Abstract

Why does research on learning and instruction often have so little impact on teachers and teaching? Why does research on teaching and teacher education often have so little impact on student learning?

In this inaugural lecture, explanations for these remarkable disconnections will be sought and directions for possible solutions will be proposed. Research on students’ learning and teachers’teaching and learning are currently organized in separate research communities, with each their own conceptual frameworks, methodological preferences, professional organizations, and scientific journals. Cross-referencing is an exception. In my view,traditional boundaries have to be crossed to achieve knowledge advancement about how teachers’ and students’ learning may benefit each other: boundaries between research communities,between communities of practice, and between research and practice. In this lecture, studies on both student learning and teacher professional learning that departed from a common learning theory will be discussed. Implications for future research that studies teachers’ and students’ learning in a more interconnected way will be derived.