Collaborative teacher research: integrating professional learning and university study

This thesis documents the design, implementation and evaluation of a professional learning programme to support teachers in developing their ability to teach mathematics through problem solving. Teaching mathematics through problem solving is recognised as an effective way to teach mathematics. However, there are a number of different approaches with different descriptors such as problem posing and problem-based learning. In this study, teaching mathematics through problem solving is an approach where learners explore a problem or a task and their responses to the task are ‘orchestrated’ by the teacher to introduce and develop the mathematics to be learned. The development of this teaching approach involves the principles of task design and planning the sequencing of anticipated responses to be orchestrated. The professional development programme was informed by research on task design and the features of effective professional learning for teachers. The programme was built around the professional learning programme Lesson Study and was modified with a ‘pause’ in the research lesson and the use of remote visualisers to observe and analyse the work of the pupils. This latter feature was an adaption of the original programme design to respond to conditions arising in schools during the Covid-19 pandemic. Also a number of additional modifications were made to accommodate the ambitions of the programme. A qualitative approach was adopted using the methodology of design research and comprising two research cycles. The cohort in the first cycle were secondary school teachers and in the second cycle they were primary school teachers, all working in England. The aim of the study was to understand the effect of the programme on the participants’ knowledge, skills and confidence in teaching mathematics through problem solving. Existing frameworks in the literature on the known characteristics of effective professional learning were synthesised to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme. The main outcomes from this research confirm that the designed features of the PD programme were effective in supporting teachers in developing their ability to teach mathematics through problem solving. The use of task design principles in conjunction with the development of the teaching technique of orchestration resulted in gains in teacher confidence and subject and pedagogical knowledge. The pause in the research lesson and the use of visualisers to observe and analyse the pupils’ work provided the participants with a focused learning opportunity to develop the teaching approach. The evaluation of the programme using the designed analytical framework for CPD identified [a range of] known characteristics of effective CPD in the programme as designed and implemented. Three main implications emerged from the study, the first of which concerns the future development of teaching mathematics through problem solving. It was apparent that there were contextual barriers to the approach becoming an established part of teachers’ practice. To address these, the design of mathematics teaching resources would need to reflect the ambition to teach mathematics through problem solving. This is an issue for curriculum designers. There would also need to be recognition of the problem-solving skills that pupils require to access the problems, which would need to be taught either as part of teaching through problem solving or as a separate approach known as teaching for problem solving. The second implication identifies the challenges associated with introducing this type of programme into the current landscape of professional learning for teachers of mathematics in England, including the need for greater coherence between the professional learning of teachers of mathematics and their own workplace contexts. Finally, the third implication relates to the use of Lesson Study. This study described how the use of design research can develop Lesson Study variants that can make a positive contribution to professional learning environments for teachers without compromising the key principles of Lesson Study.

This study explores early career academics’ (ECAs) professional learning in a Danish university’s Professional Learning (PL) program, based on problem- and project-based learning (PBL) principles. Using a complexity theory lens, professional learning is viewed as a dynamic process involving intrapersonal, behavioral, relational, and contextual sources. Data from 38 written reflections via a questionnaire and six in-depth interviews were analyzed to assess ECAs’ learning outcomes and challenges during and after the PL program. The findings indicate that the program advanced participants’ PBL and pedagogical knowledge, changed their pedagogical beliefs and teaching practices, and improved their collaborative skills and interactions with students and colleagues. Several challenges ECAs confronted are reported at individual and organizational levels, namely, time management, the learning process, the actual teaching and supervision process, institutional culture, and resource allocation. The study suggests ways for ECAs, program designers and organizers, and university management in promoting more effective professional development processes.

