Distinctions between different types of research in teacher education, serving different purposes for various stakeholders, are often made (see i.a. BERA RSA, 2014; Cochran-Smith & Zeichner, 2005), with the importance of research-informed practice and policy repeatedly stressed. One distinction made is between research in teacher education (research contributing to teacher education in some way which may be conducted by education academics and/or other stakeholders) and research on teacher education itself, which analyses by Menter et al. (2010) show is conducted by those within the field, that is by teacher educators themselves. Whilst the centrality of research in teacher education is widely emphasised then, debates continue about the types and purposes of research, particularly about issues of value, legitimacy and contributions to knowledge of teacher education. This paper contributes to this debate by looking at research in and/or on teacher education, drawing on data from the ITERA study of twenty accomplished teacher educators. Overall, the methodology and methods used here are as described in the overview for this symposium, but the analysis of each individual’s research outputs became an additional data source for this paper. The research questions are: • Which types of research do these accomplished teacher educators currently pursue and why? • Have their research foci changed over time, and if so, how and why? • How do they conceptualise the value and purpose of research in/on teacher education? • What might these findings mean in terms of teacher education as a discipline? Data analysis is on-going but initial findings show a diversity of ways of engaging in research, with some accomplished educators engaging in two different areas of research simultaneously (e.g. assessment and teacher education policy) whilst others have one clear focus. For some one area of research has dominated their careers; others have shifted focus over time, with one distinct pattern being a move from subject-specific emphases to more general policy-orientated research. Research is conceptualised as vital for a number of reasons including connecting schools and the academy, enriching personal and general practice in teaching, and understanding the complexity of the field. Drawing on a theoretical framework deploying the work of Trowler (2014), the paper argues that these findings give important insights into what constitutes knowledge within the divergent discipline of teacher education. The paper will be published in an international peer-reviewed journal.

BERA RSA. (2014). Research and the Teaching Profession: Building the Capacity for a Self-Improving Education System. London: RSA Cochran-Smith, M. & Zeichner, K. (Eds.). (2009). Studying Teacher Education: The report of the AERA panel on research and teacher education. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Menter, I., Hulme, M., & Murray, J. (2010). Teacher Education Research in the UK: the state of the art. Swiss Revue of Education (Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Bildungswissenscaften), 2010(1), 34-48. Trowler, P. (2014). Academic tribes and territories: The theoretical trajectory. Osterreichische Zeitschrift fur Geschichtswissenschaften, 25(3),17-26