DEPARTMENT OF APPLIED SCIENCES OF EDUCATION

University of Helsinki

MH 10/2005

Teacher education and research for all educational levels

The Department was established in 1974 within the Faculty of Philosophy

The Department of Applied Sciences of Education is one of the five Departments of the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences and it is one of the largest departments of the University of Helsinki

The Department in numbers (2004) : • New degree students: 259 • Degree students: 1897 (undergraduate 1964, postgraduate 203) • Students completing pedagogical studies for teachers: 399

• Students completing studies for special teachers: 76 • Completed degrees: 242 • Staff 151 • Research centres 13

FACULTY OF BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES

Department of applied sciences

of education

Departmentof education

Department of home economics and craft science

Class teacher education section

Subject teachereducation

section

Special educationsection

Viikki teacher training school

comprehensive school-lower level-upper level

upper secondary school

Helsingin normaalilyseo-Teacher training school

comprehensive school-upper level

upper secondary school

Research centres

Kindergarten teacher and early childhood

education section

Department of psychology

Department of speech sciences

The research-based approach is the central guiding theme of teacher education in Helsinki

The research-based approach is integrated into every course and courses in research methods are introduced from the very beginning of the studies

Another central aim of the teacher education in Helsinki is to achieve a balanced development of the teacher's personality in which the teacher’s thinking is essential

Research-based teaching at the heart of teacher education

Degrees:

Bachelor of Education Master of Education Licentiate of Education Doctor of Education

The qualification requirement for teachers is Master's degree except for kindergarten teachers, who do a Bachelor's degree. All Master’sgraduates are eligible for postgraduate studies

Degree programmes:

degree programme in class teacher education (education/educational psychology)

degree programme in special education degree programme in kindergarten teacher education

(early childhood education) degree programme in education (early childhood education)

The sections of the Department

Class Teacher Education

Subject Teacher Education

Special Education

Kindergarten Teacher and Early Childhood Education

Class teacher education

Class teachers complete a Master of Education degree (5 years, 300 study points/ECTS)

The main subject is education or educational psychology

The class teachers must complete a multidisciplinary minor subject module that consists of subjects and cross-curricular issues taught in comprehensive school

Studies in a minor subject, comprising at least 60 study points, gives the class teacher the qualification to teach the subject also in the upper level of comprehensive school

Subject teacher education

Subject teachers for secondary and upper secondary schools take a master’s degree in their respective faculties or co-operating Arts Universities, with the subject of instruction as their major

The pedagogical studies (60 study points/ECTS) are taken at the Faculty of Behavioural Sciences. The pedagogical studies are specific for the subject matter domain

Subject teachers are qualified for teaching positions in all schools in their major subject

A subject teacher who has completed the multidisciplinary study module for class teachers is qualified to also teach as a class teacher

Special education

Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees can be completed with special education as a major subject

The Department has also a programme for special education teachers. Approximately 80 special teachers for comprehensive schools and kindergartens are educated annually at the Section

The central professional areas are early childhood education, basic education, secondary education, rehabilitation and other institutional care as well as different research and administrative tasks in school, health and social services

Kindergarten teacher education

The kindergarten teachers do a Bachelor’s degree in Education (3 years, 180 study points/ECTS), which gives them qualifications to work as kindergarten teachers in day care and preschool and in different tasks demanding expertise in early childhood education

The main subject is early childhood education

Kindergarten teachers who have obtained a Bachelor's degree may apply for studies leading to a Master's degree with early childhood education as the major subject. The emphasis in the Master of Education (early childhood education) degree is on planning, development, administration, leadership and research in early childhood and preschool education

Research Teachers and researchers as well as postgraduate and undergraduate

students take part in research, experimental activities, as well as developmental work conducted at the Department

Research-based teaching has been developed for a long time at the Department. In addition to the own Department’s teaching, the research has also focused on subject departments’ teaching as well as cross-faculty teaching

The main objective guiding the work is the aim for multidisciplinarity and interaction between different disciplines and subjects

The research centres of the Department co-operate closely with researchers from other departments of the University of Helsinki as well as other national and international universities and research centres

Research centres General Education and Educational Psychology Centre for Research on Teaching (CRT)

Research Centre for Educational Psychology (EP)

Humanities, Social Sciences and Arts Education Research Centre for Social Studies Education (SSE)

Research Centre for Religious Education, Ethics and Philosophy Education (REPE)Research Centre for Foreign Language Education (ReFLEct) Media Education Centre (ME) Research Centre for Language and Literature Learning (LLL) Research Centre for Education, Cultures and the Arts  (ECA)

Mathematics, Science and Geography Education Research Centre for Mathematics and Science Education (MSE) 

Research Centre for Biology and Geography Education (BGE)

Special Education Research Centre for Special Education (SE)

Centre for Educational Assessment (CEA)

Early Childhood and Elementary Education Research Centre for Early Childhood and Elementary Education (ECEE)  

International co-operation at the forefront

The international contacts of the Department are an important part of teaching and research. The Department is devoted to internationalisation and international networking and co-operation is a central part of the Department’s activities

The Department of Applied Sciences of Education is actively engaged in Nordic co-operation. At the moment the Department is co-ordinating one Nordplus Network and it is a partner in four other Nordplus networks

Through the Socrates-Erasmus programme of the European Union, the Department has established an extensive co-operation network. Currently, the Department has 37 Socrates-Erasmus agreements

The Department’s international contacts are, among others, also utilised in postgraduate education

Department of Applied Sciences of Education:www.helsinki.fi/sokla/english

Faculty of Behavioural Sciences: www.helsinki.fi/behav/english

University of Helsinki: www.helsinki.fi/university

Web sites