Conference Agenda

Nowadays, a dignified condition of social existence presupposes good navigation skills: surviving the elusive liquidity of contemporary times and spaces (Bauman, 2013) means learning to sway in the flow, that is to enjoy the experience in an optimal way, being absorbed and at the same time intact inside the intensity of that moment. What Csíkszentmihályi (2013) defines as a "state of grace".

The flowing movement takes on the nuances of a practice of freedom and, at the same time, of democratic liberation, since it allows the individual to experience an intrinsic involvement with life, attributing to it a personal choice and meaning. Consequently, faced with this condition, educational institutions are invested with a new, but eternal, political responsibility: educating for freedom, social justice, equity (Freire, 1994; Nussbaum, 1997, 2002). Education thus assumes the role of valorisation of personal agency, life aspirations and human potentials (ONU, 2006).

Within this context, however, resides a paradox: contemporary changes leads to ambitions for progress that are often unsustainable for the promotion of an adequate quality of life; a capitalistic individualization in which the citizen perceives him/herself only and in this solitude, oppressed because detached from any inter-personal belonging (Rosales, Frangioni & Marroccoli, 2019).

The same loneliness and lack of belonging complained by more and more university students, whose educational system seems to be frozen within a performative perspective of competence and academic success, far away from the generative perspective of individual capability and fulfillment (Volstad et al., 2020). Higher Education is asked to shift its gaze from welfare to well-being, to re-think educational processes capable of overcoming the freedom-solitude paradox, rediscovering how the apparent antinomies are actually accomplices constructs, equally significant for co-building a democratic reality. Then, how to deal with this urgent need?

One possibility has been suggested by Nussbaum (1997), according to whom a fundamental tool for the cultivation of society corresponds to "narrative imagination", that is, the ability to interpret one’s own history and empathize with that of others, imagining better life scenarios for each, for all.

According to this perspective, self-narratives are interpretative keys of personal aspirations on the ancient εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia), in the sense of flourishing life (D'Olimpio, 2022), as well as a starting point for designing enabling and accessible contexts that suits everyone's functioning.

Considering this framework, our research aims to answer the following questions: which are the opportunities of flourishing currently offered by University, according to students’ self-narratives? Which are the ideal opportunities aspired by the students? Which common flourishing dimensions emerge from students’ narratives? And, in which ways can self-narratives support students’ personal flourishing within the University contexts?

Thus, through a combinated narrative-appreciative inquiry on students’ flourishing and the transcendent essence of their personal story as community core living (Huber, Caine, Huber and Steeves, 2013), students are welcomed in a democratic space of sharing ideas and ideals. Meanwhile, they participate in expressing a common culture of flourishing through meaningful connections among their own identity and others’ narratives (Wise & Barney, 2021).

Hence, my research purposes are: (re)discovering the flourishing perspective from undergraduate students’ voices and from their autobiographical narratives, questioning together with them the ways in which such narratives can prove to be a positive pedagogical-didactic support; inquiring students' well-being aspirations by enhancing practices of self-narration through appreciation; transforming students' narrative-appreciative journey into a common manifest of flourishing, in the form of an Open Educational Resource (OER) shareable with the representatives of the whole university students, in order to make this topic a more open and collective discussion, because living well in education regards any of us, as all of us.

Defined as children’s ability to successfully obtain acceptable entries to group activities, collaborative negotiations and cooperative play for full and active participation in ECEC group activities as confident agents, social competence among children in ECEC is considered a crucial skill to construct and maintain mutual and durable friendships with peers and harmonious relationships with adults (Pakarinen et al., 2020). These relationships have been proved to be related to children’s wellbeing (Sandseter & Seland, 2018), an essential element for children’s holistic development in many ECEC curriculum frameworks (Council of European Union, 2019), including the Finnish Core Curriculum for ECEC (Finnish National Agency for Education, 2018), a Nordic welfare model with universalism, equality and equity for every child regardless of their different backgrounds (Kumpulainen, 2018). However, sparse research has been done on how young children’s social competence is related to their social-emotional wellbeing in ECEC in both directions.

Moreover, sizable research has been undertaken on the effects of ECEC arrangements on children’s development such as cognitive, languages and social emotional competence (Zachrisson & Lekhal, 2014). Nevertheless, little is known about how ECEC arrangements (weekly hours and providers) are associated with children’s social-emotional wellbeing (i.e., enjoyment and the fulfilment of their basic needs) in ECEC. In addition, the association of childcare arrangements and children’s social behaviours has been studied in different childcare systems (Averdijk et al., 2022; Huston et al., 2015), etc., with mixed results, but its moderation effects on the two-way associations between children’s social competence and social-emotional wellbeing have been scarcely researched.

Thus, this study aims to investigate the two-way associations between children’s social competence and their social-emotional wellbeing (i.e., the fulfilment of their basic needs and their enjoyment) in ECEC. Specifically, it examines whether children with higher social competence have their basic needs fulfilled and enjoy their ECEC experiences more or whether children with higher level of enjoyment and basic need fulfilment demonstrate higher prosocial and less antisocial behaviors. The current research also investigates if children’s weekly hours in ECEC and the types of ECEC providers they attend (private or public) moderate the two-way associations between children’s social competence and their social-emotional wellbeing in ECEC.

The influence of spirituality on pedagogical phenomena has been discussed in the literature for many years (e.g. Behera & Dash, 2015; Ben-Arieh et al. 2014; de Souza et al. 2009; Fisher, 2011; Pandya, 2017; Wane et al, 2011). At the same time, the importance of its investigation is supported by findings of associations between levels of spirituality and positive formation of personality, or lower levels of risky behavior or depressive symptoms among students (Dankulincova Veselska et al., 2018; Henningsgaard & Arnau, 2008; Pérez et al., 2009; Raftopoulos & Bates, 2011). Despite the growing interest in this topic abroad, less attention has been given to this issue in educational research in the Czech Republic. If it is explored, it is so far in an unsystematized form (Jirásek, 2023; Říčan, 2006; Suchánková & Matušů, 2020; Veselský et al., 2013).

