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…

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…

What does being a professional early childhood educator entail? This paper aims to address this question. Starting from the early 2000s, there has been increased attention to workforce professionalization in the early childhood education and care sector across OECD nations. Against the backdrop of recent early childhood workforce…

This paper draws on Foucault's concept of governmentality to explore the use of reflective practice within Classroom Based Action Research (CBAR). The study reported here explored English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' reflective practice as they adopted CBAR as a professional learning model. Qualitative data were gathered from eight EFL…

In a context in which local authority support has been largely removed from schools in England, this article examines the needs of early career teachers (ECTs) in English schools and colleges, the extent to which these needs are met through professional development activities and the nature of that professional development. Quantitative and…

This study followed the academic growth of four university teachers, over a two-year period, with the intention of enhancing inquiry-based learning in practice. Data were generated within the natural settings of classrooms, laboratories and lecture halls, through the analysis of teaching materials, low-participation observation, informal…

Professional learning communities are receiving increasing attention within the schooling sector but empirical research into their development and use within early childhood education contexts is rare. This paper reports initial findings of an exploratory study into the development of professional learning communities in New Zealand's early…

This paper argues the need for coherent, holistic frameworks offering insightful understandings as well as viable, connected and synergistic solutions to schools in addressing pressing problems arising from the acknowledged gaps between research, practice and professional development. There is a need to conceptualise a comprehensive conceptual…

Results of research conducted to inform design of a professional development package for teachers involved in a preventative education, 'Keeping Safe', pilot (currently being evaluated via Randomised Control Trial) in Northern Ireland primary schools are presented. SNAP online survey technology was used to gather the views of 318 mainstream and…

This article examines the in-house professional development program in a private school in Lebanon and the approach it adopts to train teachers on reflective practice. It identifies the contextual factors in the school that teachers perceive as supporting their professional learning of reflective practice, and investigates the teachers'…

This article is based on the principle that teacher development is a life-long process when seeking to develop professional competencies. With the changing views of teacher education as background, the benefits to teachers associated with practice-oriented knowledge are predicated on a measure of empowerment through narration, self-expression and…

Teacher inquiry is a powerful professional development method for teachers to direct their own learning and focus on the particular needs of their own classroom. Yet, the study of effective professional development must broaden its focus beyond "what" skills and content teachers must acquire to consider "how" to best facilitate teachers' learning…