The Expert Teacher Teams (ETTs) are assigned to lead teacher professional development projects in underprivileged areas in China. However, the literature has given scant attention to how teachers enact leadership and collaborate with other agents, such as the government. Integrating two critical constructs in education, professional capital and Leading from the Middle, this article examines the experiences of ETT members from two typical educational assistance projects. Using qualitative methods, this study delineates a series of professional capital of expert teachers leading in the middle zone, deemed the most crucial force in each case. Expert teachers possess high levels of human capital, extensive social capital, and strong decision-making capital, providing robust professional support for the continuous and effective advancement of projects. Additionally, the ethical capital and influence that expert teachers hold attract a significant number of followers, establishing a solid foundation of educators for improving education in underprivileged areas.They establish a systematic network with clear labor division among other stakeholders, including the government, recipient schools, and local institutions. The implications from Chinese cases suggest the shift of educational assistance from "top-down imput" to "LfM- interscholastic support".

This study is a part of the project What helps one, helps all: Implementing language and content integrated methodology in Norwegian classrooms. The project aims to introduce an adapted SIOP model (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) to classrooms in selected middle and upper secondary schools in Norway in order to increase plurilingual students’ engagement and academic achievement. We investigate how the teachers perceive self-study instruments such as journaling in their own professional development process. The study focuses on the dialogical relationship between beliefs and practices the teachers report (Borg, 2017) and looks at whether their pedagogical awareness changes with the use of self-study instruments.

The study is relevant to the conference as it contributes to promoting equity and inclusion through effective partnerships with schools. The Norwegian Education Act (2024) stipulates that plurilingual students are entitled to adapted language instruction but does not delineate a specific approach. Thus, there is a growing need for increasing in-service teachers’ competence in teaching plurilingual students as 52% of teachers in upper secondary schools are not accredited in second language pedagogy (Næss et al, 2023) and 84% of those working with plurilingual students see the need for more training (Lødding et al, 2024).

The study has a collaborative research design where the researchers and in-service teachers use self-study methodology (Samaras, 2011; Feldman, Paugh, & Mills, 2004), and Educational Research Design (McKenny & Reeves, 2019) to uncover the practitioners’ perceptions of pedagogical practices. Data collection includes teachers’ self-filming, journaling and bi-weekly online teacher-researcher group meetings where the data is discussed and analysed jointly.

Preliminary results show that Norwegian teachers are given a significant amount of autonomy by the school administration which might make professional development an individual endeavour. However, the teachers responded positively to a collective process and used it to leverage change in classroom culture.

This research aims to explore educator confidence in taking learning outdoors and in Learning for Sustainability (LfS) in relation to the professional development opportunities of primary teachers and early years practitioners in Scotland.

LfS is the Scottish policy context within which outdoor learning is situated. Outdoor education and outdoor play and learning has a long-standing heritage. Based on a desire to engage learners experientially through structured and unstructured activities, and via reflection on “learning by doing” (Dewey, 1915, p255). Distinctively, the affordances of the outdoor environment are seen to enhance opportunities for learning in ways that are interdisciplinary, authentically felt, ‘hands-on’, ‘place-based’ and connected to local contexts (Beames and Brown, 2016; Lloyd, Truong and Gray, 2018). Of late, concerns around young people’s wellbeing, and the need for an educational response to issues around sustainability, climate change and biodiversity loss, have led to renewed emphasis on provision for outdoor learning.

Our research involves a cross-sectional survey approach is internationally distinctive in that it asked educators to provide records of location, duration, focus and curricular area of all outdoor provision during a pre-determined time window. In the 2022 research, educators were additionally asked to reflect on their confidence in taking learning outdoors and in LfS, and also to describe any professional learning opportunities they had had throughout their careers. 86 educators from primary and early years settings responded to this part of the survey.

Our findings show that shows that when practitioners have engaged with between 6 and 10 professional learning half-day or similar ‘sessions’ there is a correlation with more secure levels of confidence in both outdoor provision and Learning for Sustainability. This finding suggests that commitment to changing professional practice happens most successfully with sustained provision over time.

The research aim is to show the link between professionalism, professional development, and teaching quality.

The paper will apply Linda Evans’s’ (2014) conceptual models or professionalism and professional development as the theoretical framework. These models are increasingly being applied as analytical frames by researchers of teaching and teachers’ lives (e.g. Behroozi & Osam, 2021; Beresford-Dey & Holme, 2017; Guerin, 2021; Johnson, 2018; Kowalczuk-Walędziak, 2021; Philipsen et al., 2019, 2023; Pineda et al., 2022; Zeggelaar et al., 2018), and in their analysis of five ‘powerful or potentially powerful’ models of professional development Boylan et al. (2018) describe Evans’s (2014) model as offering a ‘paradigmatically distinct approach’.

Methods and findings: The paper will be predominantly conceptual, so will not present a method and findings in the traditional sense of the terms. Its method will take the form of an examination of the contribution that Evans’s model may make to researching professionalism and professional development, and to delineating and underpinning teaching quality. The paper will explain Evans’s model, introducing its link with a parallel model of professionalism, and the 11 dimensions that, to Evans, comprise the componential structure of professional development. The paper will illustrate what Evans calls the chain-reaction-type process of individuals’ micro-level development, whereby change (for the better) to one dimension leads to change in another, and then another, etc., exposing the multi-dimensionality of professional development for teaching quality. Drawing upon selected empirical data from research into teacher morale, job satisfaction and motivation, the paper will illustrate how teaching quality may be conceived of as reflecting not only what teachers do (which, in Evans’s model, is encompassed within the behavioural component of teacher professionalism), but also teachers’ attitudes (what Evans calls the ‘attitudinal component’), and their intellectuality (the intellectual component of their professionalism).

This article aims to explore novice teachers’ identity in nomadic regions in Tibet involving both initial identity formation and the process of identity reconstruction under the challenges and tensions in Tibet. Drawing on the phenomenological interviews, this research investigated 4 novice teachers from 2021 to 2023. The findings reveal that participants’ initial identity formations are mainly related to their social culture, political discourses and reasons for entry into the teaching profession, such as family background, employment stress and past experience as pupils etc., Challenged by the intercultural teaching, Tibetan students’ features, campus management systems, unsolvable factors of living environment and cultural heritage etc., they all reconstructed or adjusted to a low expectation-oriented identity to “survive” in the teaching profession. In this article, we argue that despite the fact that natural geography poses some unavoidable challenges to teacher identity construction, teacher education programs did not work as well as they should, and equity- and social justice-oriented teacher education programs are sorely needed in China.