To support the initiation of this research, this paper offers an overview of theoretical approaches to conceptualizing spirituality that can be applied to pedagogy. It maps key approaches to spirituality in the pedagogical context over the last forty years and highlights the possibility of applying them both in terms of research and in the formulation of educational objectives or tools for pedagogical action. In doing so, it also aims to open a discussion on how spirituality can be explored in a pedagogical context and whether it is beneficial to work with it in mainstream pedagogical practice.

Based on the literature, we identified three key theoretical approaches that work with the concept of spirituality in contexts relevant to pedagogy, namely (1) the psychology of religion, (2) philosophy and theory of education, and (3) the well-being approach. The study aim is to clarify disciplinary and transdisciplinary grounding of these theoretical approaches and their distinct and congruent aspects. Further, review based on this classification allows us to better highlight the possibilities of application of these approaches in education.

The ECER proposal will present (1) the importance of exploring spirituality from an educational science perspective, (2) a review of theoretical approaches conceptualizing spirituality applicable to pedagogy, and (3) introduce possible future steps to explore this topic further.

There is a growing global concern over the issues of promoting and sustaining mental health and well-being in education, in which the mental health implications in the classroom continue to pose a significant public challenge worldwide, affecting children, adolescents, and teachers/new teachers, with an increasing economic cost (Purser, 2022). According to recent World Health Organization estimates, between 10% and 20% of children worldwide have a diagnosable mental health problem (WHO, 2021b). There is also an upward trend in adolescents’ mental illness in many countries (Seven, et al., 2020), with approximately 20% of the world’s adolescents experiencing mental health issues (United Nationals International Children’s Emergency Fund [UNICEF] Data, 2021). Schools are often recognized in research and policy as appropriate key settings to enhance and protect children’s and adolescents’ physical and mental well-being (Lahti et al., 2023; Hattersley, 2023). Teachers, therefore, play a crucial role in effective mental health provision in schools, as they are expected to be knowledgeable in identifying children’s and adolescents’ mental health problems and intervening early to support their students (DoH, 2011; Purser, 2022).

Nevertheless, teachers consistently report that they often feel ill-prepared and lack experience and training to support children with emotional, behavioural, and social difficulties. They also feel vulnerable and psychologically distressed when meeting the mental health needs of their students in school settings (Rothi et al., 2008; Lahti et al., 2023; Nygaard et al., 2023). Meanwhile, teachers’ mental health must also be considered as their psychological well-being has been associated with students’ mental health and wellness. The teaching profession is generally recognized as an emotionally intense and stressful occupation, in which low career satisfaction, substantial workloads, and multiple role requirements all can have a deleterious effect on teachers’ mental health and place them at increased risk of common mental health disorders (Hattersley, 2023). Since teachers’ experiences of occupational stress are highly likely to be linked with their capacity to support students’ mental health, it is imperative to prepare and encourage teachers to seek guidance and support for their own mental health (Kush et al., 2021).

Insufficient attention and training are currently given to the development and provision of required competences (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) and effective methods for mental health promotion in initial teacher training programmes (ITT/ITE). Although mental health providers, such as school psychologists and school counselors, are known as experts in delivering school-based mental health services, teachers are the first line of defense in providing prevention strategies to students in need of support. Against this background, the study sets out to explore teacher educators’ and student teachers’ perspectives and experiences related to mental health training and provision in Initial Teacher Training Programmes (ITT/ITE) in China and the UK. Given that educational systems, social and cultural backgrounds, and professional qualifications differ across countries, the challenges related to promoting students' and teachers’ mental health and well-being, nevertheless, are similar.

The research design is a Delphi survey, in which it attempts to identify the threshold concepts in mental health and well-being and to provide a framework for developing a curriculum to build the knowledge and capacity of the future teacher workforce. It intends to answer the following two questions: What key knowledge and pedagogical approaches should be included in a comprehensive mental health training curriculum for Initial Teacher Training Programmes? What main competencies (knowledge, skills, and attitudes) should student teachers acquire during the ITT/ITE programme to promote their own mental health and that of others?

Background

Adolescents' experiences in the classroom significantly influence their development, with teacher-student relationship (TSR) quality playing a pivotal role in psychological, behavioural, and academic outcomes(1, 2). However, much of the research and almost all TSR interventions focus on early childhood settings, despite the fact that adolescents are at greater risk of experiencing poor quality TSRs(3, 4). Throughout adolescence, many students experience additional stress and vulnerability, which may have a negative impact on mental wellbeing and academic achievement, as well as increased risk of school disengagement(5).

Alarmingly, adolescents are experiencing heightened rates of mental illness and suicidality, with post-COVID-19 estimates surpassing pre-pandemic levels worldwide(6, 7). Emerging evidence has suggested that positive TSRs are an important protective factor and a promising intervention target to improve outcomes for adolescents with adverse childhood experiences(8). In light of the increasing rates of adolescent mental illness, it is more imperative than ever to understand how to improve the quality of TSRs as a vital protective factor.

The value of cultivating positive relationships in the classroom is undeniable, the uncertainty lies in how these relationships are developed and maintained in practice. Evidenced-based practices that are designed to support and guide teachers in forming these relationships are extremely limited.

Theoretical Framework

Traditionally, the landscape of TSR research has found its roots in Attachment Theory. This foundational understanding underscores the pivotal role played by early childhood interactions with adult attachment figures in shaping children's attachment styles—an indispensable element in their social and emotional development (9). However, as children transition to adolescence, the significance of early attachments may diminish, making way for other contextual factors, for example peer relationships (4). A shift in perspective to Self-Determination Theory (SDT) reveals TSRs' potential to enhance student outcomes by addressing innate needs—competency, autonomy, and relatedness (10).

Given the complex nature of psychological phenomena, research on TSRs must incorporate diverse theoretical approaches. Central to both attachment and self-determination theoretical frameworks is the indispensable role of emotional connection and support between teachers and students. Within this conceptual amalgamation, Developmental Systems Theory (DST) emerges as a comprehensive framework for understanding the interplay of various factors influencing the emotional connection between teachers and students, subsequently shaping relationship quality (4). As such, this study proposes DST as an organisational framework in unravelling the nuanced dynamics of TSRs, emphasising three primary components: characteristics of individuals within the relationships, patterns of interaction between teachers and students, and external influences.

