Research-based Teacher Education Research Articles

Schoolteachers and teacher educators: making sense of ‘research’ in the context of research-based teacher education

ABSTRACT This article investigates how schoolteachers working both in schools and as educators on campus, referred to as hybrid educators, engage with ‘research’ in the context of research-based teacher education. The concept of institutional practices is applied to unpack the complex intersection between established institutional demands in higher education-based teacher education and the creative work conducted by hybrid educators as they try to engage with these demands. Drawing on observations and interviews, the analyses identify ‘research’ as a vague and taken for granted expectation that hybrid educators are given few directions in approaching, and highlight ownership—or the lack of it—and relevance to professional practice as prominent aspects informing their engagement with research. The study provides important knowledge for policymakers and teacher education regarding how to better facilitate hybrid educators’ inclusion into research-based practices on campus.

A comparative analysis of master’s theses in STEM-related disciplines published in Türkiye and Finland

ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to compare the master’s (MA) theses in Türkiye (TR) and Finland (FIN)published between 2015-2019. A total of 765 theses were analysed in terms of year, discipline,methodological approach, research method, didactic foci, data collection tool, target group, andsample size. The results showed that FIN theses grounded on research-based teacher education, andprioritised research methods for the understanding and development of learning environments. FINtheses research questions focussed on teacher, student, and content interaction and covered uppersecondary school and bachelor’s students and teachers. In contrast, majority of TR theses involvedthe quasi-experimental, survey, and case study methods, and research questions focussed onexamining student characteristics and student-content interaction. The majority of TR theses wereconducted with student from lower and upper secondary school, undergraduates and teachers aswell as TR theses conducted with different sample types and sizes.

Exploring the role of research in teacher education and teachers’ professional development

This paper explores and discusses the role of research in teacher education and teachers’ professional development. It does so by presenting some perspectives on research-based teacher education and conceptual frameworks for teacher professionalism. The relationship between theoretical and practical knowledge is discussed together with central dimensions of teacher professionalism. Three metaphors and figures of thought for the theory–practice relationship are introduced and discussed: research as a mirror, as a compass, and as a stone in the shoe. Against this backdrop, a couple of examples of models for teachers’ professional development through critical engagement and enquiry are presented. Special attention is given to a critical dialogical model for teacher education and professional development that promotes reflective learning through sharing experiences and engaging with theoretical frameworks. This model integrates reflective-analogical, critical-analytical, and interactive self-building processes, enabling teachers and students to transform their knowledge and practices based on new insights.

Early career teachers’ role in school development and professional learning

ABSTRACT School improvement efforts rely on teachers’ capacity for professional development and learning. We investigate the kind of roles taken by early career teachers (ECTs) with a master’s degree from a research-based teacher education programme in relation to professional learning and school development in Norwegian schools after five years in the profession. The conceptual framework includes research of professional learning and trust. Semi-structured interviews of 26 ECTs were analysed using reflective thematic analysis. The findings illustrate four different roles that ECTs take: creators, translators, drivers and passengers. All the ECTs become creators, as they were enquiry-oriented and collaborated with colleagues to promote bottom-up professional learning, in order to improve teaching. Translators capture the ECTs’ ability to translate a new curriculum into deep-learning and student-active teaching. Drivers obtain formal positions and promote professional learning in schools. Passengers take a passive role, and they are critical of the school system that introduces and performs a high number of top-down school-development projects. We discuss how ECTs want to develop relational trust, while the system may strengthen relational and structural trust.

Exploring preservice teachers’ professional vision: Modes of isolation, ethical noticing, and anticipation in research communities of practice

Research-based teacher education programs are designed to develop preservice teachers' multifaceted attitudes to teaching, including their professional vision or the perceptual processes and ability to notice and interpret education fundamentals in a classroom. Nonetheless, such programs' influence on preservice teachers' professional vision remains unclear. Utilising Australian preservice teachers’ interviews, research projects and surveys in a research-based teacher education program built upon principles of Communities of Practice (CoPs), this study illuminates modes of isolation, ethical noticing, and anticipation in shaping their professional vision. The latter captures an emerging capacity to (re)structure schooling fundamentals as research/practice amalgamations rather than merely practice-driven constructs.

Fostering research literate science teachers: Science teacher educators’ views on research-based teacher education

Science teacher educators (STEs) are key actors for implementing research-based science teacher education (RBSTE). Based on group interviews with 29 STEs from seven different teacher education (TE) institutions in Norway, this study reports how STEs view RBSTE. The STEs did not express a comprehensive understanding of the term RBSTE; however, their descriptions of the aims of science TE were in line with educating research literate teachers - critical and reflective teachers who can develop their practice based on research. They regarded their own competence as decisive for RBSTE and described modelling research-based practices in science education as a way of teaching science and science education simultaneously. However, the STEs described tension between prioritising natural science and science education research. We conclude that STEs’ goals and practices are in line with the aims for RBSTE, but a stronger common understanding of what RBSTE entails is needed to further strengthen science TE.

