What is powerful educational knowledge and how could it be built?

Authors

• Janne Säntti Helsingin yliopisto
• Mikko Puustinen Helsingin yliopisto

DOI: https://doi.org/10.33350/ka.129467

Keywords:

powerful knowledge, educational science, teacher education, teacher work

Abstract

In our article, we examine what is powerful educational knowledge and how it could be built in teacher education. The method of our research is a conceptual analysis. We examine the theoretical perspectives on forms and discourses of knowledge presented by Basil Bernstein (2000), which we use to analyze the structure and social organization of educational knowledge. We localize Finnish teacher education in the integrative tradition, for which it is essential to strive to combine the theoretical and practical examination of education. We analyze the factors that support or prevent the creation of powerful knowledge in the context of Finnish teacher education. We conclude that in teacher training future teachers are taught powerful knowledge that not only helps them to understand the diversity of education, but also reveals contextuality and the potential contradictory and ideological tendencies of educational interests and phenomena. We argue that everyday knowledge about education based on experience alone is not sufficient as a prerequisite for meaningful educational knowledge. Similarly, the conditions for the construction of educational knowledge and different approaches should be presented in teacher training.