Teacher Education Policies in the European Union and the Quality of Lifelong Learning
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by Armi Mikkola |
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INSTITUTIONS ORGANISING TEACHER EDUCATION The national degree regulations define the objectives, extent and overall structure of degrees at universities. Within the framework of these regulations, the universities decide on the contents and structure of their degrees in more detail and devise their annual curricula and forms of instruction. The polytechnics are mainly governed by the Polytechnics Act (255/1995), which contains provisions on studies and degrees. The relevant Decree (256/1995) contains more detailed provisions. Teacher education at universities is regulated by a Decree Concerning Higher Education Degrees and Teacher Education (576/1995). Vocational teacher education is regulated by an Act (452/1996) and Decree (455/1996). The competencies of teachers are determined in a Decree on Teacher Qualifications (986/1998). Education for comprehensive school and general upper secondary school teachers is available in faculties and units of teacher education. Education in Finnish is provided by seven universities and in Swedish by one university. In 1995, kindergarten teacher education was also transferred to universities. In Finland university students do not have to pay for tuition or for taking a degree. Each teacher education unit has its teacher training schools. These are lower and upper stage of comprehensive schools, in some cases including pre-school, or general upper secondary schools. Since 1996, Finnish vocational teachers have been trained in vocational teacher education colleges operating in conjunction with AMK institutions (polytechnics). All teacher education in the Swedish language, including vocational teacher education, is provided by the Abo Akademi University. 2. ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS The teaching staff in general educational institutions consists of:
The student selection is the responsibility of the universities and their faculties or departments. Students are ranked on the basis of grades in the matriculation examination and in the school-leaving certificate, plus entrance examinations. Anyone applying for class teacher education must have taken the matriculation examination. The admission requirements for class teacher education are a written examination, an aptitude test and interviews. Some universities also include a short teaching demonstration or group session in their entrance examination. The admission requirements for kindergarten teacher education are mainly the same as for class teacher education. Those wishing to study for subject teachers apply for entry to universities according to their major subject (e.g. languages, mathematics). The entry requirement is the matriculation examination. The admitted students who wish to become teachers then apply for subject teacher education. The admission is based on an aptitude test and sometimes the applicant's study record. Admission to the education of special-needs teachers and student counsellors is based on the general university admission rules and requirements defined by the faculty of education. The teaching staff in vocational institutions consist of:
Persons who have the required education and work experience for teaching posts in AMK institutions (polytechnics) or vocational institutions can apply for vocational teacher education Depending on the institution and subject, the required education is a university degree, an AMK degree or a post-secondary level qualification and work experience. In teacher education, study attainments are usually assessed on the basis of written examinations (lectures and set books) on a scale of pass/fail or satisfactory-good-excellent. The scale in the assessment of teaching practice is pass/supplementary work required. 3. CURRICULUM, DURATION OF STUDIES AND SPECIALISATION 3.1. Pedagogical studies Teacher qualifications are the same for all kinds of educational institutions (comprehensive schools, general upper secondary schools, vocational institutions and adult education institutions). The minimum extent of pedagogical studies is 35 credits for all these teachers. The pedagogical studies include the intermediate level in educational science, subject didactics and teaching practice. Teaching practice takes place in practice schools attached to universities or in ordinary schools. Teaching practice includes observation, supervised teaching (both individually and together with other teacher trainees) and didactic group counselling. In pedagogical studies, it is possible to specialise in adult education. All teacher education includes pedagogical studies, which can be completed in either university teacher education units or at vocational teacher education colleges. Vocational teacher trainees practise in different vocational institutions. Vocational teacher education always comes after graduation. At universities, teacher education is usually incorporated into the initial Master's degree, but the pedagogical studies in teacher education can also be taken separately after graduation. 3.2. Class teachers Class teacher trainees study for the higher academic degree (Master's; 160 credits), majoring in education. The Master's degree takes five academic years or more. Class teacher education consists of advanced studies in education, studies in subsidiary subject and teaching practice. Students usually specialise in one or two subjects. If they have a minimum of 35 credits in a given subject, they are qualified to teach at the upper stage of comprehensive school. A graduate with a Master's degree in Education, or corresponding studies, is eligible for special-needs teacher education, which usually comprises 35-50 credits. 