Many student teachers (STs) experience a gap between theory and practice and find ‘theories’ irrelevant to professional development (Laursen 2014). Darling-Hammond (2014) describes the ‘presumed divide’ between theory and practice as one of the core dilemmas of teacher education.  A Norwegian study (Smeplass, 2018) points to contradictions between educational policy and the challenges STs face during practical training periods and as recent graduates. Students struggle to bridge the gap between a theoretical focus in their education and practical challenges they meet in schools and classrooms.

Menter (2016) argues that future teachers need to be ‘research literate’, being able to read, evaluate and use the research findings that are relevant to their work and have the capacity and skills to engage in research if context and conditions are appropriate. Hermansen (2018) outlines two metaphors for teacher professionalism, the teacher as a craftsperson and the teacher as a professional scientist. The teacher as a craftsperson emphasises teaching as a practical activity based on personal experience and reflections, while the teacher as a professional scientist emphasises teaching as research-based knowledge, where general principles and guidelines should be the basis for teachers’ teaching. The two metaphors can be interpreted as descriptions of professional identities and relate to the ongoing discussion on what kind of teachers we need for the future[1]. Hermansen (2018) argues that the two metaphors should not be seen a dichotomy, rather the interaction between these are of importance.

Professional identity is developed in interaction with others (Wenger 1998). Haslam (2017) identifies five ‘I’s, ‘Identification’, ‘Ideation’, ‘Interaction’, ‘Influence’ and ‘Ideology’ as significant for social identity and education. Identification relates to group membership shaping an individual’s behaviour to the extent that their social identity derived from this group membership is incorporated into their sense of self. Ideation or what people identify with is as important as mutual identification. Interaction is what develops and galvanises social identities. Influence is what makes identification, ideation and interaction possible. Important is that leadership is only made possible by perceptions of shared identity between leaders and followers.  Ideology is inherent in policies and educational processes, and educational experience is usually characterised by several.

Previous studies (Patrick & McPhee 2014, Preston et al.  2015) has introduced cases as inquiry-, or problem-based approaches in academic courses in ITE. They found that the majority of the STs experienced that problem-based cases enabled them to make links between theory and practice. Increased engagement and enhanced learning outcomes for most students are reported in both studies, while they point to the construction of the cases as important, as well as the need for instructional scaffolding. In this study digital cases related to central themes or content of the course were developed in collaboration between teacher educators at campus and practice teachers in schools. The aim was to develop practice-based cases that would open for discussions of different perspectives and to “bridge the gap” between theory and practice.

In this study we see student teachers’ professional identity as constructed through social interaction in engagement with problem-based cases and research-based literature. The following research questions guide the study:

1. In which ways do working with digital problem-based cases influence student teachers’ professional identity?
2. How does problem-based cases bridge the gap between theory and practice?

[1] 10. Teacher Education Research | EERA (eera-ecer.de).

The research is conducted at one Norwegian teacher education institution spring 2022 with a follow up study spring 2023. The context of the study is a 15 ECTs course in the subject pedagogy and pupil knowledge . Problem-based video-cases are used as introduction to central themes in the course and the cases are made subject for inquiries and further analysis considering theoretical perspectives and research-based knowledge. The cases are introduced at campus, but also discussed with practice teachers in schools. Based on the 2022 study, some changes in organization were made in the 2023 course. Students were divided into smaller groups and reading and discussing relevant literature before meeting at campus were scaffolded more by teacher educators. Participants in the study are STs (N=102) in their fourth year of a 5 yrs master program for primary education, including some of the practice teachers (N=6). The study is a mixed-method study. Quantitative surveys on STs experiences with relevance of the subject PEL in general are conducted in the beginning of the course (pre-course survey). Quantitative surveys on STs experiences with problem-based cases are conducted at the end of the course (post-course survey). In addition to the surveys, qualitative focus-group interviews with STs (N= 10) and 2 focus-group interviews with practice teachers (N= 6) in schools will be conducted spring 2023. (Due to Covid 19, these were not conducted in 2022). The surveys have questions with graded answers. For each of the graded questions, STs are asked to elaborate on their answers. Open-ended comments are analysed to identify common categories and patterns across the responses, using conventional content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005). Focus groups interviews 2023 will be analysed following Braun and Clarks’ (2006/2019) phases of thematic analysis. Haslams’ (2017) five I’s will serve as an analytical framework to study student teachers’ professional identity. Three teacher educators are responsible for the research project. Participation is voluntarily with written consent. The project is approved by SIKT

Findings from the 2022 and -23 pre-course survey show that a large majority (90%) of the STs find the subject relevant for their future jobs as teachers. Even though they find the subject relevant, only 38% report that they see a link between theoretical perspectives and everyday situations in schools. Most STs (69%) underline that what is taught at campus needs to be relevant for their practice, supporting them in their future jobs by offering them tools to use to be used in practical situations. Analyses point to STs understanding their professional identity mostly in line with the teacher as a craftsperson. In the post-course survey 2022, 76 % av the STs find the problem-based cases very relevant for the future work in schools, and 53% report that working with problem-based cases have supported them in linking theoretical perspectives with everyday situations in schools. This have widened their understanding, made them aware of the complexity in situations and given them different perspectives on how to understand and deal with situations. Analyses point to STs understanding their professional identity not only as a craftsperson, but also in line with the teacher as a professional scientist/researcher. The STs point to fellow-students as important for their motivation for their own engagement. They especially highlight group discussion related to the problem-based cases, as engaging and necessary in developing knowledge and professional identity. Haslam (2017) five ‘I’s , ‘Identification’, ‘Ideation’, ‘Interaction’, ‘Influence’ and ‘Ideology’ will be further elaborated on in the presentation, where focus group interviews will be part of the analyses.

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