The Swedish primary teacher education programme: at the crossroads between two education programme traditions

ABSTRACT

In 2011, new teacher education programmes were introduced in Sweden. This policy case study examines the outcome of the reform, focusing on the pedagogic discourses in the examination practise of the primary teacher education programme, but also on the possible effects of dividing teacher education for primary teachers into two specialisations: for teachers of grades F-3 and 4–6. The point of departure is that the Swedish, and Nordic, teacher education programmes have been shaped by two traditions: the seminar tradition and the academic tradition. The study is based on Bernstein’s theories of pedagogic discourses and how these affect teachers’ professional knowledge base and professional identities. The results show that the primary teacher education above all prepares student teachers for everyday classroom life, but also that the examination practice and the pedagogic discourses differ to some extent between the two specialisations and that the primary teacher education (PTE) students who choose to specialise in grades 4–6 now encounter pedagogic discourses that more resemble an academic tradition than what is encountered by students who choose to specialise in F-3.

KEYWORDS:

• Primary teacher education (PTE)
• pedagogic discourses
• pedagogic/professional identity
• professional knowledge base
• horizontal and vertical knowledge structures

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The other three teacher education programmes are: the preschool teacher programme, the secondary and upper secondary school teacher programme and the vocational education teacher programme.

2. The specialisation of after-school centre education is not included in this study.

3. With the Higher Education Reform of 1977, parallel post-secondary school programmes such as the teaching and healthcare programmes were incorporated into institutions of higher education.

4. The examination tasks could be found in the syllabus, in the study guide or as a special document.

5. For each figure showing size/percentage, the primary education programme for teachers of F-3 is presented first, followed by the programme for teachers of grades 4–6.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lena Sjöberg

Lena Sjöberg is a lecturer at University West, Department of Social and Behavioural Studies. Her main research interests concern  education policy and pedagogic discourses. She is currently working on a project concerning professional knowledge in primary teacher education and a project concerning policy discourses in higher education.