Bridging the gap between university and elementary school institutions through research

The aim of this paper is to discuss the relationship between research and the elementary school teacher, based on data from an integrated research project on this theme. The articulation between teaching and research in elementary school teacher training and practice is something that has been widely discussed in the academic literature. However, very little is actually known about its effectiveness and power among teachers on this level. In this text we present the proposal and some of the results of our study, considering the three stages that constitute the project: 1. the view elementary school teachers have about research and the training they received to develop it, as well as the conditions and the stimulus for it to take place in their teaching practice; 2. the opinion of university teachers responsible for their training, focusing on the importance, the need and the viability of doing research not only in teacher training, but also in teaching practice including the means employed by their university in the training of undergraduates as future researchers; 3. the position adopted by those who decide about research itself, a stage of the study which is now in progress, attempting to detect the elements which are taken into consideration by these people. We conclude with some reflections on the present status of research in education and the challenge of training teachers, highlighting the importance of approaching research in education based on the two contexts that concern it: the university and elementary school institutions.

BASIC EDUCATION; HIGHER EDUCATION; EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH; TEACHER