Designing and redesigning research-based teacher education Hilde Wågsås Afdal * , Kari Spernes 1 Department of Teacher Education, Østfold University College, Norway highlights  Designing research-based teacher education must be recognized as a complex process.  Students explored professional problems using research-based methods and literature.  Academic reading enabled integration of research- and practice-based knowledge.  A research-based TE involves parallel processes and longitudinal perspectives.  Students must be active participants, socialized into a research practice. article info Article history: Received 25 August 2017 Received in revised form 14 May 2018 Accepted 18 May 2018 1. Introduction Calls for research-based teacher education (TE) programs have increased over the past decade. 2 The growth of the Bologna process and initiatives from international organizations, such as the Orga- nization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD; Eu- ropean Ministers of Education (e.g. Bologna Declaration, 1999; Commission, 2005; Commission of the European Communities, 2007; OECD, 2013), have put strong pressure on higher education institutions and staff to address the relationship between teaching and research and to develop strategies to meet the requirements for research-based curricula (Brew, 2003). A growing body of research in Europe and North America shows that research-based TE is a requirement and aim in policies, educational research, and TE practices (Darling-Hammond, 2017). Two focal questions appear across the studies mentioned above: (1) Why do teachers need the kind of education and competencies that research activities provide for their growth as teachers? (2) How might a research-based TE program be initiated and organized in TE? The arguments for why are manifold. First, global competitive- ness creates a need for developing 21 st -century skills, such as active learning, critical reflection, and problem-solving (Greiff et al., 2014). Niemi and Nevgi (2014) showed that such skills enable teachers to continuously renew their curricula and teaching ap- proaches and to take a position as knowledge creators rather than knowledge recipients. A considerable body of research shows that research-based professional practice (see e.g. Author, 2014; Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009; Darling-Hammond, 2017; Westbury, Hans en, Kansanen, & Bj€ orkvist, 2005; Zeichner, 2010) is built on research-based TE. These studies argue that research-based TE enables teachers to make autonomous, rational, and theory-based decisions and to integrate research and practice in a profound way. Parkison (2009) showed that research-based TE courses foster in professionals the ability to recognize shifts in students' needs. Dunn, Harrison, and Coombe (2008) showed that research-based TE promotes an attitude among prospective teachers to seek continual professional renewal. Furthermore, a substantial number of studies focused on how to initiate and organize research-based TE looked at the character, content, and structure of research-based TE (Cochran-Smith & Fries, 2005; Cochran-Smith & Zeichner, 2005; Jyrh€ am€ a et al., 2008; Kansanen, 2007; Munthe & Rogne, 2015; Toom et al., 2008). Most of these studies suggested that to develop analytical skills, critical thinking, and reflection student teachers must be active participants in the research processes during the TE program. Thus, research-based TE involves educating prospective teachers in a specific style of thinking and acting that stems from the principles and methods of scientific work (Griffiths, 2004). Other studies have explored the role of research and the findings of research-based activities and knowledge in TE (Author, 2012, 2013, 2018; Aulls, Magon, & Shore, 2015; Maaranen, 2009). Activities that imply * Corresponding author. Østfold University College, Faculty of Education, Norway. E-mail address: hilde.afdal@hiof.no (H.W. Afdal). 1 Østfold University College, Faculty of Education, Norway.kari.spernes@hiof.no 2 The terms “research” and “inquiry” are subject to different interpretations. In this article, they are used interchangeably. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Teaching and Teacher Education journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tate https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2018.05.011 0742-051X/© 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Teaching and Teacher Education 74 (2018) 215e228