Our school, established in 1882, is a university-owned provider of basic, general upper secondary and teacher education. In addition to hosting 1300 students and 600 student teachers annually, relevant research, in-service training and developmental projects lie at the heart of our strategy.
Our multiple networks, affiliation with the University of Eastern Finland and hundreds of student teachers all add to the innovative and dynamic atmosphere of our school. As a UNESCO Associated School, we are geared towards international contacts, such as Cern in Switzerland and Taizè in France, as well as with partner schools in Russia and China. We are proactive developers of educational practices, learning environments and pedagogic applications, providing a research environment for various faculties as well as companies with an educational focus.
As a major provider of educational services and teacher training in Finland, we are part of the constant evolution of the educational field.
1,430
Pupils and students
190
Teachers and staff
850
Student teachers annually
Our core values are responsibility, respect, tolerance and a strong sense of community.
Jyrki Huusko
Leading Headmaster
Two schools - three locations
University of Eastern Finland Teacher Training School comprises two schools, namely Rantakylä Teacher Training School and Tulliportti Teacher Training School. Rantakylä Teacher Training School offers single-structure basic education for grades 1-9. Tulliportti Teacher Training School operates in two different units, primary school grades 1-6 being located in Länsikatu and lower secondary grades 7-9 as well as upper secondary school in Tulliportinkatu.
Basic Education Grades 1-9
Cross curricular themes, international visitors and a versatile teaching programme create a rich cultural learning environment for our pupils. The teacher training programme together with experimental research bring variety and modern perspectives to teaching methods.
Our school also offers a wide variety of optional courses, from technology and drama to hunting and fishing.
Upper Secondary School
The upper secondary school offers its active and extremely motivated students a modern, hi-tech learning environment and a wide range of elective courses, particularly in science, mathematics and foreign languages. Our core values are responsibility, respect, tolerance and a strong sense of community. We follow the rigorous national curricula with an emphasis on diverse teaching methods, hands-on activities and engaging materials. Students are encouraged to pursue their own goals and excel, which is reflected in the rankings of Finnish senior high schools.
Teacher training
Class teachers, subject teachers, student counsellors, special education teachers, international students from educational and student exchange programmes - supervised teaching practice is our vocation.
University schools
Teacher training schools are administratively part of the faculties or units of education, they apply educational theory and know-how in practice. Collaboration between teacher training schools, teacher education units and academic departments assures the development of our supervised teaching practice.
Supervised teacher training practice
Relevant research is applied at all stages of the supervised teaching practice. Supervised orientation practice (3ECTC credits) concentrates on developing student teachers’ knowledge of pupils and various teaching and digital environments. Supervised basic practice (7 ECTC credits) focuses on limited subject areas and didactical skills, whereas in advanced supervised practice (7 ECTC credits) student teachers are expected to apply latest research-based theoretical knowledge when designing their teaching.
In-service training
In-service education and refresher courses
Our central location in downtown campus area makes us an ideal venue for various educational events. We offer a variety of in-service education and refresher courses for teachers. The current foci of our continuing professional development training are on digital skills and teachers’ adoption of update assessment methods and functional learning practices.
Tailored modules for foreigners
In addition to having a regional impact, we offer tailored training modules for teachers and various professionals in the fields of curriculum design and administration. Our highly qualified teaching staff and update learning environments foster professional growth and development. For more information, please contact Leading Headmaster Jyrki Huusko (jyrki.huusko@uef.fi) or Headmaster of Basic Education Jyrki Korkki (jyrki.korkki@uef.fi).
Principles
Pedagogy, andragogy and heutagogy
Though pedagogical orientation permeates our organisation at every level from leadership and curricula design to assessment and teaching practices, we incorporate increasing levels of andragogical and heutagogical principles whenever it makes sense. Every teacher is allowed to choose their teaching orientation, be it pedagogy, andragogy, heutagogy or even metagogy, to suit the students, the content and the objectives at hand.
Learning as a holistic process
Our learner-centered approach helps teachers and pupils to balance between multiple objectives, strategies and teaching materials. Learning as such is considered a holistic process, in which teachers guarantee both structured progress and authentic, individual learning experiences for our students.
Adhering to differing learning backgrounds and needs is one of our guiding principles in designing teaching. For example, collaborative methods, inquiry and problem-based learning and the adoption of digital learning environments also help us in achieving the goal of increased self-efficacy. This approach involves the idea of expanding the concept of a teacher to comprise students themselves, along with expertise outside the boundaries of our immediate school context.
Affordances and agency
The goal of all our activities is to establish networks of different types of affordances to all members of our organisation, from pre-school pupils to high-end professionals. In addition to various cognitive and perceptual affordances, inspiring physical learning environments, social interaction and warm relationships between members of our community are held in high regard. At its best, our learning ecosystem nurtures agency, enhancing both co-operation and shared expertise.
Research and development
All Finnish university teacher training schools are developer-schools for universities and thus characterised by their research-oriented nature. As such we offer a platform for mutual development interests and collaborate on joint research, experimentation and development schemes with the University of Eastern Finland and companies with an educational interest. The most common development and collaboration patterns comprise projects of individual employees and various networks and joint projects between our school and the University of Eastern Finland.
Part of our strategy is to support teaching staff in the systematic implementation, reporting and publication of their development and experimental projects. In addition, augmenting counselling and project management skills as well as helping employees to streamline their project operations have become one of our professional training interests.
The role of networks in developing expertise is widely acknowledged in our school. Networks help us to recognise needs for improvement in our own expertise and offer platforms for sharing expertise within and outside our work community.
Though multiple development schemes are currently implemented in our school, we are on a constant lookout for innovation activities, new schemes and best practices at regional, national and international levels. For further information, please contact Headmaster of Basic Education Jyrki Korkki (jyrki.korkki@uef.fi).
As an employer, our school fosters research-orientation by substantiating and supporting the research activities of its employees in multiple ways. Among our current strategic objectives is to solidify collaboration with scientific mentors and support publication operations. The ultimate goal is to closely cooperate in modelling and advancing modern pedagogy, and to actively promote the application of relevant research.
Research-based development of general education and supervised teaching practice provide the wider context of our past and current research interests. In addition to developing physical and digital learning environments, dissertations in progress cover, eg., transversal competencies, music education, sports education and the evolvement of professionalism in Finnish teacher training schools.
Ongoing research in our school can be divided into three different categories:
Firstly, research is conducted on development projects by our post-doctoral teaching staff and researchers from the Philosophical Faculty. Many projects involve companies with an interest in developing physical and digital learning environments.
Secondly, some members of our staff are temporarily holding positions in the Philosophical Faculty of the UEF and the Faculty of Educational Sciences at the University of Helsinki as researchers and university lecturers.
Thirdly, members of our teaching staff are actively encouraged to participate in post-graduate studies and commonly, several have a doctoral dissertation in progress.
Contact
You can browse the staff in UEF Connect. You can also search staff members by name here.
Tulliportti Teacher Training School
Postal address
University of Eastern Finland Teacher Training School
Tulliportti Teacher Training School
P.O. Box 111, FI-80101
Finland
Visiting address
Grades 1-6: Tulliportinkatu 1
Grades 7-9 and upper secondary school: Opiskelijankatu 2
80130 Joensuu
Rantakylä Teacher Training School
Postal address
University of Eastern Finland Teacher Training School
Rantakylä Teacher Training School
P.O. Box 111, FI-80101
Finland
Visiting address
Pataluodonkatu 6
80160 Joensuu