From the theoretical perspective of Dialogical Self Theory (DST), this study aims to understand how novice teachers’ teacher identity is constructed in the first year of teaching through a qualitative study in Chinese K-12 school context.In this study, 3 rounds of semi-structured interviews were carried out right after these novice teachers started their initial year at school, in order to track the dynamic process of identity formation. Other data sources such as diaries and daily work schedules were also collected.

The research finds that novice teachers engage in interactions with students, school leaders, colleagues and other significant others, and different interactions prompt diverse kinds of dialogues within the individual's internal self. Through these dialogues, categorized as cooperative, conflicted and introspective ones, teachers constantly reconstructs their answers towards what it means to be a teacher, how to be an excellent teacher, etc.

A pivotal self-position identified is "I as a Teaching Specialist," which is particularly salient during the early stage of the teaching career. Novice teachers often seek to establish their expertise in pedagogy to gain confidence, and such confidence then ensures them to effectively navigate other positions such as "I as a live streamer" "I as a school administrator" or "I as a parental figure", etc.

This study provides a fresh look at the often-overlooked inner world of novice teachers, underscoring the importance of heuristic guidance from teacher educators, supportive culture within teacher community and ongoing self-reflection of novice teachers in shaping strong teacher identity with positive self-positions.

Traditionally, the role of teachers, irrespective of the subjects taught, was, roughly speaking, to instruct, control, assess, organise, observe, and constitute a resource for their students. Yet, the complexity of today’s world, with its changes (i.e. technology, AI), global and local challenges (i.e. pandemic, wars, more and more students in
need of special educational needs) and demands (the ongoing reforms, parental expectations) seems significant enough to reconsider the issue, and redefine who the teacher is (becoming) and what is expected of them. Drawing on a qualitative and interview-based study with 10 Polish experienced teachers, we conducted a thematic analysis of data in the hope of examining the tensions which are gradually building within this group of professionals. It turns out that a lot of tensions result from the conflicts between teachers’ personal values and institutional demands as well as social and structural constraints originating beyond their classroomooms. In addition, the study suggests new understandings of teacher roles that may better respond to the world’s contemporary needs.

Aims: Using a Foucauldian framework (Foucault 1983, 1985; Clarke 2009), the aim of this paper is to understand how prospective teachers construct themselves in ethico-political terms i.e., how prospective teachers construct the relationship that they have with themselves.

Theoretical Framework: Informed by Foucault (1983, 1985) and Clarke (2009), this paper addresses the ethico-political identity formation of prospective Irish primary-school teachers in terms (i) ethical substance i.e., the ways prospective teachers constitute themselves (ii) authority sources i.e., the attributed sources through which prospective teachers comes to know their ethical substance (iii) self-practices i.e., the ethical work that prospective teachers undertake to understand themselves vis-à-vis unfolding experiences and (iv) telos i.e., the mode of being the prospective teacher aspires toward.

Method: Framed within the interpretivist paradigm, this paper draws on interviews (photovoice and semi-structured interviews) with a small sample (n=4) of prospective teachers that took place at three points during the final semester of their initial teacher education. For this paper, we use indicative examples from one illustrative composite case (Seán) using data typical to each case to evidence our claims (Gleeson, 2015; Willis, 2019).

Findings: Findings illuminate prospective teacher ethico-political identity as: (i) ethical substance as the basis for nascent teacher practical knowing-in-action and pedagogical sensitivities, (ii) temporally organised authority sources (iii) dynamic and interrelated self-practices and (iv) telos as form of identity prolepsis that emphasises three major valuational endpoints.

Relevance to the Conference theme and specific strand: This paper is relevant to the conference strand ‘Equity and Inclusion in Teacher Education’ as it evidences the generativity of an ethico-political conceptualisation of identity as a way of incorporating prospective teachers sense of being into objectified teacher education processes of becoming.

Research aim:

To ascertain how teachers in higher education (HE) conceptualise and practise education for social justice (ESJ), their perceptions of students’ engagement with it, and underlying values as educators.

Theoretical framework:

The research is underpinned by notions of social justice articulated by leading philosophers - notably Nancy Fraser (2005), Martha Nussbaum (2011) and Iris Young (1990) - applicable to education, against which lecturers’ conceptions of ESJ may be compared.

Methods:

Using an opportunistic sample (volunteers gathered via professional networks), semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted with 50 academics from various disciplines and 20 institutions in the UK and EU. Thematic analysis of the interview data was based on the educational research guidance set out by Wellington (2015).

Findings:

Main findings are that ESJ is construed as provision of equitable and conscientising education opportunities across the whole HE journey - from widening access, to stimulating critical learning and awareness that can empower graduates to transform their lives and societies. Teaching practices featured study of topics related to social justice; collaborative and creative learning activities, and assignments offering choice and connection to students’ realities. Student responses could be mixed but mostly positive in terms of gaining increased confidence and awareness of equality and social responsibility. Overall, the research highlights the strong, values-based commitment of HE teachers to facilitating student learning engagement, wellbeing and development towards building a better world.

Relevance to Conference theme and specific strand(s):

Our paper presenting a pedagogical analysis of committed university teachers' accounts of their ESJ practice aligns directly with the Conference theme of "equitable quality teaching". Regarding specific strands, it could serve to illustrate "research on equitable teaching practices", with the emphasis on the practices gleaned from research; alternatively, it offers real examples of "Addressing social justice by leveraging ... innovative approaches" across a range of disciplines.

Purpose

As new faculty in a state that allows teacher educators to address social justice issues, I am conducting a self-study of my teacher education practices and praxis (Kucera, Ovens, & Bennett, 2020; Orland-Barak, 2010; Kitchen, Fitzgerald, & Tidwell, 2016; Martin, 2020), I seek to discover if my teaching practice encourages students to develop social justice awareness as they explore teaching as a career (Croom, 2020). As the course is exploratory, it is a survey course only briefly teaching pedagogy, history, literacy, and social justice issues. Therefore, I will investigate my students’ growth in liminal moments and spaces (Friesen, 2022; Gray & Phillips, 2023; Jacobs, 2023). Additionally, I will also be evaluating my teaching practice in light of my shift in identity from graduate student to professor (Buchanan & Mooney, 2023; Shah & Coles, 2020). Another new faculty member is my critical friend (Vanassche & Kelchtermans, 2016). If my students remain in the teacher education, I will conduct a longitudinal study of their growth in their identity as teacher candidates and teachers (Craig & Curtis, 2020).