Research-informed teacher education, teacher autonomy and teacher agency: the example of Finland

Finnish education has received worldwide attention due to the country’s performances in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Research investigating Finland’s positive outcomes in the assessment has highlighted not only the strength of teachers, but also the rigour of Finnish teacher education. Finnish student teachers must undertake research-based teacher education culminating in a master’s degree. The study of educational science, underpinned by empirical research, creates teacher-researchers. A Nordic/Continental view of educational governance allows for input control in terms of a national core curriculum in Finland, without surveillance of outcomes. The structure of the Finnish education system, characterised by decentralisation and the national core curriculum, entrusts teachers to make their own pedagogical decisions. This leads to autonomous and agentic teachers in terms of decision-making on the classroom, school, and professional levels, both individually and collectively. Finnish education, underpinned by social democratic values, views education as an agent of social change. Therefore, teachers enact social transformation through the agency enabled by research-informed teacher education. Finland’s political consensus regarding education and societal trust in teachers further reinforces teacher autonomy and agency. This article argues that the rigorous research focus of Finnish teacher education cultivates autonomous and agentic teachers.

Research-based teacher education in Norway – a longitudinal perspective

Research has been highlighted as a key dimension in the development of teacher education quality. However, there are different understandings of how research is and should be linked to teacher educators’ competence. We examine changes in teacher educators’ attitudes towards research-based teacher education in Norway by comparing results from 2008 with those from 2021. Teacher educators’ attitudes have changed towards a more research-positive approach. The changes are to some extent related to more research-experienced staff, but the positive attitudes towards research-based teacher education seem also to be a matter of culture and teacher identity.

Views of pre-service teachers on the research-based teacher education approach

In this study, the aim was to complete an investigation based on the views of pre-service teachers taking a scientific research methods course grounded on the critical features of the research-based teacher education approach. Within this scope, answers to the questions of “what are the views of pre-service teachers about (a) the outcomes provided by the research methods course, (b) the reasons for teachers to have research competencies, and (c) the professional function of scientific studies?” were sought. This research was designed with the basic qualitative research pattern. The researcher developed an interview form comprising open-ended questions to specify the views of pre-service teachers, which were the research target. To create the study group for the research, criterion sampling was chosen from the targeted sampling methods. The study was completed with 110 pre-service teachers attending the educational faculty of a state university in Turkey. A detailed analysis process was completed in four stages for the research data. Analyses were performed on statements reporting a total of 684 views. Pre-service teachers showed development in 25 subcategories classified into research competence, professional competence, and personal growth. Teachers’ need for research competency was justified based on the needs of contemporary teachers, the requirements due to the nature of the class, and ensuring the optimal conditions for effective teaching. Pre-service teachers’ views on the professional function of scientific studies were examined under five categories. These are reliable knowledge, real context, ideal practice, beyond experience, and distance from being guides. The research findings can be interpreted as the fact that teacher education practices which take the principles of the research-based teacher education approach into account have the potential to achieve the teacher qualifications targeted by this approach. Considering the potential of these qualifications to fulfill the complex and high-level expectations demanded from the teacher, it is recommended that studies be conducted on how the principles of research-based teacher education can be integrated into existing teacher education programs.
 Received: 17 September 2021Accepted: 20 September 2022

A developmental research-based teacher education: designing and implementing a new program for preservice teachers in France

ABSTRACT In many countries, preservice teachers’ (PTs) education programs neglect the importance of connecting research and practice. Reconciling training and research remains problematic for PTs, who often encounter difficulties in making connections between the academic knowledge acquired in university and their experiences in the classroom. This context inhibits the development of their professional skills. Taking this observation as our starting point, the aim of this article is to conceptualize and to illustrate an alternative approach in order to establish a reciprocal link between training and research, sketching the outlines of a developmental research-based program of teacher education. We begin by studying different training-based approaches to research and their respective limitations, identifying the key principles and steps of a developmental research-based approach to teacher education. Then, we illustrate these principles using data from empirical studies. Finally, we discuss the conditions required for the implementation of such an approach to the teacher education of PTs in France.

Opportunities to learn mathematics pedagogy and learning to teach mathematics in Swedish mathematics teacher education: A survey of student experiences

ABSTRACT A research-based teacher education rests on research on the practices of teacher education. We undertook a survey of the opportunities to learn mathematics pedagogy and to teach mathematics perceived by students in their last year of teacher education. Questionnaires were distributed to 753 students graduating in June 2020 from 13 Swedish universities, and the response rate was 11.2%. Overall, new graduates perceived good opportunities to learn mathematics pedagogy, but there were substantial variations in opportunities to learn specific competencies of teaching, such as analysing learners’ answers or leading a mathematical discussion. A similar unevenness in perceived opportunities to learn from the practicum experience was found. These results point to less-than-optimal opportunities to learn core practices of mathematics teaching. We recommend that institutions take a more systematic approach to programme coverage, and to create opportunities to use theory/research to deconstruct practice and to inform rehearsing ‘approximations of practice’ in campus-based activities.

