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Spirituality is an important domain in the holistic education of gifted students. The definition of transformational giftedness makes it possible to emphasize spiritual domain in student development. Spirituality provides possibilities to reflect on the values and meanings of life that could provide purpose for gifted students in their studies and for their future lives. The concepts of religion and spirituality are defined, and their different roles clarified in the context of education. Spiritual sensitivity is introduced as a human capacity that can be measured scientifically with the spiritual sensitivity questionnaire instrument. Research findings among young generation and gifted students indicate that mystery-sensing, contemplation, and search for meaning in life are important aspects in spirituality of our generation.

The aim of this study was to examine the development of the associations between elementary school students’ mindsets and the attentional neural processing of positive and negative feedback in math. For this, we analyzed data collected twice from 100 Finnish elementary school students. During the autumn semesters of their 3rd and 4th grade, the participants’ general intelligence mindset and math ability mindset were measured with a questionnaire, and their brain responses elicited by performance-relevant feedback were recorded during an arithmetic task. We found that students’ fixed mindsets about general intelligence and math ability were associated with greater attention allocated to positive feedback as indicated by a larger P300. These associations were driven by the effects of mindsets on attention allocation to positive feedback in grade 4. Additionally, 4th graders’ more fixed general intelligence mindset was marginally associated with greater attention allocated to negative feedback. In addition, the effects of both mindsets on attention allocation to feedback were marginally stronger when the children were older. The present results, although marginal in the case of negative feedback and mainly driven by effects in grade 4, are possibly a reflection of the greater self-relevance of feedback stimuli for students with a more fixed mindset. It is also possible that these findings reflect the fact that, in evaluative situations, mindset could influence stimulus processing in general. The marginal increase in the effects of mindsets as children mature may reflect the development of coherent mindset meaning systems during elementary school years. publishedVersion

Giftedness in the Finnish educational culture is seen as taboo, and it is easier to talk about talent development. We need to widen the concept in the ways that would address both excellence and ethics. The definition of transformational giftedness includes a beyond-the-self orientation and implies that the purpose of giftedness is to help to make the world a better place. This kind of definition might be the key in using the term “giftedness” in egalitarian and inclusive cultures like Finland.

This qualitative study examined factors that gifted Finnish upper secondary school physics students ( N = 24) identified as helping or hindering their talent development in physics. In-depth interviews captured students’ descriptions of critical incidents regarding their physics talent development at home, school, and in leisure time. The results show that most of the critical experiences the students identified were related to fostering talent development. Parental physics-specific support, motivated and gifted peers, digital and traditional physics-related media, certain teacher characteristics, and some instruction- and curriculum-based opportunities were among the factors the students considered supportive. The results also reveal several factors relating to family, school, and leisure time that hinder talent development. Moreover, the analysis highlights the students’ low interest in physics competitions. The findings can be used by administrators, teachers, and parents to identify the opportunities that best support the talent development of gifted physics students.

There is a lack of research on students’ conceptions of giftedness and intelligence, despite recognition of their influence on real-life factors such as achievement and motivation. This paper presents a cross-sectional mixed methods study that investigated Finnish students’ (age 6–16 years; N = 1282) implicit conceptions of giftedness and intelligence and the mindsets underlying such conceptions. More particularly, the study aimed to investigate how giftedness and intelligence are constructed and understood in the minds of students and how students’ mindsets are actualized in their descriptions of giftedness and intelligence. The results indicated that, from very early on, students differentiate between the two concepts. Giftedness and intelligence were both seen as malleable, but views on giftedness were more fixed than were conceptions of intelligence. Both age- and school-related differences were found in students’ conceptions. Furthermore, the study demonstrated differences in conceptions of giftedness and intelligence between growth- and fixed-mindset students. publishedVersion

Research on the advantages and disadvantages of project-based learning (PBL) among gifted pupils studying physics is scarce. This mixed-methods study investigates engagement, experiences, and learning outcomes among gifted Finnish upper-secondary-level students learning physics through PBL. A six-lesson PBL module on basic Newtonian mechanics was designed and implemented for a group of gifted students ( N = 38), whereas a traditional teacher-driven approach was used among a control group ( N = 38) of gifted students. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire, interviews and a physics test. According to the results, PBL met the preconditions (challenge, skill, interest) for engaging the students in learning physics. It generated interest in learning among the vast majority, but not as many found it challenging. The findings also highlight the impact of autonomy when learning through PBL. No differences in overall learning outcomes were found between the groups.