Theoretical Framework

My study will be ground in qualitative theory including (Cresswell, 2013; Whitehead et al., 2020) self-study methods (Kitchen, 2020; Tidwell & Jónsdóttir, 2020) and social justice in teacher education (Taylor & Diamond, 2020), teacher identity and teacher-educator identity (Martin, 2018).

Data and Data Analysis

My data for the study will include student emails, student work, student drawings, a pre- and post-survey of common beliefs (teachingtolorance.org), end of course feedback, field notes, meeting notes with my critical friend and memos.

I will analyze my data using grounded theory (Charmaz, 2015; Glaser & Strauss, 2017) and conduct thematic analysis using Saldana’s coding methods (Saldana, 2021).

Curriculum decolonization is a significant social justice imperative in post-colonial contexts like South Africa. Recent social movements, such as #RhodesMustFall, have highlighted the need for educational transformation, (in this case decolonisation of the curriculum), particularly in universities, (Luckett, K. (2016)). In South Africa, the need to decolonise the curriculum as a social justice imperative is reflected in the constitution, legislations, and education policies. In this paper, we argue that social justice imperatives such as decolonisation must be embedded not only in governance but also in pedagogy.

We explore whether pedagogy designed within the Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) framework inherently promotes social justice. Decolonizing knowledge within this framework is an enactment of social justice, requiring that knowledge content be structured for accessible and inclusive learning (Nyamupangedengu, E. and Nyamupangedengu, C. (2023)).

We critically analysed a teaching practice to determine how decolonizing imperatives were enacted in the classroom. We used the Critical Incident Technique (CIT) (Philpot et al (2021)) as a research method to analyse critical incidents that either fostered or hindered social justice in learning. The data included recorded lectures of a genetics class taught by one of the authors at a South African university. Each of the three authors analysed the videos independently, identifying and classifying critical incidents. Triangulation was used, involving interviews with the lecturer and comparative analysis of the identified incidents. The detailed findings will be discussed in the main paper

References

Luckett, K. (2016), Teaching in Higher Education, 21(4), 415–428.

Nyamupangedengu, E. and Nyamupangedengu, C. (2023), Studying Teaching and Teacher Education (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 44), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 37-52.

Philpot, R., Smith, W., Gerdin, G., Larsson, L., Schenker, K., Linnér, S., ... & Westlie, K. (2021). European Physical Education Review, 27(1), 57-75.

Research aim

Historically, Latin-American contexts have demanded socio-educational justice, equity and inclusion (CLADE, 2021). Hence, practitioners have proposed that Social Justice Teacher (SJTE) can prepare quality teachers to address inequities and support their students’ holistic development (Fernández et al., 2020; Peña-Sandoval & Montecinos, 2016). This paper aims to analyse the conceptions of social justice, objectives and findings of Latin-American research on SJTE.

Theoretical framework

SJTE emphasises that hegemonic structures and socio-cultural undervaluation hinder the learning of students from marginalised communities, therefore, teachers must develop theoretical and pedagogical knowledge to address them in their practice (Cochran-Smith & Keefe, 2022; McDonald & Zeichner, 2009). This approach equips teachers with skills to manage inequitable educational environments and to design teaching practices that promote democratic, reciprocal relationships with students and their communities (Sleeter et al., 2016).

Methods

Systematic review of SJTE Latin-American research published until 2022 in indexed databases WoS, Scopus, and SciELO, using the PRISMA protocol (Page et al., 2021), metadata and thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2022).

Findings

The review identified 52 Latin-American articles published since 2012, which emphasise and intersect four major conceptualization of social justice, associated to different disciplines. Their main objectives relate to the development of SJ conceptions and initiatives that promote social change, methodological proposals and challenges of enacting a SJTE and Latin-America TE policies. Different works call for boosting teachers’ emotional development and ability to stablish empathetic relationships, claiming these will later allow them to promote civic participation among their students.

Relevance

Findings advocate for a comprehensive approach to SJTE that addresses the personal and professional aspects of teaching. They invite TE programmes to be attentive to the emotional dimension of teachers’ work, highlighting that their wellbeing and ability to empathise with their students are crucial to navigate difficult situations and advocate for social change and equity.

Research Aim

This research has examined representations of the language of inclusion in the following contexts:

• Selected Scottish educational policy
• Selected media and professional association discourse
• Focus groups with Headteachers

The research’s aim has been to study and contrast these representations and consider how they impact on headteachers’ experience of the leadership of equity within Scottish secondary schools.

Consideration has been given as to how language impacts attitude and understanding, and caution is introduced when considering voice and power within these representations.

Theoretical Framework and Methods

This research has used Critical Discourse Analysis to analyse the use of language. Bacchi’s (2009) What is the Problem Represented to Be? method has been used to consider the aims of the selected policies and any missing voices or interpretations.

The study has also drawn on empirical data from focus group discussions with headteachers from a case study local authority to consider how the representations of inclusion feature within their school contexts, and specifically the impact on the leadership of equity.

Findings

The findings have been used to consider how the varying representations impact on the creation of a shared narrative about inclusion – if such a narrative is possible.

From this research, conclusions demonstrate how representations of language about inclusion impact on our collective viewing and understanding of inclusion, and how headteachers experience leading equity within that framing. Limitations of the study have been identified with proposals for further research offered. Recommendations have been proposed for the leadership of equity.

Relevance to conference theme and specific strand

This research is rooted in inclusion and social justice, and specifically addresses how our use of language impacts on the leadership of equity within Scottish secondary schools. It aligns to the strand of reconciling tensions for a new social contract in education.

Research Aim

This presentation will outline the findings of a recent dual case study (Larkin, 2024). This study suggests that cultural, policy and physical spaces continue to reflect the religious, cultural and educational interests of the majority ‘white, Irish’ student population; a situation that marginalises this vulnerable group.

Theoretical Framework and Methods

Qualitative data based on documentary analysis, a semi-structured walkthrough, photo elicitation and semi-structured interviews was interpreted using Gramscian and Bourdieusian conceptual frameworks to explore how students for whom EAL were construed and included and/or marginalised. Choosing two contrasting socio-economic school settings allowed a comparative exploitation that brought into greater relief how these students’ cultural identities were constructed in each setting and how policy and practice developed in each.

