Promoting practical wisdom in teacher education: a qualitative descriptive study

ABSTRACT

Teaching is a highly complex profession, one in which teachers have to make continuous pedagogical decisions. In this study, we argue that practical wisdom is needed in order to act thoughtfully and effectively. The prerequisite for using practical wisdom is teachers’ awareness of the pedagogical beliefs behind the decision-making. In this study, this has been described as personal practical theories: PPTs. In other words, practical wisdom is possible if PPTs are consistent with pedagogical decision-making and furthermore teaching practice. The aim of this study is to seek the ways teacher education may support the cultivation of practical wisdom in student teachers. For that purpose, we carried out a qualitative descriptive study by interviewing 15 primary school student teachers about their experiences with PPTs, and their manifestation in their practicum studies. Further, what factors support the manifestation, or create obstacles to them. Based on the results, in this study, we suggest ways in which practical wisdom could be promoted in initial teacher education.

KEYWORDS:

• Practical wisdom
• personal practical theory
• teacher education
• teacher practicum
• professional development

Introduction

Teaching is a highly complex profession. Interacting with the salient components of teaching, i.e. curriculum, context and students (Lunenberg and Korthagen 2009), demands thoughtfulness, care (Furman 2018) and the integration of professional and interpersonal knowledge (Goodfellow 2003). According to Furman (2015), teaching skills have a central place in professional action, but they are not enough. In dealing with the multifaceted, minute-by-minute changes taking place in the classroom, teachers must make continuous, immediate pedagogical decisions (Dolk 1997, cited in Lunenberg and Korthagen 2009). Making correct pedagogical choices demands an awareness of the necessities of a certain situation, which can help teachers to find possible courses of action (Lunenberg and Korthagen 2009). This awareness can be described as practical wisdom; it combines expert knowledge (knowing that), thoughtful action (knowing how) and prudent judgement (see Goodfellow 2003; Ulvik and Smith 2011).

Table 1. The results.

No dilemmas were experienced in the manifestation of PPTs in practice	Dilemmas experienced in the manifestation of PPTs in practice
Teacher relationship (12 PPTs) a) Personal character (6 PPT’s) b) Taking care of one’s own well-being (2 PPT) c) Classroom culture (2 PPT) d) Sense of professionalism (2 PPT)	Ideals vs institutional reality (21 PPTs)
Pedagogical relationship (13 PPTs) a) Student teacher’s own personality (6 PPT) b) Classroom culture (4 PPT) c) Respecting equality (2 PPT) d) Supervising teacher’s and principal’s support (1 PPT)	Criticality vs mercy (6 PPTs)
Didactical relationship (7 PPTs) a) Awareness of teaching aims (3 PPTs) b) Classroom culture’s support (3 PPTs) c) Supervising teacher and peer support (1PPT	Peer or supervising teacher versus one’s own way (5 PPTs)
Content relationship (1 PPT) a) Classroom culture (1 PPT)	Focus on one’s self vs focus on students (4 PPTs)
Context relationship (2 PPTs) a) Classroom culture (1 PPT) b) Evaluation as a part of practice (1 PPT)	Private life versus work (3 PPTs)
	Incompetent versus expert (3 PPTs)
35 PPTs	42 PPTs

In this study, argue that the prerequisite for using practical wisdom is teachers’ awareness of the pedagogical beliefs that lie behind pedagogical decision-making and teaching practice (see Goodfellow 2003). In other words, teachers need to be aware of the ways their pedagogical beliefs manifest themselves and influence their efforts to act wisely in particular situations in the course of teaching (Lunenberg and Korthagen 2009; Tilson, Sandretto, and Pratt. 2017). However, there may be a discrepancy between a teacher’s beliefs and teaching practice because the complex nature of the work might limit the teacher’s capability to focus on beliefs and act in line with them (Fang 1996). Furthermore, it seems that beliefs are resistant to change (Richardson 1996), or that the belief system is inconsistent when new information is added to existing beliefs instead of as an amendment to the fundamental beliefs (Ahonen et al. 2014). In addition, teachers may not be fully aware of the pedagogical beliefs and instead they might hold various beliefs that are taken for granted or left unspoken (cf. Jokikokko 2016; Tilson, Sandretto, and Pratt. 2017). Still, if a teacher becomes aware of the effect of beliefs on teaching practice, the beliefs may be changed (Nespor 1987; Levin, He, and Allen 2013). For these reasons, dilemmas may occur between beliefs and practice of teaching (cf. Anspal, Leijen, and Löfström 2019), but resolving dilemmas can be used to promote the development of practical wisdom.

