There is strong evidence that professional learning in schools can positively impact learner experience and outcomes. This conceptual paper draws on key literature focused on understandings of high-quality professional learning and what makes an excellent environment in which to learn. This literature informed and spoke to the sense-making of our…

Professional learning (PL) encompasses the complexity of teacher learning and teacher agency in the process of learning. This paper aims to shed light on this complexity and proffers a conceptual meta-model of PL grounded in pragmatism to inform action in the design and evaluation of PL. It will firstly explore the aim and implications of the…

This qualitative case study explored the experiences of a digital technology (DT) coach over the duration of a school year, as she forged her role and sought to support elementary teachers' abilities to integrate technology in instruction across the curriculum. In a school district in Ontario, Canada, the DT coach engaged teachers in…

Whilst teacher professional development exists in an arena of competing discourses it is commonly underpinned by a dualistic philosophical perspective. Some argue that professional development could be improved within the dualist perspective whilst others suggest a monistic alternative championing unity and connection. In this paper we argue that…

This paper reports on a research project exploring the aspirations, assumptions and experiences of students on a Master's in Education course. Professional Learning (PL) for teachers in England has increasingly prescribed content and delivery, is highly regulated and embedded within politically sanctioned evidence-based research, structured in…

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…

Central to criticisms of teacher professional development is an insufficient focus on its impact including minimal evidence of changes to practice coupled with inadequate emphasis on student outcomes. This year-long study of one case study school investigates the impact of a seven-month professional development initiative designed to support…

Professional learning is increasingly understood as vital for the development of educators, and for the development of a strong educational system. We argue that the most essential purpose of professional learning is for the development of critical praxis. Critical praxis is related to action that is morally, socially and politically informed.…

Research in developing teacher and learner thinking highlights the challenges in translating theoretical constructs into changed practice. One Australian study tracked teacher thinking across school contexts over the proposed three-year timeframe of one professional learning programme. The programme framed a shift in learner and teacher thinking…

Highly Accomplished Teachers (HATs) think deeply about skilled pedagogy in ways that illuminate its complexity and the challenges of pedagogical change. The sophistication, breadth, and depth of their thinking often goes well beyond the way that teachers and their responses to professional development (PD) are typically positioned in the…

This article examines the characteristics, implementation and contribution of narrative pedagogy to the professional development of novice teachers through the example of two case studies. A holistic analysis of each case reflects a narrative pedagogy model, which includes four stages of the teaching-learning process: telling a personal life…

This paper presents an enhanced evaluation framework for teacher professional development programmes, which is based on one originally proposed by Huber in 2011. This paper draws on a study on the Professional Up-skilling of English Language Teachers (ProELT) programme in Sabah (Borneo), Malaysia. The study adopted a mixed methods exploratory…

This study sought to tease out the antecedents of collective efficacy so they can be used to develop teacher professional learning programmes that accentuate the collective. Teachers' sense of their collective efficacy is one of the most important in-school influences on student achievement and it demands the attention of school leaders and…

To better align teacher learning with teachers' learning needs, teachers' sense-making of an innovation during which teachers experimented with differentiated instruction was studied during two school years. Using answers to a questionnaire, 15 teachers' sense-making processes were characterised by three types of search for meaning: assimilation,…

Frameworks for professional learning offer models of progression that analyse and describe changes in learner behaviours and practices. This paper argues that frameworks for teacher professional learning offer theoretical models that can enhance teachers' agency in their own development. Teachers' use of two primary science frameworks are…