High-quality early childhood education requires ongoing professional learning for educators, yet Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander educators face barriers to accessing culturally responsive professional development. This study evaluated the Hanen Center Learning Language and Loving It™ (LLLI) professional learning program in an Aboriginal community-led kindergarten in a regional Australian city. Using a mixed-methods single case study design with participatory evaluation methodology, we examined educator-child interactions before, immediately after, and eight months following program completion. Participants included Aboriginal and non-Indigenous educators ( n = 7), a speech pathologist facilitator, and university researcher working collaboratively as co-researchers. The LLLI program consisted of eight group training sessions and individual video coaching delivered over six months. Data collection included focus groups, individual interviews, and validated observational measures: the Classroom Assessment Scoring System Pre-K (CLASS) and Teacher Interactions and Language Rating Scale (TILR). Thematic analysis revealed three key themes: an affirming and transformative professional learning experience, fostering a responsive professional learning environment, and building connections and changing expectations. Quantitative results showed sustained improvements in educator-child interactions, with large effect sizes maintained at eight-month follow-up, particularly in Instructional Support (Cohen’s D = 1.37) and Emotional Support domains (Cohen’s D = 1.81). Participants identified that program effectiveness was influenced by trust, familiar learning spaces, and existing relationships between facilitators and participants. These findings demonstrate that professional learning programs can be delivered with fidelity while maintaining the flexibility required for culturally responsive implementation. The study provides insights into supporting Aboriginal educators through place-based, relationship-centered professional development approaches.

Children’s language learning is shaped through the social contexts of children’s earliest experiences at home and in early childhood education settings with responsive caregivers. Facilitating high-quality interactions between early childhood educators and children affords opportunities to foster language rich exchanges and promote strong language skills. The present study investigated the impact of a language-specific professional learning program on the quality of educator-child interactions and the associated short-term effects on vocabulary knowledge in young children. Educator practice was compared across 38 early childhood education and care services (19 participated in professional learning and 19 were a comparison group). After the professional learning program, significant differences were observed in the instructional quality in services where educators had participated in the Learning Language and Loving It™ program compared to those services who had not. More than one educator in a room participating in the professional learning was associated with higher instructional quality, educator qualifications were not associated with higher quality. We conclude that discipline-specific knowledge and individual coaching of teaching strategies enabled an increase in the quality of educator’s interactions with young children. No differences were detected in children’s vocabulary knowledge between the professional learning and comparison groups following the LLLI program. This finding is discussed with respect to minimum levels of instructional support required to impact children’s development. Quality improvement programs need to engage with early childhood education services regularly and over sustained periods to ensure the quality of educator interactions reaches levels that impact on children’s outcomes.

This chapter reviews Australasian research on the education and development of practising teachers of mathematics. We consider developments in theoretical understandings of professional learning (PL) including conceptualisations of teacher learning and capabilities. Reports of PL programs that have been sites of research are reviewed according to their content foci and the approaches to PL that were adopted. The latter are considered in light of current characterisations of PL. Consideration of ways in which PL programs have been evaluated highlights the difficulties inherent in going beyond teacher self-reports and in linking specific PL programs to outcomes in relation to students’ learning as well as system and policy impacts. In conclusion we present avenues for further research. These include addressing issues of scale and sustainability, assessing the affordances of online delivery of PL, enhancing collaboration between mathematics educators and mathematicians, and better understanding the mechanisms and conditions that contribute to effective PL.

This research examined the conditions under which codesigned approaches to educator professional learning in multilingual, birth to five settings were accessible and supportive of children’s social and emotional development across diverse types of Australian early childhood services. The research sites, in the suburbs of a capital city, comprised a long day childcare center, two short term informal community creches for birth to 5-year-old children of migrants and refugees attending English classes, and a family hub short term informal community creche for children of Afghan refugees. Professional learning mentors visited the participating sites eight times for 2 h every 2 weeks for 16 Weeks in 2021, demonstrating resources and strategies to assist young children to identify their own and others’ emotions and engage with social settings. Over 20 weeks, 97 participants provided data, commencing before and extending after the professional learning program. Participants included professional learning mentors, staff and volunteers, parents, and children via observation. Using Reggio Emilia principles, the research identified that professional learning, flexibly delivered over time, enabled educators and volunteers to build their social and emotional development knowledge, and to try resources and strategies with children in their care. Recruiting educators who shared children’s home or community languages, in addition to professional learning, supported multilingual children to engage with emotional literacy resources, while still developing spoken English. The research affirmed that educators, volunteers, parents, and children benefitted from a sustained focus on children’s social and emotional development in the early childhood education and care settings.