Following the studies by Cornett (1990) and Levin, He, and Allen (2013) we have defined pedagogical beliefs as personal practical theories (PPTs) that are adopted beliefs based on personal and professional experiences. Beliefs may take a range of forms regarding the essential elements of a teacher’s work: as a teacher, the pupils, the contents of the curriculum, the teaching-studying-learning process, and various contexts that teachers are involved with (a working community, parents and society) (Stenberg 2014).

In this study, we were keen to find the ways teacher education could promote the cultivation of student teachers’ practical wisdom. For that purpose, we explored primary school student teachers’ practicum experiences with their PPTs; how were those beliefs appeared in their practicum studies, and furthermore, what factors supported or created obstacles for such appearances. The following research questions guided our study:

1. What PPTs do student teachers find easy to manifest in their teaching practicum, and why?

2. What dilemmas prevent the manifestation of student teachers’ PPTs in their practicum, and why?

Practical wisdom, PPTs in teachers’ work and teacher education

A solution for effective teaching can be traced all the way back to Aristotle. According to Aristotle, social practices demand choices, and making the correct choices demands wisdom (Schwartz and Sharpe 2010). Practical wisdom (the modern application of Aristotle’s notion of phronesis) is a special kind of knowledge that is separate from episteme, true and certain knowledge (Eisner 2002). In the context of teaching, episteme may be related to disciplinary conceptual knowledge. However, in this study it can be seen that practical wisdom does not exclude theoretical knowledge. As Lunenberg and Korthagen (2009) point out, theory is ‘the inner reconstruction of insights developed by others’ and through rational mind (that is conscious and deliberative in nature) practical wisdom is developed from theory (p. 227, 230). Furthermore, practical wisdom is not directly refundable to techne, which refers to knowledge of technical skills. In the context of teaching, techne may be seen as the craft of teaching (Andrew 2015; Melville et al. 2012; Ulvik and Smith 2011). It should be noted that Aristotle related practical wisdom to the ethics and actions that foster living well in general (Furman 2015). Yet according to Furman (2015), the constant decision-making that guides teacher’s work is moral in nature: ‘What may seem like small acts lead up to an ethical approach to world’ (142) and thus craft is not separate from practical wisdom.

According to Aristotle, practical wisdom is deliberative in nature and requires the ability to perceive what is relevant in particular circumstances (Schwartz and Sharpe 2010). Hence, practical wisdom is the experiential knowledge possessed by a particular person and used by such an individual to decide the course of his/her intentional, effective actions (Halverson 2004). When considering the teaching field, Furman (2018) notes that the term practical wisdom refers to robust knowing, that is, the flexibility to adapt one’s responses to a range of situations and effectively and ethically respond to such situations in practice. In other words, practical wisdom emerges from a vision of the good, and it is connected with the ability to frame and solve problems (Halverson 2004).

In order to use practical wisdom to make appropriate pedagogical decisions, it is necessary for teachers to be aware of the PPTs that guide planning, engaging and reflecting within the context of teaching (He and Levin 2008; Stenberg 2014). According to Männikkö and Husu. (2019), PPTs frame teachers’ capacity to notice the need to modify their pedagogical decisions and revise them and their actions, if needed. Similarly, in this study we argue that an awareness of PPTs and their influence on teaching makes it possible to perceive the essence of a situation and help teachers to find relevant courses of action, in other words, use practical wisdom (see Lunenberg and Korthagen 2009).

Although it may be contended that practical wisdom is something that can be achieved only with time and experience (Ulvik and Smith 2011), the development of practical wisdom may be fostered in many ways. Within the context of teaching and teacher education, several practices have served as tools for cultivating teachers’ and student teachers’ abilities to use practical wisdom in teaching. These include detailed focused reflection (Korthagen et al. 2001), descriptive inquiries (Furman 2018), reading reflective teacher narratives (Furman 2015), self-study (Lunenberg and Korthagen 2009) and inquiry-based learning (Phelan 2005).

