Source: Teaching Education, Volume 28, Issue 2, 2017
The participants were seven final year cohorts of 384 Finnish pre-service primary teachers.
The participants were given an exit survey, which measured their estimated attainment of knowledge and experience in the 10 domains of professional activity considered critical for new teachers in the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC) standards.
The results indicated that the profile of the graduates was uneven, showing low levels of satisfaction in the fields of special education and cooperation but high levels of satisfaction in the fields of reflective practice and planning. The satisfaction with the estimated knowledge and experience achieved was divided into three components of pedagogic, instructional and complex skills satisfaction.
The central role of teaching practice was considered to be reflected in the results. The areas of low satisfaction were those in which the amount of teaching practice in the teacher education curriculum was considered insufficient to generate enough experience. This was especially so in the field of special education and in meeting the diverse needs of students.