Session Information
10 SES 11 B, Research on Programmes and Pedagogical Approaches in Teacher Education: International Exchange Programs
Paper Session
Contribution
In accordance with Bologna Process (Prague Communiqué 2001), the aims of teacher education in Finland and in Europe encompass also internationalisation. Among the tools used to achieve this are for example student and teacher exchange, networking and cooperation projects of the EU (Commission of the European Communities 2007). Citizen participation policy pursues school pupils’ growth in active and democratic citizenship. In addition to national citizenship education it should also take in account EU-citizenship and global citizenship and teachers have a key role in preparing learners for their role as EU citizens (European Commission 2005). National citizenship points to being a citizen of a particular social, political, or national community. EU-citizenship refers being equally a member of the European Union and idealistically having the given environment to move, reside and work within the EU-area. Global citizenship expands the concept to a universal level.
Department of Teacher Education in the University of Jyvaskyla has participated in an Erasmus Intensive Programme (Compass 2009) for two years at the moment. Referring to the importance of teachers in citizenship education (European Commission 2005), the project aims to provide future teachers with international experience and enhance co-operation with other teacher students from European countries. Basically teacher education bonds tightly to the country in question and is traditionally executed in an nation specific way. Also teacher education programme development and teachers’ professional changeover between different countries has been somewhat exiguous. The intensive programme addresses a comparative approach on issues like teachers’ position, status and required qualities in different countries. Also examining the values, cultural meanings and social developments of different countries and become acquainted with educational policy making and curriculum formation are the contents of the course.
The three year programme takes place in years 2009 – 2011 and the objective of the course is to support student teachers’ perceptions of the international teacher identity as well as to awaken the willingness to participate in local school development and in the development of European learning communities in the future. Eight teacher students are selected from each of the five partner countries (Austria, Belgium, Sweden, Finland and Turkey). Within the timeline of five months the students are prepared for the contact course with assignments, they take part in the ten days contact course and afterwards they write a report on their learning. All the written reports are stored in an electric library on the website of the programme.
The objective of this study was to find out the most remarkable learning results the intensive programme. To be more specific the interest was not only in professional learning but in personal growth as well. In professional expertise it is included job specific skills and knowledge; cross professional expertise and transferable work skills and meta-level monitoring of one’s operations. Personal growth occurs when the environment and the situations may activate certain aspects of the self. As for personal growth the reports were screened out highlighted developments concerning feelings, attitudes and conceptions.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Commission of the European Communities. 2007. Improving the Quality of Teacher Education. Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament. COM(2007) 392 Final. Brussels, 3.8.2007. http://ec.europa.eu/education/com392_en.pdf 5.1.2011. Compass. 2009. The project Comparing and Assessing: Quality in Primary Education in Europe. An Erasmus Intensive Programme. http://www.respect-network.org/compass/Home.aspx 5.1.2011. European Commission. 2005. Common European Principles for Teachers Competences and Qualifications. http://ec.europa.eu/education/policies/2010/doc/principles_en.pdf 5.1.2011. Prague Communiqué. 2001. ‘Towards the European higher education area’. Communiqué of the meeting of European Ministries in charge of higher education, Prague, Czech, 19 May. http://www.bologna.msmt.cz/praguesummit/Fcommunique.html 5.1.2011.
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