Teachers are expected to develop and follow up their practices in order to create thebest possible opportunities for student learning and growth. Action research providesprocesses and tools for such an approach and for this reason, some universities inthe Nordic countries have integrated action research into their teacher educationand in-service programs. Action research is not primarily technical when it comes toinvestigating practices but rather strives for critical thinking and thereby empowermentfor teachers. Expectations and traditions collide under those circumstances and thequestion is what action research education leads to.

In this symposium we want to explore (1) if and how teachers, through studyingand practicing action research, develop their practices and knowledge, (2) How theeducation itself and the schools where the teachers work nurture or constrain teachers’development work.

In Sweden, we have interviewed teachers participating in master programs givenat two universities (Gothenburg and Halmstad). The focus in the interviews was onwhether their practices in schools have changed and if so how the education hasinfluenced those changes. In Finland, teachers, who have conducted action researchas part of an in-service course at Åbo Akademi University, have been interviewedwith the same research focus. In Sweden, one teacher, who participated in the masterprogram in Gothenburg, has studied herself in her new role as teacher educator/facilitator at the University and present results from this study.

Our results contribute with knowledge on how educational action researchemerges, sometimes easily and sometimes with more difficulties, in two Nordiccontexts as a way for teachers to become owners of their own development work.