Does Teacher Education Matter? Newly Graduated Teachers’ Evaluations of Teacher Education in Sweden

Abstract

What do newly graduated teachers think about the value of their own teacher preparation? This study reports the findings of a national questionnaire administered to almost 10,000 student teachers in Sweden who in the 2007-08 academic year were conferred with a teacher degree. Teacher education programmes in Sweden were subject to national evaluations in 2005 and 2008. Substantial criticism was voiced against programmes and the public debate was loud. In relation to those evaluations and the following debates, the national association for deans responsible for teacher education programmes sparked an internal discussion on quality, an initiative that resulted in launching this questionnaire as a collaborative project. The questionnaire asked for the opinions of these newly graduated teachers by including questions in four areas, with each evaluating a different aspect of the teacher profession concerning how well they had been prepared for: 1) direct teaching/instruction; 2) the wider work of a teacher; 3) development work; and 4) outreach and collaboration. According to these newly graduated teachers, they appear to have been best prepared for their entry to working life when it comes to direct teaching/instruction. The other three areas have a smaller proportion of satisfied respondents. It was also found that, despite decades of reforms aimed at merging the two teacher education traditions (the academic tradition and the seminar tradition), significant differences still remain concerning how subject teachers (teachers for secondary school) and class teachers (teachers for pre- and primary school) experience and evaluate their teacher preparation. The results are analysed in relation to the general debate on learning in higher education and the more specific discussion on the value of teacher preparation. They are also discussed in relation to programme design and whether particular areas of study should mainly be located in either initial (pre-service) teacher education or programmes for professional development.