The current Study

This study aimed to compare adolescent and teacher perceptions on the facilitators and barriers to developing and maintaining positive teacher-student relationships. Employing an exploratory qualitative inquiry through interviews with both teachers and adolescents, the research delved into their perspectives to fill a crucial void, as previous studies have often neglected the valuable input of students. The overarching goal was to construct a robust framework, rooted in developmental systems theory, exploring the various interconnected factors impacting TSR quality to guide interventions and empower educators in enhancing the quality of these relationships.

While the qualitative nature limits generalisability, this study's international implications address universally relevant education issues. The exploration of TSRs, particularly during adolescence, may impact educational outcomes globally. The study's departure from traditional attachment perspectives enriches understanding, allowing for a nuanced exploration of TSR dynamics during adolescence. This theoretical evolution enriches the discourse on TSRs and opens avenues for innovative interventions that align more closely with the developmental needs of adolescents. In a world where educational challenges and mental health concerns among adolescents are widespread, the study's findings contribute to a global conversation on fostering positive relationships in classrooms, transcending national borders to inform international educational practices and policies.

Prioritizing a teacher's professional well-being (PWB) is an unequivocal approach to increase the probability of attaining Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), particularly in lower GDP nations like India, where students primarily rely on their teachers for knowledge acquisition. However, the existing tools for evaluating a teacher's PWB in India may need to be attuned to the country's socio-cultural landscape.

While several studies have investigated teachers' PWB, they primarily originate from the global north (Uchida & Kitayama, 2009; Zhang et al., 2023) or use scales developed in Western countries (Jeyaraj, 2013; Kamboj & Garg, 2021; Raj et al., 2022 among others) or view the phenomenon only through a negative lens, focusing primarily on stress and burnout (Mooij, 2008; Kaur & Singh, 2019). However, significant aspects of well-being (WB) often hinge on personal or cultural perspectives rather than universally accepted factual truths (Thin, 2018), and there is imminent evidence that, conceptually, WB (and PWB) is a multidimensional phenomenon. Therefore, the need for socio-cultural understanding of PWB in India emerges as a gap in the literature.

The purpose of this study is to understand how Indian teachers perceive social and cultural factors in connection with their PWB and is guided by the research question: How do Indian teachers perceive social and cultural factors in connection to their professional well-being?

The research adopts a critical realist (Archer et al., 1998) philosophical viewpoint to explore PWB as an emerging phenomenon, considering empirical manifestations such as physical health and relationships. Emphasizing PWB as a collective endeavor, the study aligns with Bronfenbrenner's bio-ecological model (Bronfenbrenner, 1974), highlighting the interconnectedness of PWB with socio-cultural structures.

The principal researcher's Indian heritage, experience as a teacher in India and abroad, and knowledge of Hindi act as vantage points and can be of immense value when it comes to interpreting cultural nuances, understanding the intricacies of the education system (in comparison to that of the West), and fostering a deeper connection with the participants. The project is conducted under the guidance of supervisors who are advanced in the field of teacher education and research.

The study acknowledges limitations in its applicability to other cultural contexts due to its emphasis on the Indian context. Even within India, it may not represent all. The collection of empirical data is limited to English or Hindi, which may cause bias. Relying solely on virtual interviews may affect the depth of interpersonal connections and non-verbal cues vital in qualitative research. The researcher's Indian-born background may bring bias that could affect data interpretation.

In India, education is a fundamental right. Therefore, a society that values the education of its children should establish evidence-based policies at the state level to ensure that school leaders and administrations are obliged to implement plans regularly tracking the PWB of teachers. The objective of this tracking is to understand, improve, and sustain PWB and thus benefit the learning of children while maximizing the potential of teachers.

In the future, it may be possible to translate this scale into other Indian languages and utilize a comparative methodology to produce similar scales and plans in other countries, such as in the European Union, which could serve as vital tools in achieving SDG 4. However, this is beyond the scope of the current study.

Well-being has been touted for many years as being a key factor in ensuring positive outcomes for students in schools across many parts of the world [1, 2]. Recently, some researchers have even proposed that low levels of well-being may be an underlying root cause of some of the social issues currently impacting our schools [3, 4]. However, while the concept is regularly discussed there is no widely accepted definition of well-being. McLeod and Wright [5] have even gone so far as to state that “calls to address wellbeing are so commonplace and widespread that they can mean both everything and nothing.” Some authors discuss well-being as synonymous with the concept of positive mental health, while others consider it from the perspective of social belonging, and still others consider well-being through the lens of a student’s readiness to learn [6, 7].

In the 1970s, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) played a pivotal role in highlighting the significance of positive well-being [8]. However, despite increased awareness, child and adolescent mental health disorders persist as a crucial public health concern [9]. Recognising the urgency of addressing adolescent well-being, governments have collectively acknowledged the immediate need for change within the community, particulalry within schools [10].

Although it is widely accepted that student well-being is a public issue, in Australia the federated nature of government places the onus on each individual state and territory to mandate their own policies in support of student well-being in schools. Consequently, each state continues to have a different approach to and understanding of well-being. Although significantly smaller, schools in Aotearoa, New Zealand also have an ambiguous understanding of student well-being driven by the lack of clear definition in the single curriculum framework.

The many different approaches and understandings of well-being hint towards its multi-dimensional nature. We therefore conceive of well-being as “a composite state of existence. Thus, a person who is well, will experience their being as a stable equilibrium of their physical, mental/emotional, and environmental dimensions. Factors that threaten any one or more of these three states of being may disrupt this equilibrium and result in unwell-being.” Our definition thus describes overall well-being as a holistic balance of the different underlying dimensions of physical (P), environmental (E), and mental/emotional (M) well-being. This multi-dimensional conceptual framework (which we will refer to as the PEM framework) is in keeping with other models of well-being such as te whare tapa whā [11] and PERMA+ [12].

