Increasing attention has been given to strengthening educational practice through the use of research evidence. However, the relationship between educational research and school practice remains fragmented, particularly regarding how school–university partnerships (SUPs) support teachers’ engagement with evidence and their role as epistemic agents. The aim of this study is to identify the characteristics of collaboration models between schools and universities that shape different forms of teachers’ engagement with research and the collaborative development of professional knowledge. Following the PRISMA protocol, 20 studies published between 2020 and 2025 were selected from Web of Science, Scopus, and ERIC and analysed to address four research questions on the objectives, actors, organisational dynamics, and reported impacts of SUPs. Based on the analysis, the study proposes three distinct configurations for examining the relationship between SUPs, research utilisation, and teachers’ epistemic agency: an approach to teacher training, an approach to fostering informed professionals, and an approach centred on the co-creation of knowledge. These configurations reflect different levels of teachers’ epistemic agency and vary according to the organisational conditions that support evidence use. The study offers an analytical framework for understanding the potential and limitations of SUPs in strengthening research-informed practices and for guiding future collaborative initiatives.

Purpose This article explores the relationships between teachers' signification of research and their willingness to use it in professional practice. Design/methodology/approach This article adopts Baudrillard's (1968) semiotic theory of consumption to examine how teachers' perceptions of the desirability or value of research affect their use of it in their everyday practice. A sample of 608 teachers working in elementary, primary and secondary schools in five European countries – Catalonia, England, Poland, Slovenia and Romania – were surveyed regarding how their signification of research relates to their use of it in professional practice. Findings The findings show that teachers are more likely to use research when they signify it as relevant, useful, and as having a positive impact on their students, classroom practice and school – a pattern consistent with the existing literature. More surprisingly, years of teaching experience do not influence how teachers signify research; instead, factors such as alignment with school goals, leadership support and colleagues' engagement with research prove to be more decisive. Research limitations/implications The reliance on self-reported survey data for both signification and research engagement may introduce common method bias and social desirability effects, meaning teachers may overestimate their engagement with research. As a result, findings should be interpreted as reflecting perceived rather than actual practices. In addition, relatively small national sub-samples limit the generalisability of the results across and within the five countries. The cross-sectional design also prevents conclusions about causal relationships. Practical implications The findings inform school leaders in fostering research-engaged cultures through visible modelling and collective inquiry structures, guide researchers in ensuring practical classroom applicability and support teacher educators in embedding research engagement across career stages while balancing institutional priorities with teacher autonomy. Originality/value This article adopts Baudrillard's (1968) conceptualisation of signification to uncover the deeper, symbolic values teachers allocate to research use beyond its immediate utility in their day-to-day practice.

El presente trabajo describe el perfil de los docentes universitarios de Paraguay que utilizan las evidencias para informar sus decisiones en sus prácticas. Para ello, se realizó un estudio cuantitativo de alcance descriptivo, se tuvieron en cuenta las variables: años de experiencia en docencia universitaria, la participación de los docentes en investigación, la percepción de autoeficacia y la concepción que tienen los docentes sobre la investigación. Del estudio participaron 60 docentes de educación universitaria de Paraguay. Encontramos que los docentes son profesionales que, sin tener en cuenta los años de experiencia ejerciendo la docencia universitaria, recurren principalmente los artículos científicos, los docentes que realizan investigación dentro o fuera de la universidad utilizan evidencias para el contenido, la metodología y para innovar en sus prácticas, además, son profesionales con un alto nivel percepción de autoeficacia para la aplicación de evidencia en sus prácticas educativas. Este estudio contribuye en dar a conocer como los docentes perciben que hacen uso de las evidencias resultadas de la investigación. Ayuda a las universidades de Paraguay y a los encargados de las políticas educativas a adoptar medidas de incentivo, formación y mayor investigación para el uso correcto de las evidencias científicas y en consecuencia la mejora educativa.

The quality of our educational systems depends, among many other factors, on the involvement, autonomy and professional development of teachers. Self-regulation capacity and, specifically, the self-regulation of learning is one of the key factors contributing to the academic and professional development of teachers. The purpose of this study is to delve into the understanding of pre-service and in-service schoolteachers’ self-regulated learning processes, as part of their professional competencies’ development. Through a qualitative methodology, semi-structured interviews, designed ad-hoc for the study, were conducted with eleven pre-service and twelve in-service schoolteachers. The interviews addressed aspects associated to the planning, the monitoring, and the reflection of their learning processes and professional development. Results show that self-regulated learning is an ability that is learned during their initial training, and which is continuously developed and defined during their professional practice, which shifts from the individual to the collective, and which is regulated through motivation. The study leads us to conclude that without a doubt, the development of self-regulation of learning processes improves and completes the professional practice of teachers. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate self-regulated learning in the study plans of schoolteacher’s training and the school’s strategic plan, as a key competency that must to be developed in an intentional, planned, and conscious manner.

