The Teacher Education Network (TENet) is a research consortium from five European universities dedicated to initial teacher education (ITE) within the Circle.U European University Alliance (https://www.circle-u.eu). TENet’s primary objectives are to promote high-quality education and research in ITE (Brew, 2006) and to strengthen the internationalization of teacher education. One of the network's inaugural activities was a study conducted across all five networking universities, aimed at understanding the opportunities and needs of future teachers regarding research involvement during their ITE. The study utilized 11 focus group interviews, involving 32 ITE students. Crucially, the research was co-designed with student co-researchers, who participated in every phase alongside academic researchers. They conducted the focus group interviews and joined in the process of analyzing the data. Thus, beyond gaining insights into future teachers' needs and experiences, the project served as an opportunity to implement and evaluate collaborative research models in practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Results from the focus groups indicate that students perceive research involvement as a means to enhance critical thinking, shape teacher identity, build confidence, and create space for reflection. As one participant noted: “One cannot become a good teacher without this research mindset.” In addition to analyzing focus group data, we asked participating student co-researchers to reflect on their own experiences within this process. Their findings were consistent with the broader data but grounded in concrete research practice. They identified the value of student teacher research for both academic requirements (such as Master’s theses) and practical classroom work. Furthermore, they reported that they “felt the research way of thinking was natural” and viewed research as a vital tool for increasing the quality of teaching (cf. Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009). Participants also noted improvements in research literacy and public speaking, which significantly boosted their self-confidence. Despite the strong similarities between the focus group responses and the experiences of the co-researchers, we identified an additional, unique value in the co-researching model, exemplified by this student quote: “This meant that the responsibility of the research did not rest entirely on my shoulders; instead, I was gradually introduced to the research process and the ways in which research is conducted. [This] was exactly what made the research much more accessible to me, and I had very good role models to look up to.” This suggests that collaborative research acts as a scaffolding mechanism, a step-by-step approach to make academic inquiry more approachable for future educators.

Brew, A. (2006). Research and teaching: Beyond the divide. Palgrave Macmillan. Cochran-Smith, M., & Lytle, S. L. (2009). Inquiry as stance: Practitioner research in the next generation. Teachers College Press. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press.