Master’s Degree Programme in Teaching and Learning

For those students passionate in pursuing their master’s studies in teaching and learning, this two year master’s degree course which is based at the Vasa campus of Åbo Akademi University, leads to a Finnish Teacher’s Certificate. The programme will prepare and enable students to become fully capable of independently analyzing and solving problems in education and teaching, whilst developing their skills through research.

Taking a largely research-based approach, studies in this course are combined with research in some way. With an emphasis on didactics, this programme aims to provide students with the pedagogical capabilities required for teaching assignments in primary and secondary education. Preparing students to be able to teach the relevant curriculum subjects for their chosen age range, the students will carry out a series of school-based tasks which link theory with practice and allow time for reflection. Students of this programme can look forward to learning the core values of Finnish teacher’s education, including understand the holistic development of children, positive teacher/learner interaction, as well as the importance of synergizing the relationship between theory and practice.

Orientated towards teaching assignments in primary and secondary education, this programme also provides general pedagogical qualifications to teach at any level of education as well as attend to their students’ academic and socio-economic growth. Skills learned throughout this course also include qualities to be reflective teachers who understand research-based evidence and thinking and it’s relation to education. Successful completion of this programme will result in students being awarded with a Finnish Teacher’s Certificate. This is one of several requirements needed to qualify as a teacher in Finland. The other requirements depend on the level of education you wish to teach. See career prospects for more details.

Career prospects

This programme aims to prepare students to become experts in the areas of teaching and learning, in diverse educational environments with a specific focus on primary and secondary education.

After completion of this programme, students can pursue postgraduate studies for the Doctorate of Philosophy at Åbo Akademi. The master graduates are eligible to apply for a position in the University’s Graduate School as well as other doctoral programmes within Finnish Higher Education Institutions.

Graduates of this master’s programme may also choose to pursue work as educators (primary and secondary), education experts, education consultants as well as other education-related jobs. If graduates wish to remain in Finland to teach, they will need to meet all of the requirements for the level of education they wish to teach. The general teaching certificate that the graduates will receive is one of several requirements needed to qualify as a teacher in Finland; the other requirements relate to language and previous education.

For example, if a graduate would like to become a class teacher (primary school), they would also need to have 60 credits of multidisciplinary studies in subjects and cross-curricular themes taught in basic education. If they wish to become a subject teacher, they would need at least 60 credits in the teaching subject. In both cases, the graduate would also need to prove their Finnish or Swedish proficiency through a national language test. Exceptions may apply to those who teach in a gymnasium (upper secondary school), in a bilingual school, and for those who wish to teach a foreign language.