**2.1. Shulman's model of teachers' professional knowledge**

To characterise teacher professionalism, a description of their knowledge base is the logical starting point. One well-known approach for describing this knowledge base is Shulman's work [12, 13], in which he made the distinction between different domains of knowledge for teaching, including content (subject matter) knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and curricular knowledge [14, 15]. The level and depth of teachers' knowledge in these domains are the basis of professionalism [16, 17].

*Content (subject matter) knowledge* in a certain domain includes both conceptual and procedural knowledge. Furthermore, a teacher needs to understand the nature of the knowledge, that is, the underlying epistemological and ontological issues. The second knowledge category is *pedagogical content knowledge (PCK),* which is a knowledge domain that distinguishes teachers from other subject specialists [13, 17]. PCK is the synthesis of all knowledge needed for teaching and learning a certain topic [14]. In Finnish education context, instead of PCK subject pedagogy or didactics is used as a term. The third main category of teacher knowledge is *general pedagogical knowledge* (GPK) [18]. Morine-Dershimer and Kent [19] argue GPK consists of the following areas: (1) classroom management and organisation, (2) instructional models and strategies and (3) classroom communication and discourse. Schulman's original model has been augmented, for example, Gess-Newsome and Lederman [15] introduced the topic of teachers' *contextual knowledge* and define it as knowledge of the context of teaching.

analysing observations and experiences. Moreover, this type of knowledge and competence is needed in planning, broadly conceived, including the preparation of the local curriculum, the implementation of teaching and learning activities and the assessment of teachers' teaching.

Educating Professional Teachers in Finland through the Continuous Improvement of Teacher…

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Equality is an important value in Finnish education. Free education is available at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Moreover, free health care, counselling and library services are available for students at all levels. Special education in Finland aims to integrate all kinds of learners into the same classrooms and prevent students from dropping out. The goal of low early school leaving (ESL) levels is emphasised in Finnish education policy documents [24]. However, the equality of educational outcomes has deteriorated according to gender, students' socioeconomic status and migration background and according to the area the students live in [25].

Another characteristic of the Finnish education system is its strongly decentralised structure and its culture of trust. Trust means that educational authorities and national-level policymakers trust teachers, together with principals, headmasters and parents, to know how to provide the best education for children and youth in a particular district. Schools and teachers have been responsible for choosing learning materials and teaching methods since the beginning of the 1990s, when national-level inspection of learning materials was terminated. Education providers or municipality-level education administrators, schools and teachers are responsible for quality assurance. Teachers are valued as professionals in curriculum development, teaching and assessment at all levels. On the other hand, decentralisation poses challenges for efforts to improve educational practices and implementation of national level´ initiatives.

New national-level curricula for basic (primary and lower secondary) and upper secondary education were prepared between 2012 and 2014 in close collaboration with teachers, teacher educators and providers of education (municipalities) [26, 27]. Both curricula emphasise the learning of twenty-first century competences and offer support to teachers as they confront such key questions as: what will education mean in the future, how can education prepare all young people for the future, what competences will be needed in everyday and working life and what kinds of learning environments and practices or teaching methods would best

Several challenges have been recognised recently in Finnish education. When the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 [26] and 2015 reported declines in the proficiency of Finnish youth, Finnish policymakers argued that the educational system is failing to promote the twenty-first century skills that will adequately prepare students for the future. Another discussion concerns the challenges linked to the impact and use of new technologies in and out of school situations [2]. The 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey

**3. The context of Finnish education**

**3.1. Basic and upper secondary education**

produce the desired education and learning outcomes.

**3.2. Recognised challenges in Finnish education context**

Research on teacher knowledge typically focuses on the knowledge teachers need in classroom situations; however, they also need certain knowledge outside their classroom activities. For example, retaining and enhancing their professionalism requires competences for both networking and life-long learning.
