In Sweden teaching has in been based almost entirely on local institutional practice, on teachers personal experiences or on political decisions. There is a need to combine research and professional development in order to improve teaching. The ambition to found teaching on research has been explicit for more than twenty five years. Arguments back and forth have influenced education for years. These unsolved and often unanalyzed conflicts result in failure of many educational reform efforts. Despite years of discussion, countless articles and study after study there seems to be little agreement on these key educational questions. The aim of this study is to examine different attempts to place teachers practice on a solid research foundation. The study concentrates on implementations in Sweden and places them in a European and Anglo-Saxon context. The result shows that research is refered to though the notion is unclear. The result indicates that different positions, ways of understanding research and educational traditions do have different possibilities and limitations. The discussion sheds light on the need to stimulate considerable debate about CPD and research both within the universities and in schools in order to explore ways to bridge the gap between research, teacher education and teaching. Rather than seeking to eliminate or deny the divide between researchers and teachers we should work to improve the dialogue between the two.