The DOI matches its Crossref record; 32 of the 33 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Exploring the theory-practice gap in initial teacher education: moving beyond questions of relevance to issues of power and authority
Open accessAbstract
The ‘theory-practice divide’ in teacher education can be viewed not simply as an acceptance of a body of knowledge but instead an acceptance of the teacher educator’s authority to determine what is relevant educational theory. This research aimed to explore student teachers’ views of ‘educational theory’ and how it was discursively positioned relative to their practice in an attempt to examine whether their acceptance or rejection of it was also related to accepting the authority of the teacher educator. Using one-to-one interviews with 23 student teachers and employing a discourse analysis, four categories of students emerged. The paper describes these four categories and discusses the implications of these findings for initial teacher education and our understanding of the ‘theory-practice’ gap.
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“Extensive research over the past few decades highlights the impact of a theory-practice gap (Allen & Wright, 2013;McGarr et al., 2016)”
From Using LEGO® Six Bricks® as an educational resource to address challenges pre-service teachers face during school-based teaching practice (2025) · cites this paper as McGarr et al., 2016
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Research works printed but not linked: 5
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- Fruechting P., 2010, New Thoughts on the Supposed Theory-Practice Gap
- French J., 1959, Studies in Social Power, 529
- Habermas J., 1984, The Theory of Communicative Action: Vol. I. Reason and the Rationalization of Society
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Cited by
The Research–Practice Dialogue in Second Language Learning and Teaching: Past, Present, and Future
Sato, M., & Loewen, S. (2022) · Modern Language Journal · doi:10.1111/modl.12791 · Cited by 233
McGarr, O. (2020) · Journal of Education for Teaching International Research and Pedagogy · doi:10.1080/02607476.2020.1724654 · Cited by 86
Self-citationThe School–University Nexus and Degrees of Partnership in Initial Teacher Education
Farrell, R. (2021) · Irish Educational Studies · doi:10.1080/03323315.2021.1899031 · Cited by 73
‘Who Is My Research for?’: Researcher Perceptions of the Research–Practice Relationship
Sato, M., Loewen, S., & Pastushenkov, D. (2021) · Applied Linguistics · doi:10.1093/applin/amab079 · Cited by 62
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Holmqvist, M. (2019) · Teacher Education in the 21st Century · doi:10.5772/intechopen.83417 · Cited by 48
Metadata
- Authors
- McGarr, O., O’Grady, E., & Guilfoyle, L.
- Affiliations
- University of Limerick (IE)
- Corresponding author
- McGarr, Oliver
- Venue
- Journal of Education for Teaching
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2016-11-08
- Volume
- 43
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 48-60
- ISSN
- 0260-7476 (ISSN-L)
- 1360-0540
- OpenAlex
- W2554644448
- Cited by
- 86
- References
- 33
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 16 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1
- FWCI
- 20.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- hdl.handle.net
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-sa
- Locations
- Journal of Education for Teaching International Research and Pedagogy (publishedVersion)
- Arrow@dit (Dublin Institute of Technology) (acceptedVersion)
- University of Limerick Institutional Repository (University of Limerick) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Hong Kong Education Bibliographic Database (submittedVersion)
- Figshare (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- University of Limerick Institutional Repository (University of Limerick) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- University of Limerick Institutional Repository (University of Limerick)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Teacher Education and Leadership Studies
- Social Sciences › Education › Education Pedagogy and Practices
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies
- Keywords
- theory-practice gap, initial teacher education, pre-service teachers, educational theory, student teacher perceptions
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