Universities in Spain, as well as globally, are currently witnessing a surge in regulations covering all aspects of operation, including teaching, learning and assessment. The present paper endeavours to explore the repercussions of excessive regulations on the roles of educators and students. It examines how these prescriptions pose a threat to academic freedom, faculty agency and teaching professionalism. The analysis is based on an examination of institutional assessment-related institutional policy documents from eight Catalan universities. The documents reveal a disconnect between the expectations surrounding the professionalism and agency of academics and the prescribed directives, which often leave room for interpretation by those tasked with their implementation. The documents also shed light on the perception of an escalating centralisation of control over strategies that can enhance student learning. This raises questions about the autonomy and professional judgment of educators when selecting the instructional methods that are best suited to and most advantageous for their students.

Integrating research into teaching gives future practitioners the opportunity to inform and enhance their own professional capacities and practices with research. This study analyses integration practices currently employed by a sample of 124 university teachers delivering teacher education and education studies courses from three research-intensive universities in Catalonia (Spain), Poland, and England. Three particular aspects of their research integration were explored: the role they perceived research to have in teaching; the level of and their strategies for research integration; and the variables explaining their use of specific research integration strategies. The majority of the participants were found to actively integrate research activities into their teaching. However, significant statistical differences were found regarding the use of four integration strategies (i.e., research-tutored, research-led, research-based and research-oriented), with participants in England practising all four more frequently than their peers in Catalonia and Poland. The most relevant variables were found to be: the country where the university is located, students' preparedness to apply research in their own professional practice and the importance given to basic research training on study programmes. Thus, this paper provides insights for education professionals and curriculum designers looking to develop mechanisms to better integrate research into teaching.

While the concept of 'teacher as researcher' has been widely studied, less attention has been paid to how teacher-researchers actually develop over time. Drawing from a wider qualitative study carried out in Poland and Spain, this paper applies Evans' (2012) researcher development framework in order to analyse the narratives of 16 successfully research-engaged teachers in terms of how they grow and evolve as teacher-researchers throughout their professional careers. The study findings reveal a diverse range of critical moments and experiences which enhance the participants' capacities as teacher-researchers, comprising a complex interplay between behavioural, attitudinal, and intellectual changes. The paper ends by extrapolating some new insights for theory and practice for the 'teacher as researcher' concept.

Since teacher research engagement is increasingly sought as a widespread practice, there is a need to pay more attention to the positive trajectories of research-engaged teachers that already exist. This qualitative interview-based study explores what factors motivate and sustain teacher research engagement via focusing on narratives of 36 teachers in Poland and Spain who are successfully research-engaged beyond their own formal education requirements. The study finds that teacher research engagement entails a complex interplay between: intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, originating mainly from teachers’ own personal and professional desires; personal characteristics and skills, especially inner need and willingness; and environmental factors, both inside and outside their schools. The study offers concrete lessons and specific recommendations upon which diverse stakeholders – i.e., teacher educators, researchers, continuing professional development providers, headteachers, and teachers – can support teachers in becoming and remaining research-engaged throughout their careers.

Drawing on a qualitative, interview-based study of 36 research-engaged teachers in Poland and Spain, this paper aims to identify and explore the types of their research engagement, and their recommendations on how education stakeholders can improve this engagement. The findings reveal three types of teacher research engagement - i.e. situational engagement, emotional engagement, and transformative engagement - as well as specific roles and responsibilities for five stakeholders they view as being key to improving teacher research engagement: school leaders, teachers, university communities, teacher education providers, and policy makers. The paper concludes with new insights for theory and practice in this field.

Promoting self-regulated learning (SRL) skills among teachers has emerged as a sustainable professional-learning approach, contributing not only to equip teachers with tools for lifelong learning and professional growth but also to the overall quality of the educational system. Recognising teachers as pivotal agents in this endeavour, this study addresses the under-researched area of promoting SRL skills during initial teacher education at higher education institutions. This study examines factors promoting key SRL strategies among 546 Catalan pre-service teachers. Controlling for students’ sociodemographic information, multiple regression analyses are used to make inferential judgments and test the separate effects of the independent variables. The findings emphasise the importance of maintaining a proactive attitude that does not preclude them from seeking help when needed, as well as equipping pre-service teachers with the ability to identify the required academic resources and to maintain their engagement and motivation for self-directed learning. Through rigorous analysis, this study not only provides valuable insights into the factors shaping SRL skills but also highlights the broader sustainability narrative within education. Moreover, the study advocates equipping pre-service teachers with the skills to identify necessary academic resources, promoting resource efficiency, and fostering a culture of continuous learning and adaptation.