Given the importance of well-being to student outcomes, we completed a scoping review to identify which factors best support student well-being in Australian and Aotearoa, New Zealand schools. This review explored a high-level understanding of the various approaches implemented in schools that have been reported to positively impact student well-being. We synthesised these approaches and three broad themes emerged: (1) the nature of student voice, (2) the nature of student perivallon (or physical environment), and (3) the nature of student relationships. For the sake of clarity, we adopted the term perivallon (literally, “that which surrounds”) to avoid conflating these approaches with a student’s environmental well-being as proposed in the PEM framework. We mapped these three themes on to our three PEM dimensions and we propose the PEM framework as a way of understanding holistic well-being. In the PEM framework we suggest that the approaches identified in the literature that align with each of the themes act to facilitate change in one or more of the PEM dimensions and hence impact a student’s overall well-being state.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the process of revenue diversification at the universities of Kazakhstan what challenges they are facing, and how they are dealing with them. It seeks to explore the understanding, practices, and results of revenue diversification from the perspective of university leadership and faculty and to propose solutions supported by an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses found in the existing literature.

Given this purpose, this study aims to address the following question: How do two (public and private) universities in Kazakhstan implement revenue diversification to enhance their financial sustainability?

To address the research question and achieve the study’s objectives, two theoretical frameworks are employed: cost-sharing theory (Johnstone, 2002) and resource dependence theory (RDT) (Pfeffer & Salancik, 2003). According to cost-sharing in higher education costs are divided among four parties: students, parents, industry, and government. The costs paid by these parties contribute to HEIs as income. There are both internal and external factors that motivate universities to generate income from various sources. RDT asserts that the ability of organizations to survive is contingent upon acquiring and sustaining resources (Pfeffer & Salancik, 2003). However, this task is challenging due to environmental conditions marked by scarcity and uncertainty. Organizations must adapt to the requirements of key resource providers, and an open-systems perspective underscores the necessity for organizations to interact with those who control resources (Katz & Kahn, 1966). The degree of autonomy an organization experiences is influenced by the significance and concentration of its resource sources. This theory explains external forces faced by HEIs which encompass both global and national contexts. Furthermore, RDT analyzes the results of revenue diversification. As discussed in the previous section, there are some risks to the core mission of HEIs, which involves teaching and research, when they increase the amount of income generated from diverse sources.

Using these theories as a foundation and based on the literature reviewed, a conceptual framework for analyzing revenue diversification and the impact of diversification on student satisfaction was developed. The given theories and concepts discussed in the following sections will be synthesized to construct a framework for capturing a complex structure of revenue diversification. The internal setting of HEIs plays a crucial role in the process of revenue diversification. Factors such as a university’s mission, status, strategic development, organizational structure, history, size, location, teaching and research activities, and other related aspects contribute to the quality of revenue diversification. The internal parameters of the universities selected as research sites will be discussed in future chapters. By combining cost-sharing theory and RDT, the motivations, incentives, barriers, and possible outcomes of revenue diversification in HEIs are explored. In the context of HE in Kazakhstan and beyond, this research will contribute to our understanding of how institutions manage the challenges of resource dependencies and institutional goals.

Students are navigating an ambiguous post-graduate landscape, marked by global crises, shifting societal demands, and dynamic careers (Redecker et al., 2011). This uncertainty poses challenges for graduates, as they often feel ill-prepared when transitioning from the stable confines of higher education to the dynamic and often unfamiliar professional realm (De Schepper et al., 2023). Recognising this, higher education institutions are adjusting their focus, moving from job-specific skills to cultivating a broader set of competences that are transferable across diverse contexts (Trinidad et al., 2021). As such, the importance of ‘generic skills’ has grown increasingly evident within higher education and related research.

The term ‘generic skills’, synonymous with soft skills, transferable skills, 21st-century skills, and employability competences, encompasses critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, and ethical skills (Tuononen et al., 2022). Broadly defined, these skills constitute a “dynamic combination of cognitive and meta-cognitive skills, interpersonal, intellectual and practical skills” that empower individuals to navigate challenges effectively, within both professional and personal realms (Haselberger et al., 2012, p. 67). It is important to note that this call for ‘21st-century-skills’ is not necessarily novel, as these competences, such as critical thinking, have been components of education throughout history. However, as highlighted by Rotherham and Willingham (2010), “[w]hat’s actually new is the extent to which changes in our economy and the world mean that collective and individual success depends on having such skills” (p. 17).

This growing emphasis on generic skills has prompted various initiatives, ranging from comprehensive programmes and standalone workshops, to seamlessly integrating skills training into content courses. Notably, within this landscape, specific skill-development practices have gained prominence. For instance, some institutions have integrated competence-based coaching approaches into their curricula, emphasising a supportive and reciprocal coach-coachee relationship as means to cultivate skill development (Nuis & Beausaert, 2020). Alternatively, other institutions have adopted problem-based learning methods, concentrating on facilitating skill development through the resolution of complex, authentic problems (Carvalho, 2015), or portfolio systems, wherein students compile diverse documents to illustrate their learning goals and competence development (Heymann et al., 2021). These efforts have also been echoed within research, as scholars aim to understand what skills are needed (e.g., García-Álvarez, 2022), as well as how to effectively cultivate these types of competences in educational settings (e.g., Tuononen et al., 2020).

However, despite well-intentioned endeavours, these efforts often yield mixed results. Extensive research has explored diverse skill-development methods, such as those mentioned above, spanning various contexts, including medical and business domains. This diversity makes it challenging to discern the effective mechanisms in different settings, highlighting the need to consolidate these efforts and cultivate a more systematic understanding of their practical functioning and efficacy (Abelha et al., 2020; Cranmer, 2006). Moreover, the optimal strategy for implementing skill development into higher education remains debated, whether through curriculum integration, optional courses, or work-related experiences (Abelha et al., 2020). Crucially, Tuononen et al. (2022) reveal that factors influencing skill development are contextual, related to teaching and learning environments, rather than individual student factors. In other words, higher education institutions and educators have a degree of control in the success of skill development programmes, particularly if there is effective understanding and implementation of evidence-informed principles.

