Abstract:

This study is part of the three-year (2012-2014) one national K-opeGo education study which with the help of a long lasting in-service teacher training program concentrates on developing teachers' pedagogical skills and working methods based on transformational pedagogy and learning environments.
The study is a commissioned research for one Finnish medium size city, which is intended to be utilized in renovating the new schools. The aim is to involve teachers as effectively and as appropriately as possible in the planning and introduction of the new learning environment.
The framework for the study is created by the Q.E.D –model (Transformational change model for schools) which expresses the change in the school from the traditional model towards the transformational model together with the skills of the 21st Century. The Contextual – pedagogical model which was created alongside the education study is presented in the article in the way that the context of the surrounding society for the learning is clearly expressed.
The data reported in this article encompasses teachers and municipal officials as well as councilmen, whose views of the function of the municipal school system are being compared. The main findings show as following:
• The people who participate in the education must realize the initial situation of the operational culture of the school so that they are able to position themselves according to the contents of the education (the pedagogical discussions, considerations and reflections, the initial mapping adapted from the Q.E.D model).
• The active change in the operational culture takes place only by operating actively; with participation in the education and by adopting the new matters experienced there in their own teaching.
• Elements which we consider important in the new operational culture must be included in the education (for example, versatile familiarization with the skills of the 21st Century, making concrete the Contextual – pedagogical model, the opening of the Curriculum from the starting point of phenomena.
• The change in the operational culture takes time and shared reflection, as well as the introduction of tools that have been obtained in the education, during education and between times.

Keywords:

Learning environments, in-service teacher education, Contextual-pedagogical approach towards learning.