Furthermore, when supporting the development of practical wisdom in teacher education, practicum studies may play a pivotal role, since the craft of teaching cannot be separated from practical wisdom. Indeed, practicum studies are an effective and powerful way to promote student teachers’ learning (Allen and Wright 2014 20143; Smith and Levi-Ari 2005). Various studies have been conducted in practicum settings that --consider pre-service student teachers’ reflections (Tiainen, Korkeamäki, and Dreher 2016), reflective thinking (Toom, Husu, and Patrikainen 2015), awareness (Eksi and Gungor 2018), theory-practice connections (Tilson, Sandretto, and Pratt. 2017) and professional development (Ulvik, Helleve, and Smith 2018). However, in the context of teaching practicums, we could not find any studies in which practical wisdom was the main theme of examination. Our aim in this study was to identify ways in which student teachers’ practical wisdom may be promoted in initial teacher education and for that purpose, we have focused on practicum studies and how student teachers experience the appearance of their PPTs in the practicum.

Method

Context of the study

This study was carried out at the University of Helsinki in Finland, where teacher education is research-based, and all teachers graduate with a master’s degree. Primary school teachers graduate with a five-year master’s degree, majoring in educational sciences. Finnish education and teacher education have gained interest among researchers and educational administrators throughout the world since the PISA tests first revealed Finnish students’ success (e.g. Hargreaves 2010; Darling-Hammond 2017). The Finnish context of education and teachers’ work differs from that in many other countries. Finnish teachers have a great deal of pedagogical autonomy or freedom in their work (e.g. Niemi 2015; Tirri 2014). The teacher education curriculum has a nationally shared framework, which also guarantees the same quality level of teacher education at all universities (see, e.g. Tirri 2014; Sahlberg 2011). Teacher education takes place in research-intensive universities, and Finnish teacher education is identified as research-based education. Students learn to consume and produce research during their studies, with the main aim being to become pedagogically engaged teachers who are capable of making justifiable decisions based on theoretical knowledge (Krokfors et al. 2011).

The data for this study were collected after student teachers’ final practicum at the very end of their studies at the University of Helsinki. At the beginning of the five-week practicum, the students are required to write their own personal development plan consisting of their aims for the forthcoming practice and their specific PPTs, meaning the pedagogical beliefs they would find important for their teaching. The students are placed in pairs in field schools around the metropolitan area of city X, where they practice teaching under the supervision of the classroom teacher and a university lecturer. The first week of the practicum consists of observation and planning week, while the subsequent weeks are teaching weeks. The first and the last teaching weeks are co-taught and the two weeks in the middle are taught alone, when the peer student serves as a teaching assistant. At the end of the practicum, the students write a final report of their experiences in relation to their original aims. This report is discussed with the supervising university lecturer.

The research design, participants and data collection

This qualitative study has a description design in order to provide an authentic insight into student teachers’ experiences (Silverman 1997). Moreover, the descriptive design was chosen to discover and understand the phenomenon by getting information directly from the student teachers involved in the teacher practicum (see Merriam 1998). The data for this study comprised 15 interviews with primary school student teachers after their final practicum. The interviewees (14 female and one male primary school student teachers) were given pseudonyms. The sample represents about 13% of the students participating in the final practicum within the academic year, and the gender ratio of the participants is representative of the yearly intake of students (about 90% female, 10% male students).

Convenience sampling was adopted, allowing the selection of participants accessible to the study (Bradshaw, Atkinson, and Doody 2017). The authors of this study are teacher educators and participant supervisors in teaching practicums and the study participants were those supervised by the authors. Participants were full-time primary school student teachers majoring in educational sciences near the end of a five years master’s programme and, with two exceptions, they did not have much teaching experience (from a few days to one month). Two of the participants had worked for a year as a substitute teacher. The interviews were based on the student teachers’ personal development plan, in which they were instructed to reflect on their current PPTs, and their final report in which they reflected on their experiences in the practicum.

The authors interviewed those student teachers they supervised during that practicum period. The first author interviewed 13 student teachers while the second author interviewed two student teachers, because she was in research intensive period at that time and thus she had only one pair in that practicum. Interviews followed the exact same structured procedure. Student teachers were asked to read their PPTs one by one and place them on a scale ranging between 1 and 10 based on the extent to which they felt their PPTs had been manifested in their teaching practicum, and why. The interviews took from 25 to 45 minutes and they were audio-recorded. Informed consent was obtained from all research participants and the study followed the ethical guidelines of the University of Helsinki and the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity (TENK). In order to strengthen the ecological validity, student teachers participating in the study were asked only after they had completed their practicum so that so that their participation would not affect their orientation to practicum experiences.

