Teacher education (TE) in Finland is based on strong university autonomy, including the right to decide the curriculum content and the teaching methods. Democracy and its values are generally seen as central principles for TE, and the normative basis for education promoting democratic culture is strong. However, in practice, education for…

The development of education programmes in career guidance and counseling (CGC) has followed different paths among the various Nordic countries. Ten CGC programmes in Denmark, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden were evaluated against the NICE curricular model. The results show that all NICE core competences are represented in the…

The number of migrant students in vocational education in Finland is rising. Their educational backgrounds and language resources are diverse, and research is needed to gain better understanding on how their existing knowledge can be acknowledged, supported, and deployed when they become multilingual professionals in their own fields. In this…

The role of teachers in education is widely acknowledged in educational studies that routinely find that quality of teaching is fundamental to student success. Accordingly, this study set out to examine and describe the professional development of teachers in countries where students perform better in the PISA assessment, namely, Finland, Estonia,…

In Finnish early childhood education and care, many changes have been occurring in recent years (Figure 1). The Day Care Act was drafted in 1973, and things largely remained the same until 2015. On August 1, 2015, the new law, the Act on Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC), came into force. But before that, some small changes had occurred,…

In recent higher education research, quality in education export action has been explored from the perspective of traditional education export countries such as the UK and USA. However, less attention is given to novice education export providers that rely on different educational traditions. In this article, we explore quality of education as it…

This book provides significant information regarding the policies and provisions for early childhood teacher education programs in universities in fourteen different countries. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) is expanding rapidly across the globe with unprecedented numbers of children attending EC centres, requiring the investment in…

Cooperation between home and school benefits pupils' wellbeing in many ways. Hence, it is of utmost importance that teachers are able to cooperate with families in early childhood education as well as in primary and secondary education. In order to work effectively with the diversity of families, teachers need to develop their skills and knowledge…

While policy debate is often focused on the whole teaching profession, primary and secondary teachers differ in more ways than one. While all countries require teachers to have at least a bachelor degree to enter the profession in primary or lower secondary education, the structure and content of the programmes vary and are less geared towards…

Peer mentoring is one of the most important guidance practices for first-year students entering higher education and academic life. We are interested in mentors' roles and apply the ideas of group counseling in order to increase the understanding of peer mentoring. Other aspects of guidance--content, methods, and collaboration--are approached on…

The KiVa antibullying program has been widely implemented in Finnish comprehensive schools since 2009. The program is predicated on the idea that a positive change in the behaviors of classmates can reduce the rewards gained by the perpetrators of bullying and consequently their motivation to bully in the first place. KiVa involves both universal…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to find out which factors contribute to the decisions of the students when they choose their place of study among the six psychology departments of the Universities in Finland. Design/methodology/approach: The study involved a survey questionnaire. Responses were received from 1,668 people. Findings: It was…

The nature and rate of social change determine the role, content and forms of adult education. For this purpose pertinent information is needed, and can only be achieved if an International Clearing Center for Adult Education (ICCAE) is formed. (RB)

The author describes the Research and Training Center at Lahti (Finland): its general task, its goals, and its organization. The center's main projects are examined: open university studies, supplementary professional education, employment oriented training, extension projects, international cooperation, and research activities. Financing of the…