Findings

Findings suggest that the origin and circumstances of immigration and social class seemed to be a significant factor in how these learners were construed by their teachers. Moreover, school and teacher autonomy played a significant role in responses and innovations designed to respond to post-primary learners for whom EAL. Educators who may be in similar contexts may find relatable features from this study to their own settings. From a methodological perspective, researchers may find some of the theoretical underpinnings and data collection methods utilised beneficial to future research projects. Research pertaining to students for whom EAL is an under-explored educational space.

Relevance to the Conference Theme

In addition to challenging current discourses from a neo-liberal perspective, this paper aligns with the ISATT’s conference strand “Reconciling tensions for a new social contract in education” by looking at innovative ways of exploring the ever changing topography of Irish schools. This study innovates by incorporating visual methods within a qualitative approach to critically investigate how students learning EAL are construed and included within under-explored policy, cultural and physical spaces in secondary schools.

In this study we understand that the educators’ work is marked by a contradictory context, with challenges and precariousness, we believe in the possibility of dialogical practices to transform such reality. The research main question is “how is the dialogical practice of educators built up and what are its organizing principles?” Our main objective is to reveal, from the basic education educators’ dialogical practices how they are constituted and organized to understand them as a way of overcoming practices guided by technical rationality. The communicative methodology (Gómez et al., 2006) was employed using a questionnaire to collect data from 71 educators from the state and municipal education networks, and a communicative discussion group developed with seven educators from basic education. The dialogue and the dialogical practice were supported by Freire (1996; 2015) and Aubert et al. (2018). The discussion on the educators’ work and its contradictory context was based on the ideas put forward by Placco, Almeida and Souza (2015), Pinto (2011), Franco (2016) and Domingues (2014). The results evidenced that the dialogical practice is built up from the initial and continuous education and from the lived and observed professional experience. The elements guiding their practice include the understanding of the educators’ role, the reality, the strategies when facing external determinants, and the dialogue and dialogical practice. The organizing principles comprise knowledge, dialogue, and the educators’ qualities or virtues. Despite the existence of a contradictory context that requires immediatist and bureaucratic practices based on technical rationality, the educators create work strategies based on dialogicity and, therefore, provoke movements to transform the reality and produce dialogical practices.

This study focuses on the Leadership of Modern Foreign Language (MFL) learning in Scottish schools, aiming to elucidate challenges that education leaders must overcome to tackle the declining numbers of pupils motivated to study languages, despite the many benefits linked to second language acquisition (SLA). Using an interpretivist lens, the Thematic Literature Review focuses on three areas of concern: the devaluing of languages, competing priorities and the issue of competence and confidence in fulfilling the expectations set out by Scotland’s 1+2 MFL policy. Further, it explores the benefits of Technology Enhanced Language Learning (TELL) presented as a vehicle for education leaders to support improvements in MFL education. The study draws on empirical data from an online focus group discussion that sought six senior leaders’ perceptions of integrating TELL to increase learner engagement and motivation in the MFL classroom. The discussion was then analysed using Reflective Thematic Analysis (RTA), combined with the most pertinent points raised by the thematic literature review (TLR). The findings and conclusion respond to the research questions, providing implications and recommendations for the leadership of languages as a valued curricular area in the holistic education of Scottish young people. Limitations of the study are also identified, proposing further empirical studies including seeking learners’ views of TELL. This study aligns with conference theme, Addressing social justice by leveraging technology and innovative approaches as adopting TELL to support MFL pedagogy, must also embody social justice leadership, to tackle potential inequalities in an already complex, contradictory educational landscape, which promotes, yet warns of the dangers and ethical concerns within a progressive digitalised education system. The study calls for innovative ways for teachers, school leaders and policymakers to ensure equal, inclusive access to technology across all local authorities.

This article conducts a critical analysis of internationalization policies in teacher education in Brazil exploring the tensions between economic and sociocultural perspectives. The predominance of North-South initiatives and the influence of international organizations such as the World Bank reveal possibilities of dilution of the teacher education’s critical dimension . The study draws on authors such as Knight (2018; 2020), Wit et al. (2015), Morosini and Dalla Corte (2018), Menter et al. (2024) and problematizes the lack of cooperation with South American countries and the limited exploration of the potential of South-South relations. It suggests that the current internationalization perspective may reinforce global asymmetries. The methodology includes document analysis and critical examination of data and policies related to the internationalization of higher education, focusing on teacher education in Brazil. The study uses data provided by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (Capes) as well as reports from international organizations, such as UNESCO and the World Bank, to contextualize the practices and trends of internationalization in the Brazilian educational field. The article reveals that the internationalization of higher education in Brazil is strongly driven by cooperation with Northern Hemisphere countries, while relations with South American countries are neglected. There is an underutilization of South-South relations, which limits the potential for a more inclusive internationalization that is contextualized within similar local realities, especially in teacher education. By suggesting the need for an internationalization perspective that values diversity and promotes global citizenship, the text highlights the pursuit of quality education that considers the social and cultural diversity and students’ identity, and the importance of creating more sustainable and socially fairer learning environments. This research is supported by CAPES.

This paper aims to analyse the effectiveness of introducing a dedicated course on the development of transversal skills on artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of PhD courses at the University of Bari. The objective of the course is to equip PhD students with the requisite tools to navigate the intricate challenges posed by AI, fostering a contemplation on the responsible, conscious, and ethical utilisation of these technologies within their respective research domains, with a human-centric perspective.
Theoretical framework
The application of AI in the field of education is a topic that has attracted considerable interest from researchers and educators alike. The university context is of critical importance in the development of reliable and sustainable educational and training models that can exploit the potential of AI in a responsible and effective manner. Faculty development research plays a pivotal role in the advancement of methodological innovations. It is therefore imperative that universities develop policies to promote AI and data literacy.
Methods
The course comprised an integrated programme structured into five distinct thematic modules, with a total duration of 42 hours. The lessons were delivered in a hybrid format, combining face-to-face and online delivery methods. The course aimed to facilitate an in-depth exploration of various aspects of AI (machine learning, LLM...) and on the development of transferable skills, such as critical thinking and an understanding of the ethical principles associated with the use of AI.
Findings
The course was attended by 33 doctoral students. All enrolled reached 70 % attendance except for two enrolled students who never attended any lectures. At the end of the course, on a voluntary basis, the trainees answered the satisfaction questionnaire and submitted the impact report on their research pathway.
This study is aligned with the overarching theme of the conference, particularly the sub-theme of Addressing social justice by leveraging technology and innovative approaches.

