TNTEE Publications - Didaktik/Fachdidaktik

Writing from a Finnish perspective in which TE is included within the university system at every
level, S-E Hansen and C-G Wenestam identify two central dimensions of teacher education in
chapter 9. The first one is defined by the applied work that is carried out by teachers in their day to
day practice. The second aspect is the knowledge formation that gives the understanding of the
nature of teachers’ work. They propose that it is the latter dimension that should be founded on
scientific principles but that in general internationally teacher education does not offer the scientific
training that is seen as fundamental to a profession. The dualistic nature of teacher education is seen
to raise problems and difficulties with regard to what should be included. They argue for two
principles that should govern teacher education. Firstly is the proposal that teacher education is an
academic scientific discipline, in the same sense as for the medical profession. The implications of
this approach are that the foundations for the education of student teachers must be scientifically
based on scientific knowledge. It also implies that teacher education is a scientifically defined area
where knowledge can be accumulated. They argue that this contradicts to some extent the
apprenticeship model of teacher education. According to this perspective, the question of what
knowledge is needed in teacher education and how knowledge can be accumulated is of central
interest. The second key principle to govern teacher education is the importance of educational
research and the close relationship between research and teaching in Finnish departments of teacher
education. They draw on Kansanen’s ideas in proposing that the kind of reflective thinking that
teacher education is trying to promote starts from a research-based approach, which is aimed at
permeating the whole of teacher education. The research-training element is intended to enable the
student to acquire an understanding and way of reasoning about education in terms of its scientific
qualities. They propose that this should result in students being able to discuss and argue by referring
to scientific knowledge about educational practices rather than relying on “everyday thinking and
magical or mystical arguments”.
Section 2
Specific Subject Didactics
In chapter 10 Birgit Pepin discusses epistemologies, beliefs and conceptions of mathematics and its
teaching and learning. In particular she addresses the theory and specifically how teachers’ beliefs
and conceptions are manifested in their practices by drawing on a recent research study in England,
France and Germany. The chapter begins with an exploration of the issues raised in the literature
concerning epistemologies, beliefs and conceptions of mathematics and its teaching and learning.
Secondly, it analyses the ways in which mathematics teachers’ classroom practices in England,
France and Germany reflect teachers’ beliefs and conception of mathematics and its teaching and
learning. The findings of the research study suggest that teachers’ beliefs and conceptions are
manifested in their practices and can be traced back to philosophical traditions of the three countries,
to epistemological and educational trends of mathematics and mathematics education, and to personal
constructions. It is suggested that teachers’ pedagogical styles are a personal response to a set of
assumptions about the subject and its teaching and learning, to a set of educational and philosophical
traditions, and to a set of institutional and societal constraints. Thus, it is argued that teachers’
pedagogies need to be analysed and understood in terms of a larger cultural context and in relation
to teachers’ conceptions and beliefs, and that a lack of such understanding is likely to inhibit the
process of change at all levels of the system.
Mathematics education is also the focus of chapter 11 by Brian Hudson, Hans-Jorgen Braathe,
Sigmund Ongstad and Birgit Pepin. This chapter outlines the rationale for the development of the
module on Mathematik Didaktik as a part of an electronic web-based “text book”. The overall
approach to the development of the module is based on a model of teaching-learning as an “integrative
transformative science” with reference to the contribution by Friedrich Buchberger and Irina
TNTEE Publications Volume 2, Nr 1, October 1999 7