The shortage of qualified Early Childhood Teachers is one of the most complex challenges facing the Australian early learning sector. The Early Childhood Elevate Mentoring Program (ECEM) was conceptualised, developed and implemented with ECTs to enable them to support Diploma trained educators as they studied an accelerated Bachelor of Early Years…

Purpose: The professional development needs of university professional staff are an under-researched area. More data were needed to understand their needs to ensure that employers invest their resources appropriately. A conceptual framework is developed for the workplace learning of career development activities using concepts of professional…

The academic voice related to learning and teaching (L&T) professional development (PD) is an important consideration in supporting universities' pursuit of improving their teaching as a core function of their mission. Framed by a typology of L&T PD in Australian universities, this paper reports on a study that investigated academics'…

ECEC-based physical activity (PA) interventions have reported modest changes; however, those that are underpinned by theory seem to report more favorable outcomes. To date, no ECEC-based PA interventions have been underpinned by professional development-focused theories, despite professional development being a consistent component in such…

There is continuing uncertainty about the nature of teacher professional learning using social networking websites (SNWs) and how using these platforms influences teacher practice. Findings from the authors' small-scale, qualitative study in Australia into English teacher use of one global SNW for professional learning showed participant…

It has long been recognised that a key element in improving student transition, retention and success in higher education is cross-institutional consistency and unity of action among disparate academic, policy and support units. However, transferring this principle into practice often requires overcoming departmental silos, negotiating shared…

This article depicts the emergence of an intercultural learning community through an international research project on educational leadership. Drawing from partners' self-reflections collected and analyzed during the project, we engage with concepts including transformative leadership, practice architecture, and Northern/Western power and…

Initiatives aimed at improving STEM education have largely focused on school-based programs, with the majority of STEM professional development targeting primary and secondary school educators. However, there is growing interest in STEM education in the early childhood years. This paper reviews the available evidence to explore the extent to which…

This article explores the perceptions of participants following the first International Summer Institute (SI) on students as partners in higher education, a four-day professional development experience designed to foster student-staff partnerships. Approximately 9 months after the Institute, 10 participants were interviewed to understand their…

This article explores how artist-researchers navigate the "uncertain" space between theory and practice in a new Doctor of Creative Arts (DCA) program in an Australian regional university. The trickster is deployed as a metaphorical device to provide insights into how the first DCA's candidates, their supervisors, and the university's…

This paper argues that in undergraduate architectural design education, professional learning and the formation of casual academics as university educators occur while 'situated' in tutorials through design conversations with students and as-needed chats with colleagues. For casual academics, such disciplinary, routine, and informal activities…

This paper details a six-step model for coaching online teachers that has been successfully implemented at an Australian university. Drawing on three fields of literature -- online teaching, community of practice theory and coaching programs -- the model involves: (1) on-boarding and goal-setting; (2) coaching conversations about online teaching…

International pre-service teachers (PSTs) can struggle to engage with Professional Experience (PE) communities in an Australian Early Childhood Education context. This qualitative case study examines three first-year Chinese international PSTs' PE in different early childhood settings in Australia. Framed by Bourdieu's analytical concepts, this…

The impact of the pandemic has revealed just how important teachers are to a nation's economic productivity and to the very social fabric and well-being of any society. It has also revealed more starkly the socio-economic and digital divides that teachers continue to address daily to support student learning. How then, to best support teachers own…

How are we preparing teachers to design and foster learning through making where disciplinary knowledge and skills are applied and developed? One approach that addresses this question can be found from the International Maker Educational Network (IMEN); an online professional learning community built upon shared interests in educational making.…