Preschool and Primary School Children as Learners in 2030: Views of Finnish Student Teachers

Teachers are key to the future. Because of enormous future changes, teachers need to re-evaluate their thinking. This study focuses on what student teachers think of the future in preschool and primary school of the year 2030. The questionnaire, conducted in October 2007, reached 76 student teachers from the University of Helsinki in Finland. Of these students, 52 were preschool and 24 primary school student teachers. The research questions were: 1) How important is it that children in preschool and primary school in the year 2030 can use language and communication and can work in groups and in the environment? (2) How can preschool and primary school teachers support language learning and communication in the year 2030? (3) How will children in preschool and primary school in the year 2030 take responsibility for their own (child-centred) learning? The results confirm that preschool and primary school student teachers think very traditionally. Many felt that it would be less important for children in 2030 to speak many languages, and student teachers did not consider the use of computers.