In a novel approach to initial teacher education, we combined a program review perspective and a psychological perspective. First, we assessed the extent to which student teachers (n=137) felt that components of their BEd program prepared them for teaching and whether these components represented meaningful program dimensions. Through content…

Student teaching is contested ground for teacher candidates' learning. Struggling to implement practises when expectations of university and schools are inconsistent, they experience conflicts between these two worlds. In this article, we conceptualise student teaching as a space where conflicts can be generative for candidates' learning. We use…

In the literature on boundaries, it is sometimes falsely assumed that learning naturally evolves from a co-location of diverse practices and perspectives. Empirical studies indicate that this is not self-evident. The aim of this article is to understand the challenge of learning at the boundary. In the light of this aim, the article interprets…

In this article we conceptualise the challenges of communication between a mortgage company and its customers in terms of crossing boundaries between communities. Through an ethnographic study we first address the question: what are the challenges of communication between sales agents and customers of a mortgage company around mathematical…

The article develops an earlier account of relational agency ("IJER" 2005). Its starting point is a view of practices as knowledge-laden and emotionally freighted sites of purposeful and expert activity. Arguments therefore draw on cultural historical analyses of activities, practices and the institutions that shape them. Relational agency in…

The article analyses a collaborative effort of learning across workplace boundaries in a regional learning network of South Savo, Finland. The focus is on the "Forum of In-house Development" in the network. Our objective is to highlight a dialectical approach to boundaries that draws from the ideas of cultural-historical activity theory. Expansive…

This article will consider the formative effect of boundaries between activities in directing and deflecting the attention of actors who are seeking to develop innovatory practice at these boundaries. Specific attention will be directed to practices of communication at these boundaries and also to the way in which these boundaries shape the…

As teachers enter the school communities of their initial practice, they experience identity shifts that reflect their learning. Throughout teacher education they have constructed an identity informed by their previous school experiences, the ideas and approaches promoted by their teacher education programs, and an ideal of the teachers they hope…

The Matthew effect is often used as a metaphor to describe a widening gap between good and poor readers over time. In this study we examined the development of individual differences in reading and cognitive functioning in children with reading difficulties and normal readers from Grades 1 to 3. Matthew effects were observed for individual…

The aim is to describe and define constructive competition as an educational phenomenon in different learning contexts. The study involved a total of 78 children aged between 5 and 18, and 29 teachers from pre-schools, compulsory school, and upper secondary programs. Data were generated in individual interviews and use was made of critical…

This study examines the changes in educational inequality at the school- and individual-levels in 1991 and 2001. Comparisons are made between the IEA Reading Literacy Study 1991 and the so called 10-Year Trend Study in PIRLS 2001. The between-school differences in reading achievement variance and the size of the relationship between SES and…

This is a Swedish study about the correspondence between higher education studies and the obtained profession considering both skill level and specialisation. The labour market position in 2002, for a student population, aged 26-28 years, was analyzed. Also those students who had not obtained a degree, but who had studied at least two years were…

In most European countries, more women than men attend undergraduate Higher Education (HE) and more women than men obtain degrees. In Sweden the proportion of female students has long been in the vicinity of 51-60%. The number of doctoral entrants and degrees meet a "balanced gender criterion," defined as no sex constituting more than 60% of the…

Mixed-aged (MA) classes are a common phenomenon around the world. In Sweden, these types of classes increased rapidly during the 1980s and 1990s, despite the fact that existing empirical support for MA classes is weak. In this paper, the effect of attending an MA class during grades 4-6 on students' cognitive skills is estimated. Using a unique…

This study set out to examine parents' perceptions of the malleability of their child's academic competencies. A total of 97 mothers and fathers were asked to rate their child's potential for improving her/his competencies in mathematics and Finnish, using both intrapersonal and interpersonal criteria in their ratings. These two criteria were…