9 INFORMATION ON THE SCHOOL OF VOCATIONAL TEACHER EDUCATION

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1 1 INDEX 9 INFORMATION ON THE SCHOOL OF VOCATIONAL TEACHER EDUCATION GENERAL DESCRIPTION SPECIAL FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT Structure and Organisation of the School of Vocational Teacher Education The Conception of a Teacher s Work as the Starting Point of Studies Study and Teaching Methods and Assessment STUDY PROGRAMMES Pedagogical Expertise: A Vocational Teacher as an Educator Organisational Expertise: A Vocational Teacher as a Member of School Organisations Working Life Expertise: A Vocational Teacher as a Developer of Networking and On-the-job Learning Thesis and Research: A Vocational Teacher as a Researcher and Developer of His Own Work and Organisation Praxis: A Vocational Teacher as an Expert of Learning and Teaching Courses taught in Finnish Courses taught in English INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION... 6

2 2 9 INFORMATION ON THE SCHOOL OF VOCATIONAL TEACHER EDUCATION The School of Vocational Teacher Education in Oulu is responsible for the pedagogical education of vocational teachers for institutes and polytechnics as well as for other respective school forms. Multiform studies and courses offered even in summer time are designed to meet the needs of adult students. They may choose full time studies on the fast track or flexible part-time studies along with their work. The School of Vocational Teacher Education in Oulu is the northernmost of Finland s five vocational teacher education institutes. It has expanded rapidly and has an enrolment of 200 students in Including inservice teacher education the number of current students is about 500. The school is profiled to meet the needs of northern Finland. The school premises are situated in the city centre. The address is: The director is: The School of Vocational Teacher Education Uusikatu Oulu Finland Tel , Fax (office), (teachers) amok.oamk.fi Pirkko Remes, Head of School Tel , Fax: pirkko.remes@oamk.fi The international relations coordinator as well as the ECTS coordinator of the school is: Säde-Pirkko Nissilä, Principal Lecturer Tel , Fax: sade-pirkko.nissila@oamk.fi 9.1 GENERAL DESCRIPTION The extent of pedagogical studies is 35 Finnish credits (= 42,5 ECTS cr.) the school grants a teacher s diploma for working in vocational schools, polytechnics, adult education centres, liberal adult education units and upper secondary schools as well as in comprehensive schools. A general entrance requirement is a higher academic degree or the highest vocational degree in the subject and a three-year work experience in the respective field. The application period is January, and the entrance examination is usually held in March. Studying in The School of Vocational Teacher Education is flexible and multiform. The teacher students choose the contents of their curriculum from an open "tray", i.e. they design their personal curricula themselves. One group is taught in Rovaniemi as a solution to the long distances in the north. The duration of the studies varies from the fast track of about 9 months to 3 years.

3 3 The school has been praised for its multidisciplinary studies. Engineers, pianists, theologians and economists all study the basic teaching skills together. It offers a good starting point for teachers interaction with each other even in the future. The strengths of the school are future awareness, versatile communication skills as well as understanding group dynamics and different learners. Current themes range from on-the-job learning, and skills evaluation to ICT in teaching and learning. In addition to the basic teacher education program, the school is responsible for the pedagogical education of music and dance teacher students in both Oulu Polytechnic and Central Ostrobothnian Polytechnic. The school also offers in-service education for teachers, and training for competence-based examinations for supervisors. 9.2 SPECIAL FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT The school premises include classrooms and a computer class for the students, workrooms for the headmaster and the teachers and the office rooms. Since the school is situated in a vocational secondary school unit, there are various kinds of other facilities to let, for instance an auditorium for 100 persons as well as a chance to have accommodation services for students. The unit includes three restaurants and two cafes Structure and Organisation of the School of Vocational Teacher Education The School of Vocational Teacher Education is part of Oulu Polytechnic. All polytechnic units have one leading headmaster. Each unit has its own director. The staff of the School of Vocational Teacher Education consists of the director, 9 principal lecturers and a three-person staff in the office. Other services, e.g. janitor s, cleaning and accommodation services are bought from the vocational secondary school unit The Conception of a Teacher s Work as the Starting Point of Studies The aim of the vocational teacher education is to offer the student teachers 1) basic knowledge and skills in general educational science or in adult educational science, 2) knowledge and skills in vocational pedagogy and disciplinary didactics, 3) teaching practice and 4) optional studies. The purpose of the education is to increase the ability of the student teachers to guide and organise the learning and teaching of different students and groups as well as to develop, in co-operation with working life representatives, the future teachers substance area skills. The purpose is also to remind the student teachers to keep their own vocational mastery up-to-date to make it serve teaching. Since teachers are also developers of society, they must endeavour to understand their actions in a broader social frame of reference. In addition to pedagogics and didactics, fields of knowledge such as sociology social psychology and history will gain in significance in teachers work. A key role in the process of education is played by teachers who are active in daily practices. Teachers should possess the ability to analyse their own ideas of a teacher s work and the capacity to be aware of the grounds for the decisions they make. Reflective skills constitute a part of a teacher s professional growth, which will start during the teacher education. It is based on good theoretical competence, but also requires putting one s own persona at stake and the ability to question one s own ideas and solutions as well as to evaluate them.

