Becoming A Teacher: Students’ Experiences of Developing Teacherhood in The Teacher’s Pedagogical Studies Program

Abstract Book of the 10th International Academic Conference on Education

Year: 2026

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Becoming A Teacher: Students’ Experiences of Developing Teacherhood in The Teacher’s Pedagogical Studies Program

Sanna Hyvärinen, Sirpa Purtilo-Nieminen, Krista Rautio

ABSTRACT:

We present ongoing research related to Teacher’s Pedagogical Studies (60 ECTS) at the University of Lapland. The research is part of a larger research entity aiming to develop and study this teacher training program. The study presented here focuses firstly on teacherhood development and factors influencing it. Secondly, we examine how to develop Teacher’s Pedagogical Studies program to better meet future needs.
In our research, we examine teacherhood from the perspectives of continuous and transformative learning (Mezirow, 1991, 1995). By applying transformative learning, we also focus on the epistemological nature of learning in addition to accumulating knowledge and updating skills (Clavert & Nevgi, 2011; Sterling, 2011). The research also utilizes Multidimensional adapted process model of teaching (MAP) to examine the development of teaching (Metsäpelto et al., 2022).
Research data will be collected from August 2025 to December 2026 from students completing Teacher’s Pedagogical Studies at the university of Lapland. Our research contributes to the debate on teacher education in this relatively unexplored field. This study provides valuable information for the development of teacher students´ and the Teacher’s Pedagogical Studies program at the university in question. Adopting a transformative learning perspective offers intriguing new insights into understanding in-depth learning in the field of adult education.

Keywords: Teacher’s Pedagogical Studies; Teacher Development; Continuous Learning; Transformative Learning