Embracing the societal task of a teacher in teacher education
In today’s complex world, teacher educators face an important question: how to prepare pre-service teachers for their work in a way that is sustainable both for teachers themselves and for society. How can we support teachers not only to remain in teaching, but to teach in a societally impactful way?
Teaching as a societal profession
At its core, teaching is a societal act, whether recognized as such or not. Teachers do not only impart measurable skills and qualifications; daily interactions prepare students for society and shape their understanding of what is normal and valuable beyond school. Importantly, teachers model how to interact with the social reality the school and society are offering.
This way, education either reinforces existing social structures or makes space for critical engagement. To do both, teachers must be aware of societal norms and hierarchies, as well as their own preconceptions regarding the social world – something we all have, shaped by our own history and socialization process.1
Core competencies for a changing classroom
In Finland, the debate of how much pre-service teachers should study sociology or philosophy of education compared to psychology of education or didactics is relatively permanent, the latter traditionally dominating. Studies on Finnish teachers suggest they more often avoid a critical role and uphold an ideal of neutrality in the classroom2, perhaps reflecting the emphasis in their pre-service education.
But neutrality, when conflated with silence, can leave teachers without tools to address or reflect on societal phenomena that will inevitably affect their classroom. This is also observed in practice: empirical studies show that some teachers struggle, for example, with how to support diverse student populations or handle teaching human rights topics.3
Traditionally, teaching has been a highly respected and sought-after profession in Finland. However, recent years have seen a growing number of turnover intentions and, in some teacher groups, recruitment challenges, indicating that it is sometimes difficult to find and hire qualified teachers in some, often less well-off neighborhoods.4
Fostering purpose in education
At the same time, many young people in Finland are drawn to teaching for its potential to pursue meaningful work that has social and societal impact. Recent reforms in admissions to teacher education have also begun to acknowledge the importance of societal competence. Still, it may be that teacher study programs offer limited tools to develop these skills further.5
To reframe the question posed at the beginning: how can Finnish teacher education equip future teachers to understand teaching as inherently tied to society and engage meaningfully with societal issues? Perhaps the answer lies in teacher educators’ own engagement with societal questions – it is unrealistic to expect pre-service teachers to know how to do this without example or practice.
Engaging with societal questions is not an add-on – it is central to impactful teaching. It helps teachers make sense of their students’ realities and meet the demands of today’s classrooms with confidence. For many, it also gives the work its lasting sense of purpose.
Literature
1 Juvonen, S. 2024. School in society: Teachers enacting the purposes of education. Dissertationes Universitatis Helsingiensis 140/2024.
2 Fornaciari, A. 2020. Luokanopettajan yhteiskuntasuuntautuneisuus ja sen kriittinen potentiaali. JYU Dissertations 285. Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä.
3 Helakorpi, J., Holm, G. & Liu, X. 2023. Education of Pupils with Migrant backgrounds: A Systemic Failure in the Finnish System? In Thrupp, M., Seppänen, P., Kauko, J. & Kosunen, S. (eds.) Finland’s Famous Education System: Unvarnished Insights into Finnish Schooling. Springer, 319–334.
Hummelstedt, I. 2022. Acknowledging diversity but reproducing the Other. A critical analysis of Finnish multicultural education. Helsinki Studies in Education 138.
Kasa, T. 2025. Unveiling Injustices. Revisiting Human Rights Education’s Legal, Political and Moral Ideals in a Nonideal World. Dissertationes Universitatis Helsingiensis 5/2025.
4 Kosunen, S., Saari, J., Huilla, H. & Hienonen, N. 2024. Uupuvat opettajat. Rekrytointivaikeudet ja opettajasegregaatio Suomessa. Yhteiskuntapolitiikka 89 (3), 255–267.
5 Metsäpelto, R., Heikkilä, M., Hangelin, S., Mikkilä-Erdmann, M., Poikkeus, A.-M. & Warinowski, A. 2021. Osaamistavoitteet luokanopettajakoulutuksen opetussuunnitelmissa: Näkökulmana Moniulotteinen opettajan osaamisen prosessimalli. Kasvatus 52 (2), 164–179.
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Sara Juvonen, PhD
The author is a post-doctoral researcher in sociology of education and currently works at the University of Eastern Finland. Her PhD research concerned teachers’ role in enacting schools’ societal tasks. She is continuing her work on the societal questions of teaching and teacher education.