We invite you to participate in a two-day assembly devoted to sharing research on professional learning and considering how we build a powerful network of all those interested in collaborating in this area. The event will focus on sharing our work in a range of formats (traditional conference papers, as well as dialogue sessions focused on establishing the new network). This assembly is more than a meeting of researchers with shared interests. Our aim is to establish a unique, democratic, scholarly community focused on generating and sharing high-quality research that can influence professional learning policy and practice in education across the globe. Too much of this research is currently small-scale and isolated; we believe that a collective forum for discussing and sharing ideas, presenting and critiquing each other’s work and identifying spheres of influence is long overdue.
In moving this endeavour forward, we hope to build a strong and sustainable international community that can:
Foster international and interdisciplinary research collaboration
Engage in critical examination of professional learning policies, systems, and practices across the globe
Support knowledge mobilisation that bridges research, policy, and professional practice
Cultivate leadership capacity to drive and sustain transformative professional learning
Centre ethical, equitable, and sustainable approaches to educator learning
In order to do this, we seek to engage with and mobilise all those in the research community committed to these aims, both those with an established record of making important contributions in our field and those just starting out on their academic journeys. All are welcome as we seek to build a diverse community - connected by a common purpose, shared values and a commitment to collegiality and reciprocity. We plan to develop the aims, activities and name of such an endeavour over a concentrated two-day assembly in Dublin on 5th and 6th June 2026. Alongside this collaborative work, the event will provide attendees with a valuable opportunity to present their research in a safe and welcoming environment. Ultimately, our aim is to build a collective that can lead and influence global research and policy agendas by foregrounding professional learning as central to educational quality and equity. Join us - and help us create something exciting.
Call for Papers
We invite abstract submissions for individual paper presentations or roundtable discussions on research in professional learning from a broad range of perspectives, including emerging and experienced researchers and practitioners.
Individual paper presentations should be in the traditional conference presentation style. Roundtable discussions should be in the style of a small, informal session where researchers sit together (around a table!) to share their current research ideas or early findings rather than listen to formal presentations. Each person gets feedback and can contribute to others' ideas.
Proposals should be in the form of an abstract and be no longer than 200 words excluding references.
The deadline for abstract submissions is Tuesday, 5th May @ 5 pm. Please submit your abstract via the submission link below.
Keynote Speakers
Ciaran Sugrue is Emeritus, Full Professor of Education, School of Education, UCD. He has worked in the Irish Education system in a variety of capacities, including: teacher, schools inspector, teacher educator and researcher. Prior to his appointment in UCD, he worked at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, and was a fellow of St. Edmund's College. His research interests are wide-ranging and include: School Leadership and Educational Change, Continuing Professional Development, Teacher Educational Reform in developed and developing countries, and Educational Policy. He has more than 100 publications, comprising books authored, books edited, and peer-reviewed papers
Christine Edwards-Groves is Professor of Education at Griffith University, Australia. Formerly, Christine was an experienced teacher and teacher educator with more than four decades of experience researching and teaching in rural and geographically remote settings. As a key researcher for the “Pedagogy Education and Praxis” International Research Network (PEP), she has contributed to international studies investigating how the education practices of student learning, teaching, professional learning and leading are ecologically connected in practices in schools. She is recognised by international scholars as a leader in the field of literacy, middle leadership, educational action research, dialogic education and practice theory.
Professor Geraldine Mooney Simmie, previously a science and mathematics teacher, is a Professor of STEM Education at the School of Education in the University of Limerick. Prof Moonie Simmie is the Director of EPI•STEM The National Centre for STEM Education and she is an expert researcher with the European Commission. She has led a six country European Comenius 2.1 project for STEM teacher education on curriculum and pedagogical innovation, and was a transnational partner in four related European projects. Her research excellence is in studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, Pedagogy & Society in relation to STEM teachers’ work practices, such as teaching and learning in the classroom and teachers’ professional learning for an advanced professional practice in the context of a fast-globalising scientific and technological world.
Aileen Kennedy is Professor of Teacher Education and Joint Director of the Centre for Transformative Change in Schools, University of Glasgow, Scotland. Previously a primary school teacher and then Professional Officer with the General Teaching Council for Scotland, she has been a teacher educator and education researcher in universities in Scotland since 2001. Aileen’s research and teaching interests focus on pedagogy and policy for teacher education and professional learning, from a transformative and activist perspective. She is currently the Research & Evaluation Lead for Scotland’s Centre for Teaching Excellence and is a former Managing Editor of Professional Development in Education.
Whether you can be with us in Dublin or not, we invite you to join us as a supporter of this project. As a supporter, you will be kept informed about all the practical activities and networking opportunities we hope to organise. Equally, you will be able to contribute your ideas to the development of this network after our Dublin assembly. We are building something that is new and exciting - and we want you to be part of it. Simply click on the link below to stay connected.
If you would like to become a supporter, please click here
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Dr Aoife Brennan
Dr Nicola Broderick
Dr Alan Gorman
Prof Aileen Kennedy
Prof Fiona King
Prof Howard Stevenson
Dr Sharon Cunningham
Emma Farragher
Dr Kathlen Foley
Dr Eimear Holland
Alison Nulty
Siobhán Weekes
