CONTEXT/BACKGROUNDPROTEUS started with a key question in education from the EC: “How to inspire teachers to be proactive, reflective professionals who take ownership of their own professional development?” There is an international drive to enhance collaboration between teacher education, largely based in universities, and schools. The aim of PROTEUS was to enable key stakeholders to better integrate the academic and practical elements of learning to teach, by investigating the effectiveness of initiatives that promote university/school collaboration, such as university schools. At the same time PROTEUS has, with the involvement of teacher educators, teacher mentors and student teachers developed understandings of ‘new professionalism’, across boundaries of research and teaching practice. With the involvement of different stakeholders to teacher education, PROTEUS has also involved larger sets of actors with ideas and exchanges of experiences that can contribute to the development of teacher education. OBJECTIVESThe main objectives of PROTEUS have been:1. To identify the opportunities and constraints of existing university/school collaborations2. To evaluate the potential of ‘university schools’ as a specific model of university/school collaboration3. To evaluate the capacity of university/school collaborations to develop 21st century professionalismPARTNERSPROTEUS consists of seven universities/university colleges and two university schools, covering all levels of initial teacher education, from primary to higher secondary schools. The partners represent a broad range of European education systems and hence are able to produce detailed evidence about the opportunities and constraints of university/school collaboration and its integration into national systems. ACTIVITIESPROTEUS has worked with a range of university/school collaboration models. Participants saw these approaches at first-hand and, through transnational meetings and the production of the PROTEUS intellectual outputs, considered their strengths and weaknesses, whilst learning from each other.RESULTSThe project has produced knowledge about university/school collaboration, both locally at the partner teacher education institutions and internationally, through exchange visits and workshops with student teachers, school (mentor) teachers and university staff. The following basic principles have emerged from the work of PROTEUS:1)The ultimate goal of teacher education, as implemented through USPs, is to provide pupils with the best possible educational and personal outcomes from their time in school. 2)A subsidiary goal of USPs is to make the teaching profession sustainable, by increasing the effectiveness of teachers whilst reducing stress, burnout and attrition.3)University schools, as a subset of USPs, should be research-informed, meaning that they actively refer to research results as evidence for pursuing specific practices, but with a critical and inquiring attitude to research, and with the possibility of pursuing research in specific local contexts.4)University schools should be a form of clinical practice, involving varying degrees of responsibility and with active dialogue between student teachers, mentors and other in-service teachers, as well as teacher educators and researchers.5)USPs should maintain mutual respect and understanding between all partners/stakeholders6)Mutual expectations should be clarified at an early stage in partnership development.7)Systematic Teacher Professional Development should be an integral part of USPs8)USPs should have a clear plan for mentoring new teachers, as part of an induction scheme, even if this is not mandatory at national level.9)The roles of PhD and masters studies within USPs should be agreed at an early stage and steps should be taken to maximise the value of such studies to participating schools, for example by aligning research topics to local issues in teaching and learning.10)Spatial factorsshould be taken into account in USPs. Staff should feel at home in both school and university environments, with the possibility of a 'thirdspace' for dialogue or 'trialogue' involving all stakeholders.11) Spreading the word about the benefits of USPs is important, and communication channels and messages should be discussed by all partners/stakeholders.As a summary recommendation, we suggest that schools and universities involved in teacher education should create long-term structures to support ongoing dialogue regarding their relationship. This should cover not only practice arrangements for student teachers, but also the role of research and researchers in both school- and university based teacher education.IMPACTPartner institutions enabled to reflect on, and refine, their collaboration practices.LONGER-TERM BENEFITS Better pupil outcomesReduced teacher attritionMore cost-efficient teacher education