Research on Education and Learning within the School of Teacher Education

As of October 2009 there are twelve researchers holding doctorates (of which one is a professor and two are associate professors) and five active PhD students within the School of Teacher Education´s research profile. The research profile is led by Professor Anders Persson.

Three research areas are prioritized within the School of Teacher Educationat Halmstad University:

1. research in close proximity to the Teacher Education program including subject didactics;
2. research closely connected to teaching practice in cooperation with local authorities and schools which are cooperative partners with the School of Teacher Education and
3. research into relations between education/school and the surrounding community, outside world and societal development.

There are at present six subject-didactic research- and developmental projects within the research profile. The projects are led by doctorally-qualified researchers who are also active lecturers within the Teacher Education degree programmes. Professionally-active teachers in local schools with which the School of Teacher Education cooperates are also active within these initiatives which is a further reason for including them under the umbrella of teaching practice-related research.

The Committee for Teacher Education has carried out a survey of the need for research in close proximity to teaching practice in the School of Teacher Education´s cooperative municipalities. A subject-didactic research and development project concerning mathematics at two schools in Halmstad which has been a direct result of the above mentioned survey, has already started.

Associate Professor Claes Ericsson is currently running two research projects which are financed by the educational science committee of the Swedish Research Council, taking up such aspects as ‘Market Aesthetics and Everyday Culture in the Classroom´ as an example of research into relations between education/school and the outside world.