This document discusses a study on the importance of academic skills for newly graduated teachers in Finland. The study surveyed 917 teachers who had recently graduated with a Master's degree. It examined their employment status, the main factors that contributed to their ability to find work, and minor contributing factors. The results showed that while academic skills were not a major determining factor in who was hired, having a Master's degree was still viewed as somewhat of a prerequisite for teaching positions. Occupational skills and experience were found to be much more important than research abilities when it came to recruitment.

1. THE FLIP SIDE OF THE COIN. THE NEED OF ACADEMIC SKILLS FOR NEWLY-GRADUATED TEACHERS Juhani Rautopuro Researcher Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä Visa Tuominen Student counsellor University of Eastern Finland Antero Puhakka Senior researcher Department of Social Sciences, University of Eastern Finland

2. Somebackground (Finland, 1970’s) Reform of comprehensive school a nine-year comprehensive school mandatory attendance social entitlements school health care and a free lunch everyday , for example free books and materials and free school trips privateschoolsquiterare; requirements for social entitlements the same, tuition fees prohibited Reform of teacher education teacher education became academic aiming to Master’s degree tendency to increase the importance of research in teacher education and in teachers’ working life ‘Teacher-As-Researcher’.

3. Researchquestionsdealwith… Teachergraduates’ employment Factorscontributingteachergraduates’ transition to working life Importance of academicskills in recruitment Academicdegree<-> Teacher a shotgunwedding?

4. Data and methods Teachergraduates (masters) at the University of Joensuu 2003 – 2006 questionnaireadministerednextAprilfromgraduation (4 – 15 monthsafter) n = 917 (67 % of the targetgraduates) 384 classteachers, 462 subjectteachers , in addition 71 educationists (no pedagogicalstudies) Statisticalanalyses descriptivemethods construction of scales (with the help of PCA) reliability Anova (+ multiplecomparisons)

5. Labour market situation(following April from graduation)

6. Main factorscontributingemployment

7. Minorfactorscontributingemployment(The flip side of the coin?)

8. Dimensions of factorscontributingemployment

9. Somedescription of the dimensions(Range: 1 = notimportant, …, 4 = veryimportant)

10. FinalremarksFrom the point of view of teacheroccupation… In general, labour marketsituation and employabiltyare on highlevel Occupationalorientation is muchahead of academicorientation Reasearchskillsarenot ”a trumpcard” in recruitment doesnotmeanthatskillsareuselessornotneeded at all Academicdegreemoreorless ”de riguer” ritual