Data analysis

After carefully reading the transcripts, the data were analysed using theory-driven qualitative content analysis (Elo and Kyngäs 2007). The analysis was led by clearly-defined research questions. The data consisted of 77 PPTs, which were first divided into either the category ‘no dilemma experienced’ that related to the first RQ, or ‘dilemma experienced’ that related to the second RQ. Categorisation were based on the explanations given by student teachers regarding their experience with how their PPTs had been appeared in the practicum. The ‘no dilemma experienced’ category thus involved PPTs that the student teachers found easy to manifest in their practicum, while the other category consisted of student teachers who had experienced obstacles in the appearance of their PPTs. Each PPT in the ‘no dilemma experienced’ category was then further coded and analysed according to the relation it pointed to in the extended didactical triangle (Stenberg 2014). The didactic triangle was adopted because it encapsulates the essential relationship in a teacher’s work. The five code categories were as follows: 1) teacher relationship (which relates to teacher’s preconceptions about him/herself as a teacher), 2) pedagogical relationship (with the teacher and pupils), 3) didactical relationship (which relates to the organisation of pupils’ studying-learning processes), 4) content relationship (which refers to the curriculum subjects, including transversal competence) and the 5) context relationship (which refers the surrounding society). The data coding and analysis for the “dilemma experienced’ category was inspired by a study done by Pillen, Beijaard, and den Brok (2013) that investigated the tensions faced by beginning student teachers in the Netherlands. The six code categories were as follows: 1) ideals vs institutional reality, 2) criticality vs mercy, 3) peer or supervising teacher versus one’s own way, 4) focus on one’s self vs focus on students, 5) private life versus work 6) incompetent versus expert. While the first author undertook the analysis, to ensure the internal validity of the study, the second author then reviewed them independently and both authors discussed unclear matters.

Results

What PPTs do student teachers find easy to manifest in their teaching practicum, and why?

The results of the first research question are presented according to five code categories described previously.

1. Teacher relationship

This category involves 12 PPTs that are connected to ways of being a teacher. For example, personal traits, one’s own resources and professionalism are all part of this category. Four sub-categories emerged in which the student teachers found it unproblematic in terms of how their PPTs were appeared during their practicums.

1. Personal character (6 PPTs)

Student teachers reported feeling that their personalities were able to emerge naturally during the practicum. Alma’s PPT was ‘a good teacher is cheerful and present’, and she explained it as follows: ‘This is always the case; immediately when I step in front of the classroom, I am like that.’ Thus, she faced no obstacles in terms of how her PPTs were manifested in the classroom because, she felt that a student teacher’s particular character fits into his/her way of being in the classroom. Personal characteristics for her included joyfulness, peacefulness, approachableness and enthusiasm, all of which are positive qualities that are easy to transfer into practice. In this category, beliefs were connected to the student teachers’ natural, confident and favourable way of being as persons.

• (b) Taking care of one’s own well-being (2 PPTs)

Student teachers reported that they were able to concentrate on their own well-being during the practicum. The reason for this was that many made a conscious decision to treat well-being as one of the main objectives of the practicum period. This prevented them running the risk of exhaustion. Helmi’s PPT was as follows: ‘A good teacher also has to take care of herself.’ Her explanation was, ‘I succeed, because I made this clear before the practicum started and I reflected on it almost every day’.

• (c) Classroom culture (2 PPTs)

Student teachers reporting feeling that their PPTs were appeared in practice because of the positive and supportive environment in the classroom. In other words, the existing classroom culture played a pivotal role for them. Tuuli’s PPT was ‘an ideal teacher is above all curious, fully present, empathic and genuine.’ She clarified this by saying, ‘we had good luck: our pupils were so wonderful and gentle, we were welcomed there.’ In addition, the absence of students with special needs made it possible to concentrate on ways of being a teacher because there was no need to invest time and effort into guiding them.

• (d) Sense of professionalism (2 PPTs)

One reason that student teachers felt their PPTs were manifested in practice was a certain self-awareness, an aptitude to reflect on one’s own thinking and emotions. Siiri’s PPT was as follows: ‘You have to be self-critical, so that you can be as good of a teacher as possible.’ The explanation she gave was, ‘after teaching, I reflected a lot on how it went, how I could make things better’. In addition, positive self-esteem helped student teachers feel that their PPTs were successfully appeared in practice.

