Professional learning may be the most significant when the teacher feels fundamentally challenged and questioned about their practices, beliefs, or identities. In this paper, the elements that cause such fundamental challenges and questions -- disruptions -- are called 'disruptive hooks'. In the process of addressing such disruptive hooks,…

For educators, identifying and characterising problems in their teaching practice is essential for triggering inquiries into their practice. Knowing what educators consider problematic is essential for generating strategies for situated approaches to help teacher educators manage their problems and promote professional learning. In this study, we…

This study investigates teachers' understanding of how conversations between colleagues can promote the development of knowledge. Its purpose is to supplement previous research in the field of knowledge processes in respect of conversation as an integral part of teachers' everyday work. On the basis of interview data obtained from teachers in a…

Despite a burgeoning body of research on teacher identity development, little is known about how incongruities between the ideal and real-life teaching practices create identity tensions. The present study adopted an arts-based approach and examined teachers' ideal and actual teaching practices, and the associated identity tensions and related…

Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) are valuable spaces for collaboration and reflection to promote the transformation of teaching practice and resilience to change. In PLCs that are sustained over time, trust-building is a key element. In Latin America, school systems and educational models are based on mistrust, which in Chile is consistent…

Teachers face numerous challenges in their efforts to be pedagogically responsive to students' different learning needs. I extend scholarship in the field by exploring the potential of implementing a nuanced, collaborative intervention strategy called knotworking to facilitate teachers' ongoing professional development (PD). The heuristic of…

Teacher professional development is a constantly evolving phenomenon. It is important for effective classroom practice, teacher identity and student learning. This research explores evidence-based teaching portfolios as authentic and continuous professional development involving cross-sectoral and cross-contextual teacher collaboration.…

Teacher leaders are increasingly leading learning conversations in professional learning communities (PLCs) in schools in several parts of the world today, but there is little empirical knowledge of teacher leadership in PLC conversations. Thus, this article aims to enhance such knowledge, particularly the development of teacher leadership in PLC…

This article explores how ideas from complexity and ecological thinking have the potential to act as a conceptual lens to help us better understand, design and support teachers' long-term professional learning. Using primary physical education (PPE) as a curriculum context, the challenges of contemporary professional learning, particularly within…

In the Netherlands, academically oriented programmes for primary teacher education have recently been established. The aim of this study is to provide insight in the extent to which graduates from these academically oriented programmes are involved in different forms of inquiry-based working and which factors promote or hinder this involvement.…

Novice-expert interaction plays an important role in teacher professional development for Chinese vocational education and training (VET). Both Chinese and international research shows that expert-teachers' support is associated with the improvement of novice-teachers' teaching. However, insights into how exactly novice teachers learn with the…

This narrative self-study reflects on my discursively shaped thoughts, beliefs, and knowledge to portray the construction and reconstruction of my identity at different stages of professional life. I tried to investigate carefully, up to the current moment, the struggles, building blocks, and successes which have reshaped my formerly shaped…

There is a growing body of evidence that coaching early childhood educators leads to improved instruction, and influences children's learning outcomes. Despite this, consensus is lacking about how coaching as a form of professional development is defined, what it should involve, and how much should be offered. This paper outlines the findings of a…

In this research we examined the ways we accessed and responded to students' engagement with a set of pedagogical principles of teacher education focused on meaningful physical education. The research was cross-cultural, taking place in universities in Country 1 and Country 2. Self-study of teacher education practice (S-STEP) methodology guided…

In this paper, I propose shifts in perspective and practice in initial teacher education from the reflective to the diffractive practitioner as a productive way of supporting new teachers to prepare for the complex and non-linear nature of teaching. The reflective practitioner is a figure deeply embedded in humanist and anthropocentric discourses,…