Peer-feedback is a widely-used strategy at the university level for its positive impact on student learning and its multifaceted advantages encompassing social, cognitive, and metacognitive development. However, few studies have assessed its contribution to the development of teamwork skills. This study analyzes students’ perception of how peer-feedback contributes to the development of teamwork skills by comparing the results of two class groups that have taken the same subject, though with different feedback experience designs (face-to-face and mixed feedback vs. non-face-to-face and written feedback, with or without consensus among group members). At the end of the study, 82 participants completed a questionnaire to assess their perception of the peer-feedback experience and its impact on learning and the development of teamwork skills. The findings reveal that students perceive that giving and receiving feedback in face-to-face mixed modality contributes more to developing teamwork skills; however, the presence or absence of consensus among group members to give or receive feedback does not appear to exert a clear impact on the development of these skills. Additionally, the findings suggest that students perceive a greater development of teamwork skills by giving feedback rather than receiving it. These results highlight the importance for teachers to consider such aspects when designing peer-feedback experiences, aiming to maximize the impact on the development of teamwork skills.

Group work benefits student learning in many ways, but group work assessment may be challenging for academics and sometimes is perceived as less fair than individually set assessment tasks. Peer assessment (PA) and self assessment (SA) represents a possible approach supporting lecturers and students to better differentiate individual contributions to group-based assignments. In this study, we explore the students' perception of SA and PA as strategies to facilitate the assessment of the process of group work and to contribute to increasing the sense of fairness in assessment. With these aims, we designed a study of an assessment practice in which students were involved as partners in the assessment and grading process of a group project assignment. At the end of the course, and when the SA and PA experience concluded, we administered a survey. The findings show that (1) including SA and PA strategies in student tasks enhances the students' perceived sense of fairness in the assessment process, (2) the specifics of the instructional design do not have a significant effect on student perceptions of this form of assessment, and (3) sociodemographic factors such as the academic year, the degree major and the age of the students have a moderate effect. We conclude that SA and PA improve the sense of democracy of the assessment process, as this is not only in the teachers' hands but also shared and agreed upon within the group.

This survey-based study delves into the intricate interplay of research utilisation in the pedagogical approaches of a sample of 534 teachers across Catalonia (Spain), Poland, and England. Applying Baudrillard's Theory of Consumption lenses, we present novel insights into the multifaceted aspects of research use, including its benefits, costs, and significance within the teaching profession. Our findings underscore the interdependencies among the perceived benefits, costs, and significance of research utilisation, bolstered by factor analysis. Specifically, our results indicate that teachers regard research as a means to enhance their understanding of educational theories, providing valuable insights to inform their teaching practices. Moreover, research empowers teachers to challenge entrenched conceptions and adopt innovative pedagogical strategies. In addition, the significance of research use is associated with its alignment with school priorities and integration into the decision-making processes. Furthermore, teachers identified various obstacles to research use, including issues of research literacy, support mechanisms, and the accessibility of research resources. The study sheds additional insight into the dynamics of research utilisation among teachers operating within diverse national contexts. It underscores the intricate relationships between individual and organisational factors that shape and influence teaching practices.

Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Programmes comprise campus-based teaching sessions and school practice. This article carries out a systematic review from the context of Initial Teacher Education programmes in Higher Education, using the term 'nexus' to summarise the various ways research is integrated into campus-based teaching, and the various forms of research-informed teaching in school placement within ITE programmes. The review focused on empirical studies, written in either English or Spanish between 2015 to 2022, that report on this nexus-17 articles written in English met all the inclusion criteria, but none written in Spanish. The nexus is manifested on three levels: the intended level (related to courses), the implemented level (concerning campus-based teaching), and the impact level (among pre-service teachers). The nexus appears on the intended level through how courses and associated focal points for pedagogical practice are engineered and systematically designed to integrate research and teaching. On the implemented level, the nexus emerges in teacher educators' emphasis on epistemic connections between research and current school practice, and this highlights the identities of teacher educators and their professional development needs. On the impact level, the nexus means achieving harmony between, on the one hand, what pre-service teachers have learnt from researching and, on the other, real social contexts-cognitively, affectively and self-efficaciously. Discussion of these results provides a working definition of the research-teaching nexus: for both teacher educators and pre-service teachers to use the products and processes of research to enhance the effectiveness of teaching, either in campus-teaching or school placement practice.