2. Pedagogical relationship

This category contains 13 PPTs relating to the teacher-pupil relationship. For example, fairness towards pupils, safety, warmth, approachability, interaction, presence and pupils’ well-being are all components of this relationship. Student teachers felt that it was easy to translate their PPTs into practice in four sub-categories.

1. Student teacher’s own personality (6 PPTs)

Student teachers reported feeling that their PPTs translated well into practice because of their own way of acting in a classroom. For example, personal activity towards pupils, natural ways to be encouraging and having good self-esteem facilitated this process. Aino’s PPT was as follows: ‘In my teaching, manners and emotional skills are practiced; learn how to fail, how to encourage, help and do things together.’ According to her, ‘This is a very natural thing for me to demand, it came spontaneously. … This comes from my person’.

• (b) Classroom culture (4 PPTs)

Student teachers’ PPTs were manifested in practice because the existing classroom culture and pupils’ responsiveness made it possible. Sofia’s PPT was as follows: ‘It is crucial to create a warm and safe teacher-student relationship. I want to be a teacher to whom a pupil may honestly talk about his/her worries and moments of joy.’ She continued: ‘Although I was not [the pupils’] own teacher and time was limited, I succeeded. Pupils came to talk about issues outside their school life on their own initiative.’

• (c) Respecting equality (2 PPTs)

This category involves PPTs related to equality among pupils. Student teachers felt it was possible to realise their PPTs because of the deliberate decision beforehand to take the PPT into account in practice. Markus’s PPT was ‘every pupil needs to be heard, although she/he may not actively be seeking it.’ He continued by saying, ‘I consciously kept this in mind throughout the practicum, and thus, I managed this well; I strived to have conversations and little chats with everybody.’

• (d) Supervising teacher’s and principal’s support (1 PPT)

Noora found that she was able to connect her PPT with actual practice because of the support she received from the supervising teacher: ‘School is not a competition. Every pupil’s ability is respected and developed without comparison to others.’ She expounded this observation as follows: ‘I had a fantastically good conversation with my supervising teacher and also with the principal; thus, I quickly found the way to work with the pupils.’

3. Didactical relationship

Organising teaching involves elements such as managing the working culture of the classroom, employing diverse teaching methods, planning interesting lessons and differentiating between lesson plans. This category involves seven PPTs that student teachers reportedly did not have any trouble translating into practice.

1. Awareness of teaching aims (3 PPTs)

Maintaining clear-cut aims and an awareness of them throughout the practicum helped student teachers to ensure that their PPTs were reflected in practice. Sofia’s PPT was ‘it is important to inspire students to learn.’ She followed up on this point by saying ‘I tried to keep this foremost in my mind, it was present all the time, I consciously thought about it; that I don’t just teach, but awaken the pupils’ desire to learn.’

• (b) Classroom culture (3 PPTs)

Student teachers reported feeling that pupils and their existing way of studying in the classroom helped the student teachers with their PPTs in practice. In other words, they noted that the classroom culture was in line with student teachers’ own beliefs. Elisa’s PPT was ‘versatility in teaching is crucial.’ She explained: ‘We tried pretty much everything … and the kids were used that, doing different kinds of things.’

• (c) Supervising teacher and peer support (1PPT)

Helmi was able to connect her PPT easily with her teaching practice. This was because of the help and encouragement she received from her supervising teacher: ‘Good and diverse teaching does not have to be complicated. I appreciate clarity and slow down; focusing on one thing at the time’ and a peer: ‘We had one a main point and one method during the lessons. No one put pressure on us; our supervising teacher gave only the contents to be taught … we shared a common vision with my peer’.

4. Content relationship

The issues in this category are related to the actual content taught in a school. Subject matters and transversal competence are the main elements in this category.

1. Classroom culture (1 PPT)

Helmi’s PPT, ‘I want to teach significant issues, such as empathy, ethicality and environmental sustainability’ appeared in her teaching practice because the classroom culture promoted such a philosophy and made it possible. She explained further: ‘I was able to concentrate on that because the pupils were so skilful and good; I was able to do different things with them.’

5. Context relationship

This category involves PPTs that are related to a school’s role in society. It is about the school’s ultimate purpose: educating children to become members of society.

1. Classroom culture (1 PPT)

Markus explained how his PPT appeared in practice in the classroom because of the pupils: ‘Pupils have to be prepared for [fitting into] society, but also given the tools to change it. Skills like critical thinking, creativity and emotional skills play a pivotal role in my view of good teaching … I had many conversations with pupils together and individually, face to face. I was able to ask “Why” questions.’