Five student teachers’ professional identities, formed during their Islamic teacher education program, were examined. Narrative methodology revealed the formation of an ambiguous epistemic orientation to teaching during their education’s first three years. The pedagogical and socio-cultural context of teacher education program and a lack of previous teaching interest may have contributed to this identity formation. Their narratives (collected through interviews and journals) showed they deconstructed their identities from an ambiguous to an emancipating epistemic orientation during their practicum. Among other possible factors, an “internal dialogue,” established between their personal and professional selves while observing real conditions of students in schools, contributed to this deconstruction.

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Parental engagement is a central aspect of children's holistic education, i.e., schooling-related and nonschooling-related learning. Parents' role in supporting such integrative learning is increasingly necessary to develop students' social, emotional, and intellectual skills. Nonetheless, it remains unclear which parental practices support holistic learning. The purpose of this qualitative multiple-case study was to identify and describe the current practices of engagement with learning of four exemplar parents in Finland (N = 2) and Portugal (N = 2). These four parents of primary-school-age children were individually interviewed, and abductive content analysis was performed to analyze their narratives. Our results evidence four patterns of exemplar practices: Showing active interest in the child, supporting autonomy, building a partnership with the teacher and the school, and visiting the child's school. The study concludes that even though exemplar parents use a variety of specific engagement practices, they support holistic learning through their ownership of action in such interactions, clear awareness about their parental role, and consistency in their intentions. Exemplar parental engagement within different cultural contexts was discussed. Recommendations for teachers' pedagogy are presented regarding the benefits of digital communication, goal-oriented invitations to school, and promotion of family time in the home for enhancing children's holistic learning. publishedVersion

This study investigates how a growth mindset is actualised in one first-grade teacher’s classroom. Mindset refers to implicit beliefs that individuals hold about basic human qualities. A person with a growth mindset sees these qualities as malleable and subject to development, whereas a person with a fixed mindset sees these qualities as static and unalterable. Previous research has shown that teachers’ mindsets have an influence on their pedagogical thinking and practice. The data in this study include classroom observations, videotaping and stimulated recall interviews. Deductive content analysis was used in the inquiry. The teacher’s growth mindset pedagogy was actualised with one student in particular when the teacher gave critical feedback in the form of “not yet”. This gradually changed the student’s fixed mindset behaviour towards a growth mindset. The teacher’s growth mindset was also actualised in the class as a whole when she fostered students’ process-focused thinking with concrete and immediate praise, indicating her high expectations. The teacher studied can be regarded as an example of a growth-mindset teacher, and her actions and reflections on the teaching-studying-learning process provide illuminating examples of growth mindset pedagogy in classroom interactions. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.18.8.9

This study investigates how moral virtues create purpose for ethical leadership. Four exemplary principals, two from Estonia and two from Finland, were interviewed to study their perceptions of critical incidents in their work and how moral virtues are manifest in their reflections. The results of qualitative content analysis showed that the critical incidents were related to themselves as principals and to their work with teachers, students and families, and their communities as a whole. The principals demonstrated the virtues of wisdom and knowledge in creating long-term visions for their schools and building the schools for future generations. Other leading virtues were humanity, courage and justice, indicating caring and honesty and involving teachers and parents in decision-making. Based on our study, virtues seem to motivate principals to achieve their desired goals and solve challenging situations in morally sustainable ways. The study confirms that principals' work is value-based, and thus, reflection on moral virtues and the moral dimension of leadership should be integral parts of principals' education.

This research compared how the scientific literacy-related goals of the current Chinese and Finnish national science curricula at primary school level are actualised using a revised Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scientific literacy framework in the content analysis of the curricula. The content of the curricula focuses principally on knowledge, followed by competencies and attitudes, respectively. The learning context was seen to be thoroughly integrated with the content in both countries. However, the curricula are written in different ways. Generally, the literacy objectives for both curricula are based on scientific knowledge (Vision I) and the application of knowledge-based skills in situations (Vision II). However, they are characterised by implicit views that derive from the pursuit of the value-driven transformation of individuals and society achieved through science education (Vision III). The Chinese curriculum appears to favour the Anglo-American curriculum tradition, whereas the Finnish curriculum appears to be more attached to the Bildung-Didaktik tradition in terms of core tasks and the specification of objectives. The recommendation is that Vision III should be included in the science curricula, and should explicitly relate to social and scientific topics with a view to furthering a scientifically literate public.

