Comprehensive teacher education and its related research are a long-standing and nationally recognized strength of the University of Jyväskylä. Our university originated from Finland’s first teacher training seminar, founded in 1863 by Uno Cygnaeus in Jyväskylä.
Today, the university hosts an internationally unique multidisciplinary research hub focusing on learning, teaching, and interaction—one of our strategic research areas. The University of Jyväskylä has ranked among the world’s leading universities in the field of education for several years. We lead the EDUCA – Education for the Future Flagship funded by the Academy of Finland, the first high-level research competence cluster dedicated to education and learning.
Teacher education is offered across five faculties. The sixth faculty, the School of Business and Economics, collaborates with the Finnish Institute for Educational Research to carry out a national mission in the economics of education. Established in 2020, JYU.Edu promotes research-based renewal of teacher education to meet future needs in teacher competence, education, and the development of working life.
In the everyday life of JYU, we want to inspire and support teacher education development and research, and create space for discussion and interaction across faculty, departmental and disciplinary boundaries.
JYU´s rich and varied educational offer provides a strong foundation for teacher education. The University of Jyväskylä offers degree programmes and continuing education in teacher education and guidance, from early childhood education and primary school teachers to special education teachers, subject teachers, university teachers and adult educators. We also educate experts in guidance and educational management. JYU offers degrees that provide multidisciplinary skills and qualifications to work as both a classroom teacher and a subject teacher.
University of Jyväskylä has an active subject teaching development group, which brings together teacher educators from different faculties to co-develop and strengthen research. Education of subject teachers is carried out in five faculties: the Faculty of Education and Psychology (KPTK), the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HYTK), the Faculty of Information Technology (ITK), the Faculty of Sport and Health Sciences (LTK) and the Faculty of Mathematics and Sciences (MATLU).
University of Jyväskylä aims to strengthen our leading position as a teacher educator and to be a national pioneer in research-based teacher education reform.
Under the leadership of JYU.Edu, the National Cooperation Network for Teacher Education and Research KOPTUKE has been established to develop teacher education and research through cooperation between universities and universities of applied sciences. KOPTUKE supports research cooperation in the field of education and strengthens the conditions for high-quality research. JYU.Edu/KOPTUKE has funded nine studies related to teacher education between 2021 and 2023.
The KOPTUKE network works in close cooperation with other key actors involved in teacher education and teacher work, such as the national Teacher Education Forum and the OAJ (Teachers' Trade Union).
The University of Jyväskylä is a strong national player in the research of teaching, with research that is high-quality, multidisciplinary, and innovative in its field. The research includes cross-disciplinary initiatives and provides a solid foundation for teacher education. Our research focuses, among other things, on teaching, learning, teacherhood, various learning pathways, and education. Explore our multidisciplinary and high-level research!
The University of Jyväskylä leads the EDUCA - Future of Education flagship funded by the Academy of Finland, and our university hosts the InterLearn Centre of Excellence in Learning Dynamics and Intervention Research. We also conduct socially impactful research on schools' capacity to cope with crises and study at the highest level the early developmental pathways of mathematical skills, motivation, and emotions from birth to school age. In addition, the university hosts several high-level research groups funded by the Academy of Finland and the European Commission.
The activities of the JYU.Edu coordination team are supported by a vision group, which also serves as the leadership team.
In addition, the activities are guided by a steering group, which includes one representative from each faculty involved in teacher education.
JYU.Edu highlights research conducted at the University of Jyväskylä relating to teacher education, with a particular focus on the themes of teaching, learning, the nature of teaching, learning pathways and education.
Our aim is to strengthen the research base of teacher education and to promote cooperation between higher education institutions.
