The article explores how space for professional agency is structured and used by teachers in collaborative professional development. Taking an ecological perspective on teacher agency and using a case study of with multiple data sets, the analysis identifies two patterns of agentic orientations. The conclusions discuss limitations associated with…

Schools play a key role in the lives of young refugees and asylum seekers, yet it is unclear to what extent educators are prepared to effectively teach this population. In this study, we examined how educators acquire knowledge relevant to teaching refugee pupils through a survey (n = 295) and nestled case studies of 17 teachers at two schools in…

Progressivist approaches to teaching and learning are rare in the Italian school system. Equality of inputs, whole class teaching and curriculum transmission are preferred. However, the case of a vocational education and training (VET) programme, run by a private State-recognised school, shows a way forward to introduce personalised approaches in…

In this conceptual article, we draw on a graded theory concept as well as two exemplary cases to discuss the role of professional theorizing in teachers' practice. We present a model that can illustrate how a non-dichotomous, graded and processual understanding of theory may help overcome a split between theory, on the one hand, and practice, on…

Deeply integrating digital technologies in pedagogy and learning is associated with changes in classroom roles, relationships and actions that can challenge established teacher routines. This paper presents the findings of an eight-month case study of teachers transforming pedagogy to enact their design for personalised digital learning.…

This paper examines attitudes to pedagogical change, among teachers within a second level science department in Ireland. It explores the beliefs and contextual constraints that mediate diversification from a primarily didactic pedagogical approach towards more student-led pedagogies. Using a multi-method approach incorporating observations of…

Teacher change involves the transformation of beliefs, knowledge and practices. While research has highlighted significant facilitative conditions as well as barriers to these changes, insufficient attention has been devoted to examining influences derived from existing practices perpetuated by institutional factors and teachers' personal…

Past research has clearly indicated that teachers' metaphors can serve as a framework that moves our understanding of teaching forward by making more explicit the intuitive knowledge teachers hold about themselves, their classrooms, and their practice. Making explicit how metaphors uncover the understandings that guide the practices of in-service…

A commitment to long-standing child-centred ideologies and recent emphases on academic outcomes have both perpetuated narrow interpretations of play-based pedagogy in early childhood education. Instead, teachers might proactively and spontaneously deepen children's thinking and understandings related to children's own interests and motivations…

This study uses boundary crossing in activity theory as one normative framework for opening a deliberative inquiry in new discursive spaces to elicit "gender awareness" in teachers' practices. We illustrate this framework by drawing from data in one European teacher education project. Seven case studies were conducted and data were…

Since the turn of the century, teacher evaluation has been introduced around the world with the intent to improve teaching. However, in the literature on teacher evaluation, often findings reveal critical accounts about the effectiveness of feedback in teacher evaluation for teacher and school improvement. This article presents a qualitative study…

Approached as an epistemology, implementing a constructivist workshop approach to literacy can challenge the traditional paradigm of teacher-focused instruction and transform to one where students construct knowledge together and learn through active engagement in authentic reading and writing. This study illustrated how two third-grade teachers…

In recent decades, higher education institutions worldwide have been moving from knowledge-based to competence-based curricula. One of the greatest challenges in this transition is the difficulty in changing the knowledge-oriented practices of teachers. This study evaluates the consistency between syllabus design and the requirements imposed by a…

This study focuses on mathematics student teachers' epistemological beliefs in mathematics and education. The study aimed at gaining insight into the challenges that students experience in the consolidation of knowledge in the two disciplines. The case study with three mathematics pre-service teachers utilised mathematical and pedagogical…

Research has shown that adequate support from the school environment is necessary to help beginning teachers in applying differentiated instruction (DI), but how schools can aid in this process remains unclear. This qualitative study explores how professional learning communities (PLCs), an indicator of a supportive school environment, can enhance…