Modelling the connection between teaching, research and learning

This study presents the Terele-model (TEaching, REsearch, LEarning) – an easy-to-use model that distinguishes different levels of connection between teaching, research and learning. To do this the study uses Johari windows to show clearly and intuitively the five different levels of action and interaction between the teacher and the student. At the first level, the teacher passes on facts, and at the fifth level, the teacher and the student conduct research together. To avoid confusion and conceptual issues of the earlier research, I widen the scope of my literature review and trace the idea of the connection between research and teaching back to Antiquity, during which it is known to have originated. According to this view – which is still alive in some contemporary studies – the connection between research and teaching is mediated through learning. Understanding leaning and research in terms of their similarity opens up a way of seeing the clear parallelism between research and teaching. The aim of using the Terele-model is not so much to enhance the connection between teaching and research as to give the teacher a tool for designing the right kinds of connections to research depending on the learning goals.