This article presents an action research project conducted in a Swedish compulsory school. In the project the participants explored ways of identifying actions to improve in the practices of a professional learning community in order to develop teaching. This is important for participants in such communities, since the outcome of developed…

Mentoring is a central aspect of action research processes and raises ethical issues concerning roles and responsibilities, particularly when teachers and researchers collaborate. The purpose of the study is to explore mentoring and the roles of mentors in action research from an ethical stance. The theoretical basis is the philosophy of care…

This paper explores professional learning as teachers engage in action research to improve their practices. Despite many contributions on professional learning communities and their effects on school improvement, there is less research on how they are developed and how teachers learn collectively. Using a social theory of learning, three…

A prominent phenomenon in education in Europe and internationally is the demand for research-based education, which is also the case in Sweden, the context of this study. Therefore, greater academic demands have been placed on teachers, which can present a distinctive challenge for teachers who were educated when teacher education prioritised…

This article describes how some Swedish compulsory schools work to achieve collective development of practices in mathematics and science. The overall aim is to increase knowledge about factors influencing progression to professional learning in different school contexts. Data were collected through four case studies by interviews with teacher…

It is widely accepted that professional learning is a crucial aspect of the ongoing professional practice of educators. But how should this professional learning take place, and what arrangements enable and constrain practices associated with educator learning? In this article, we explore two case studies of action research projects: one…

Although action research has a history of bridging gaps between research and school practice, challenges emerge when aligning a scientific approach with development work in schools and in collaboration between research and school practice. In this article, we aim to deepen the knowledge on teachers' action research as social learning in…

Health is a resource for pupils' learning. Including health in the curriculum and teaching will enable pupils to understand the connection between health and learning. Action research has proved to be effective from a learning perspective. Our purpose was to explore whether, and how, using action-oriented research methods in a middle school-based…

In this article, we study the academisation of the teaching profession in Sweden, which follows contemporary trends in other Nordic and European countries. The specific aim was to analyse 14 reports written by researching teachers enrolled in a master's programme to investigate how they perceive, interpret and value academic and professional…

The article explores a professional learning programme, a research circle, in which preschool teachers and researchers collaborate on content relating to sustainable development, science and technology. It investigates how collaborations between preschool teachers and researchers can contribute to professional learning and preschool development.…

Professional learning is intended to improve teaching, benefit student learning and in the longer term improve achievement of targets in schools. When teachers take responsibility not only for their own learning but also for their colleagues', it can lead to a shift in attitudes towards collaborative learning. This study presents an example of a…

This article presents the evaluation of a two-year action research project in biology and mathematics teaching involving a primary school and a university in Sweden. The aim of the study was to contribute knowledge about a school-university intersection as a professional learning arena. The teachers' conceptions about the project implementation,…

This article focuses on the double role of the academic action researcher working as facilitator and researcher in democratic professional development projects. The inquiry is based on three partnership projects: "research circles" in Sweden, "dialogue conferences" in Norway and "tailored professional development" in…

English as a Foreign Language (EFL) is crucial in most secondary schools within the EU and many other schools worldwide. Some teachers are integrating Online Community Projects (OCPs) into their curricula to provide a means of communication that motivates learning and incites learner-centred methods. This collaborative Action Research study…

Practices such as formal focused professional dialogue groups, coaching conversations, mentoring conversations and professional learning staff meetings have been taken up in schools and pre-schools as part of long-term action research and development activities to improve the learning and teaching practices. The development of relational trust has…