As such, this study recognises existing efforts and aims to address the above uncertainty by providing a comprehensive overview of effective skill development practices and their contextual conditions, addressing the research question: What pedagogical principles underlie effective generic skill development in higher education? By delving into this complexity, this study aims to contribute to the theoretical understanding of effective skill development, as well as provide insights for the practical implementation of evidence-informed frameworks in educational settings.

This paper explores why, despite inclusion in national strategy and position papers, the practice of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) remains at low levels in Irish higher education.

The study focuses, in particular, on the recognition of informal and non-formal learning and seeks to elucidate the elements which have most influence on practice. In Irish higher education, RPL can include formal, informal, and non-formal learning. The recognition process seeks to validate the learning in the context of a specified destination award from level one to ten on the national framework of qualifications (European Commission; Cedefop; ICF International, 2014, p. 3). The research conducted focused on exploring academics understanding of RPL, its position within their institutional context, and identifying opportunities and perceived challenges to practice and implementation.

The study addresses a knowledge gap in Irish RPL literature regarding the reasons for diminished support and practice of RPL despite evident backing in national published sources and initiatives. The study is focused on exploring the beliefs of academics in relation to why implementation of RPL remains low. It also seeks to determine if there is a correlation between staff beliefs and RPL in practice with the intention of informing future systems and structures for RPL within higher education.

Studies on early-career researchers (ECRs) as an emerging field of higher education research has gained an increasing attention in the past 20 years (McAlpine & Amundsen, 2018). Traditionally, cross-border mobility is commonly believed to promote academic success and is regarded as an unconditional good. However, with the underlying neoliberal influence and the changing landscape in the internationalisation of HE, literature has revealed a more complex picture of international mobility with conflicting outcomes. Literature highlights a diverse range of motivations driving ECRs to engage in international mobility. Career advancement, access to cutting-edge research facilities, and collaboration opportunities emerge as prominent factors (Teichler, 2004; Horta, Jung, & Santos, 2020; Poole & Xu, 2022); while fierce competitions juxtapose with the positive discourse lead to normalized or even coerced practices of international mobility among ECRs that may lead to risks such as increased precarity and the loss of social capital (Ackers, 2005; Bauder, 2020). Despite the flow of ECRs from Global South to Global North, which still remains as a major mobility pattern, a growing inclination of returning mobility to their home countries in the Global South has been noticed. Studies have discussed the benefits and challenges brought by the mobility experience for the returning ECRs, however limited research has been done to reveal how they negotiate with macro structures through exercising agency. Therefore, a nuanced understanding of rationales and experiences behind the different mobility patterns of staying or returning is needed. As context matters for comparative analysis, China and UK are chosen as the two research sites for this study. UK is the top destination in Europe while China being the largest sending country in the non-EU region not only for students but also for international staffs at HEIs (OECD, 2022; HESA, 2022). This study aims to understand the stay/return rationales and experiences among Chinese ECRs in the UK and those who have returned to China, specifically, the author asks:

RQ1. In the context of China and UK, what roles do structural factors play in attracting, recruiting, retaining, and developing of international ECRs?

RQ2. For Chinese ECRs with a UK PhD degree, what factors influence their stay/return decisions of international mobility?

RQ3. For internationally trained Chinese ECRs in UK and returned to China, how do they navigate through their academic career and personal life trajectories?

a) What are the similarities and differences in their exercise of agency?

b) How do the different contextual structures shape their exercise of agency?

This study adopts Glonacal Agency Heuristic as the conceptual framework (Marginson & Rhoades, 2002). Glonacal stands for global, national and local, the three interconnected levels in the process of globalization of higher education. This heuristic pinpoints six nods on each level, including people individually or collectively as agencies in 1) polities, 2) economies, and 3) higher education, and 4) organizations and entities in/of governmental and non-governmental agencies, 5) economics agencies and markets, and 6) educational and professional agencies. The nods form a set of three hexagons, indicating the direct or indirect reciprocal interplay between forces of different levels. It is adopted in this study particularly for its power in conceptualizing agency representing both entities and organizations at global, national and local level, and people’s ability to exercise agency. National level and individual agency will be the main focus for this study, with only some necessary discussions on the practice of institutions based on data analysis, since in the context of both UK and China, national policies play a much prominent role in attracting and recruiting internationally trained ECRs.

The innovations proposed by educational organisation staff are a specific case of so-called "bottom-up" or grassroots innovations, which arise from the initiative of individuals, as opposed to the "top-down" reform of the educational system.. An important characteristic of grassroots innovations is their orientation towards local needs and context [Gupta, 2020]. According to previous research, compared to "top-down" innovations, grassroots innovations are less constrained by institutional frameworks, are more responsive to emerging demands and opportunities, thus enabling the system to incorporate fresher and more creative solutions to existing problems [Koroleva and Khavenson, 2015; Seyfang and Smith, 2007]. In this context, innovations are understood to encompass both radically new approaches and methods, as well as existing practices adapted to the specific school context [Vincent-Lancrin et al., 2019].

The emergence of grassroots innovations has been described in previous studies as a complex and risky process [Glor, 2002]. Innovations, even if they have proven their effectiveness, encounter numerous obstacles during their implementation and dissemination, especially in conservative systems such as the education system [Halasz, 2018]. Barriers associated with the dissemination of innovations and modernisation of the school environment have been addressed in previous research [Sucha et al., 2021; Koroleva and Naushirvanov, 2020]. Key barriers include funding shortages, staffing needs, and a low willingness to adopt innovations, absence of motivation among teachers, administrators, families, and society. The next logical step would involve considering ways to overcome the identified barriers, as they are currently described only fragmentarily in the literature.

In some studies focusing on barriers and drivers within organisations similar to schools, levels at which certain barriers and drivers operate have been emphasised. For example, Sucha et al. [2021] examine the barriers and drivers of innovations in Czech libraries at four different levels: personal, local, organisational, and structural. We hypothesise that such an approach could be beneficial for studying the emergence and diffusion of innovations in the field of education. Furthermore, an in-depth understanding of these results would involve a transition from a linear correspondence between barriers and levels (according to the methodology of the Czech study, a barrier cannot occur at different levels simultaneously, which seems to be an oversimplification) to an exploration of the connections between barriers and opportunities at different levels. Thus, our research questions are:

How do innovators navigate between opportunities and barriers at different levels? What happens if a barrier arises at one level while opportunities exist at other levels?

