Research or teaching? Contradictory demands on Swedish teacher educators and the consequences for the quality of teacher education

Abstract

Based on a policy analysis and interviews with assistant lecturers and lecturers (with a PhD) who are heavily involved in teacher education, the present article addresses contemporary tensions and challenges in Swedish teacher education. The point of departure is the theoretical framework of mission stretch and the third space professional in teacher education with the aim of investigating how teacher educators experience and navigate their daily work. The findings of the study illustrate the tensions teacher educators experience between research and teaching tasks, between a constant flow of tasks, large student groups, and demands of high-quality teaching. The findings also show a gap between the practical anchoring of some research in teacher education and feelings of tension between teaching practices and the value of research. In conclusion, teacher education would seem to be developing into a cluster of tasks, challenges, expectations, and skills. This indicates that teaching and research are not the only missions and cannot be taken for granted in light of how teachers struggle to define their professional knowledge and value with respect to increasingly strong competitive demands for research performance.

Trendlines in Research Methodology and Topics in Teacher Education: Big data analysis of theses in Swedish teacher education between 2005–2023

“…Another problem is that there is an increased demand from the scientific community (Angervall et al, 2020) and the governmental funding agencies (SFS, 2014:1578) that teachers should be more involved within research processes. However, if teacher students do not get trained in how to evaluate the effects of a change, be it an intervention, or a change in one's own teaching or implementation of a new idea, then teachers will not be as able in doing their own research or being a research collaborator.…”

“…All teaching in Sweden's educational system should be based on scientific research or proven experience (Alexakos, 2015;Prop., 2009/10:89). There has also been an increasing demand that teachers should be involved in the research process, from the scientific community (Angervall et al, 2020) and Swedish government funding agencies (SFS, 2014(SFS, :1578. Together, these raise the question whether teacher education in Sweden prepares teachers for these tasks, i) to be able to interpret scientific research aimed at improving teaching, and ii) prepare teachers to be able to partake in scientific research.…”