4 Study and Teaching Methods and Assessment One credit unit (1½ ECTS) is typically composed of two days of contact hours (16 h) and an assignment. Besides lectures and seminars, group discussions and dialogue are stressed in contact teaching. The practical training takes place towards the end of education mainly in the schools in Oulu area. The assignments vary according to the subject and range from essays, reports and learning journals to posters, Web discussions and ICT learning in general. The students compile their portfolios of acquired skills. They also design, carry out and report a thesis in the framework of educational research work. The assessment of the compulsory courses and thesis is numeric in the following scale: 1 = sufficient 2 = satisfactory 3 = good 4 = very good 5 = excellent The optional courses are assessed pass/ fail with a written feedback. The teaching practice is assessed with a written description of the student teacher s various skills and abilities. 9.3 STUDY PROGRAMMES The study programmes are compiled and based on a dynamic view of vocational education, i.e. it tries to take challenges and meet the topical needs. Its aim is to promote the development of a beginning teacher towards pedagogical expertise. The core areas of the vocational teacher s expertise are defined in five modules. They are 1) Pedagogical expertise: A Vocational Teacher as an Educator; 2) Organisational Expertise: A Vocational Teacher as a Member of School Organisations; 3) Working life expertise: A Vocational Teacher as a Developer of Networking and On-the-job Learning; 4) Thesis and research: A Vocational Teachers as a Researcher and Developer of His Own Work and Organisation: and 5) Praxis: A Vocational Teacher as an Expert of Learning and Teaching The courses with the codes OPP are compulsory and those marked with OPV are optional. The minimum of optional courses to be chosen is 6 credits. The scope of each course below is 1-2 credits except the thesis and practice which are more comprehensive Pedagogical Expertise: A Vocational Teacher as an Educator Pedagogical expertise includes the following courses: OPP 010 OPP 100 OPP 101 OPP 660 OPP 670 OPP 620 OPP 620 OPP 680 OPP 690 OPP 650 Orientation to Studies Educational Science, basic studies Adult Education, basic studies Learning Conceptions, Styles and Strategies I Learning Conceptions, Styles and Strategies II Planning Learning and Teaching I Planning Learning and Teaching II Teaching Methods I Teaching Methods II Assessment and Evaluation of Learning I

5 5 OPP 640 OPV 250 OPV 641 OPV 240 OPV 220 OPV 511 OPV 621 OPV 930 OPV 560 OPV 600 Assessment and Evaluation of Learning II Reading as a Basic Skill Virtual Learning Spaces and Open Learning Environments Pedagogical Use of WWW Designing material for teaching and learning Learning at work Project Learning Hidden Curriculum Interactive Rehabilitation in Education Optional didactics Organisational Expertise: A Vocational Teacher as a Member of School Organisations The module of Organisational expertise is made up of the following 1-2-credit courses: OPV 685 OPV 661 OPV 640 OPV 320 OPV 688 OPV 210 OPV 310 OPV 270 OPV 540 OPV 570 Teacher's Professional Ethics Team Learning and Teaching Young Drug Addicts in Vocational Education Human Dynamics Emotions in a Teacher s Work Teacher in a Speaking Profession Management and Leadership at School Teacher as a Negotiator School Administration Student Counselling for Mental and Physical Welfare and Meeting Crises Working Life Expertise: A Vocational Teacher as a Developer of Networking and On-the-job Learning Working life contacts, vocational substance area skills and the awareness of the expectations of the enterprises are studied in the module of Working Life Expertise. Each of the following courses give 1 or 2 credits OPP 500 OPV 520 OPV 550 OPV 440 OPV 410 OPV 460 OPV 642 OPV 420 Developing Organisation and Learning Education for Skills Competitions Planning and Implementation of Further Education Entrepreneurship in Education Intercultural and Multicultural Aspects in Communication and Learning Environmental Knowledge of a Teacher Marginalisation of Young People Teacher s Professional Prospect in Changing Society

6 Thesis and Research: A Vocational Teacher as a Researcher and Developer of His Own Work and Organisation The course of research methods and the thesis are compulsory. Together they are 5 credits. There are also optional courses in this module. OPP 800 OPP 810 OPV 681 OPV 260 Research Methods Thesis How to Examine Learning Information Skills for Teachers Praxis: A Vocational Teacher as an Expert of Learning and Teaching The so called teaching practise is divided into two parts. Together they score 7 credits. OPP 710 OPP 720 Teaching Practice I: Learning Environments: Teacher as a Professional in Various Learning Contexts Teaching Practice II: Learner Observations and Developing in Professionalism Courses taught in Finnish The courses above are all taught in Finnish Courses taught in English There are no courses taught in English regularly. English courses can be arranged for special reasons. 9.4 INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION The school of Vocational Teacher Education follows international educational research and the development in vocational field by participating in and contributing to international congresses and making excursions to vocational schools and teacher education institutes in different countries. Co-operation in teacher and student exchange is established with Austria, England and the Czech republic. A contract of co-operation has also been signed with the university in Luleå. The international co-operation and exchange activities are increasing at the moment.