We study these issues based on the case of one region. It allows for a detailed understanding of the barriers and strategies to overcome them. Although the local specificity is important, we believe that the result might be relevant to other regions and countries as meta-analyses show that teachers from different countries face similar challenges that might affect innovation processes in schools: high workload, insufficient funding, well-being and burnout, conservative views on the education system, and so on.

Mentoring is implemented in several educational contexts as a tool for equitable intervention. The presentation focuses on university students who as mentors, participate in a mentor program situated in Hungary, that provides mentoring as an equitable service for mostly rural primary school pupils in Hungary in which pupils of low socioeconomic status (SES) and the largest Hungarian minority, the Roma minority is also overrepresented (Andl et al., 2020) leading people in the area to have intersectional difficulties (Varga, 2017). Mentoring began in the Autumn 2019 with the inclusion of Hungarian universities. All university students are free to join the mentor-training course and after its completion, they can become mentors of pupils aged c. 12-15 (Godó, 2021, Horváth, 2022). Pupils in the program are mostly at-risk youth as they face obstacles due to their SES, and racial prejudices, thus they are in an intersectional position (Varga, 2017). Mentoring aims at the manifestation of career guidance that pupils of low SES generally lack (Bereményi, 2020). Mentoring can be understood as prevention as it is to prevent early-school leaving (Bocsi, Varga & Fehérvári, 2023; Fehérvári & Varga, 2023). The presentation focuses on mentors, who also benefit from joining mentoring programs (Beltman, Herker & Fischer, 2019). Based on the literature, mentors’ success and development are based on various factors, for instance professional background (Berei, 2020), personality (Lakind, Eddy & Zell, 2014), experience in mentoring (Beltman, Herker & Fischer, 2019; Jones & Blankenship, 2020) and psycho-sociological background (Nagy, 2014). In this presentation the latest is given special attention: as primary school pupils’ primary socialization differs from the institutional secondary school socialization sphere; they are thought to undergo bicultural socialization (LaFromboise, Coleman & Gerton, 1993; Nguyen & Benet-Martínez, 2013; Stogianni et al, 2021). Mentors, who are of similar socialization patterns as mentees are expected to be found in the program – even though they are underrepresented at universities (Varga et al., 2021). Thus, inquiring about participating mentors’ SES is essential as it allows us to reveal the benefits of their bicultural selves in the process of mentoring pupils of similar backgrounds. Considering SES as an independent variable, the research aimed to answer the following three research questions. What are mentors’ motivations to join and their expectations about themselves? What do mentors highlight as successes and obstacles in their work? How do mentors evaluate their emotional, social, and professional development? The introduced data collection involved mentors at a Hungarian university (P=180; S=50). The applied questionnaire inquired about mentors’ perceptions and assumptions about mentoring and their success as mentors. Items included in the research have followed the patterns of the process-based model of inclusivity (Varga & Trendl, 2022), respondents have reflected (retrospectively) on their joining to the program (input), their participation (process) and expected outcomes (output). Based on SES data two subsamples have been created: 1) students of similar SES as the pupils (S^LowSES=15) and 2) students of higher SES than the other group (S^HigherSES=35). Data from the research shows tendencies that are to describe the sample and its subcategories. Socio-economic status influenced mentors’ demands towards their work and the evaluation of their results as mentors. Respondents in both sample groups have set out high expectations towards themselves as mentors that they could not achieve as planned in their mentoring outcomes. Participants of low SES have been more determined than their peers and set even higher mentoring goals. Data show that mentors perceived their participation in the program as beneficial, yet summarized hardships. Results of the research send lessons to learn in mentor training, as they reveal the main advantages and challenges of participation in the program.

This study seeks to investigate how school-based mentor teachers navigate institutional boundaries within an initial teacher education partnership initiative. The motivation for this investigation stems from the enduring challenge faced by teacher education programs in effectively leveraging the expertise within schools, particularly that of school-based mentor teachers guiding teacher candidates in their professional practice. Ongoing educational reforms worldwide aim to establish more collaborative and less hierarchical partnerships between universities and schools. In the Norwegian context, the strategy outlined in Teacher Education 2025 emphasizes strengthening partnerships through mutual commitment to program development and research in Initial Teacher Education (ITE). The overarching goal of these partnerships is to cultivate more effective teacher education programs by sharing resources, expertise, facilities, and decisions to achieve mutual objectives.

The study is theoretically anchored in Engeström's (2001) concept of horizontal expertise, specifically exploring how expertise is distributed across activity systems where participants share common goals but operate in different organizational contexts. Horizontal expertise acknowledges equal contributions from professionals to collective activities, fostering collaboration on a "shared meeting ground." Additionally, the study employs Akkerman and Bakker's (2011) concepts of boundary crossing and boundary object, illustrating how collaboration can transpire at the intersection of schools and the university through a shared boundary object.

To facilitate collaboration, school-based mentor teachers, primarily employed in primary schools, were seconded (20%) to collaborate with university-based teacher educators on various activities such as curriculum development, lesson planning, co-teaching, and assessment.The study addresses the following research question: How do mentor teachers experience crossing institutional boundaries as joint faculty in an initial teacher education partnership? The further builds upon existing research examining how teacher practitioners navigate institutional boundaries and how their situated knowledge and expertise can complement the expertise of university faculty.

Consistent and transparent communication is essential in education for parental engagement, partnership, and trust in schools. Modern educational communication is vastly digitalized, which makes it fast, clear, and efficient, but it often lacks context, may be too general, or does not correspond with parental needs, leading to mistrust. Though trust is considered a foundation for parent-school partnerships, it remains underexplored in academic research, often being treated as a peripheral factor rather than a central subject of study.