• (b) Assessment as a part of practice (1 PPT)

In this category, Markus reported that the pupils’ assessments helped him further develop his PPT in practice: ‘I would not be able to work as a teacher if I felt that my teaching was not teaching or my educating was not educating. The reason I chose to become a teacher is its responsibility; the work, which promotes society.’ He explained it further as follows: ‘I think I succeeded in this. I evaluated it in a mathematics class; after every lesson, they [the pupils] completed self-evaluations. And after the period we had a test; they had learnt well.’

What dilemmas prevent the manifestation of student teachers’ PPTs in their practicum, and why?

The results of the second research question are presented according to the six code categories described previously.

1. Ideals vs institutional reality (21 PPTs)

The largest obstacles faced by student teachers in terms of how their PPTs were manifested in practice were related to the context of the practicum. Liisa’s PPT was ‘As a teacher, I want to emphasise team spirit in the classroom because I believe it contributes to learning.’ However, she noted that ‘this was impossible to implement in practice because it was somebody else’s class’. Likewise, a lack of knowledge about the pupils, difficulties in affecting other teachers’ classroom cultures, a lack of time for planning and implementing lessons, limited opportunities to influence timetables and the relatively short period of time for the practicum also prevented student teachers from successfully implementing their PPTs in practice. Tuuli’s PPT – ‘Instead of the details, a teacher should emphasise wholeness and know her pupils so well that she/he is capable of choosing the most meaningful content from their viewpoint – was not successfully appeared in practice because ‘it was a relatively short time, and you could neither know the classroom nor the students so well that you were able to choose the most essential things [to emphasise]’.

2. Criticality vs mercy (6 PPTs)

One of the greatest obstacles in connecting PPTs to actual practice had to do with the student teachers’ own expectations, self-criticism and high demands for themselves. In addition, student teachers experienced failure when they had to compromise their teaching standards and set the bar at a lower level than expected. This led to frustration and disappointment, to the feeling that one should have tried more, somehow been more as a teacher. Aino’s PPT was as follows: ‘I want every student experience to be positive and effective.’ She explained this objective as follows: ‘I could have done this much more. This is my self-criticism; I could have been better.

3. Peer or supervising teacher versus one’s own way (5 PPTs)

Additionally, student teachers mentioned that the supervising teacher or peer sometimes prevented them from successfully implementing their PPTs in practice. Different viewpoints or even opposite viewpoints on the part of the student teacher and supervising teacher as well as the presence of other adults in the classroom created tension and nervousness that inhibited student teachers from putting their PPTs into practice. Ellen’s PPT was as follows: ‘My aim is for every pupil to be heard and noticed just as they are.’ She explained: ‘I felt that I personally succeeded in this, but there were occasions when we told our supervisor about certain situation and he just told us that we are being too naive about a [certain] pupil.’

4. Focus on one’s self vs focus on students (4 PPTs)

Student teachers felt that it is difficult to concentrate on pupils when the focus was one’s skills in classroom management. In lessons, the priority was on the handling of teaching. When you focus on your own behaviour, it takes all your attention. Elsa’s PPT was ‘it is important to be present, to listen, to observe; [take a] real interest in the pupils.’ She added: ‘This comes naturally for me, but when I had to teach, I felt that such observation was difficult; I had to focus on my own teaching instead of seeing the pupils.’

5. Private life versus work (3 PPTs)

In this category, the student teachers reported that they could not manifest their PPTs in practice because they encountered obstacles in managing their time, and thus, in taking care of their own well-being and having sufficient free time. This dilemma appeared also in lesson planning; the need to plan high-quality lessons and the time it required prevented them from concentrating on their own coping skills. Hilla’s PPT was ‘a good teacher is resilient/persistent.’ Her explanation was as follows: ‘At the beginning, we just fought [our way] from lesson to lesson; the emphasis was on other things than it should have been.’

6. Incompetent versus expert (3 PPTs)

Student teachers reported feeling that they were not capable of designing such lessons. They would have liked to but the lack of teaching skills or feeling unqualified in specific subject matter created an obstacle to successfully implementing the PPTs. Alma’s PPT was as follows: ‘It is crucial for a teacher to create interesting and nice lessons.’ She went on to note that this was the case ‘especially in subjects that I have never taught: religion and civics; I could not plan them so that they would have been interesting.’