Background: In Spain, as in many other countries, educational administrators are calling for schools and teachers to engage with research-informed teaching (RIT) to improve the quality of teaching and student outcomes. Despite this interest, schools’ and teachers’ engagement with research evidence is inconsistent, and studies exploring the factors affecting teachers’ and schools’ commitment to RIT, in the Spanish context, are undeveloped.Analysis: The authors analyzed a survey sample of 462 teachers in 204 Spanish schools to identify teacher and school characteristics that determine teachers’ likelihood of engaging in evidence-informed educational practice (EIP). This analysis explores variables such as teachers’ concepts of research, their self-efficacy to understand and conduct educational research, and the influence of school organizational variables.Findings: Teachers seem reluctant to use research in class practice. Whether research is seen as relevant to their immediate or short-term needs, combined with the capacity to use data research evidence, appears to be a decisive factor for those engagedwith research. Résumé Contexte : En Espagne, comme dans plusieurs autres pays, les administrateurs scolaires demandent aux écoles et aux enseignants de s’inspirer de l’enseignement fondé sur la recherche afin d’améliorer la qualité de l’enseignement et les résultats des élèves. Malgré cette demande, l’engagement des écoles et des enseignants à l’égard des résultats de recherche n’est pas des plus forts. D’autre part, dans le contexte espagnol, les études explorant les facteurs qui influent sur l’engagement des enseignants et des écoles envers l’enseignement fondé sur la recherche sont peu développées.Analyse : Les auteurs ont analysé un échantillon d’enquête de 462 enseignants dans 204 écoles espagnoles pour identifier les caractéristiques des écoles et des enseignants qui déterminent la probabilité que ceux-ci s’engagent dans l’éducation fondée sur les preuves (EFP). Dans leur analyse, les auteurs explorent des variables telles que la manière dont les enseignants perçoivent la recherche, l’efficacité de ces derniers à comprendre et à mener la recherche en éducation, et l’organisation de l’école.Conclusion : En général, les enseignants semblent réticents à recourir à la recherche dans leurs salles de classe. Pour ceux qui le font, le fait qu’ils la considèrent comme pertinente pour leurs besoins immédiats ou à court terme ainsi que leur habileté à utiliser des données issues de la recherche semblent être des facteurs décisifs. Keywords / Mots clés : research-informed teaching, evidence-informed educational practice, educational research / enseignement fondé sur la recherche, éducation fondée sur les preuves, recherche en éducation

The article analyses the characteristics of schools according to the perception teachers have regarding their commitment to using research evidence within their practice. A questionnaire focused on issues such as the use of research evidence to improve schools, as well as factors known to influence this practice, such as organizational culture, leadership style, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making processes, was administered to a sample of 462 teachers from 204 primary schools in two Spanish autonomous regions. The questionnaire responses were analysed using a two-stage factor analysis. Three clusters of schools were identified. Although teachers from a large number of schools were enthusiastic regarding the use of research evidence, others were sceptical, and most declared themselves undecided. In all cases, we observed that organizational commitment to the use of research evidence, leadership support, and debate regarding decisions were significant characteristics of those schools oriented towards the use of research evidence.

This paper examines research informed educational practice (RIEP) and how RIEP can become an integral part of how education systems operate. For the purposes of this paper, we define RIEP as the use of academic research by teachers and school leaders in order to improve aspects of their teaching, decision-making, leadership or ongoing professional learning. First RIEP is considered within the broader context of 'research for the common good'. The paper then discusses how, despite the benefits and imperatives associated with RIEP, there is still a gap between educational research and educational practice. Considering the extant barriers to RIEP, the paper then concludes with a discussion of the types of 'universal' initiatives that can foster RIEP, regardless of the contextual factors operating at the system-level. In short, we argue that RIEP can materialise subject to: 1) effective capacity building to enhance teachers' research literacy (including within initial teacher education and continuing professional development activity); 2) Top-down initiatives that promote RIEPcentred collaboration between practitioners and practitioners, and practitioners and research/researchers that enable teachers to become partners in the research production process and ensure universities are engaged in practice focused research production and 3) the expectation that school leaders are responsible for implementing collaborative inquiry, focused approaches to RIEP, within their school. Finally, we also suggest these three factors need to be reinforced with consistent support from macro and meso level actors. Consistent support from macro and meso level actors (such as district leaders) in relation to each of the three aspects detailed above, including in terms of governance and accountability. In other words, RIEP is not derailed by new and conflicting initiatives, and is reflected in key structures affecting how schools operate.