Prerequisites for Policy and Practice in School–University Partnerships in Sweden: Short- and Long-Term Incentives for Taking Responsibility

Teacher education for upper secondary school in Sweden is mainly university-based but with parts of the studies as school-based courses. To tackle the main obstacles to pre-service teachers’ placements, and to strengthen collaboration regarding quality and collaborative research, a new national policy is being implemented, which changes the prerequisites for collaboration between schools and universities. This chapter presents an overview of how policy and practice affect incentives in terms of short- and long-term goals of the various actors in collaborations between schools and Lund University. Through an example of practising teachers taking ownership of research, we outline the prerequisites and possibilities for such initiatives to help mend the gaps between schools and university. Tensions can arise, expressed in the form of difficulties in bridging gaps between regulations, prerequisites, and views on knowledge. We aim to find our way forward using the new policy as a stepping stone. We use frame-factor perspectives to reflect on how to navigate in relation to various incentives and goals in policy and practice, and how to induce common responsibility for students’ school-based education and collaborative research to develop proactive long-term planning in which tension and concerns can be averted.