Research aim: The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the work-based learning placement (WBP) experiences and outcomes of graduates from the International Master in Adult Education for Social Change (IMAESC) across multiple cohorts (2016 – 2021). Theoretical Framework: This study draws from experiential learning theory to understand how graduates developed their social and professional identity through their WBP experiences; theory of andragogy to acknowledge the individual differences among graduates as adult learners as it relates to how these differences may have influenced their WBP experiences; and situated learning theory to emphasise the effectiveness of learning that is embedded within a specific social and cultural context. Methods: Grounded in interpretivism, the study employs semi-structured interviews that uncover the subjective meanings that 11 graduates attached to their WBP experiences. Analysis: The research integrates a case study method with reflexive thematic analysis to approach the data. From this analysis, an interpretation of four key themes is reported: 1) the placement learning landscape and outcomes; 2) the placement landscape of practice; 3) identity development through socialisation; and 4) the relationship between reflexive praxis and social change. These themes provide a nuanced narrative of participants' individual and collective stories, while also allowing for independent interpretation of each theme. The study demonstrates how WBP contributes to graduates' experiences and outcomes, skill development, and social and professional identities. Relevance to the conference theme and specific strand: By examining the integration of theory and practice, as well as the role of reflexive praxis, the study provides valuable insights into the complexities of WBP experiences and their potential to foster meaningful learning and social impact, which is in alignment with the conference's focus on ‘Characteristics of quality teaching’ as the study explored the qualities of effective WBP, which are a crucial component of quality teacher education.

Objectives: To develop an understanding of the influence of Paulo Freire's ideas from the national to the international context.

Relevance of the topic: Bringing to discussion different angles of Paulo Freire's influence, especially on teachers and teaching.

Theoretical framework: Life story (Ivor Goodson)

Methodology: Qualitative methodologies with interviews and document analysis.

Presentation and discussion of results:

The research will address Freire's international influence on North American authors, Henry Giroux, Ira Shor and bell hooks, who reveal in their writings that reading the Pedagogy of the Oppressed had a positive impact on their lives, offering the theoretical-practical bases for the development of his critical and post-critical proposals that are still current. The authors found ways to propose the teacher as a transformative intellectual (for Giroux), develop a pedagogy of empowerment (for Shor) and provide the basis for a feminist pedagogy for black women (for bell hooks).

Final considerations:

Through this research, we evidenced that his works had a marked influence on several authors in the area of ​​teaching and curriculum in different countries. Thus, these works demonstrate the relevance of Paulo Freire both in the national and international contexts, and that his works continue to be reinterpreted by different people who find in his ideas instruments of defense in favor of social justice and against inequalities and oppression. The proposal for dialogical education, even today, remains a challenge for teachers at any level. Freire's education proposal, which begins in a national context, becomes internationalized, remaining current, nowadays. Its internationalization remains contrary to current global policies that emphasize performativity. He was an author who exercised his reflective proposal in his own work, constantly reformulating and expanding it.

Despite broad consensus on the centrality of the field practicum in educator preparation programs (EPPs), the role of field supervisor is understudied, undersupported, and underappreciated. Field supervisors are often seen as technical administrators, monitoring and evaluating pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) progress, while course instructors and mentor teachers shoulder the “real work” of teacher preparation (McCormack et al., 2019; Zeichner, 2005). Our research analyzes the practices of two veteran supervisors who view their work as more fundamental and important to EPPs than often portrayed.

We adopt Cuenca’s (2010) framework of care, thoughtfulness, and tact to examine these supervisors’ practices. This framework, theorized in terms of Noddings’ (1992, 2003) care theory and van Manen’s (1991) pedagogical thoughtfulness and tact, envisions the supervisor-PST relationship as analogous to that of teacher-student.

Our data come from a larger self-study aimed at aligning supervisor practices with Cuenca’s (2010) framework and conducted at a small, Hispanic-serving college in the United States. We recorded conversations between two veteran supervisors and their critical friends, as well as supervisor conferences with PSTs. With these data, we present a comparative case study of how two supervisors enacted pedagogical tact in their teacher education practices, connecting supervisors’ intent and motivation to their pedagogical actions.

Using deductive and inductive coding, we find meaningful differences in the enactment and goals of supervisors’ tactful interactions with PSTs and link these differences to specific elements of their instructional context. We also find evidence of a spectrum of tactful action, with prioritization of PSTs’ comfort and emotional wellbeing at one end and prioritization of supervisor’s pedagogical vision at the other. These findings support a conception of supervisors as uniquely positioned teacher pedagogues rather than simple monitors of programmatic compliance, who have the potential to model and promote many high-leverage practices and characteristics of quality teaching (ISATT, 2025 CfP).

South Africa's deep-rooted inequality, a legacy of apartheid, continues to segregate many Black communities into impoverished areas, leading to substantial social and economic disparities (Chikoko, 2018; Maringe et al., 2015). In these deprived contexts, leading schools requires a nuanced approach where strong, caring instructional and social support is essential to improving learner outcomes and well-being. Novice principals often find themselves thrust into these demanding roles, navigating the challenges of deprivation alongside the dual pressures of professional and personal demands, often with inadequate preparation (Wieczorek & Manard, 2018).

This paper, derived from a study on the lived experiences of novice principals in deprived contexts, specifically examines how they employ caring leadership practices in such challenging environments. The central question guiding the research is: How do novice principals enact caring leadership in schools located in deprived contexts? The study, grounded in narrative inquiry, utilizes sensemaking theory to explore how these principals interpret and respond to complex, ambiguous situations (Maitlis & Christiansen, 2014). Four novice principals, each with less than three years of service, were purposively selected for life history interviews. The data were analyzed through narrative analysis to construct coherent accounts and identify emergent themes (Polkinghorne, 1995).

Findings reveal that novice principals display profound contextual mindfulness, which guides their leadership practices. They prioritize students' well-being by adopting roles beyond traditional educational frameworks, such as surrogate parents and social workers. At the organizational level, they demonstrate flexibility in policy implementation and actively seek resources to enhance the learning environment. This research provides valuable insights into the leadership challenges in deprived settings and underscores the critical role of caring leadership in fostering quality teaching and learning in such contexts.

