Initial Teacher Education and the Relationship with Research: Student Teachers’ Perspectives

Abstract

During the past few years, higher education institutions have been working to strengthen the link between research and teaching, which is widely referred to as the research–teaching (RT) nexus. This nexus is important because engagement with research is a distinctive feature of learning in higher education and because, in the specific case of teacher education, it is a crucial element for the professional development of teachers, contributing to enhancing their professional practices and, at the same time, improving the status of the teaching profession. The aim of this paper is to identify the perspectives of student teachers regarding the RT nexus within initial teacher education. To accomplish this, data were collected through semi-structured group interviews with Portuguese and English student teachers in different initial teacher education programmes in order to highlight their perspectives and their contributions to understanding and strengthening the RT nexus. The analysis shows that national contexts play a significant role in the way initial teacher education programmes are organized, the way research is valued, and, consequently, how student teachers are engaged with research.