3.3. Kindergarten teachers The minimum requirement for kindergarten teachers is the lower academic degree, (Bachelor of Education), which consists of 120 credits. The normative duration of studies is three years. 3.4. Subject teachers Subject teachers have a higher academic degree of 160 or 180 credits, which takes 5 or 6 years. The students major in the subject(s) they intend to teach at the subject departments. The department of teacher education provides the pedagogical training. These studies are parallel. Subjects taught at school include religion, mother tongue, foreign languages, history, social studies, psychology, philosophy, ethics, biology, geography, mathematics, physics, computer science, chemistry, home economics, textile and technical work, physical education, music, and arts. University graduates with a Master's degree and qualified teachers can apply for separate student counsellor studies of 35 credits, which will qualify them as student counsellors. 3.5. Vocational institution teachers The pedagogical studies required from vocational teachers are 35 credits. The studies include basic and subject studies in education, teaching practice and other studies. Prospective teachers can study full-time for one year or flexibly in multiform education during 1 to 3 years. Vocational teacher education colleges also offer special-needs teacher education of 35 credits and student counsellor education of 35 credits. 4. IN-SERVICE TRAINING As a result of the comprehensive school reform and other major changes in the education system during the 1970s, the government started to provide in-service training for teachers. The extent of annual in-service training was defined in collective agreements and, ranging from 3-5 days. The responsibility for in-service training was transferred to the education providers when educational administration was decentralised. The education and training providers see to it that teachers participate in further professional training. There is no specific legislation governing teachers' in-service training. The duty to participate in in-service training is partly defined in various statutes, partly in collective agreements. Teachers usually participate in in-service training for three days a year with full salary benefits. On the other hand, employers have the right to assign all full-time teachers to training. The employer also decides which training programmes and forms of education are accepted as statutory in-service training. In-service training is divided into the following forms:
The teachers pay nothing this kind of in-service training. The programmes are open to all teachers working within in general and vocational education. There are no specific admission requirements. In-service training is organised by university faculties and departments, university continuing education centres, teacher education units, vocational teacher education colleges, summer universities and teachers' professional associations. Lately the focus has been on curricular design and reform, as well as the educational use of ICT. So far the majority of in-service training has been short-term courses and programmes designed to maintain professional skills. On the other hand, teachers are more and more interested in education which upgrades their qualifications in the labour market and leads to degrees or other certificates. The assessment of study attainments in in-service training varies greatly: in some programmes there is no assessment and others use the same grading as universities. The participants are often asked to evaluate the quality of education received. 5. TOPICAL ISSUES IN FINNISH TEACHER EDUCATION 5.1. Evaluation findings Finnish teacher education has been evaluated by Finnish and foreign experts over the nineties. The Ministry of Education launched an extensive evaluation of higher education institutions at the beginning of the decade. Teacher education was assessed in connection with the evaluations of the humanities and natural sciences, as well as in evaluation of education sciences. (OPM 1993:3; OPM 1993:9; OPM 1994:14; OPM 1994: 16) The action plan 1998-1999 of the Higher Education Evaluation Council included an evaluation of teacher education provided by universities. The education of vocational teachers is currently being evaluated (1999 - 2000). The evaluation of teacher education was extensive and consisted of several components: anticipation in educational establishments and in university teacher education; universities' self-evaluations; an analysis of university documents; and site visits by the international evaluation group. The evaluation was undertaken in all the eleven universities and art academies which provide teacher education; it comprised subject departments, faculties of education, teacher education institutes, practice schools, and student organisations. The evaluation findings led to both national and university-specific recommendations. (Jussila and Saari 1999, 12-13.) In the past decade, a great deal of evaluation data has been compiled in the field of teacher education. It has revealed that Finnish teacher education has succeeded in educating teachers who develop their work with an investigative approach. Their mastery of their subject areas is commendable and comprehensive. In Finland the teaching profession has traditionally been highly valued. There are a great number of applicants to class teacher education, which shows that this has not changed. On the other hand, subject teacher education, especially in mathematics, sciences and languages, has encountered some difficulties in recruitment. Although the findings of different evaluations are not directly comparable, they have pointed out certain problems in teacher education, which have proved difficult to solve. One is the status of teacher education in universities and the other the content of teacher education, especially pedagogical studies. The following examines these problems in the light of the evaluation carried out in 1998 and 1999 and the recommendations issued. The education of vocational teachers is not included since the evaluation has not been completed at the time of writing. 