The Future of Education

All of the pre-service teachers who participated in our study were able to name and describe the best teacher they had ever had. It is noteworthy that the descriptions given by the participants focused on the teacher's approach to interacting with the students and creating a positive classroom environment, as opposed to the teacher's mastery of the subject matter. Many stories were told about the positive experiences they had in this classroom. The teacher is often described as safe, clear, and present. Students often express a desire to become such a good teacher, but they often feel frustrated that the teacher education programme rarely addresses this ambition concretely [1]. In our Educational Design Research (EDR) project [2], we focused on how students' inner qualities could be explored and used within the regular teacher education programme. We carried out specific activities, called inner qualities workshops, in which we explored different inner qualities [3, 4, 5, 6]. Through mindfulness meditation, creative exercises, and dialogue, students had the opportunity to discover their inner potential concerning the role of the teacher. The results show that the students realised how their inner qualities, together with their professional knowledge, can make them resilient and valued teachers. One conclusion is that there is a need for more activities in teacher education programmes that support students' inner development. A grounded, self-aware teacher can be resilient enough to withstand the challenges of AI, social media, and other stresses of today's society.