The GOETE Consortium Meeting was held in Turku, Finland, from June 29th to July 02nd 2010. Prof. Dr. Risto Rinne, head of the Finnish team, welcomed as many as 40 representatives from all partner teams who attended the meeting to discuss research related issues such as comparative analysis and dissemination strategies of the GOETE project. Turku was a particularly convenient place to meet, since the city hosts the European Capital of Culture 2011.

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By Risto Rinne & Jenni Tikkanen

1. Introduction

Finnish education and science policy stresses quality, efficiency, equity and internationalism, and it is geared to promote the competitiveness of Finnish welfare society (Ministry of Education and Culture, 2011a). Finnish education policy, educational legislation and the entire education system have changed significantly during the last two decades as part of a general restructuring of public administration due to economic, regional and demographic constraints. The former tradition of a system of regulation that was founded on detailed legislation and the principle of equality has been replaced with new governance, which is based more on individual choice, efficiency and evaluation. The emphasis is now on the development of a high standard of education as a necessity in the light of global competition. A cornerstone of this development was the reconstruction of educational legislation in 1998 (Varjo, 2007, III-IV; Helle & Klemelä, 2010; Poropudas & Volanen, 2003, 42). The current trends are based on neoliberalism, an internationally prevailing ideological paradigm that extends market logic also into education policy (Helle & Klemelä, 2010), and education is seen as a prerequisite for sustainable economic development.

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Teacher Training in the Netherlands By Manuela du Bois-Reymond

Initial teacher training courses in the Netherlands are part of higher professional education or university. Higher professional education caters for full-time, part-time and dual (i.e. work-study) teacher training courses which lead to qualifications as primary school teacher, secondary school teacher grade two (for lower secondary education and first three years of senior secondary and pre-university education), teacher for vocational education, and as a special education teacher (postgraduate course). Universities provide full-time, part-time and dual training courses leading to qualifications as a secondary school teacher grade one (upper secondary education). University students can also follow special courses in pedagogy to qualify for teaching in lower educational levels. Another way of entering the teaching profession is through lateral entry. This allows people with higher education qualifications to enter the teaching profession through an alternative admission procedure. They then receive training and supervision aimed at equipping them with the necessary skills within two years.

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Teacher Training Reform By Colin Cramer and Marcelo Parreira do Amaral

Teacher education traditionally falls under the responsibility of national or regional educational governance and legislation. There are no centralized political requirements, guidelines, or competences on a law giving sense at the European or global level. Nonetheless, currently one may observe international trends in reforming teacher education globally and within Europe across the different national teacher education systems. A starting point to understanding this may be seen in the fact that all European countries have provisions of compulsory schooling. It implies the necessity of educational policy and research to be engaged in reflecting, evaluating and reforming teacher education, thus providing the basis for a successful education system. The increasing competition among nations in providing their labour markets with highly educated and qualified professionals leads to an increased political attention to reforming teacher education. In general, a close link between school quality and teacher training is assumed. However, there are many controversies over whether and if then how teacher training has a direct impact on the quality of instruction and on student outcomes.

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