5.1.1. Status of teacher education Teacher education involves several partners: subject departments, teacher education units and practice schools. The evaluation revealed some problems in cooperation between these partners. The problems are of two kinds, and most evident in subject teacher education. The first set of problems relates to inadequate cooperation between the different parties involved. The second one is the status of teacher education in universities. The first one seems to be an eternal question, since it came up already in the early nineties evaluation, which pointed out lack of coordination between the teaching of subject departments and faculties of education. This was partly a question of organisation, but also resources and cooperation between practice schools and faculties were mentioned. Another issue was differences in the views of the faculties concerning the status of their own science and that of others. For example, subject faculties did not look favourably upon theses which focused on different aspects of teaching. According to the international peer group, the best solution would be to transfer the posts in subject didactics to the faculties of education and to intensify cooperation between subject departments and education faculties substantially. (OPM 1994:16, 16, 19.) It appears that the situation has not improved in all respects. The exchange of information is inadequate, the demands they make on students may be contradictory, the division of work is inappropriate, and doubts about the scientific value of each other's disciplines are aired publicly. Teaching which has common aims and contents may be arranged separately by different departments of the same faculty. Accountability, which stresses quantitative outcomes, is said to undermine cooperation and appropriate arrangements. (Jussila and Saari 1999, 26-28.) The other set of problems relates to the status of teacher education in universities. Teacher education is known to exist, but is not in evidence in the profile, policies and strategies of the university. This is very evident in university prospectuses and in action and economic plans. Many subject departments do not see themselves as teacher educators, although the majority of their students become teachers. Teaching jobs may be the major employer in the subject, but this is given no weight in teaching. The evaluation led to a number of recommendations, including:
5.1.2. Teacher education contents The clearest shortcoming revealed by the early nineties evaluation had been the lack of psychological knowledge concerning personal development and learning. At the time it was suggested that the psychological component in education sciences and teacher education should be enlarged (OPM 1994:16, 19). The more recent evaluation indicates that the situation has improved. The evaluation of pedagogical studies showed that the psychological component in teacher education highlights development, learning and teaching, while social psychology, sociology, philosophy and societal elements are still inadequate in teacher education. The evaluation pointed out that it is possible to graduate without studies in special-needs education. The problems encountered by teachers in the line of their work, such as disturbances, mental health problems, crime and drugs, remain secondary in teacher education. (Jussila and Saari 1999, 39.) Teacher education prepares for a profession largely concerned with human relations, interaction and cooperation. In addition to teaching cognitive knowledge and skills, teachers must be aware of the importance of social and ethical education. According to the evaluation, the following aspects should be developed:
Other important development areas revealed by the evaluation were interaction between education and society, educational administration and the development of school organisation (Jussila and Saari 1999, 40-41). This reflects the process of change in teaching and teachers' work environment. It is more and more difficult to regard a given age or educational level as a coherent group of its own. Educational establishments increasingly develop different orientations of their own. Their profiles and differences in pupils and students influence the direction in which the teacher's role and job develops. It is also important to be aware of the problems the constant procession from one project to another in school life. A great deal of teacher's work already takes place outside the classroom. Guidance given on the job, during practice and in networks constitutes an ever growing part of the teaching profession. Education has a strong societal orientation, creating future society and providing the know-how needed in it. Major structural and economic changes in society are reflected in the teacher's work. It is likely that more and more expectations will be directed at the school as an educator and bearer of social responsibility. This is why the teacher needs an ability to assess different phenomena in today's society, as well as competence in educating young people for social responsibility and influence. Decentralisation has increased teachers' and schools' responsibility for curricular planning. In this work the teacher must be able to look far into the