Parent-school trust is considered as a result of parental engagement and partnership in education, when educational institutions and their representatives are competent and professional, act in the legal framework, and share with parents common educational goals (Bormann et al., 2021). Some researchers underline, that trust is situational and results from consistent, understandable and caring behavior of teachers, school principals and other educators (Hoy & Tschannen-Moran, 1999). Though parent-teacher trust may depend on social and cultural background (Ross et al., 2018), it is affected by the quality of communication and availability of educational information (Neuenschwander, 2020) and also by the communication channels and instruments (Hamm & Mousseau, 2023).

Digital communication can prevent inequality and improve access to the high-quality education (Bosch et al., 2017), increase availability of educational opportunities (Kraft, 2017). Many parents even prefer digital communication to the face-to-face contact (Bordalba & Bochaca, 2019), as it is prompt and efficient, gives opportunities to be heard (Bosch et al., 2017), and participate as real partners in education (Kuusimäki et al., 2019). Digital tools and resources vary depending on the purpose of communication or information-seeking (Hutchison et al., 2020), availability and promotion of certain instruments (González et al., 2022), and familiarity with them (Laho, 2019) and include e-mail and messengers (Bosch et al., 2017), scool formal and informal web-sites and school social media (Bosch et al., 2017), education resources, and special tools and mobile applications (Yavich & Davidovitch, 2021).

But with the opportunities come the drawbacks. To ensure parental trust to schools and education, digital tools and resources must be familiar to parents and user-friendly (González et al., 2022). If the resources or applications are not abligatory to use, and parents face technical problems, they are more likely to qiut using these resources or even cut off regular communication with school (González et al., 2022; Laho, 2019). If parents are obliged to use certain resources, and face technical and other problems, it may have greater negative impact on the parental trust.

Thus studying parental experience with different digital education resources and instruments is vital for understanding how parental trust to schools is build. Our work surveys how the digital resources as a part of parent-school communication, affect parental trust.

The importance of science in acquiring and maintaining social, economic and political power cannot be understated (Weiss, 2005). Moreover, as scientific and technological advancements – particularly in recent decades – have made societies wealthier, healthier and better informed, there has been a corresponding demand from scientists to preserve, justify and promote the immense contribution of scientific to society, whilst also acknowledging the threats science poses. Meeting this demand requires sustained, open, and preferably two-way engagement between the scientific community and the public and a commitment to shared goals. Such public engagement with science takes many forms: formal public lectures and science festivals, communication in old and new media, school visits, science camps, mentoring programs and citizen science projects. The sub-set of science engagement practices that concerns us in this paper are ‘science outreach’ programs in which scientists interact directly with students at schools or scientific research sites, and often emphasising contemporary science research topics and/or applications.

It is estimated that half of practicing scientists participate in some form of science outreach at least a few times a year (Jensen et al., 2008; Woitowich et al., 2022), with a growing number of scientists acknowledging the value and necessity of science outreach activities (see e.g. Besely and Nisbet, 2013). This commitment to science-public engagement has been particularly strong since the early 2000s when science engagement became a major policy and political priority in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Given the growing impetus for science engagement and outreach, considerable efforts have been made to understand the motivations and barriers to scientists’ participation in these kinds of activities and programs. Attending to the macro-level of engagement, Weingart et al. (2021) provide a review of science engagement as it appears in the academic and policy literature. They recognise five main motivations driving engagement in recent decades: (i) Democratisation – empowering active, science-informed citizenship; (ii) Education – improving science knowledge; (iii) Legitimation – promoting public trust in science; (iv) Innovation – seeing the public as a resource for new knowledge; and (v) Inspiration – raising interest in science and science careers. This analysis complements the large body of literature dedicated to detailing the motivations of individual scientists, which has revealed trends in scientists’ intrinsic motivations (e.g. outreach is enjoyable and personally rewarding for participating scientists) and extrinsic motivations (e.g. outreach promises to improve participation in science careers; or grant funding or job promotion require it), as wells and barriers to scientists participating in outreach, such as not having enough time or training (see e.g. Polikoff & Webb, 2007; Besley et al, 2018; Royal Society, 2006; Burchell, 2015).

Combining the macro-level policy perspective with psychological interpretations of scientists’ motivation is helpful in providing a generalised view of what makes scientists participate in science outreach and continue to do so. Yet, how these motivations mesh with scientists’ values and principles, as well as their career and program-specific experiences of outreach, is less well understood. This paper, therefore, examines and presents the links between the motivations and values scientists draw upon in the development and implementation of science outreach, the structural and organisational aspects of outreach programs, and the individuals and groups of people who participate in science outreach. 

The paper seeks to answer the following research questions: 

• What values or principles motivate scientists’ participation in science outreach development and implementation? 
• How is the structure and organisation of science outreach described and interpreted by scientists?   
• What roles and identities (theirs and others’) do scientists assume and co-opt in the development and implementation of science outreach?

We would like to consider this action-research in the post-Covid pandemic, where relations within or out of schools have suffered (Franck & Haesebaert, 2023) and climate change time which both stimulate us to think of where we want to land ! (Latour, 2017). The specific aim of this proposal is to consider the documentary theatre practice partnership experienced through a workshop on the aim of Agro-Ecological Transition (AET). It lasted a week in December 2023 in the National Support Disposal of the French Agricultural Training System (FATS) in charge of experiencing and educators’ formation, thanks to Théo dramatist in the collectif Cortège de tête. Benefitting from last year experience mixing 2 teachers and 5 students, this experiment has been realized with 8 teachers and organised in the Institut Agro (Montpellier, Florac campus). This theatre practice was chosen to experience AET, out of teaching sessions and understand the skills development. On one hand, the sensitive dimension of artistic practices to the service education partnership (Covez 2023, 2017, 2015) has been introduced. On the other hand, the capacity of embodying AET through artistic practices (Covez, 2023) has been shown. But the FATS encounters difficulties to transform the AET priority into reality, as this means professional posture changes. This can be observed when the Otherwise Producing Teaching program n°2 tends into a more efficient plan on transitions. Besides, Institut Agro has recognized the quality of the documentary theatre practice (ecoanxiety and bifurcation decline, empowerment in transformative actions) and aims to realize it at a national level. And the higher education school now uses the Socio-Ecological Transition as a major concern enlarging the approach. These evolutions encourage us to put transition at the centre of concerns, practices and praxis. Finally, Sharon Todd thoughts (2016) helps us moving our aim, so as to question transition in relation with education, formation and transformation as layered. The documentary theatre practice by teachers represents an opportunity to experiment and question these issues. As Michèle (one of last year’s workshop teachers) has received a regional creativity prize for her students’ performance on textile transition, this encourages us to consider it as a potential change in education.