Discussion

Teaching is a complex profession with a multitude of dimensions. According to Fairbanks et al. (2010), the situations that teachers face are inherently ambiguous and frequently dilemma-driven. Thus, neither theoretical knowledge (knowing that) nor teaching skills (knowing how) necessarily lead to thoughtful teaching (Fairbanks et al. 2010; Furman 2015). In this study, we argue that practical wisdom is at the heart of excellent teaching. This denotes that the teachers are able to make deliberative pedagogical choices in terms of the situations they encounter and the actions they must take (Shulman 2007; Eisner 2002). Practical wisdom, namely the experiential knowledge used by teachers to decide on a course of effective, intentional action (Halverson 2004), is possible when PPTs are consistent with pedagogical decisions and furthermore teaching practice. Such congruence enables robust knowing and provides the teacher with flexibility to modify his/her response to situations and effectively respond to them (see Furman 2018).

In this study, we were keen to know how student teachers experienced their PPTs had been appeared in their practicum studies and what kinds of obstacles they faced along the way. The results of this study are interesting in many ways and shed light on both the elements that promote and the problems that prevent the manifestation of practical wisdom in practice.

The elements that support the development of practical wisdom may be found in the results when student teachers reported that it was the easiest to put their PPTs into practice. Student teachers’ personalities, namely their positive characteristics played a pivotal role and it may be argued that positive self-perception allows the experience of self-efficacy to occur (see Poulou 2007b) that strengthens the capability to act wisely in particular situation (Lunenberg and Korthagen 2009). In addition, personal reflective stance (see Husu, Toom, and Patrikainen 2008) may be viewed as a conducive element in developing practical wisdom. Furthermore, clear, conscious and well-defined aims for the practicum (Graham 2006) and a cooperative classroom culture, together with support of the supervising teacher and/or peer, may be considered to be important factors for nurturing practical wisdom (see Ulvik and Smith 2011; Beck and Kosnik 2002).

The elements that prevent the emergence of practical wisdom in practice may be understood by results in which the student teachers focused on dilemmas in translating their PPTs into practice. Institutional structure, namely the practicum context, was the major obstacle they encountered when trying to manifest their PPTs in the classroom. The impediments mentioned included the unfamiliar classroom and lack of knowledge about the pupils, a lack of time in designing lessons and the comparatively short practicum period (see Mau 1997; Kyriacou and Stephens 1999). Furthermore, elements concerning the student teachers themselves were significant factors: self-criticism, high expectations, self-demands, feeling incompetent, focusing on one’s self instead of the pupils and an inability to take care of one’s well-being created obstacles in terms of how the PPTs were appeared in practice (see Poulou 2007a; Caires, Almeida, and Vieira 2012). In addition, different and conflicting views with a peer or supervising teacher presented obstacles.