future in order to anticipate the skills and knowledge children and young people will need. The evaluation also brought to light a problem in the educational use of ICT, which had been pointed out in the earlier evaluation as well. An evaluation of the educational use of ICT carried out in 1997-1998 showed that teacher education as a whole is no forerunner in this area, although some teacher education units have done groundbreaking work (Viteli et. al. 1998). The recent evaluation confirmed the findings of the earlier one in this respect. Subject teacher graduates, those in the humanities in particular, had not had adequate opportunities to familiarise themselves with the educational use of ICT. This is an urgent development task for teacher education. ICT enables new kind of learning environments to be created, but this does not mean that even the most modern environment alone would guarantee learning. The learner's independence, sense of responsibility and social skills do not evolve in a vacuum. Children and young people must not be abandoned to find their way in a learning environment without guidance. They have the right to a teacher and a mentor. The teacher is no less necessary in a modern learning environment, only the nature of teaching changes. The challenges relating to content pointed out in the evaluation entail comprehensive teacher education. Whereas the earlier evaluation had revealed a need for growing adult education, the more recent one took an even more comprehensive view of the matter. Attention was drawn to the fact that teachers are needed not only in primary and secondary education, but also in vocational institutes, adult education centres, folk high schools and in administration. Many other professions are becoming increasingly "pedagogical". An understanding of learning and teaching and knowledge and skills relating to educational planning, administration, finances and curricular design are needed in many professions. There is growing demand for people able to develop the work community and to train people. Schooling is becoming more and more international, which will mean that teachers will have their hands full in the future as well. In the opinion of the team evaluating teacher education in universities, teachers should be professionals who have at least two fields of speciality on top of their pedagogical knowledge. These could relate to an area of knowledge, subject, multidisciplinary entity (e.g. multiculturalism or communications) or education (e.g. student guidance or special- needs education). Their education should make it possible to specialise in the teaching of a given age group. The team also considered it a good solution to acquire a double competence, for instance for a class teacher to qualify as a subject teacher, or vice versa, or for a kindergarten teacher to study for class teacher competence. (Jussila and Saari 1999, 30.) The earlier evaluation (OPM 1994:19) had already called for more concise theoretical studies and teaching practice. The later evaluation also raised this issue, but emphasised more clearly the need to diversify teaching practice with a view to ensuring a wide selection of options for students, which is a precondition for broad competencies. The number of credits dedicated to teaching practice was considered small. (Jussila and Saari 1999, 46.) 5.1.3. Comparison of evaluation findings Evaluations of teacher education reflect prevailing values. They bring to light important development objects. This can be seen for instance in a comparison between the findings of the evaluations carried out in the nineties and opinions expressed in parliamentary debates on education. The same views were expressed concerning broad competencies, internationalisation and multiculturalism, the educational use of ICT, problems relating to exclusion, and interactive skills. These topics frequently come up in public discussion as well. A comparison between the findings of the evaluations mentioned above and those of a study on the effectiveness of teacher education (Niemi and Tirri 1997) also reveals many common features. In the study, teaching competencies were evaluated by both teacher educators and teachers who had graduated during the nineties. The teachers considered that they had obtained good or very good knowledge and skills in the planning of teaching, the evaluation of their own work and the evaluation of teaching methods. They thought they had a good basis for developing their own educational philosophy and differentiating teaching, for scrutinising their own work, for achieving lifelong professional growth and for independently exercising the teaching profession. These can be regarded as the teacher's basic skills, without which it is nearly impossible for them to cope with their work. This result in itself is no surprise, because the study guides of the faculties of education define these as important objectives. The outcome is also in keeping with recent trends in teacher education. The aim is to train investigative, critical teachers. According to teacher graduates, this has been achieved. (Niemi and Tirri 1997, 43-60.) On the other hand, the same persons regarded that their knowledge and skills for administrative tasks, student welfare, cooperation with parents, and work within the school community and in crisis situations were poor. For extracurricular tasks they had received "some" preparation. In their opinion their skills in using modern ICT were not adequate. (Niemi and Tirri 1997, 43-60.) The opinions of teacher educators differed from the young teachers' views in some respects. Both groups saw that the knowledge and skills best provided by teacher education relate to the planning and critical evaluation of teaching. Teacher education