While there have long been proponents of teacher professional learning advocating for educators to undertake “systematic enquiry made public” (Stenhouse, 1976, p. 142), in Australia, policy and institutional support for teacher research has been sporadic, resulting in pockets of activity rather than systematic attention. However, with the introduction of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership, 2014) teachers, including graduates, are now required to evidence research capacities. In line with these standards, recommendations from research undertaken by peak Australian educational bodies include: building the research literacies of the education profession; mobilising a research-informed, research-engaged workforce; and incentivising research-led educational partnerships (White et al., 2018). Development of research literacies optimally begins during professional preparation, with school-based experiences holding value for preservice teacher and teacher research (Henning, Petker, & Petersen, 2015). In light of this, this paper focusses on research undertaken into responses of initial teacher education, specifically renewal of literacy education coursework based in a multi-campus Australian university. Australian graduate teachers are also required to meet professional standards in literacy teaching, in the incorporation of digital technologies, as well as in research capacities. Formerly university-based coursework, the study tracks changes made to preservice teachers’ learning experiences which aim to better prepare them to undertake research in primary classrooms (where students are aged 5-12 years of age). Specifically, this paper draws on qualitative data collected from 400 preservice teachers, placed in 12 Primary Schools in regional and urban contexts. The preservice teachers worked in teams to conduct school-based action research (Kemmis, & McTaggart, 2005) in teaching digital literacies. They developed research questions; collected student assessment data; liaised with classroom teachers to plan lessons; taught lessons primary classrooms; collected data from teaching experiences including student work samples and teaching materials; kept field-notes; analyzed data and presented research findings in participating schools. Preservice teachers were asked to respond verbally and pictorially to questions about their roles as researchers in group-discussions. By analyzing the discussions with documentary method (Bohnsack, 2018), preservice teachers’ perceptions of definitions of research, and their lived experiences of what it means to be a researcher, are examined. The preservice teachers’ perceptions of research and the role of research are contextualized within the introduction of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and recommendations for building the research literacies of the education profession.

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