Anders Råde

Final thesis models in European teacher education and their orientation towards the academy and the teaching profession

This study concerns different final thesis models in the research on teacher education in Europe and their orientation towards the academy and the teaching profession. In scientific journals, 33 articles support the occurrence of three models: the portfolio model, with a mainly teaching-professional orientation; the thesis model, with a mainly academic orientation; and the action research model, related to both orientations. All models had some relationship with both orientations. The study discusses these findings, the different models’ possibilities to integrate both major orientations as well as how a final thesis can be used to integrate theory and practice in higher education programmes.

Professional formation and the final thesis in European teacher education: a fusion of academic and professional orientation

ABSTRACT This paper deals with possibilities and difficulties involved in the integration of academic and professional goals in two final thesis models in European teacher education, the thesis model and the portfolio model. The methodology used is a review of relevant research articles. The thesis model was identified in 19 articles and the portfolio model in 41 articles. Five dimensions were found to promote the integration of the two kinds of goals while four hamper this integration. The dimensions identified are similar in the two models. The implications of this result for future teachers are discussed using the concepts of vertical and horizontal discourses. One such implication is that teacher education should use the adaptive function of the final thesis in a more developed way in order to strengthen the fusion of academic and professional orientation in the education.