also had also provided good skills in the scrutiny of one's own work, the use of teaching methods, independent work as a teacher and a mastery of the subject matters. Teacher educators and teachers both also criticised the skills provided for administrative tasks, student welfare and crisis situations. In some points, there were interesting difference. New teachers felt that they had not been sufficiently trained in the use of ICT or for encountering multiculturalism, whereas the teacher educators did not list these among the poorest skills; their view was that teachers had not been adequately trained for working as a force of change in society, for cooperative learning and preparing pupils for everyday life. (Niemi and Tirri 1997, 43-60.) A comparison of these results with the findings of a study on the knowledge and skills provided by teacher education in the eighties reveals several interesting changes. A significant difference for the better has taken place in skills relating to curricular development, changes in the school community, the evaluation of one's own work, cooperation within the school community, extracurricular tasks, preparation for everyday life and the development of teaching philosophy. A small change for the worse could be seen in the use of teaching methods, student assessment, student welfare, differentiated teaching and the promotion of equality between genders. (Niemi and Tirri 1997, 58-60.) In teacher education, as well as in the school, a distinction can be made between the written, implemented and experienced curriculum. The fact that a programme is recorded in study guides is not enough to guarantee that it will be implemented in the way intended. Even if it is, students' own backgrounds and qualities mould each experience. For instance, students have felt that they get no guidance in encountering a pupil who is in trouble, although the curricula contained relevant elements. Teacher educators may deal with many elements relating to given skills, but students may still feel that their skills are inadequate. Teacher education cannot prepare for all the situations encountered in the teaching profession. Most problems come to light in day-to-day school life. This necessitates in-service training in support of the teacher's own efforts. In the development of teacher education, it is important to take into account that development into and as a teacher takes longer than the actual studies. This process in influenced not only by the student's own school experiences and life history, but also by many other individual factors, such as the culture prevailing in the school, in the teaching profession, in the educational administration and in teacher education, which all contain customs, norms, roles and routines of their own — some intentional, many unintentional. These cultures also generate a tension between standard procedures and those in need of changing. Teachers who have grown into investigative developers of their work understand the existence of this tension and are able to contribute to change. The evaluation carried out in 1998-99 has influenced teacher education in many universities. The most visible change is that universities have set up strategic and development groups comprising representatives of faculties, teacher education units and practice schools. Three universities have already drafted and adopted a strategy for teacher education. Another clear change is that the pedagogical studies required from teachers have been diversified to include a larger proportion of adult education and to offer a specialisation in adult education both in studies and in teaching practice. Similarly, the educational use of ICT has been developed. All the faculties of education have jointly launched a project for a virtual university in teacher education. 5.2. In-service training - part of teacher education? Many partners are concerned about teacher education. The most typical manifestation of this is that different interest groups wish to make sure that enough credits are dedicated to the content they consider important, asking "To what extent do all teacher candidates study XXX?" It may concern one single matter or given educational thinking. This is indicative of the confidence which different parties have in teacher education. They think that when something is included in teacher education, it is in order. At the same time, the situation also highlights the problem that teachers' in-service training does not work in a way which would arouse confidence in it. The assumption is that initial teacher education should provide all the knowledge and skills which teachers will need in the course of their careers. This would mean that pedagogical studies of 35 credits should last for 35 years. Nothing should be left to in-service training. The danger in this is that initial education becomes a patchwork. If all possible themes, in themselves very valuable, are built into initial education and different ideas of education, it certainly is not conducive to a holistic pedagogical view or holistic knowledge, let alone to teachers' capacity for contributing to the development of the educational institutions. The evaluation and subsequent development of teacher education highlighted the need to integrate initial teacher education, guidance at the initial stages of a teaching career and in-service training. The two evaluations revealed a lack of coordination in continuing professional education and inadequate entry guidance for young teachers. The international evaluation group emphasised the importance of creating a continuum out of initial and continuing education. In their final report they pointed out that teachers' educational needs should be seen as an entity consisting of