BackgroundProfessional self-concept is one of the important outcomes of nursing professionalism. There is a lack of adequately planned curriculum may limit nursing students’ practical knowledge, skills and professional self-concept in providing comprehensive geriatric-adult care and promoting nursing professionalism. Professional portfolio learning strategy has allowed nursing students to continue professional development and enhance nursing professionalism in professional clinical practice. However, there is little empirical evidence in nursing education to support the use of professional portfolios in blended learning modality among internship nursing students. Therefore, this study aims to examine the effect of the blended professional portfolio learning on professional self-concept among undergraduate nursing students during Geriatric-Adult internship.MethodsA quasi-experimental study two-group pre-test post-test design. A total of 153 eligible senior undergraduate students completed the study (76 in the intervention group and 77 in the control group). They were recruited from two Bachelor of Sciences in Nursing (BSN) cohorts from nursing schools at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS), in Iran, in January 2020. Randomization was undertaken at the level of school via a simple lottery method. The intervention group received the professional portfolio learning program as a holistic blended learning modality, though the control group received conventional learning during professional clinical practice. A demographic questionnaire and the Nurse Professional Self-concept questionnaire were used for data collection.ResultsThe findings imply the effectiveness of the blended PPL program. Results of Generalized Estimating Equation (GEE) analysis was indicated significantly improved professional self-concept development and its dimensions (self-esteem, caring, staff relation, communication, knowledge, leadership) with high effect size. The results of the between-group comparison for professional self-concept and its dimensions at different time points (pre, post and follow up test) showed a significant difference between groups at post-test and follow up test (p < 0.05),while at pre-test there was no important dissimilarity between two groups (p > 0.05).The results of within-group comparison for both control and intervention showed that there were significant differences in professional self-concept and for all its dimensions across the time from pre-test to post-test and follow-up (p < 0.05), and also from post-test to follow-up it was significant (p < 0.05) for both groups.ConclusionThis professional portfolio learning program demonstrates as an innovative and holistic blended teaching-learning approach to improve professional self-concept during professional clinical practice among undergraduate nursing students. It appears that the use of a blended designed of professional portfolio can promote a link between theory and the advancement of geriatric adult nursing internship practice. The data obtained from the present study can be useful for nursing education to evaluate and redesign a curriculum for development of nursing professionalism as a quality improvement process and groundwork to develop new models of teaching-learning and assessment.

Australian and international research has identified that many generalist teachers have limited confidence and experience in teaching the Arts in the early years of schooling and education. There is also a significant gap in the provision of quality professional learning programs for teachers. Research has identified that appropriate training and professional learning programs need to provide teachers with practical experiences, informed by sound pedagogical theory and some form of ongoing support and potential for collaboration and shared learning. This article reports on the development of a professional learning programme which sought to support arts-focussed professional development of early years teachers. The project, known as The Open Storybox, lead to the development of a model which could be called a ‘transmedia’ learning model, as it utilises different media, and flows of content across digital platforms and technologies as well as the embodied and material.

