ABSTRACT
Teacher training in Finland has a long tradition of integrating educational theory and teaching practice. At the University of Eastern Finland, each teaching practice period contains a theoretical component which is linked to and taught at the same time as the teaching practice and students discuss the work required of them with both the Education Department lecturers and the Teacher Training School teacher-lecturers. This chapter focuses on the role of the Teacher Training School in this process. It describes the structure and content of teaching practice, which has a strong emphasis on developing the students’ awareness of their professional development. It looks at the recent introduction of students’ individual teaching portfolios as a means towards this end and considers the growing need for improvements in induction and in-service training when the student takes up professional employment.