Special issue reprint: Contemporary Teacher Education: A Global Perspective. Edited by Kirsi Tirri ISBN 978-3-0365-1690-5 (Hbk) ISBN 978-3-0365-1689-9 (PDF) mdpi.com/books/pdfview/book/4125 This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Contemporary Teacher Education: A Global Perspective that was published in Education Sciences. The current educational reforms in Finland and Portugal require a holistic engagement of parents with learning, bringing parents and teachers together as partners. This qualitative study, which interviewed Finnish (N = 10) and Portuguese (N = 9) parents, aimed to explore parents’ views on the role of teachers in supporting parent–teacher partnerships and parental engagement with the school. Inductive content analysis was performed to analyze the interviews. From a general standpoint, three patterns were found in the parents’ narratives about the role of teachers in supporting partnership and engagement: communication, professionalism, and invitations to active parental participation. From a cross-cultural standpoint, Finnish parents evidenced partnerships and engagement grounded in little face-to-face contact but consistent online communication with the teacher, as well as trust in their professionalism and independent work. The Portuguese parents revealed rather frequent active participation within the school premises, more recurrent face-to-face communication with the teacher, and appreciation for teachers’ timely responses and support. Recommendations for a holistic approach of engagement and partnerships were brought forward within the context of teacher education, such as the need to maintain simple but regular communication with parents and the relevance of reconsidering the frequency of parental activities in the school.

This article discusses the challenges of educating teachers in Finland. As a goal in teacher education for the 21st century we propose the purposeful teacher, referring to a teacher who has a long-term moral commitment to serve students, the school community and society. Our data collected from student (N = 912) and practising (N = 77) teachers yielded information on the purposes they identified as important in their lives. The survey included quantitative instruments and open- ended questions. The teachers identified happiness, relationships, work and self-actualisation as the most important contents of their aspirations. All the content categories could be understood as potential purposes in that the benefit extended beyond the teachers themselves. However, almost half of the student teachers (46%) and over half of teachers (55%) revealed only self-orientation. Less than half of them (43%, 36%, respectively) showed a beyond-the-self orientation, which is indicative of a purposeful teacher. Among the practising teachers, teaching appeared to be mainly a mediating factor in realising their purposes or aspirations. These results have implications related to contemporary teacher education in Finland. Both pre- and in-service teachers need to know about purposeful teaching in order to find meaning in their work.

Given that little is known how peer feedback reflects adolescents’ academic well-being in different cultures, this study investigates, by means of multiple-group structural equation modeling (SEM), the influence of peer feedback on the mindset and academic motivation of Chinese (N = 992) and Finnish (N = 870) students in the fourth to the ninth school grades. Within this investigation, we also explore the culture-invariant and culture-dependent nature of student feedback, mindset and academic motivation. The results indicate that the way students praise their peers in their feedback primes and modifies their mindsets and academic motivation. Person-focused praise reflects a fixed mindset and negative academic motivation (i.e., avoidance), whereas process-focused praise undermines negative academic motivation. The pupils in the two samples had growth mindsets. However, the Finnish students preferred to bestow neutral praise and to be more negative with regard to their academic motivation whereas the Chinese students favored process- and person-focused praise, the former reflecting not only their growth mindset but also their positive academic motivation (i.e., trying).

The purpose of this chapter is to present the key concepts and actors in pedagogy and didactics in the context of institutional teaching. We present a holistic approach to education and view human beings as lifelong learners who need to be educated comprehensively to actualize their full potential. In this chapter we discuss how pedagogy, the science and art of teaching, can promote the educational goals identified in the curriculum. In this chapter we adhere to the Didaktik curriculum tradition in which values and morals are emphasized in guiding the teaching-studying-learning process. This means that pedagogy is moral in nature, and the teacher’s main task is to reflect the values underlying her teaching and the purposes she wants to advance in her teaching. We also discuss the current pedagogical challenges in both basic and higher education in educating students for the twenty-first century.

