Combining theory and practice is receiving more and more attention in teacher education in many countries in order to prepare student teachers for their demanding job as a teacher (Flores, 2017, 2018; Darling-Hammond, 2017). The complexity and the dynamic of professional requirements increase in entering the career as a fully responsible teacher (Keller-Schneider/Hericks, 2014). Theory as knowledge about school is not enough to master the complexity of professional requirements; knowledge from school is essential as well to build up knowledge for school (Shulman, 1986). In teacher education, student teachers build up professional knowledge based on theories, but they also need to articulate them with teaching practice. However, this may be done in different ways. For a deeper understanding of the complexity of all the factors, with effects on learning and behavior, theory-based reflection on their experience is crucial. So, requirements of a teacher education program focus on goals on different level of complexity to foster student teachers’ professional learning and to enable them to analyze, synthesize and generate learning situations (Anderson/Krathwohl, 2001) and reach a high level of effectiveness in their teaching with focus on students’ learning.

The topic of this symposium addresses the question of how teacher education in different countries deal with this requirement. The different papers of this symposium show several approaches to combine theory and practice in teacher education. They explain how specific programs of teacher education solve the problem theory and practice divide and foster student teachers’ reflection on their knowledge, experience and the combination of both knowledge bases in the structure of their education program, as well as through specific courses and tasks.

The first paper explores the efforts to combine theory and practice in pre-service primary school teachers’ training at Faculty of Education at Charles University in Prague. The model of individual courses that focus on theory-based reflection of teacher students’ practical experiences will be explained.

The second paper looks at the practicum model in Portugal aimed at linking teaching and research, theory and practice. The reflective component of the model is oriented towards student teacher professional development under a democratic view of education. Integrating teaching and research and promoting teaching practice as a space of transformation is seen to represent a move towards knowledge mobilization and research-informed practice.

The third paper reflects the results of studying the effectiveness of practical training programs in the Kazan Federal University pedagogical master program which are coupled with theoretical training. Compliance with the requirements of state standards, continuity of practices, their distributed nature, network interaction contribute to the mastery of practical skills and professional competencies by the student teachers.

The fourth paper deals with a study on a specific program, combining theory and practice in case studies of the student teachers. Based on their acquired knowledge on learning strategies the student teachers prepare and conduct a lesson, observe the teacher and the students and analyze the processes, based on their acquired knowledge during the course and their teacher education. Their learning output will be investigated on the effects of their beliefs, motivation and volition.

Anderson, L. W. & Krathwohl, D. R. (eds.) (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Longman. Darling-Hammond, L. (2017). Teacher education around the world: What can we learn from international practice? European Journal of Teacher Education, 40(3), 291-309. Flores, M. A. (2017) Editorial. Practice, theory and research in Initial Teacher Education. European Journal of Teacher Education, vol. 40, nº3, pp. 287–290 Flores, M. A. (2018) Linking teaching and research in initial teacher education: knowledge mobilisation and research-informed practice, Journal of Education for Teaching, 44(5), 621-636 Keller-Schneider, M. & Hericks, U. (2014). Forschungen zum Berufseinstieg. Übergang von der Ausbildung in den Beruf. In: E. Terhart, H. Bennewitz & M. Rothland. Handbuch der Forschung zum Lehrerberuf (S. 386-407). Münster: Waxmann. Shulman, L.S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. In: Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4-14.