Eight papers presented at an international symposium on teacher education research are featured in this document. Excerpts from the opening speech by Erkki A. Niskanen, Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Helsinki, outline research projects being carried out by teacher educators at the university. A paper by Yrjo Engestrom, Pentti Hakkarainen, and Simo Seppo (Finland) deals with "The Relevance of Materialist Didactic Theory in the Analysis and Development of Instructional Practice." A bibliography of over 100 references, and sample ancient history instructional materials are appended. In "Research on Teaching Activity in Hungary" and "The Methods of Teacher Training in Hungary," Ivan Falus discusses beginning teacher research and the integration of new Western teacher training techniques in Hungary. Two papers, written in German, are: (1) "The Relationship between Theoretical and Practical Training in Teacher Education: Status Discussion," by Albrecht Herrmann (East Germany), cites the importance of learning and knowledge to the preparation of teachers and suggests a model day for teacher education students; and (2) "The Training of Degreed Natural Science Teachers for the Polytechnic "Oberschule" of the German Democratic Republic at Universities and High Schools with an Example of Chemistry Teacher Preparation," by Hans Keune, describes the 10-year program in East Germany to train chemistry teachers. Elements of a successful model for student teaching are outlined in "The Background for Describing the Model," by Hans Jorgen Kristensen (Denmark). Arye Perlberg and Ehud Bar-On (Israel) present "An Evaluation of the Relative Effectiveness of Different Training Systems in Teacher Training," an investigation of microteaching techniques. (FG)