Primary school professional experience (6op)

Osaamistavoitteet

At the end of the course, a student should:
o Understand the foundation of primary school education in Finland
o Be able to compare the differences and similarities between Finland and home country systems
o Be able to plan and conduct teaching activities in a Finnish primary school according to a local curriculum
o Enhance his/her readiness and tools to work with learners with diverse cultural and language background by reflecting on primary school experience in a Finnish primary school.

Sisältö

Students will be working at a primary school, and will become familiar with Finnish primary-level education by observing, participating and reflecting on everyday life in a Finnish school.
• The foundation of Finnish primary school education
• The curriculum and its influence on everyday life
• Teacher’s roles and pedagogy in the school
- Principles of constructing the learning environment
- Co-operation with parents
- Children’s daily activities

Esitietovaatimukset

The course is aimed at student teachers.

Arviointikriteerit, tyydyttävä (1)

0 Fail
- no attending in practicing
- the report content is very poorly organized; it’s too difficult to follow the content. the content presentation is one-sided: it either contains a very personal “diary” or lists only course content items but not both;
- the report lists only the “learning events” (what happened during classes); there is no reflection or analysis included
- the report describes in detail what happened, quoting text from slides and handouts but there is no evidence of how that content influenced student’s learning
- the self-evaluation aspects are mostly missing or are inadequate. The student lists a few strengths and areas to improve but there are no links to
theory. The student’s evaluation skills do not meet the minimum criteria for self-evaluation.
1-2
- attending in practicing
- the report is to the point but not well organized
- the report includes successful learning and difficulties (if any) the student encountered during the course but they are described in a personal or “diary” style rather than in an objective and constructive way
- the report includes both entries about what happened ( a short list, or a brief description) and description of student’s reaction and what they learned during the process; however, the entries are short or imbalanced (e.g. more description of what happened than reflection); those reflections
include sporadic references to previous learning experiences and learning expectations, or none at all; the learning process of the student is not easy to follow
- the report includes a description rather than evaluation of teaching methods with regard to student’s learning; no alternative solutions are proposed
- the learning process is not well analysed; immediate benefits of the course are mentioned sporadically but there is no reference as to how the learning experience can be used in the future by the student as an individual or an expert in the field
- the student is able to reflect on own teaching and evaluate the teaching experience sufficiently. Both strengths and areas to improve are considered but sometimes superficially. Some aspects of selfevaluation may be inadequate or missing. There are very few or no links to theory. The student demonstrates a satisfactory level of self-evaluation skills. It is not quite clear if the student can use the learning experience in future teaching.

Arviointikriteerit, hyvä (3)

3-4
- attending in practicing
- the learning report is well organized and to the point
- the report contains both successful learning and difficulties (if any) the student encountered during the course; those are presented in a constructive way
- the report includes both entries about what happened ( a short list, or a brief description) and description of student’s reaction and what they learned during the process; those reflections include references to previous learning experiences and learning expectations but not learning theories; the learning process of the student is not described quite clearly
- the report includes a description rather than evaluation of teaching methods with regard to student’s learning: what helped and hindered learning; only a few alternative solutions are proposed
- the learning process is well analysed; the report includes immediate benefits of the course but does not indicate how the learning experience can be used in the future by the student as an individual or an expert in the field
- The student is able to reflect on own teaching and evaluate the teaching experience thoroughly. Both strengths and areas to improve are considered. The report includes accurate analysis of the teaching experience with frequent links to theory. The student demonstrates a good level of self-evaluation skills. It is evident that the student can use the learning experience in future teaching.

Arviointikriteerit, kiitettävä (5)

5
- attending in practicing
- the report is very well organized and to the point
- the report contains both successful learning and difficulties (if any) the student encountered during the course; those are presented in a constructive way
- the report includes both entries about what happened ( a short list, or a brief description) and description of student’s reaction and what they learned during the process; those reflections include references to learning theories, previous learning experiences and learning expectations; the
learning process of the student is described explicitly
- the report includes evaluation of teaching methods with regard to student’s learning: what helped and hindered learning; alternative solutions are proposed
- the learning process is very well analysed; the report includes immediate benefits of the course and what can be used later with regard to students as individuals and professionals in their fields of study
- The student is able to reflect on own teaching and evaluate the teaching experience in an excellent way. Both strengths and areas to improve are considered. The report includes in-depth analysis of the teaching experience with links to theory. The analysis follows, or extends, guidelines. The
student demonstrates a high level of self-evaluation skills. It is evident that the student can use the learning experience in future teaching.

Arviointikriteeri, hyväksytty/hylätty

Pass: see criteria 3-5
Fail: see criteria 0-2

Lisätiedot

The evaluation: Pass/Fail
However, if the home university of a student requires a grade, it can be granted on request.

Toteutustavat

Teaching profile: FACE-TO-FACE
Professional experience:
o Active participation in the planning and conducting of activities with children
o Discussions with the ECEC staff within the setting (e.g. local curriculum)
Individual work: Report:
- Short info about student's practice place and his/her class(room)/group
- The most important things a student has learned during the professional experience
- Any aspect of Finnish primary school that a student finds most interesting or most different from the systems in his/her home country (e.g. the most positive features; elements of the Finnish system that student would like to change; questions that students would like to ask)
- Student's thoughts about the Finnish curriculum and how she/he implemented it during his/her professional experience and lessons
- Student can attach his/her teaching plans, pictures etc.in the report

Suoritustavat

Professional experience: Primary school placement for 4 weeks
o 1. week: observation and planning (at least 15h/week)
o 2.-4. week: teaching or conducting activities 10h/week
o Total 120 h work: 45 h observation and practice and 75 h planning and assessment
Individual work: Report
o After the practice a student will write a reflective report based on his/her experiences and literature.
o Total 40 h work (length of essay 20 pages).