Student teachers' views about the university's research contribution to professional knowledge development

Against an international policy backdrop that increasingly favours practicum over theoretical learning in initial teacher education (ITE), this paper reports on a mixed-methods study which investigated student teachers' views about the university's research contribution to professional knowledge development. In particular, it explored whether students following university-led and school-based ITE courses in England held divergent views, the relative influence of contextual and person-specific factors, and the curriculum's capacity to promote research relevance. The findings revealed the strong influence of personal epistemologies and epistemic emotions, highlighting the importance of consideration to social and educational psychology in ITE curriculum development. •Personal epistemologies strongly influence student teachers' views about the relevance of educational research.•There is a likely relationship between personal epistemology and ITE course type chosen by students.•When engaging with research, student teachers experience epistemic emotions that also impact views.•Teacher educators should consider social and educational psychology in curriculum development.