In this presentation, we will discuss the research-based approach as a main organising theme of teacher education (c.f. Zeichner, 1983; Jakku-Sihvonen & Niemi, 2006). On the conceptual level we contemplate the basic and general levels of teacher education and the dual characteristics of practice. In the empirical part, the results of a survey and interview research concerning teacher educators’ attitudes towards the approach will be reported. In teacher education study programmes organized according to a research-based orientation there is the everyday practice, which involves the mastering of common teaching. We call this the basic level of teacher education. The focus here is usually on the acquisition of the practical skills and fundamental knowledge that typify the whole instructional process, and a variety of subject matter pedagogical content knowledge courses. Beyond this basic level there is a need for a more general level of teacher education, aiming at the sustained development of the teacher’s work (Kansanen, 2004). Although connected to the basic level, the general level takes a certain distance from the teacher’s everyday practical work. This points to reflection, thinking, discussion, and other research-related activities. The general level also implies a kind of metacognition of one’s own work and pedagogical decision making. While practice in school-based or traditional college-based teacher education is associated only with practice teaching, in the academic research-based approach it also covers the activities of practising inquiry and research (Krokfors, 2007). Students need guided practice in order to acquire the skills to carry these activities out in pedagogically meaningful situations. Theoretically oriented method courses are not enough. Students need to work with skills such as observation, interview and interpretation. Knowing and action must be in reciprocal interaction especially when practicing inquiry and research. On the basic level the role of the student is rather passive in studying the basics of educational research methodology. An idea of the curriculum as a spiral is implemented at this stage. This spiral leads to the general level. The Master’s thesis that marks the end of the study programme is an independent but supervised research project. It can also be seen as the integration of the theoretical knowledge base or theoretical knowing with the use of appropriate data-collection and analyzing practices. In the research-based approach the study programme stresses a research-based orientation with activities of academic research. At the same time the pedagogical goal is to educate practitioner researchers, teachers who develop their work through practical inquiry. On the basic level practising teaching means implementing the methods that have been taught in the teacher education courses. The basics of the pedagogical content knowledge of different subjects and the routines of classroom management are practised in classroom situations. The aim is to move to the general level, which refers to teacher’s pedagogical thinking, pedagogical decision making, and justification. The aim is to reflect on practical experiences with theoretical understanding and on conceptualizations again with practical understanding.

A survey was targeted at the teachers of the primary-teacher education program (N=52). On the basis of the survey results we interviewed a selected sample of eight teacher educators in order to explore how they understood the concept of the research-based approach and the kind of relevance they thought this approach may have for the teacher’s work. The interviews were structured thematically based on an analysis of the responses to the open-ended question in the survey.

The results indicate that the teacher educators’ attitudes towards the research-based approach were positive and that they appreciated it as an organizing theme for the primary school teachers’ study programme. The respondents, who were very like-minded, considered the research-based approach is best realized when the students were engaged in their own research work. Research-based teacher education was seen to have elements ranging from the broad level of teacher education to the more personal level of a teacher. It was seen as 1. an organising theme for teacher education (approach), 2. academic teacher education (context), 3. reflecting on the teacher education curriculum (content), and 4. teacher’s pedagogical thinking (goal).