Guidelines for Teaching Practice

Familiarize yourself with the competencies of teacher education and the practical implementation of teaching practice independently and / or with your study group. The teaching practice takes place according to your own personal study plan.

The areas of competence important for teaching practice can be found in the curriculum. You can also include the intended learning outcomes of other areas in your teaching practice according to your own study plan. NOTE. For students who started teaching practice in the academic year 2021 or before, the Learning Objectives are found in the curricula for the academic year in question. (See Curriculum Plans and select a year.)

Before your teacher training, have a counselling session with your tutor. Talk to them about possible places for the teaching practice, schedules, and ways to acquire and demonstrate competence. Also discuss (according to your personal study plan) what areas of competence you want to enhance and demonstrate during your teaching practice. The timing of the teaching practice depends on the schedule of the training institution.

Your teaching practice can take place (under the guidance of a pedagogically qualified guiding teacher) in your own substance field in a vocational school or university or in your own school where you work as a teacher.

After discussing with your tutor about the teaching practice, get yourself a training place and find a suitable guiding teacher who is pedagogically qualified. Then enroll in the Peppi database and register the particulars of the training place and the info about your guiding teacher. The data can be supplemented later.

If needed, also education designer Sirpa Aalto (sirpa.h.aalto@oulu.fi) will help you with these matters. In Rovaniemi and Lapland, students are supported by lecturer Sirpa Perunka (). The School of Professional Teacher Education pays, as agreed, the tutoring fee of 125 euros to the teacher or organisation guiding the teaching practice.

If you do your teaching practice at an educational institution and under the guidance of a guiding teacher, make sure that a co-operation and training agreement has been made between the School of Professional Teacher Education and the training place before starting your teaching practice. Once you have registered for a teaching practice in the Peppi system and recorded the details of your teaching practice place and your guiding teacher, those details will at the same time be transferred to the pre-filled teaching practice form. Please complete the information in the form as needed and estimate the duration of your teaching practice. Print the contracts so that one signed copy stays in your teaching practice place, one comes to the School of Professional Teacher Education and, if you wish, one remains with you. The teaching internship agreement is scanned and sent to the e-mail address or a paper copy can be sent by to

School of Professional Teacher Education
Oulu University of Applied Sciences / Linnanmaa Campus
Yliopistokatu 9
90570 Oulu
Finland

All copies of the teaching practice agreement will be signed by the student and the supervisor of the guiding teacher of the internship institution (usually the rector or headmaster). The signature of the Oulu University of Applied Sciences is not needed for the contract, as it is replaced by a running, electronic contract number which identifies each contract.

If you work as a teacher and will demonstrate the learning objectives in your own work, you do not need a guiding teacher nor a separate co-operation and training agreement. However, make sure you are enrolled in a teaching internship in the Peppi system.

We require a criminal record extract from all trainee students who are working with children under 18 years of age. Order the extract from Oikeusrekisterikeskus (the Legal Register Center) and show it online or in situ to the Head of Student Services, Pia Oikarinen () or in Rovaniemi, to Sirpa Perunka () (Polytechnics Act 6: § 34.4, Government Decree on Polytechnics § 11). If you do not have the possibility of electronic authentication, you can apply for the extract using the application form that is found on the same web page.

For the teaching training purposes of our students, the extract is free of charge. When applying for the extract, please indicate the purpose of the survey: "Training with children". The extract may not be older than six months when presented. The submission of a clean criminal record extract is a prerequisite for the teaching practice with minors.

Update your personal study plan (PSP) before starting the teaching practice. Include in your PSP the skills you aim to enhance and demonstrate during your teaching practice. Include the Learning Outcomes you have selected and the select the methods to develop and demonstrate your competence. In addition to the PSP, you can create a separate, specific plan for your teaching practice. Discuss these options with your tutor. During the teaching practice you will be guided by your guiding teacher in addition to your tutor.

You teach and guide in an authentic educational context dictated by your substance area and your degree in accordance with the set curriculum. Develop your skills and demonstrate the competence you need during your training practice. Your teaching practice continues until you have acquired and demonstrated the competence specified in the learning outcomes. Your guiding teacher observes your teaching and guidance and gives feedback. Your tutor will also observe your competence at either the training place or on-line. You can also show your competence by making videos during your teaching practice.

After completing your teaching practice, your guiding teacher will prepare you a written assessment of your knowledge and send a copy to your tutor in the Oulu School of Professional Teacher Education (). The evaluation form can be found on the instruction page for guiding teachers at the website of the Oulu school of professional teacher education.

Once you have completed the learning outcomes that are included in your teaching practice, the tutor confirms your competence by adding the credits in Peppi.