The nature of the relationship between theory and practice in initial teacher education has been a perennial topic of international debate. After making the case that both theory and practice are essential in the preparation of teachers, the chapter outlines how the idea of ‘practical theorising' was originally developed as way of describing a process by which the two elements could be held together. Within England, the claim that there is no need for theory in initial teacher education was most memorably summarised in 2010 in a declaration by Michael Gove, then Secretary of State for Education, that teaching is a craft, ‘best learnt as an apprentice observing a master craftsman or woman'. Yet even the most enthusiastic adherents of evidence-based practice generally acknowledge that research findings can rarely be simply or straightforwardly applied within the complex world of the classroom.