The research aims to define the scope and challenges of intellectual property rights protection in higher schools of Ukraine and offer recommendations to address those for higher education officials and university leaders. The findings of the research rely on the results of an anonymous expert survey conducted among non-law students of two institutions of higher education using a specially designed questionnaire. They reveal a significantly low level of students’ awareness and knowledge of intellectual property rights, academic integrity, and protection thereof, which undermines the internal education quality. At the same time, there exists a high demand for receiving the relevant knowledge within the university programmes the students are enrolled in. It, therefore, seems expedient to design and include “Intellectual Property and Academic Integrity” as a subject in the curricula of higher educational institutions of Ukraine to be taught at the first year of training, and develop a special course in the fundamentals of intellectual property and academic writing to build the students’ relevant competences. Similarly, it is essential that the teaching staff should be trained accordingly and have the relevant powers and tools to impart and enforce academic integrity rights protection.

Given that little is known about the correlations between teachers’ mindset and their pedagogical strategies, in this article, we explore Chinese and Finnish teachers’ mindsets and their pedagogical strategies from the perspective of praise and adaptive teaching. This study was conducted in two Chinese schools (N = 50) and one Finnish school (N = 77) with instruments of the mindset inventory, praise scale and adaptive learning scale (PALS). The results reveal that Chinese and Finnish teachers’ preferences for pedagogical strategies differ even though they hold the same growth mindset, which confirms that teachers do not necessarily utilize growth mindset messages even though they endorse a growth mindset. While Finnish teachers prefer pedagogical methods in accordance with growth mindset pedagogy, Chinese teachers seem to apply mixed strategies reflecting both growth and fixed mindsets. The results imply differences within Finnish and Chinese teacher education regarding the internalization of the principles of growth mindset pedagogy. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.19.2.15

The purpose of this study was to investigate the kinds of field education experiences that social services students (N = 113) regard as meaningful. The theoretical structure was based on a ”purpose of life” framework (Damon, Menon & Bronk 2003). Pursuing a helping profession is identified as a life purpose when it is a personally meaningful long-term life goal that is intentionally realized by benefiting others. Based on quantitative and qualitative data, the study relates the students’ meaningful field education experiences to a sense of community, learning professional competencies, and learning related to the self. Students’ confidence in helping and in social advocacy increased after their field education, and they were less concerned with searching for purpose. Helping seems to be an important life goal for the students but explicitly reflecting its pro-social meanings does not seem apparent., Mitä työharjoittelukokemuksia sosionomiopiskelijat pitävät merkityksellisinä? Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, millaisia työharjoittelukokemuksia sosionomiopiskelijat (N=113) pitivät merkityksellisinä. Tutkimuksen teoreettisena viitekehyksenä on ”elämän tarkoituksen” määritelmä (Damon, Menon & Bronk 2003). Auttamisammatin tavoittelu määritellään elämän tarkoitukseksi, mikäli se on henkilökohtaisesti merkityksellinen pitkän tähtäimen tavoite, joka tietoisesti toteutetaan muiden hyödyksi. Laadullisen ja määrällisen aineiston perusteella opiskelijoiden merkittävät kokemukset koskivat yhteisöllisyyttä sekä ammattiin ja itseen liittyvään oppimista. Luottamus omiin auttamisen ja sosiaalisen asianajon taitoihin kasvoi harjoittelun aikana, ja opiskelijat kokivat vähemmän tarvetta etsiä elämän tarkoitusta. Auttaminen vaikuttaa olevan tärkeä elämäntavoite opiskelijoille, mutta sen prososiaalisten merkitysten eksplisiittinen reflektointi ei ole kuitenkaan ilmeistä.

This exploratory mixed methods case study examines the life goals of Finnish social services students (N = 151) and whether they justify their goals with self- or other-focused reasoning. Purpose is understood as reflecting the students' life goals that benefit not only oneself but also others. On the basis of this study, close relationships, pursuit of happiness, self-actualization and hedonistic goals described these students' life goals. Most of the students justified their goals through self-benefits only. One-fifth of the students found purpose in familial concerns and one-fourth in pursuing a helping profession. Students' life goals and purposes are discussed particularly in relation to helping profession.

