Five decades of persistent decontextualisation of academic teacher education in Finland

• Published in: International journal of educational research 2022, Vol.116, p.102053, Article 102053
• Main Authors: Puustinen, Mikko, Säntti, Janne, Simola, Hannu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Decontextualisation; Foundations of education; Teacher education; Theory and practice
• ISSN: 0883-0355; 1873-538X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijer.2022.102053

•The socio-historical teaching-learning context has narrowed in Finnish teacher education in recent decades.•The ties between educational theory and teaching practice periods have loosened.•This decontextualisation may cause pitfalls akin to reducing teacher education to technical training.•Decontextualisation could also form a fruitful framework for investigating other educational contexts or professions. Aiming at constructive criticism, this article analyses the historical development of Finnish teacher education from the perspective of decontextualisation. The article suggests that essential contexts for teacher education are daily schooling, the historically constructed structures of school, and finally the whole society. The results indicate that as an unintended consequence of the academisation of Finnish teacher education, the socio-historical context of teaching and learning has narrowed, and ties between educational theory and practical schooling have loosened. This may hinder the good intentions underpinning the Finnish teacher education system and produce a discourse that unreflectively silences the complexity of education.