Mathematics learning poverty remains a pressing challenge in Indonesia, where a substantial proportion of students fail to attain curriculum-level conceptual understanding. Although national and international large-scale assessments have documented the scope of this problem, comparatively little research has examined how mathematics learning poverty manifests at the classroom level in terms of students’ conceptual thinking, instructional practices, and teachers’ professional learning needs. Addressing this gap, the present study conducts a classroom-based needs analysis to investigate mathematics learning poverty and to explore how a school–university partnership mediated through lesson study (SUPER-LS), informed by principles of slow pedagogy, may offer a context-sensitive response. A convergent mixed-methods design was employed. Quantitative data were collected through diagnostic assessments administered to 336 Grade 8 students, while qualitative data were obtained from structured observations of 12 mathematics lessons and semi-structured interviews with six mathematics teachers. Quantitative results indicate substantial conceptual deficits (M = 32.57 out of 100, SD = 17.45), particularly in fractions and algebraic expressions. Analysis of student responses reveals systematic misconceptions and fragile conceptual understanding rather than random error. Classroom observations further show predominantly teacher-centered and fast-paced instructional practices, with limited opportunities for student questioning, reasoning, and reflective engagement. Teacher interviews highlight a strong commitment to improving student understanding, alongside constraints related to instructional time, workload, and examination pressures. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that mathematics learning poverty emerges from the interaction of student-level misconceptions, instructional practices, and structural conditions. The study provides an empirical foundation for designing diagnostic-informed professional learning. Within this context, SUPER-LS and slow pedagogy function as context-responsive frameworks to support deeper mathematical learning, collaborative teacher inquiry, and more reflective instructional practices aimed at mitigating mathematics learning poverty.

