Research-practice integration in teacher education: An integrative review

Project overview

Research-practice integration (RPI) is consistently presented in the academic literature as a dynamic, relational, and collaborative process essential for advancements of professions. For the purpose of this review, RPI is broadly understood as the deliberate alignment of educational research activities with the everyday practice of teacher training, ensuring that research insights can be translated and used to improve the training and professional development of teachers and school leaders, and vice versa.

The project adopts an integrative review approach, bringing together conceptual, empirical, and practice-based evidence to understand how RPI is understood, enacted, and experienced in teacher education. A distinctive feature of this review is its focus on the entire professional continuum, encompassing both initial teacher education (ITE) and continuing professional development (CPD). The project aims to generate outputs that are both practically relevant and theoretically robust, informing the work of the National Institute of Teaching and the wider sector.

Research aims

To develop practical outputs informed by the review and stakeholder input:

• An RPI framework
• Annotated case studies

These outputs are informed by the following research aims:

• To map how RPI is defined and conceptualised in teacher education.
• To identify strategies and mechanisms that facilitate or hinder RPI.
• To examine the perspectives and experiences of key stakeholders (e.g., teacher educators, school leaders, researchers) on RPI.
• To identify the evidence and its quality on the effectiveness of RPI models on teacher and pupil outcomes.

Methodology

A multiple-methods approach (inc. literature review and stakeholder study).

Project team

• Professor Sin-Wang Chong, Head of Evidence Synthesis, National Institute of Teaching
• Dr Melissa Bond, Research Fellow in Research Synthesis, National Institute of Teaching
• Dr Marta Ciesielska, Research Fellow in Research Synthesis, National Institute of Teaching
• Dr Violeta Negrea, Research Fellow in Research Synthesis, National Institute of Teaching
• Qi Liu, Research Assistant, National Institute of Teaching
• College of Reviewers, National Institute of Teaching
• Research Advisory Group

Research advisory group

• Dr Elizabeth N. Farley-Ripple, University of Delaware, US
• Dr Clare Gartland, University of Bath, UK
• Camilla Hagevold, University of Stavanger, Norway
• Isabel Kempner, EEF, UK
• Professor Sarah McGeown, University of Edinburgh, UK
• Dr Emily Oxley, University of Glasgow, UK

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