initial, entry and continuing education. (OPM 1994:16, 21, 27.) The Parliamentary Committee for Education and Culture has drawn attention to growing differences in the continuing professional education provided for teachers. The devolution of decisions on the local level has meant that local authorities have more and more responsibility for teachers' in-service training. According to the committee, continuing professional education should not be left to chance or to the market forces. This would mean that it would be governed not by educational needs but by the resources available for it, decisions about substitutes, the arbitrary value of a given course and the teacher's own finances. (Parliamentary Committee for Education and Culture PeVM 4/1996 vp - K6/1995 vp.) How does the situation in teachers' continuing professional education look like now? Are there expectations directed at initial education which could be taken care of later during the teaching career? The situation in teachers' in-service has been studied in a project for anticipating teachers' initial and continuing education (OPEPRO), which is co-financed by the Ministry of Education and the European Social Fund. This project studied teachers' opportunities for continuing professional education, educational preferences and the provision of in-service training in 1996-1998 (Jakku-Sihvonen and Rusanen 1999; Hakala et. al. 1999). The provision of teachers' continuing professional education is extensive and varied. Short courses and larger programmes are on offer in different parts of Finland on a variety of current topics. The provision of training relating to the educational use of ICT is especially extensive. It is only in the northern parts of the country that there may be problems with access to training. Opportunities for in-service training differ between teacher groups. Nearly all teachers participate in the mandatory annual training, which is three days; only 3.5% of the teaching profession had no training between 1996 and 1998. The willingness and capacity of local authorities and other education providers to finance and support teachers' other in-service training vary. The average participation rates in the three-year period under review were 25 days for upper secondary school teachers, 50 days for adult education centre teachers and 80 days for polytechnic teachers. The same differences exist in the activity of rectors and headmasters. In vocational education and training, teachers of vocational subjects participate in in-service training twice as frequently as teachers of core subjects. Differences were also found between the language groups: in-service training rates were higher among Finnish-speaking teachers than among Swedish-speakers. (Jakku-Sihvonen and Rusanen 1999, 33-34, 102-103.) Thus, it is obvious that the attitudes of education providers to continuing professional education vary greatly. This is why training financed by the Government, mainly the National Board of Education, plays a very important role. It helps to level out differences between regions and teacher groups. Differences between teacher groups are also clear when participation is examined according to gender, the use of free time and costs. Women teachers are more active in in-service training than men. Teachers' voluntary in-service training was mainly financed by the employer (41%). Ten per cent of all teachers paid most of the costs of voluntary in-service training themselves. About two in three teachers contributed towards the costs themselves. There were also differences in the costs. In-service training in vocational education and training was more expensive than in general education. Teachers are also willing to use their own free time for training. Only 16.5% of all teachers had not done so. (Jakku-Sihvonen and Rusanen 1999, 34, 46, 50-53, 58, 103). ICT is clearly the most popular content in teachers' in-service training. Over half of teachers and principals in general and vocational education institutions had taken ICT courses. The core curriculum and institutional curricula were also popular topics. One third of teachers had participated in training relating to student assessment, and one third in training relating to the new school legislation. Almost the same number had participated in education for self-evaluation. These figures indicate that the majority of teachers did not get training relating to student assessment or self-evaluation, which is mandatory under the new legislation. Special-needs education, student welfare and student guidance are fairly infrequently the content of teachers' in-service training. This is surprising in view of the aspiration to integrate special-needs pupils into normal teaching groups and the growing freedom of choice in subjects. (Jakku-Sihvonen and Rusanen 1999, 102.) The educational needs expressed by teachers mostly relate to subject or field specific training, ICT and student assessment, as well as to cooperation within the school and curricula. A significant number of teachers expressed the wish for training which relates to cooperation within the institution. This may be taken to indicate that they have become aware of the need for cooperation because they have to jointly design the institutional curriculum. It may also be taken to arise from the obligation recorded in the new educational legislation that institutions undertake self-evaluation (Jakku-Sihvonen and Rusanen 1999, 104). Research findings and opinions about educational needs among teachers highlight some points where development is required. Teachers' opportunities to participate in further training are so different that it is justified to speak of inequality between teacher groups and municipalities. In education the teaching profession