The paper describes the teaching of managerial communication using unique participative methods in a traditional business school setting, and peer review techniques that help students see how their interaction is perceived by others in their environment. The paper highlights the significance of participation and peer review in teaching Managerial Communication to MBA students. Data was collected over a period of seven years from 700+ students enrolled in the MBA program in a reputed Business School in India.
The study describes how a traditional business communication course that was initially taught as two separate courses - Oral Business Communication and Written Business Communication was merged into one composite Managerial Communication course for MBA 1st year students, and how the traditional instructive method evolved to the present form where students are facilitated through a series of weekly participative exercises to recognize the impact of their interactions in the workplace and develop their own unique styles of communication in the business environment.
Weekly peer review reports submitted by students who attended the managerial communication course, were analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Feedback collected after the course ended also provided critical direction for the modification of the course to its present form. The challenges posed by the two year lockdown during COVID aided creative redesign of the course structure and format.
The study provides critical insights into the importance of attention to feedback by students and participative peer review by students in making the course on managerial communication useful for students.

While the practical value of English as an academic lingua franca is generally recognised, studies highlight negative consequences for non-native English speaker (NNES) university students and staff. These include difficulties communicating clearly in English and time spent learning it (Tardy, 2004), as well as the additional time required to do academic work in English (Amano et al., 2023). In Hong Kong’s English medium instruction (EMI) tertiary environment, a disjunction exists between the language of instruction and the proficiency and preferences of L1 Cantonese students (Evans & Morrison, 2011). Two thirds of secondary schools and most primary schools use Cantonese (Shephard & Rose, 2023), often leading to English proficiency depending on families’ socioeconomic background and extracurricular support (Li, 2018). Increasing enrolment of L1 Mandarin and international students has complicated matters further, and students often rely on translation, proofreading and paraphrasing applications to cope. The emergence of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) has also been met with enthusiasm by the Hong Kong government and local university administrations and can be perceived as improving academic equity for NNESs (Berdejo-Espinola & Amano, 2023). However, is GenAI an innovative technology helping to improve educational equity or a shortcut negatively impacting learning? This study investigates perceptions and use of GenAI of students from four English Language Centre subjects (n=76). Data was collected from pre- and post-course surveys, interviews, reflections, GenAI transcripts, and written assessments over two semesters. The findings suggest that while students are generally aware of ethical issues and limitations, they are increasingly adopting GenAI and positively view its convenience and efficiency for brainstorming, research, organisation and language use. However, few question GenAI’s impact on their overall learning. This presentation explores the growing disconnect between task performance and proficiency, and the extent to which GenAI-enhanced teaching and learning sustainably addresses the equity gap in globalised education.

The rapid progress of generative AI (GAI) has raised significant questions regarding its impact on teaching. As these tools become integrated into practice, educational institutions are challenged to rethinking their pedagogical approaches. Universities need to develop strategies to support faculty in integrating GAI to enhance teaching. In this context, an Estonian University formed a taskforce to address these issues.
A survey was developed and distributed online in February 2024 to understand teacher perspectives and practices about GAI tools in their classrooms. Out of 2479 staff members, 413 completed the survey. The taskforce aims to provide training for staff based on the collected responses and the survey will be repeated after one year to evaluate the effects of these training.
Our study aims to answer the following questions:

1. What are the main concerns identified by teaching staff regarding the use of GAI tools in their teaching practices?
2. How have these concerns and practices evolved over the course of a year?

Our initial survey results show that half of the respondents (48%) do not use GAI in their teaching nor regulate its use for students. The main reasons include uncertainty how to use GAI effectively, distrust in the information provided, and the belief that their subject is unsuitable for GAI integration. Some respondents reported unsatisfactory results from using GAI or found traditional teaching practices more effective. When asked about topics for staff training, respondents expressed interest in practical recommendations for effective GAI use and in understanding the connection between GAI tools and academic fraud.
Our study reports on the results obtained from the second survey comparing them with the initial findings. We aim to highlight the change in teacher concerns and practices. Based on these findings, we will offer recommendations focussing on professional development; policy guidelines on GAI use; equitable access to GAI tools.

Research Aim & Theoretical Framework: This presentation features findings from a bilingual, critical meta-analysis of global educator Ikeda Daisaku’s (1928–2023) publications on A.I. relative to ningen kyōiku, or “human education.” Comprising aims and methods of dialogue, value creation, creative coexistence, and a locally enacted global consciousness, Ikeda’s philosophy of human education centers on the persistent cultivation of fully human being and becoming in self and others, teacher and taught. Responding to the theoretical framing of “posthuman” converges of natural, social, and technological dimensions of human life and living (Snaza, 2015), this study provides teachers and teaching uniquely Eastern, quintessentially universal ways of engaging with A.I. that do not forsake or erase what makes us fundamentally human. Analyses center on two interlocking questions to which Ikeda consistently returns when assessing the impact of A.I. and the hyperfocus on reason and rationality underpinning and engendered by it: What does it mean to be human? and What is the nature of civilization and humanity?

Methods

The effects of A.I. and enhanced computerization on humanity and education abound in the popular and academic discourse. Ikeda has examined A.I. since the 1970s, but these works are inaccessible to the anglophone academy. This study employs bilingual-bicultural and critical discourse analyses (Rogers, 2004) of Ikeda’s 150-volume “Complete Works,” identifying his engagements with A.I., systematically coding, triangulating, and synthesizing these thematically.

Findings

Ikeda advocates practices of cultivating intuition, reestablishing human interactions in reality, developing creativity, and restoring the shigokoro, or “poetic mind/heart/spirit,” to enact justice and remedy and forestall what ails civilization and hinders human happiness in the expansion of A.I.