This editorial focuses on capacity building, its definition and the evidence that has been published in support of its necessity for future research on nursing management. I acknowledge Erik Elgaard Sørensen, clinical nurse researcher at Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark, who in May 2013 invited clinical nurse researchers to join the Nordic Health Research and Innovation Network (NRI-Nursing) in Norway. The purpose was to establish a network of nursing researchers at Nordic Hospitals and provide an opportunity for clinical nurse researchers to participate in a forum committed to nursing research. There had been no previous opportunity for clinical nurse researchers to jointly explore aspects of the research process or share ideas and knowledge. It was hoped that the academic workshop would make it possible to share new clinical research knowledge and discuss current and future opportunities and challenges (Sørensen et al. 2011, E. E. Sørensen, Unpublished presentation). The conference was very interesting and creative in terms of developing best nursing practice and nursing research. There are several answers to the question of how to resolve the challenges that will face clinical nurse researchers in the future, one of which is capacity building. Alleyne and Mansour Olawale (2007) defined capacity building as an essential process for the survival of any individual or organization. Capacity is thereby the sum of processes, values and climate within an organization. In practice, the processes of capacity building and capability development are complex, iterative and spiral. Clinical nurse managers and researchers are the leaders of tomorrow. What do clinical nurse researchers need in terms of knowledge, leadership, academic supervision and financial resources to be able to drive research in the future? At present, clinical nurse researchers do not have sufficient resources such as time and infrastructure and in my opinion they are not valued as highly as they should be. Several questions need to be answered before clinical nurse researchers can be successful in developing and disseminating clinical research. Examples of capacity building can be found in the literature. McCance et al. (2007 p.57) identified three key areas that have implications for building research and development (R&D) capacity in the disciplines of nursing and midwifery. These three areas, which will serve as the structure of this editorial, are: (1) strong and visible leadership, (2) research expertise that enables the nursing profession to deliver research programmes and (3) increased capacity of individuals and organisations to engage in development activities. Capacity building has the potential to enhance the performance of R&D (McCance et al. 2007). Thus, it is closely linked to research capacity, i.e., the ability to conduct research by developing new knowledge using scientific methodologies and approaches (McCance et al. 2007). A gap exists due to the lack of empirical studies necessary for understanding the situated process of implementing and evaluating capacity building. Leadership as well as health care reforms and innovations are absolutely necessary. Innovation requires knowledge such as clinical guidelines for its implementation. Implementation research is closely related to policy reforms that impact on the effectiveness of care, as well as on the organization of health care, resources and collaboration. In this issue Begley et al. explore the views of key health care policy-makers on the impact of clinical specialist, advanced practice and midwifery roles. On municipal level the concept of collaboration is often described as interaction and cooperation (Liljegren 2013). However, research has demonstrated that reforms and innovation do not always lead to the intended changes. This can be explained by nurse leaders' capacity, styles and behaviours associated with relational, emotionally intelligent transformative leadership (Battilana et al. 2010). The term ‘management’ is very closely related to leadership and in health care includes an impersonal, system-based and practical approach. In this issue Zhu, Rodgers and Melia's grounded theory study explores why nurses leave nursing practice in China. The main category was nurses' loss of confidence in the safety and quality of health care. When nurses could not meet this essential prerequisite, some of them were unable to compromise their nursing values and left voluntarily to avoid the physical and mental stress. Thus, strong and visible leadership is of the utmost importance for preventing a shortage and high turnover of nurses. Evidence from our study suggests that research barriers are related to factors perceived by nurses as hindering the implemention of research findings in practice due to individual, socio-political, contextual and knowledge production aspects (Akerjordet et al. 2012). Clinical nurses want to become involved in research, identify an actual research area and design a research project over the course of 2 years (Akerjordet et al. 2012). However, barriers exist in the clinical setting due to lack of designated time, knowledge, research supervision and support. In general, clinical nurses' research-related knowledge, education and research culture are insufficient. This indicates a basic knowledge need and a growing interest in learning more about research and its utilisation, which will contribute to improved health care outcomes as well as patient safety. A well-known and acknowledged fact is that clinical nurse researchers rely on grants or funding to develop research. They are also dependent on the political will, long-term commitment and investment as well as environmental support. Clinical nurse researchers need access to a research infrastructure, computers, data programs, personal support and mentoring strategies to balance research and teaching as well as clinical and administrative demands. In addition, they need to develop supervisory skills to guide research staff and ensure strong role models for nurse-led research teams (Edwards et al. 2009). The work of clinical nurse managers and researchers is of major importance and must be supported. Successful planning is therefore an essential part of the phenomenon of capacity building. Who will come next, who will follow us and how can we inspire them to develop research in a range of clinical areas? Research capacity that has taken years to develop can be easily destroyed through inadequate support, poor management or negativity associated with both the internal and the external environment. Thus, capacity building is a challenge for research managers. In management terms, capacity building reflects a commitment to quality improvement and characterizes a learning organization (Senge 1991). My definition of the term ‘research’ is holistic: it is the basis of effective and efficient health care that reflects the growing recognition of an evidence-based approach. The quality of management can make or break research capacity. Prioritizing and fostering research at national and organisational levels require appropriate structures (Segrott et al. 2006) that facilitate the investment of vision, time and energy, thus gradually leading to successful outcomes. An effective team needs good organizational management, in which the members share knowledge and are committed to development, quality improvement and mutual negotiation (White 2002). What competence is required to effectively influence others to achieve goals? Intelligent use of the Internet, replacing text books by international journals, educating research managers and creating an atmosphere characterised by freedom from fear of failure as well as acceptance of uncertainty are essential components (White 2002). The development of grant application writing skills should also be included. Grant application writing workshops can strengthen research activity in an institution and raise the standards of internal peer review (Segrott et al. 2006). Leadership should be seen as a dimension of practice for all nurses, not just those in formal leadership roles (Scott & Miles 2013) and consequently as part of becoming an expert nurse. Research managers and clinical nurse researchers have an obligation to publish their findings in journals. They must also communicate with the public through press releases. This requires both the development of a dissemination plan and following it through. Knowledge and improved practice strengthen research capacity but require just as much attention to good management practices as to the research itself in addition to mentorship by senior nurse leaders (McPhee et al. 2011). In conclusion, the future perspectives of nurse researchers working in clinical practice are related to capacity building to facilitate evidence-based clinical nurse leadership. In order to lead the research of tomorrow, maintain quality of care and patient safety, clinical nurse researchers need knowledge, leadership, academic supervision, mentorship and financial resources. The questions are: How can nurse leadership capacity be improved? and How can we encourage our national leaders to become aware of the importance of building research capacity?

