The Finnish education context is challenging for teachers. For this reason all teachers
are educated on masters-level programmes at universities. In fact, there has been a 30 year
tradition of educating elementary teachers (grades 1–6) and secondary teachers (grades 7–
12) on master-level programmes at universities. Classroom teachers teach almost all the
subjects in elementary school, whereas secondary teachers typically teach two subjects in
the lower and upper secondary school. (Jakku-Sihvonen and Niemi, 2006). Primary
teachers are educated at the Faculty of Education. Secondary teacher education is organised
in cooperation between the Faculty of the specific discipline and the Faculty of Education.
The students take a major and a minor in the subjects they intend to teach. They participate
in undergraduate courses at the subject department. These courses help students develop a
deep understanding of subject-matter knowledge and concepts as part of the conceptual framework of the subject