Markku Niinivirta

NORENSE funding: 245.000 NOK in 2016

Background and motivation for the project
There are no previous Ph.D. studies accomplished on the topics of Steiner Teacher Education or Snellman College in the field of Finnish academic research. Snellman College has strong links to the Finnish educational background through the Finnish national philosopher J.V. Snellman. Snellman’s philosophy and educational philosophy has its Hegelian roots, but he developed his philosophy further in his independent way. Philosopher, professor Reijo Wilenius, the founder of Snellman College was also the chief editor of the collection of selected works of Snellman and he found the similarities between Snellman’s and Steiner’s philosophies (epistemology and ethics) and ideas of education. According to Wilenius, with his emphasis on artistic education Steiner is more practical. Reijo Wilenius published in 1975 an important work [The Conditions of Education] (Bildningens villkor), based on the Aristotelian practical knowledge and action in education, and in which he updates these ideas to our postmodern times. Wilenius takes here a step further compared to his teacher’s Georg Henrik von Wright’s idea of Aristotelian practical syllogism and its link to the theory of action. In 2002 Snellman College was evaluated for the first time by the external evaluation group of FINHEEC (Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council). The results of the assessment were positive, but a recommendation that the background philosophy of Snellman College should be studied more closely was put forward. That would be valuable not only for Snellman College but also for the Finnish Teacher education system in its entirety. The aim of this study is to open the academic discussion on Steiner teacher education both on the national and Nordic level.

Research questions
The main research question is: What kind of experience of phronetic knowledge and action have the Steiner school teachers who graduated from Snellman College acquired during their studies?
The main question is divided into three research areas:

1. What is the meaning of the Aristotelian concept of phronesis? How to understand its historical and philosophical development and significance from Aristotle through the modern philosophers Georg Henrik von Wright and Reijo Wilenius to today’s discussion on education in Finland? How to reinterpret phronesis in the context of modern teacher education as its background philosophy? 
2. Snellman College: the history of its foundation in 1980, and its teacher education, especially the relationship to phronetic knowledge and action in the context of its educational ethos and curriculum design. 
3. Empirical study / Interviews with seven teachers, graduates from Snellman College: 

How do they evaluate the teacher education they received now after gaining practical experience in Steiner Schools? 

Methods and theoretical approaches
From the methodical and theoretical point of view, the theme of the study is approached from three different angles, which form the structural basis of the thesis:
Chapter One, Introduction and Methodology. Chapter Two is dedicated to the study of phronesis, concentrating on its features of readiness to act/action. In Chapter Three readiness to act (phronesis) will be operationalized and the focus lies on the question of teacher education as educational action at Snellman College. In Chapter Four interviews and their narrative analysis are examined with a focus on processes of mimesis1,2,3.. Plot, says Aristotle, is the mimesis [imitation] of action. Chapter Five Conclusions and Discussion. 

Publication
Niinivirta, Markku. (2017). Fronesis opettajankoulutuksen taustafilosofiassa: Snellman-korkeakoulusta valmistuneiden steinerkoulun luokanopettajien kertomuksia tiestään opettajuuteen (The concept of phronesis as a background philosophy of teacher education: Narratives by Snellman College’s Waldorf Steiner class teacher student alumni with reference to their individual paths toward the profession). (PhD). Tampere: Tampere University Press: Link to PhD (in Finnish)  Link to dissertation event (in Finnish)