21st Century Skills and Finnish Student Teachers' Perceptions of a Successful Religious Education Teacher: A Pilot Study

• In Event: Teachers, Religion, Faith Formation: Private and Public Schools

Abstract

This presentation describes a pilot on the religious education (RE) student teachers’ perceptions of what constitutes a successful teacher in the next 20-30 years. The study focuses on RE student teachers in teacher education in Finland. The theoretical framework is based on the 21st century skills. The data constitutes of questionnaires (N=43) and interviews (N=8). The analysis of the interviews was deductive content analysis with quantification of the results. In general, the RE student teachers’ expectations of professional development were connected to their perceptions of the RE teacher task requirements. They perceived interaction skills, learning to learn and critical thinking skills essential part of RE teacher competence. The participants highlighted literacy skills as the core skills of an RE teacher.

Authors

• Kaisa Viinikka, University of Eastern Finland

• Martin Ubani, University of Eastern Finland

• Tuuli Lipiäinen, University of Helsinki

• Arto Juha Viljami Kallioniemi, University of Helsinki