Emotional literacy (EL) provides a basis for understanding how relationships between teachers and students contribute to effective learning. This facet of schooling is central to the growing interest in positive education and the place of positive psychology in schooling. As schools are relational organisations, EL provides a cornerstone for building pro-social values and social-emotional skills that can help make schools more satisfying places to work and learn. The thesis comprises two interrelated studies of multiple stakeholders’ perspectives of EL in a case study school (school executive (n=4), school counsellors (n=2), teachers (n=89), students (n=509)). An ecological systems view provided the theoretical underpinning for utilising a participatory action research (PAR) approach. Study 1 examined the status of EL to determine strengths, barriers, and areas that would benefit from school-derived EL interventions. Multiple stakeholders (n=215): leading teachers (n=3), School Counsellor (n=1), teachers (n=33), and students (n=178) participated in Study 1 by completing a survey and participating in focus groups (n=2) and interviews (n=4). Study 2 explicated and implemented school-derived EL interventions through PAR and elucidated the impact of the EL interventions on EL. Study 2 aimed to identify the features of an emotionally literate school. Multiple stakeholders (n=396: School Executive (n=3), School Counsellors (n=2), teachers (n=56), and students (n=331)) participated in Study 2 by completing the survey utilised in Study 1 in two waves of data. Teachers (n=6), students (n=4), and school counsellors (n=2) participated in focus groups or an interview after the EL interventions were implemented to determine the impact of the interventions and how their views about EL evolved. Using qualitative analysis methods the research findings informed school-derived EL intervention strategies. Research data was coded against the research questions and ascribed meaning. On this basis patterns and themes emerged, enabling understanding and insight about the research findings. The ecological framework used in this research informed my thinking about the data and the way I derived meaning from the data. Study 1 found stakeholders’ views about EL were influenced by school social environment perceptions. Students confirmed their positive view about the role of socialemotional skills and relational quality for academic outcomes, as found in other research (Dix, Slee, Lawson, & Keeves, 2011; Durlak, Weissberg, Dymnick, Taylor, & Schellinger, 2011). Study 2 found that emotionally literate school leadership played a key role in how teachers feel about their roles and contributions to school. The findings suggested that activating teacher and student voices adds to a positive school ambience and builds teacher self-efficacy. In Study 2, the PAR approach elucidated that while quality implementation of EL is the ideal, EL change could be promoted through a ‘ripple effect’, if embedded in the school culture through teacher ownership. A teacher EL development model using teacher professional practice, knowledge of self and others, and positive education approaches is another outcome of the research. Using pedagogical approaches akin to EL, teachers can model pro-social values, EL skills, and grit, enabling students to develop EL. The research findings imply that teacher well-being provides a foundation for building EL through value-laden approaches embedded in the school philosophy.

&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;Task-based language teaching (TBLT) has been emphasised in second/foreign language education policy in many Asia-Pacific countries, including in Vietnam where, since 2008, official policy has mandated the use of language learning tasks in foreign language education. Consequently, Vietnamese teachers are expected to adopt task-based, communicative instruction in their classes. However, research to date in Vietnam has reported mixed success in teacher adoption and understanding of TBLT. The two-fold purpose of this study was to first investigate the influence of a textbook on task-based teaching, including how textbook tasks were interpreted and implemented by EFL teachers at a Vietnamese university, and, second, to investigate the impact of professional support on improving their engagement with TBLT. The research adopted an interpretive, qualitative, case study approach combined with Participatory Action Research (PAR). It tracked the use of tasks by three teachers across two research phases: a situation analysis followed by a PAR study. Data for the study included textbook analysis, classroom observations, stimulated recall interviews, semi-structured interviews with the teachers, and focus group interviews with students. &lt;/b&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Phase 1 investigated the relationship between the affordances for task-based teaching in the textbook New Cutting Edge, Elementary and teachers’ awareness of and uptake of these affordances. The communicativeness and task-likeness of activities and lesson sequences in the textbook were analysed and compared with the implementation decisions made by the teachers. Findings reveal that while the textbook has a high proportion of activities with low communicative value, many of these activities are either tasks or task-like. Data from classroom observations showed that, in their implementation of the textbook, the teachers consistently reduced the communicativeness and task-likeness of the textbook activities and replaced them with teacher-centred, explicit grammar explanation and drill practice. Interviews revealed the teachers’ rationales for their practices, including their belief that tasks are unsuitable for low proficiency students, pressure from exams, limited instruction time, and the teachers’ limited understanding of TBLT. &lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;In Phase 2, the three case study teachers participated in two PAR cycles aimed at helping the teachers to adopt TBLT. The PAR involved two professional development and learning (TPDL) workshops, collaborative planning of six task-based lessons (three lessons in each cycle), and subsequent teaching of these lessons. Data for Phase 2 included a descriptive account of the workshopping process, 18 classroom observations, semi-structured teacher interviews, and student focus group interviews. Findings revealed ways in which, over the two cycles, the teachers’ practices increasingly aligned with recognised principles of TBLT, although with each teacher moving along a unique professional trajectory in how they delivered the lessons and in their evolving understanding of TBLT and particular concerns. The study contributes to three intersecting fields of research: the implementation of TBLT in authentic classrooms; the relationship between teachers’ beliefs and TBLT practices; and TPDL for TBLT, an under-researched topic.&lt;/p&gt;