Relevancies

This study enhances our understanding of A.I. relative to the conference theme of teaching quality, socio-cultural identities, and what makes us uniquely human. It provides innovative, Eastern approaches for addressing social justice and leveraging technology.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been introduced in education recently. With its incorporation in the educational process, opportunities as also challenges have been arisen for teaching and learning. The research on AI in education aligns with equitable teaching practices by offering personalized learning experiences and enhancing engagement, but it must also address issues of access, cultural responsiveness, and teacher support to ensure inclusivity for all students. This research explores the impact of AI applications on both cognitive and non-cognitive skills of elementary school students. A systematic literature review was conducted, focusing on studies published since 2019, to gather insights into how AI technologies and AI educational platforms are integrated into primary schools and their subsequent effects on student learning. For a study to be included in the review had to be published after 2019, to examine an intervention with AI in elementary schools and be published in English language. For this purpose, experimental and quasi-experimental studies were identified. The results showed that these interventions were typically of short-term and utilized diverse AI-based tools, such as dialogic systems, AI-driven educational platforms, robotics, and educational games. The majority of these interventions concentrated on subjects like Language and Mathematics, aiming to assess the effectiveness of AI in enhancing learning outcomes in these core areas. The findings of the systematic literature review are generally encouraging, indicating that AI has the potential to positively influence student learning in primary education. The use of AI tools was associated with improvements in both cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and critical thinking, and non-cognitive skills, including motivation to learn and engagement in educational process. Despite these promising results, the review also highlights the need for further research to better understand the long-term effects of AI interventions, as well as their applicability across a broader range of subjects and skills.

Students from Pacific backgrounds in Aotearoa New Zealand are under-represented amongst those taking mathematics beyond compulsory levels. International testing suggests that Pacific students are under-served by the current mathematics teaching and assessment system. While researchers, teachers and policymakers debate why this may be, the voices of students themselves are not often heard. This study worked with 48 Pacific students of post-compulsory mathematics from five schools to understand their experience of mathematics teaching and learning. The research questions were:

What do Pacific students experience and value in senior secondary school mathematics classrooms?

How do they view their relationships with mathematics?

How would they change school mathematics teaching for it to work better for them?

The study uses Pacific framing for its theoretical basis, data collection and analysis. In this holistic view, Pacific students are seen as embedded in family and community, rather than as individuals. Co-construction and relationality are foregrounded. Talanoa, a way of sharing and relating, was used to understand the students' experience. The talanoa sessions were led by trained Pacific researchers, using cultural protocols.

Thematic analysis yielded eight teaching practices that the Pacific students felt would improve the experience of mathematics for them and for others. The eight practices were: plan opportunities for one to one, expect achievement, monitor pace, make it clear and relevant, make connections explicit, try another way if we don’t understand, recognise that we are good at mathematics, and understand that mathematics, and our achievement in mathematics, matters a lot to our families.

These actionable practices can be seen as describing equitable teaching from the perspective of the students. They can also be thought of as quality teaching practices for Pacific mathematics learners. The idea of considering quality and equity from the perspective of learners has applications for other groups and settings.

Teachers frequently ask questions in mathematics classrooms, and effective questioning enables teachers to better assess their students’ understanding. To explore how pre-service teachers' questioning techniques evolve with experience, we conducted a case study examining the progress of two pre-service teachers during their 8-week teaching practicum at a private university’s Online Laboratory School (OLS), which served students across Turkey during the pandemic. These two pre-service teachers were selected because they taught the same mathematics content each week.

This study investigates the types of questions the pre-service teachers asked and how the quality of these questions developed over the 8-week period during which they planned, taught and reflected on their own teaching. Specifically, our research was guided by two main questions: (1) What types of questions did the pre-service teachers ask? (2) How did the quality of the pre-service teachers' questions evolve from the first to the last lesson during the OLS experience?

The study employed a qualitative analysis based on "the questioning framework" developed by Weiland et al. (2014). Recorded lessons were transcribed, and the questions were coded by two independent researchers. Through collaborative decision-making, the questions were categorized according to the framework in the following way: protocol, repeat, clarifying, competent, instructing rather than assessing (leading or teaching and telling). In addition to the framework, inviting type of questions to facilitate participation of students emerged during open coding of the data.

The findings indicate that with appropriate guidance and practical experience, pre-service teachers can improve their questioning skills. Over time, there was an increase in the use of competent, thought-provoking questions, such as those encouraging students to analyze mathematical arguments or solutions, while the use of leading questions diminished. The results suggest that participation in OLS activities positively influenced the pre-service teachers' ability to ask questions that extended students' mathematical thinking.

Elementary teachers often have hindering beliefs about mathematics and how to teach. The impact on student learning is exacerbated in high-needs or historically disenfranchised schools. This project answers, what are the ways a program’s math methods courses impacted beliefs that restrict quality mathematics instruction? Using the mathematical wounds framework, we analyze teachers’ beliefs about mathematics, teaching and learning, and beliefs about themselves as a doer and teacher of mathematics. The mathematical wounds framework includes three approaches for addressing mathematical wounds: unpacking experiences in the mathematics classroom, engaging in the process of doing mathematics, and enacting high-quality teaching practices. This research is guided by the re(humanizing) perspective (Gutiérrez, 2018); using self-study I explore mathematics teacher educator practice to better understand how professional learning tools support early career elementary teachers engage in rich mathematical activities. While the re(humanizing) perspective attend specifically to the teaching of mathematics, for this research, it was used to guide research methodology and course design. This research employs self-study with collaborations between the professor and students, situated with a minority serving institution in the US. The program serves uncertified graduate students currently working in high-needs schools. Preliminary findings show that teachers experienced major shift regarding beliefs about mathematics and best practice for teaching and learning mathematics. Beliefs about themselves as doers and teachers of mathematics show more complicated findings. While many report greater confidence in their mathematics proficiency and their ability to teach, many still report anxiety over facilitating student-lead discussions where the teacher’s lack of understanding might be exposed. This project seeks to identify quality mathematics teacher practices that supports early career teachers working in diverse backgrounds and circumstances. I seek to present in the S-STEP strand within the sub-theme of characteristics of quality teaching.

The research aims to explore the impact on more deprived children of teachers’ attitudes to teaching maths. The presentation will outline the validation process of a Perceptions of Mathematics (POM) survey to help identify teachers’ attitudes when teaching maths, distinguishing between teaching which is more procedural versus more conceptual.

The overall approach is informed by critical realism and rooted in expectancy value theory. If we expect to do well and value a subject we are studying, we are more likely to succeed in that subject even accounting for prior attainment. Negative messages poorer children pick up about maths are often from their community and family. Compounding these negative attitudes may be a differential approach by teachers when teaching maths to more deprived children. Poorer children are more likely to be exposed to procedural maths rather than the conceptual maths they need to achieve at a higher level.

The Perceptions of Maths survey was completed by 136 primary teachers with the results analysed using Principal Components Analysis to determine whether or not it is possible to identify a two component structure within the survey distinguishing procedural and conceptual approaches.

