Research institutions (RIs) and initial teacher education institutions (ITEs) report to be among the most active organisations in facilitating the use of research in education. However, in many OECD systems, their potential to support a more thoughtful and systematic use of research evidence in education policy and practice is still not entirely fulfilled. Few ITEs actively support the development of teacher candidates’ and educators’ research engagement skills, and research staff in RIs often have limited incentives to engage in collaborative research with or disseminate their research findings to policymakers, practitioners or the wider public.
Drawing on new data from the OECD’s 2023 Survey of Knowledge Mobilisation, this paper offers inspiring examples and considerations for RIs, ITEs and governments on how to strengthen the role of ITEs and RIs in knowledge mobilisation. The analysis presented in this paper suggests the following considerations:
1. Mandates matter: Institutions with a formal mandate for knowledge mobilisation are significantly more active in supporting research use than those without.
2. Research-informed teacher education: Most ITE institutions report that graduating teacher candidates lack sufficient skills to engage with research, highlighting a need to embed research engagement skills development more systematically in ITE curricula. Teacher educators also need dedicated incentives and supports to engage with educational research.
3. Collaborative research and research dissemination: Research institutions often lack dedicated training, incentives and structures to help researchers produce and communicate policy- and practice-relevant research.
4. Interdisciplinary collaboration between ITEs and RIs: Stronger partnerships between research and ITE institutions, especially within higher education institutions, are needed to improve the flow of pedagogical and subject-specific research into teacher education and classroom practice.
5. System-level levers: Governments can play a vital role in creating the right framework conditions for research and ITE institutions to operate in, for instance, by embedding knowledge mobilisation or research engagement in regulatory, funding and quality assurance frameworks.