The Purposeful Teacher

Abstract

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.

The Challenge of Educating Purposeful Teachers in Finland

“…We also found that most of the descriptions of the students and the practising teachers were self-oriented, indicating that within Damon et al's [4] and Tirri's [1] framework these participants did not exhibit the purpose or the profile of a purposeful teacher. Further, for some the other-focus referred only to their own family.…”

“…The changing situation in teacher education and the new demands of the 21st century call for teachers who find both a personal and a societal purpose in teaching, and who can commit to the teaching profession in the long term [1]. We propose purposeful teaching as a goal in teacher education to meet the challenges of the 21st century.…”

“…In other words, knowing one's goals and committing oneself to them constitutes a moral beacon or compass [6] that encourages one to overcome challenges and stress and to find hope and resilience for the future. Using Damon et al's [3] definition of purpose as a basis, Tirri [1] describes a purposeful teacher as someone with a long-term moral commitment to teaching that is both meaningful personally, and benefits students, colleagues and society. These definitions of purpose and a purposeful teacher share three dimensions: (1) long-term engagement, (2) personal meaningfulness, and (3) contribution beyond-the-self.…”

“…It could therefore be considered a vocation requiring deep personal commitment, as well as a profession with clear ethical codes [9]. As Tirri [1] states: "purposeful teachers are those who can combine the vocational and professional aspects in their work" (p. 2). In other words, teachers need to internalise a purpose as a virtue if they are to serve others within their profession [10].…”

“…Virtue-based approaches to education may help teachers to experience teaching as a morally fulfilling experience and allow them to reflect their personal purposes in relation to work [11]. Moral purposes in this context include the projection of optimism for the present and the future, commitment, and resilience to teaching in demanding circumstances [1].…”