This study explores how teachers in two primary schools in London interpreted and perceived their engagement in action research as a professional learning experience. The study also explored the factors that teachers perceive to impact upon their engagement in wider professional learning experiences in primary schools. This study is timely as there are few examples of research that have investigated whole-school teacher engagement in action research. As teacher engagement in research continues to be promoted at a national level, there remains a lack of qualitative research on the impact of engagement in collaborative action research on teachers within a primary school. This study is also timely because it has investigated theories of workplace learning in relation to conceptions of teacher learning experiences within a school. The extent to which the learning environments in schools afford formal and informal opportunities for teacher learning is presented as a factor for consideration. The study took a case study approach to investigating teacher perceptions of engagement in action research. Questionnaires with twenty-four teachers and interviews with twelve teachers across both schools resulted in qualitative data which was explored and interpreted for emerging trends. Data analysis was influenced by a constructivist interpretation of grounded theory to provide deeper understandings of patterns that emerged in relation to perceptions of action research and experiences of workplace learning. This study identified that there is a complex patchwork of influences that impact upon teacher engagement in professional learning, and that significant factors in this engagement include the expansiveness of the institutional learning environments and individual dispositions to learning. These factors influence individual teacher learning experiences in different ways. A model for teacher learning is presented in this study that reflects the key factors that need to be taken into consideration when planning for formal and informal teacher professional learning activities in primary schools.

This article describes the exploratory and preparatory phase of a research project designed to use co-operative enquiry as a method for transformative and participatory action research into relations between donors and recipients in two developing countries, Bolivia and Bangladesh. It describes the origins of the idea, the conceptual challenges that the authors faced in seeking funding, and what they learned from this first phase. The authors analyse why the researchers, as well as the potential subjects of the research, were uncomfortable with the proposed methodology, including the challenges arising from their own positions and the highly sensitive nature of the topic. They explain why they decided to abandon the project, and they reach some tentative conclusions concerning the options for participatory action learning and research in development practice.

This paper presents an action learning project demonstrating how a structured professional learning (PL) programme transformed the capabilities of sessional academic staff, enabling them to transition into unit coordinator (UC) roles. By equipping these staff with the leadership skills necessary to manage digital learning environments effectively, the study explicates a model that enhances student engagement and institutional teaching quality. The aim was to develop a consistent approach to the design and delivery of the PL programme that would position sessional teaching staff to move into UC roles. The work of these UCs is critical in ensuring quality experiences for students who learn in primarily digital-based learning environments. Approaches to professional development that focus on fostering transformational change (Lamm et al., 2021) were taken rather than the transactional information-giving that characterises some PL. Key to the approach was the application of an action learning cycle and scaffolding frameworks and tools. The underpinning critical reflection elicited deep participant input and perspectives that created a fruitful social constructivist learning environment (Chuang, 2021). The paper demonstrates how transformational learning was achieved for the participant group and focuses on explaining their learning journey through the systematic application of Brookfield’s reflective lenses (2017) as well as other key scaffolds. This report provides guidance for a capacity-building model that will inform those in higher educational leadership seeking to develop staff into first-level leadership roles.