of Finnish teacher education and the normal schools, and the potential to move this policy abroad.
List of contents
1. Setting the Stage: Finland's Teachers and the Programme for International Student Assessment.- 2. In the Spotlight: Finnish Teacher Education and the Normaalikoulu.- 3. Effective Preparation? Finnish Teacher Educators and Student Teachers Critically Examine the Normaalikoulu.- 4. The Nexus of Theory, Policy, and Practice? A Critical Examination of the Normaalikoulu by Education Professors and Principals.- 5. Conclusion: The Possibilities and Pitfalls of Normaalikoulu Export.
About the author
Jennifer Chung is a Lecturer (Teaching) at University College London's Institute of Education. Her research interests focus on the Nordic countries, with Finland being of particular interest.
