Kohti päämäärätietoista yhteiskunnallista opettajuutta? Opettajaopiskelijoiden tulevalle työlleen asettamat päämäärät

Abstract

This study builds on the notion of a purposeful teacher as an aim of teacher education. A purposeful teacher experiences teaching as personally meaningful and has a long-term commitment to contributing to students ́ learning and the society. We investigated student teachers’ (N=500) work-related purposes and orientations. The qualitative survey data was analyzed with inductive content analysis. The majority of the student teachers expressed instrumental work-related purposes. Teaching brings meaning to their lives and offers financial security. For many, the purposes were pedagogical, highlighting interest in education and caring. Less than one third of the respondents mentioned societal purposes. These mostly related to promoting equity and justice; aims related to the promotion of ecological sustainability were rarely expressed. No differences between the work-related purposes of the students from different study programs were found. We discuss the need to pay attention to the teacher education praxis and student admissions in order to support the development of purposeful societally oriented teachers.