This article examines Iranian secondary students' (N=336) life purposes. Economic and hedonistic life goals were the most valued. Relationships in terms of having a family and children were also appreciated. In the students' views, religiousness was associated with social goals such as helping others in need and volunteering in the community. Gender differences in students' life goals occurred only in aesthetic goals, which applied more to girls than to boys. K-Cluster analysis identified four purpose profiles: self-oriented dabblers, beyond-the-self (BTS) dreamers, self-oriented life goal pursuers and purposeful youth. The dominant profile among the youth was self-oriented life goal pursuer (37%). The study validated Damon's conceptual work on purpose profiles in a previously unstudied cultural context.

Empirical research on mindset has indicated that mindset can predict numerous individual achievement, including academic, cognitive, motivational, affective and even socioeconomic, through mediation of social-cognitive approaches. The purpose of this paper is to compile and synthesize articles published from 1998 to 2017 on the relationship between mindset and academic achievement and explore the role of mindset in academic achievement. The studies indicate that students’ mindsets play several roles of cause and mediator in academic achievement. Mindset can also be an outcome of students’ academic achievement. Furthermore, in some studies, the relationship between mindset and achievement is non-correlational. Meanwhile, teachers’ mindsets play the role of cause or mediator in students’ academic achievement, but no role of outcome. Limitations and recommendations for future studies are discussed.

In this chapter, a purposeful teacher is introduced as a goal in teacher education for the twenty-first century. Purposeful teacher is defined as a teacher with moral purposes. Purposeful teachers are ethical professionals who have both freedom and responsibility to make pedagogical decisions in the best interest of their students. Purposeful teaching is discussed in the Finnish context with some examples of the current educational challenges. The purpose profiles of Finnish student teachers are presented to inform the needs for purpose education for future teachers. Different approaches to teach purpose in the teacher education and in schools are introduced with examples from different countries. The didactic approach used in moral education is presented as a case-example to teach purpose in teacher education. The aims of twenty-first century learning call for purposeful teachers who actualize and model lifelong learning in their profession. A growth mindset in learning and ethical skills is introduced as important assets in the professional growth toward purposeful teaching.

This mixed methods study introduces the concept of purpose in the social pedagogical education of Finnish social services students ( N = 151). The aim of this study is to specify the purpose profiles of the students and to investigate how students with different profiles define the intended outcome of having a purpose in life and why they want to help unknown others. Three purpose profiles are identified: dabbler, purposeful and dreamer. Most of the social services students appear to be dabblers, who differ from the purposeful group in that they keep searching for new purposes in life. Purposeful students were the most able to address values as their guiding principles in life, although what was most important for students in all profiles was to pursue a pleasant life rather than a value-driven or some form of good life. Purposeful students also specified value-based helping goals more than others and felt that their own well-being was the key to helping others. The study points out that students’ awareness of their values and purposes should be promoted during their social pedagogical education. Most students might not be aware why they are pursuing a helping profession. Students could be supported in identifying helping unknown others as their life purpose in order to promote their wellbeing, satisfaction at work and wider understanding of the personal level and social level impacts of helping.

This study examined Finnish elementary school teachers' (N = 212) attitudes toward the gifted and their education. On a general level, teachers' attitudes toward gifted education were slightly positive. Teachers saw that gifted students have social value and that they need special services. The results of teachers' attitudes toward specific gifted education options were in line with earlier Finnish research, because teachers supported differentiated teaching but were more negative toward acceleration or separating the gifted into their own groups. However, despite the strong support for differentiated teaching for the gifted, teachers' positions toward practice were more skeptical.

It has been shown that individuals with a growth mindset for learning see mistakes as opportunities to learn and improve, whereas for fixed-minded individuals mistakes indicate lack of ability. Earlier empirical research on mindsets includes both quantitative surveys and qualitative approaches with observations and stimulated recall method. During performance monitoring it is possible to probe event-related brain potentials (ERPs), enabling the investigation of the neural basis of students’ different reactions to mistakes. ERP studies have shown that growth mindset is associated with an enhancement of the error positivity (Pe), an ERP reflecting awareness of and attention allocation to mistakes. More growth-minded individuals also show superior accuracy after mistakes compared to those endorsing more of a fixed mindset. Most importantly, Pe amplitude mediates the relationship between mindset and post-error accuracy. These results suggest that neural activity indexing online awareness of and attention to mistakes is intimately involved in growth-minded individuals’ ability to rebound from mistakes. In this article we review and connect educational, psychological and neuroscientific points of view to investigate the role of mindsets related to learning.