The Purposeful Teacher

Abstract

A purposeful teacher is introduced as a goal in teacher educationfor the twenty-first century. Purposeful teacher is defined as a teacher with moralpurposes. Purposeful teachers are ethical professionals who have both freedom andresponsibility to make pedagogical decisions in the best interest of their students.Purposeful teaching is discussed in the Finnish context with some examples of thecurrent educational challenges. The purpose profiles of Finnish student teachers arepresented to inform the needs for purpose education for future teachers. Differentapproaches to teach purpose in the teacher education and in schools are introducedwith examples from different countries. The didactic approach used in moraleducation is presented as a case-example to teach purpose in teacher education. Theaims of twenty-first century learning call for purposeful teachers who actualizeand model lifelong learning in their profession. A growth mindset in learning andethical skills is introduced as important assets in the professional growth towardpurposeful teaching.