Defining knowledge domains for science teacher educators

ABSTRACT Science teacher educators (STEs) have key roles in the educational system through their preparation of pre- and in-service science teachers and in implementing future-oriented policy reforms. Given the complexity and importance of their role, what types of knowledge do STEs need? STEs come from a range of backgrounds and there are few systematic routes for their ongoing learning. Hence, there is a need for tools that can help define and assess STEs’ competence. The purpose of this theoretical paper is to highlight central knowledge domains for STEs. We draw on previous work and add perspectives from current trends in science education and teacher education to describe four knowledge domains for STEs: natural science, science education in school, science teacher education and science education research. The main contribution of the paper is an updated conceptualisation of the nature of STEs’ knowledge and qualifications, taking into account current requirements for future-oriented science education and teacher education including deeper learning and critical thinking skills, cross-curricular work, education for sustainable development, and research-based teacher education. The four knowledge domains can serve as a tool for identifying needs, recruiting staff with desired expertise, and tailoring interventions to support professional development for STEs from various backgrounds.

Dichotomous and Multifaceted: Teacher Educators’ Understanding of Professional Knowledge in Research-based Teacher Education

ABSTRACT In the Nordic countries, teacher education programmes are shifting towards a research-based design, thus placing new expectations and requirements on teacher educators. In this study, we aim to explore teacher educators’ understanding of professional knowledge in research-based teacher education. We interviewed 16 Norwegian and six Finnish teacher educators. The teacher educators’ views of professional knowledge could be divided into two main categories – academic characteristics and personal characteristics – and three dichotomies were discussed: educational sciences versus subject sciences, research versus teaching and collaboration versus autonomy. Teacher educators come from various backgrounds and bring different experiences into teacher education. Thus, their understanding of professional knowledge in research-based teacher education seems to be dichotomous and multifaceted. The dichotomies that were uncovered and the tensions between them provide the foundation for further development of teacher education in Norway and Finland.

The role of school placement within research-based teacher education–through the eyes of science mentors

ABSTRACT In line with international debate, there is a discussion in Norway on developing teacher education by moving from a more experience-based to a research-based approach. This ongoing change presents a challenge, not only for the development of teacher education but also for teachers working as mentors in school placements. The aim of this study was to investigate science mentors’ views on research-based teacher education and the contribution of school placement therein. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 11 mentors working as science teachers in Norwegian primary and secondary schools. Data analysis was based on a thematic analytical approach. The results demonstrate that mentors display a mixed and limited understanding of research-based teacher education, and that developing an understanding of what it means in both contexts (on campus and in school placements) needs to be addressed. Mentors view school placement as an arena in which student teachers can freely test different teaching methodologies. Currently, school placement appears to be experienced as somewhat separate from teaching on campus. However, we conclude that school placement founded in a common knowledge base within research-based teacher education can function as a bridge between theory and practice.

Research-Based Teacher Education from Stake Holders Point: A Case Study

The postgraduate course of teacher education is based on research-based approach in teacher education in which all students will conduct a research and submit the dissertation as a part of their studies. Every teacher educators of this department are allotted one or two M.Ed. students to conduct research. The paper aims to study the teacher educators' and M.Ed. students' perceptions about research-based approach in teacher education and how theory and practice linked in teacher education. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are used for the study. Seventeen M.Ed. second semester students and 25 teacher educators were selected as the sample of the study. Data were collected through a questionnaire, interviews and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The study indicates that teacher's educator appreciates the approach particularly based on research in the teacher's education. It is found that two-year M.Ed. programme was ideal for conducting research. The approach based on research in the teacher's education: students read educational research, learn research methods and research process, learn about research findings, and understand their relevance for practice.

Expansive Learning for Teacher Educators- The Story of the Norwegian National Research School in Teacher Education (NAFOL)