The 20 items of the POM were then subjected to PCA which found a two component structure in the survey supporting the distinction between conceptual maths values and procedural maths values.

The research links to equitable teaching practices. Teachers’ beliefs and attitudes have a direct impact on children’s outcomes. The research aims to help teachers understand how their beliefs about maths and relatively more deprived children can have an impact on children’s outcomes.

Classrooms are dominated by teacher talk, which averages 70%-80% of classroom time. Therefore, teachers' language preferences, use of language, and communication with pupils in teaching are significant factors that affect pupils' classroom experiences. This is more apparent in teaching mathematics due to its technical nature. Investigating teachers' use of language can give us clues about the quality of their understanding of the subject and their noticing levels. In this study, we investigated the interrelations among teachers' language use, knowledge, and noticing levels in mathematics and modelled such interrelations. Our main research question is: How do teachers’ use of language when responding to a mathematical task requiring an analysis of a division situation inform us about their knowledge and noticing level?

The participants were 142 volunteered teachers (81 males, 61 females) teaching mathematics at different school levels in the public schools of the United Arab Emirates, representing 11% of the mathematics teacher population. We used proportional stratified sampling to identify schools and recruited volunteered teachers from those schools to participate in the study. The data came from an up-to-two-hour problem-solving session with these teachers. One of the problems asked participants to think about a division problem that can have the answers of 4 1/3 and 4R1, explain its rationale, and clarify the underlying mathematical ideas a student needs to know to make sense of it. We analysed the teacher responses to this question both qualitatively and quantitatively, considering the language they used (every day, meaning-making, technical), the knowledge they drew on (common content versus specialised content knowledge), and their noticing (four levels). Our statistical analysis resulted in a model explaining the interrelations of these components, suggesting that teachers’ use of language is a significant indicator of the quality of their knowledge, and richer language use leads to higher noticing levels.

In a rapidly changing educational landscape, collaborative learning communities have gained prominence as spaces for shared knowledge construction. Audiovisual production, often underutilized in pedagogical practices, has the potential to enhance these communities by fostering engagement, creativity, and co-construction of knowledge. This study aims to explore how audiovisual production can act as a catalyst for the development of learning communities, particularly in educational settings involving pre-service teachers and international collaborations. The methodology integrates qualitative narrative research with hands-on audiovisual workshops, engaging participants in the production of a short film as a collective, interdisciplinary effort. This process enable the observation of how collaborative dynamics unfolded, and how these dynamics contributed to the formation of a learning community. An audiovisual production project was conducted with educators from various countries, culminating in the creation of an original short film. The intention of the experiment was to reflect on the idea that collaborative cultures among educators, when engaged in audiovisual projects, tend to evolve into learning communities where teaching knowledge is collectively enhanced and redefined. The theoretical framework draws on audiovisual knowledge (Tirard, 2006), collaborative culture and learning communities (Flores & Ferreira, 2012; Ávila, 2012; Craig et al., 2020), narrative research and Story Constellations (Craig, 2007), and educational experience (Garcia, 1998; Day, 2004; Dewey, 2011; Tardif, 2014). Preliminary observations from the Portuguese experience suggest that the collective audiovisual project fostered collaborative culture, laying the groundwork for the development of democratic learning communities. These findings highlight the potential of audiovisual media as a powerful process in educational settings, especially in fostering engagement and co-construction of knowledge among educators. This research is supported by CAPES, FAPEMIG and CNPq.

Higher education institutions are to teach advanced thinking skills that help students process information, make judgments, and justify associated beliefs. Such skills are necessary for reflective judgment according to the reflective judgment model (RJM). The purpose of this study was to explore whether engaging undergraduate students in classroom discussion surrounding ill-structured problems impacted these advanced thinking skills. It implemented a quasi-experimental, posttest-only control-group design using the validated semi-structured Reflective Judgment Interview (RJI) protocol to score reflective judgment skills of sixteen undergraduate students. The RJM and its RJI protocol, developed by King and Kitchener (1994) categorizes thinking into three main areas: prereflective (Stages 1-3), quasireflective (Stages 4 & 5), and reflective thinking (Stages 6 & 7). On average, undergraduate students score within Stages 3 or 4. The Openness to Diversity and Challenge Scale (ODCS) was also used to identify existing openness to diversity and challenge. A least squares regression analysis of the RJI stage and the ODCS score found that there is a significant correlation between the two. Overall, results indicated that fostering discussion of ill-structured problems in a college classroom might help students advance into higher levels of reflective thinking, thus helping to fulfill a key purpose of higher education. Further research should explore these connections using a larger sample for a longer time period.

This research brings forward a theoretical framework that applies to modern issues of divisive politics, civil unrest, and social injustices affecting democratic societies. Engaging our students in healthy debate and discussion surrounding comlex problems may be a pedagogical practice to help develop new generations of thinkers who can evaluate information, develop judgments, and better accept ideas that are different from their own. This paper aims to support this conference sub-topic: Addressing social justice by leveraging technology and innovative approaches.

Controversial and thorny issues arise unexpectedly in the classroom requiring teachers to make in-the-moment decisions to address or dismiss them. The decision to address such issues is a morally motivated response influenced by various elements. Teachers make split-second decisions in response to these situations, so that the underlying reasons for their decisions are not always immediately evident and can sometimes be difficult to describe due to their complexity. In this study, we asked a random sample of teachers (n=60) from the European Union to recall an unplanned issue that they had addressed and to apply a model developed in previous research, to articulate their reasons for choosing to address the issue. The model captured the multifaceted nature of teachers’ decision-making in these scenarios, including their past experiences, future orientation, personal and professional beliefs, emotions, task perception and the wider context in which the teachers’ work is located. We employed a grounded theory approach to identify recurring themes to better understand the complexity inherent in such moments. Preliminary results indicate that teachers' reasons often aligned with a commitment to fostering social justice and enhancing students' democratic competencies. Rooted in strong personal values and their past experiences, teachers realised the broader implications of their decisions. We found that they chose to engage with these issues because of their belief in the potential for a better, more equitable future. However, teachers sometimes found it difficult to clearly articulate their reasons, although they indicated that the model helped them to better understand and articulate the reasons behind their decisions to address unplanned issues, strengthening their capacity for reflective practice and intentional interventions. For that reason, we argue that the model can be used to enhance initial teacher education and professional development.