During the past years, there has been a lot of focus on top-performing school systems and research put forward that the countries performing best also have the most qualified teachers (Barber & Mourshed, 2007). Much of the debate and research on teacher education internationally has consequently centered on how the preparation of teachers should be organised. According to Zeichner’s (2014) overview, two different strategies have emerged. One is to strengthen the dominant university based system of teacher education, whereas the other is to promote a greater deregulation and privatization with shorter teacher training routes taken place mainly on the job.

As a result of top scoring in international evaluations, Finnish teachers and teacher education have got much publicity. The Finnish teacher education has been university based for decades and has a strong research-based approach. The research orientation is both implicitly and explicitly present in the program. Implicitly the orientation is aimed at permeating the whole program with the ambition of qualifying teachers through the development of the ability for critical reflection and for a systematic scrutiny of their daily work (Jakku-Sihvonen & Niemi, 2006). Research orientation supports teacher’s professional actions and develops a conscious ability to make use of adequate analytical tools in order to de-construct problems and re-construct solutions (Hansén & Eklund, 2015; Kansanen, 2014; Wågsås, 2012). Explicitly, an essential part of the research orientation is in student teacher’s theses writing. Students write a Bachelor’s and a Master’s thesis and they have method courses, where they are qualified into how to carry out a research process and write a scientific thesis. The scientific theses form an integrated part and play a significant role for the emerging teaching profession. This means that students become familiar with scientific tools such as methods for gathering data, systematic analytic thinking, and interpretation and evaluation (Hansén, Eklund & Sjöberg, 2015).

However, although the research-based education has got much publicity and credit, it has been discussed and criticized (Hansen, Forsman, Aspfors & Bendtsen, 2012; Hökkä & Eteläpelto, 2014). According to the critics, too much focus has been on conventional social sciences instead of more emphasis on the qualification of teachers carrying out research in their own working situation (e.g. Heikkinen, Jokinen & Tynjälä, 2012). Students conceive the relation between research and teacher profession as diffuse and difficult to handle and they have difficulties in relating real practical problems to theoretical issues in their work of the thesis.

In previous research, research-based teacher education in Finland has been investigated. Several studies carried out at Åbo Akademi University, firmly show that at the beginning of the research process, students have a quite confuse and divergent view of the research-based teacher education (Eklund, 2010; 2012). Studies (Eklund, 2014) also confirm that students’ views change during the education into a more positive direction and their understanding of research orientation increase. Students realize that research is an important tool for qualifying professional teachers although they find it hard to relate to a practical context. Students find the education too theoretical and they want more practice, both teacher practice in the field and practical courses. At the end of the education they still feel unsafe when discussing their future teacher job. The research-based education therefore means a dilemma for the students. They understand it and they see the point with it, but at the same time they feel that it does not give them enough practical tools before entering the reality of teacher’s work. This is confirmed in several other studies on newly qualified teachers (NQTs) (e.g. Aspfors, 2012).

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