is seen as a fairly unified group, which overlooks the different stages of the teaching career. Education is mainly individual and designed to support individual professional development and does not favour a group approach or an institutional approach. In-service training is not given in a school environment but separately from the actual working conditions. There is a prevalence of short courses, which may lead to an event and method centred approach and disregard the long-term work required in institutional development, which is a process. It is obvious that the links between initial and in-service training are largely sporadic, and a the continuum between different career stages fails to materialise. Finding solutions to the various problems infesting continuing professional education and securing necessary financing requires cooperation between the higher education system, the educational administration, teachers and their employers. 5.3. Are there enough teachers? One topical challenge in Finnish teacher education is a growing shortage of teachers. The teacher needs in general and vocational education are currently being anticipated in the OPEPRO project co-financed by the Ministry of Education and the European Social Fund. The findings indicate two reasons for the teacher shortages. The first is that a growing number of teachers will retire in the near future, especially between 2003 and 2005. This natural wastage is accelerated by teachers' willingness to avail themselves of different early and partial retirement schemes. The problems relating to the age structure in the teaching profession are most difficult in the following groups: class teachers, language teachers, mathematics and science teachers, PE teachers and teachers in the technology and communications fields. This has various repercussions. Firstly it puts the educational administration and the higher education system in a tight spot. They must be able to find resources in order to ensure that a sufficient number of students graduate in these fields. The educational plans must be reconsidered to provide for rapid, yet appropriate and feasible, ways of expanding teacher education. There are recruitment problems in sight, since the subject teacher profession seems to be losing its attraction. Educational quotas are no longer filled in all fields. The age structure also has repercussion. A work community where the majority are about to retire is different in terms of both management and development from one where larger scale retirement will begin in ten or twenty years' time. This has a great impact on in-service training. Another factor influencing the need to expand teacher education is the number of unqualified teachers in several teacher groups, such as class teachers, special-needs teachers, student/study guidance officers, art teachers, and commerce and administration teachers. This problem will not be solved with growing target numbers of degrees or economic resources. What is needed is sufficient flexibility in educational provision to enable unqualified teachers already working in the field to become fully qualified. It also requires the cooperation of institutional leadership and employers. Studying alongside work will only succeed if the conditions and atmosphere in the teacher's work community are favourable. The growing teacher shortage also has a regional dimension. Large-scale migration has put different regions in a very different situation. Teacher shortages affect different parts of the country differently. In the south of Finland there are not enough qualified class teachers; special-needs teachers are in short supply all over Finland; and it is difficult to attract qualified language, science and art teachers to the north of Finland. In an effort to alleviate teacher shortages, the Ministry of Education launched a programme for expanding teacher education in 1998. The bulk of the increases will take place in 2001-2003. Intakes have been increased in all sectors of teacher education, but most in the intake to class and special-needs teacher education, and in language, mathematics and science teacher programmes. Although the teacher shortage is a serious challenge, it can also be seen as an opportunity. A solution to the problem of quantity requires that problems of content and methodology are addressed as well. There is a wealth of material as a result of the evaluations of teacher education and the forthcoming findings of the evaluation of vocational teacher education. Solving the teacher shortage also requires that implementation models, contents and financing of teachers' in-service training are developed. The best result will be achieved if initial and further teacher education are considered as a continuum. The important tasks facing teacher education in the 21st century – to find a solution to teacher shortages, to develop teacher education content, to renew in-service training and to integrate initial and further teacher education – constitute an entity in which all elements support one another. REFERENCES Eduskunnan sivistysvaliokunnan lausunto perustuslakivaliokunnalle hallituksen kertomuksesta toimenpiteistään vuonna 1994. (Parliamentary Committee for Education and Culture, opinion on the Government annual report 1994) PeVM 4/1996vp-K6/1995vp. Hakala, J., Kiviniemi, K. and Teinilä, S. 1999. Opetusalan täydennyskoulutustarjonta vuosina 1996-1998. Opettajien perus- ja täydennyskoulutuksen ennakointihankkeen (OPEPRO) selvitys 2 (Provision of in-service training for the teaching profession in 1996-98). National Board of Education. Jakku-Sihvonen, R. ja Rusanen, S. 1999. Opetushenkilöstön täydennyskoulutukseen osallistuminen vuosina 1996-1998. 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