Aristotle highlighted that practical wisdom must be promoted by the institutions in which one practices (Schwartz and Sharpe 2010), and based on the results, recommendations may be given to promote the development of practical wisdom in student teachers during the initial teacher education. First, student teachers should be offered opportunities, time and space to focus on their PPTs and become aware of how their beliefs are manifested in practice, either supporting high-quality teaching or preventing it (see Stenberg 2014). In addition, focusing on PPTs is crucial with regard to student teachers’ developing self-knowledge (Hong, Greene, and Lowery 2017; Stenberg 2010) that creates a pathway towards realistic self-understanding and solid self-esteem instead of excessive self-criticism or an overly idealistic view of oneself as a teacher (see Poom-Valickis and Löfström 2018).This is also important because the more self-knowledge student teachers gain during the initial teacher education, the more they will be prepared to cope with ever-demanding circumstances. In addition, self-knowledge enables student teachers to increase their self-efficacy, which may well prevent burnout during the transitional phase of learning to manage their own classroom (see Dicke et al. 2015). Second, it should be ensured that student teachers have enough knowledge and the means to engage in high-quality lesson planning, including the setting of clear aims and understanding the ways in which a lesson may be designed. The more student teachers understand the vital elements of teaching, the more they will be able to focus on pupils and their studying-learning processes. It is a question of workable theory-practice relationship, thus how student teachers are able to implement learning in university courses in practice (see Orland-Barak and Yinon 2007; Smagorinsky, Cook, and Johnson 2003). According to Korthagen (2017), teacher education has not succeeded in the mission of educating effective teachers mainly because of the large gap between theory and practice (see also Allen and Wright 20143). In other words, courses in teacher education are applied to practice only to a limited degree (Hennissen, Beckers, and Moerkerke 2017). Although efforts have been made to build the bridge between them (see, for example Tilson, Sandretto, and Pratt. 2017; Hennissen, Beckers, and Moerkerke 2017; Rasmussen and Rash-Christensen 2015), it is critical to continue to develop the spaces in which theoretical knowledge (episteme, knowing that) and practical (techne, knowing how) are brought together to support the development of practical wisdom (Ulvik, Helleve, and Smith 2018; Ulvik and Smith 2011). Third, when student teachers begin their practicum period at schools, enough time should be allocated to getting to know the pupils and the classroom culture. As we can see in the results, the pedagogical relationship in student teachers’ PPTs is emphasised compared with didactical, content and context relationships. This is in line with our previous studies (Stenberg 2014, 2020) and illustrates the fact that student teachers tend to focus on the caring elements of a teacher’s work. In other words, the teaching is seen as a moral endeavour through which the child’s best is a high priority. However, if teaching practice is led by overly idealistic beliefs, it may prevent the effective teaching (see Löfström and Poom-Valickis 2013). and furthermore capability to use practical wisdom in teaching practice. Thus, this should be taken account in teacher practicum by supporting the realistic view of teaching (Stenberg 2020). Furthermore, student teachers should be supported in learning to set conscious and clear goals for the practicum (see Graham 2006) and ensure the enough time for lesson planning. Fourth, the support of the supervising teacher and peer are crucial; thus, before beginning the practicum period, time and space should be arranged in order to get to know each other’s thoughts, ideas, fears and hopes. According to Dreer (2020) student teachers seek authentic opportunities of experiencing what it means to be a teacher, and thus it is vital that the supervising teachers respond to their psychological needs (for example, relatedness) especially at the beginning of the practicum studies. Therefore, it is pivotal that a supervising teacher has both affective commitment (Sandvik et al. 2019) and the quality of being present for the student teachers so that they received supportive and adequate guidance (Ibrahim 2013; Hascher, Cocard, and Moser 2004; Bradbury and Koballa 2008: Izadinia 2016; LaBoskey and Richert 2002). This will also help student teachers’ ability to cope with stress and ensure their well-being. In addition, the quality of conversations between the student teacher, the peer and the supervising teacher should be reflective and dialogic for supporting the meaning making of student teachers’ practicum experiences (Knezic et al. 2019).

The limitations of this study are related to how student teachers understood their PPTs. The PPTs may be limited and therefore not express all the underlying beliefs that student teachers hold. Furthermore, it should be noted that teachers’ individual beliefs about a particular teaching matter must always be understood in relation to other beliefs, which together form a larger, complex belief system (Zheng 2013). In addition, the practicum period is relatively short, as it lasts only five weeks. It is natural that not all goals can be reached during this short period of time. The practicum period is also an artificial situation, because the students walk into a ready-made class-room and the teacher is present all the time. The student teachers are also usually with their peer students, so they can receive help and can rely on each other. However, although these results cannot be generalised as such, this study sufficiently answered the research questions (see Bradshaw, Atkinson, and Doody 2017) and the ideas based on the results may be applied to teacher education .

It is important to find out how teacher education could promote future teachers’ readiness to develop their practical wisdom. Practical wisdom does not develop instantly; it requires time, practice and support (Furman 2015). Still, as Furman (2015) notes, ‘To do justice to teachers and their students, practical wisdom with teachers must be the goal’. Phelan (2005) further notes that teacher educators should nurture its cultivation. Based on the results of our study, in this article we have introduced the ways practical wisdom may be supported in teacher education, both in the practicum and the course studies.

For future research, the need for longitudinal data is needed to help gain deeper insight to the relationship between PPTs and teacher practice and how practical wisdom may be appeared. For that purpose, investigation should be broaden to novice teachers after their completing their teacher education.

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Correction Statement

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

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Notes on contributors

Katariina Stenberg

Katariina Stenberg, PhD, is a university lecturer at the Faculty of Educational Sciences in University of Helsinki, Finland. Her research interests include teacher education, student teachers’ professional development, teacher identity and reflection.

Katriina Maaranen

Katriina Maaranen, Adjunct professor, PhD., works at the Faculty of Educational Sciences in University of Helsinki, Finland. She has researched Finnish teacher education from various viewpoints. Her interests include reflection, personal practical theories, professional development among other things.