Internationally there is an increased focus on developing a research-based teacher education, and Norway is no exception. Teacher educators play a key role in teacher education, and research has become central to their work. Teacher educators are expected to be consumers and producers of research. Today teacher educators are projected to be teaching and research competent (Flores & Smith, 2019). However, many teacher educators become teacher educators with a background as successful teachers, and not all are research competent. Subsequently, they are required to engage in expansive learning to acquire research competence. They are expected to develop a second order expertise in addition to teaching which is for many their first order expertise (Murray & Male, 2005). This paper describes a national initiative in Norway intended to develop a research-based teacher education and strengthen teacher educators’ research competence. The Norwegian National Research School in Teacher Education (NAFOL) was established as a network comprising all, but one, teacher education institutions in Norway in 2010. NAFOL is funded by the Norwegian Research Council. In the paper the contextual background to NAFOL, its structure and content are described, followed by reporting on several evaluations of the research school. Conclusions from the evaluations document that the aims of NAFOL are achieved, and the research school has provided a supporting environment for teacher educators’ expansive learning related to qualification (Ph.D.), socialization into the academy and subjectification through close individual support (Biesta, 2009). The last part of the paper discusses factors that contribute to success and the challenges NAFOL faced. The main challenge has been handling the increasing number of applicants to the research school, and in the future Norway needs to look for new, inclusive models for teacher educators’ expansive learning.

تعليم المعلم القائم على البحث " مدخل لتطوير کليات التربية المصرية (التجربة الفنلندية نموذجًا)

تتحدد مشكلة البحث الحالي في ضوء مجموعة من المعطيات التي تجسد موقف كليات التربية المصرية والتي يمكن اختصارها في ضعف الكفاءات التحليلية والإبداعية لدى الكثيرين من خريجي كليات التربية ، والاستفادة المحدودة من خبراتهم المهنية في مواجهة مشكلاتهم التعليمية ،ويسعي البحث الحالي إلى تعرف بعض ملامح التجربة الفنلندية في تطبيق مدخل ”تعليم المعلم القائم على البحث” في برامج إعداد المعلم في ضوء بعض القوى والعوامل الثقافية والمجتمعية المؤثرة ، تمهيدا لوضع تصور مقترح لتطوير كليات التربية المصرية في ضوء مدخل ”تعليم المعلم القائم على البحث” في برامج إعداد المعلم بالاستفادة من تجربة فنلندا، وقد استخدم المنهج المقارن بمدخليه الوصف والتحليل ، وتم التوصل إلى مجموعة من الخطوات الإجرائية الداعمة لتطبيق مدخل تعليم المعلم القائم على البحث في إعداد المعلم المصري . ,The current research problem is determined in the light of a set of data reflecting the position of Egyptian faculties of education, which can be summarized in the weakness of the analytical and creative competencies of many graduates of the faculties of education, and the limited use of their professional experience in the face of their educational problems. The application of the ”teaching-based teacher education” approach in teacher preparation programs in the light of some influential cultural and societal factors, as a prelude to developing a proposed concept for the development of Egyptian colleges of education. The researcher used the comparative approach to the descriptions and analysis, and reached a set of procedural steps in support of the application of the research-based teacher education approach in preparing the Egyptian teacher.

Using activity systems theory to understand change process in developing teacher as researcher at master level studies

This research examines the challenges and contextual variables that influence the development of teacher as researcher at master level studies within the broader movement of research-based teacher education. The research is conducted at the Faculty of Education, University of Prishtina, Kosovo, by involving 192 master level students in a survey, 28 of them providing narrative reflections, and interviews with three teacher educators who teach research skills courses at master level studies. Quantitative data were analysed through SPSS while qualitative data were analysed through thematic analysis approach. Using Engestrom's third generation activity systems theory as a theoretical framework, this research has identified four levels of inner tensions raised between the activity of master students and teacher educators in the efforts to develop teacher as researcher. Findings of this research provide suggestions on managing the tensions between the two subjects involved and developing a context specific approach to educating teachers as researchers.

Early Career Teachers’ Experiences of Developing Professional Knowledge

This study aims to explore early career teachers’ (ECTs’) experiences of professional knowledge developed during their research-based teacher education and throughout their first five years in the profession. This study uses Shulman’s (1986) framing of professional knowledge, which posits that teachers must have content knowledge, general pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge. Ten Finnish primary school teachers with five years of work experience participated in this study. The data was collected from individual interviews and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Three major areas of knowledge were identified that together distinguish ECTs’ professional knowledge: pedagogical and didactic, relational, and research-related knowledge. The results indicate that teacher education provides a solid foundation while the first five years of professional experience add to the teachers’ professional knowledge.

Newly Qualified Teachers’ Understandings of Research-based Teacher Education Practices−Two Cases From Finland and Norway

ABSTRACT This study examines newly qualified teachers’ (NQTs) understandings of research-based teacher education practices by looking at two cases in Finland and Norway. The NQTs were interviewed after they had finished their master’s degrees and before they started their careers. The results of the individual semistructured interviews and a thematic analysis revealed a weak connection between research-based knowledge gained from initial teacher education (ITE) and the teachers’ professional work. The Finnish NQTs were highly research oriented, while the Norwegian NQTs focused on teachers’ development of their daily work. The results are discussed in relation to the theory of practice architectures, as well as how cultural-discursive, material-economic and social-political arrangements enable and constrain different kinds of research-based ITE practices in both countries.