The Role of Teacher Education in Introducing Action Research into the Education System: A Case Study of an Education College

Abstract

The study presents a case of a teacher education college which took upon itself the role of providing teachers with an opportunity to study their work as part of their professional development studies in three different frameworks. The objective of the study was to examine the role of the college as promoting research carried out by practicing teachers regarding their own work, from the teachers’ point of view. In all three frameworks the teachers had to conduct a study of their own work, following which they were asked to write a reflective text regarding the research process. These texts were analyzed using the grounded theory approach, resulting in three major categories. In-depth examination of the categories led to insights related to the responsibility academia can and should take upon itself in assisting teachers in developing their abilities to combine practice and theory and evolve from knowledge consumers to knowledge creators.