The question is “Does a documentary theatre practice partnership contribute to teachers transition education ?”. Actually, the partnership action-research goes on, disseminating in high schools. It seems documentary theatre partnership is seen as efficient, valuable so as to change the habitus on individual and collective ways. The hypothesis is that it represents a specific tool for educational change in respect to transition, thanks to the presence of a research engineer-trainer and an artist dedicated to artistic matters. The risks are inherent to self-expression and expose before others and the performance is very stressful. Taking into consideration post-Covid work conditions and climate change anxiety, the partnership tended to welcome and respect all personal ideas, difficulties and assumed limits, caring people and present time (Fleury, 2024). The positions have been articulated with care, as debating and creating on transition, is a difficult task, dealing with sensitive positions. The theatre partnership brought comfort and empowerment to participants, that we wish to deepen. We want to understand the impacts of this active pedagogy relaunching the artistic partnership education value. Co-sharing while becoming aware of points of view and experience differences (Mérini, 2012), our sensitive common engagement (Théo and trainer) is still strengthening in the objective of creating a transformation through partnership (Laing & Alii, 2022) and prevent tensions (Capacchi & alii, 2022) within highschools. Participants express living a transformation, meaning education for real, and partnership could help a chosen and assumed transition.

Our presentation focuses on the benefits and challenges of an international multidisciplinary research collaboration (Dusdal & Powell 2021) an Erasmus+ Key Action 2 program entitled “GlobalSense: Developing Global Sensitivity among Student-Teachers (in short, GlobalSense).” Our research group is multi-national, including members from Nantes University (France), Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel), Weingarten University of Education (Germany), Free University of Brussels (Belgium) and Temple University of Philadelphia (USA). It is also multi-disciplinary in its nature, bringing together experts in sociology, civic education, global education, and learning sciences.

The research question that led the study this presentation is based on is : What are the organizational, communicative and conceptual challenges faced by an international and multidisciplinary team when working together on a politically, socially and culturally loaded topic such as global citizenship education?

Background- The objective of GlobalSense is to enable future teachers to develop their understanding of global citizenship and enhance their pedagogical practices resulting from cross-national online interactions among future educators. The theoretical premise underlying this work was that (a) preparing teachers to promote global citizenship requires them to engage with socially and politically loaded subjects in a global context; (b). Since each nation has a unique history and context the encounter with student-teachers from different countries has a learning potential; and (c) Teachers’ training cannot be limited to the transmission of academic knowledge alone but should include the development of a pedagogical awareness of and sensitivity (Hansen, 2010).

Theoretical background - As early as in the 1980s scholars attempted to point to the motivations and costs of collaboration in research (Fox & Faver 1984). The collaboration in the case of the GlobalSense project is motivated by indirect benefit concerning external goals of a political, economic or cultural nature as well as direct benefits that enable addressing transnational or global problems (Georghiou 1998:620-622) such as Global Citizenship education. The impact of context being political, ethical and economical can affect the research process. First of all, language differences complicate aspects of a collaborative study. Diverse cultural settings present unique challenges in multinational collaboration (Hooper et al. 2005 in Freshwater et al 2006) and more evidently in social research focused on politically loaded issues such as the GlobalSense project. Dusdal & Powell’s (2021) qualitative comprehensive study found that among the benefits of scientific collaboration, interviewees mentioned: Broadening knowledge, conducting comparative research, multidisciplinarity advances thinking and facilitates development of theoretical approaches and methods, etc . The motivations could be career advancement, networking and time to do multidisciplinary work among others. The challenges researchers faced: Organization and structured management of work packages and tasks, team communications and language skills, contrasting cultural and organizational expectations and norms, contrasting styles of communication (exchange of information) and work, diverse theoretical and methodological strengths and weaknesses and so on (Dusdal & Powell 2021). Regarding organizational challenges, though much of the work related to international research collaboration can be accomplished by email, telephone conference and video-conference, the literature emphasises the importance of face-to-face meetings (Hooper et al., 2005 in Freshwater et al 2006). The role of diversity and respect can be accommodating differences in order to facilitate a consensus approach to decision-making (Freshwater et al 2006).

As we know, collaborative European projects are very interesting platforms for the exchange of knowledge and best practices, as well as strong opportunities to understand why other approaches and solutions may benefit different circumstances. But as anyone who has taken part in such projects knows, the very same characteristics that create these exceptionally fertile circumstances, at times also make it particularly difficult to continuously and sustainably deliver high quality products. This is especially the case when partners are new to each other or to the Erasmus protocols, and the different focus points or expectations between partners reach the level where they overshadow the gains of the exchange and significantly slow down the planned process or systematically lower the quality of what is produced. However, it is paramount to safeguard the quality of the final products because, even though professional international exchange and strengthening one’s skills in collaboration are important goals indeed, the goal to deliver strong work, such that it may raise all our practices, always remains at the forefront of our aims.

Here we share our experience with monitoring the quality of an ongoing Teacher Academy project for Erasmus+. We describe the start of the project, our development of the quality monitoring system fitting the circumstances and educational and collaborative principles, and our continuous safeguarding of quality. We reflect on the process and the outcomes (e.g. the quality reports).

To contextualize our approach, we want to bring your attention to the fact that when an Erasmus+ partnership is forged between various educational institutions in different countries, the proposal that is to bind their efforts has a central issue that serves to focus the proposal as well as the partnership. It is true that it serves, as quoted in the call for proposals for this conference, as a ‘glue’ for the various partners. However, such a partnership between educational institutions, always has another issue to deal with, regardless of the ideas in the proposal, and that is the inevitable difference between their educational practices, and possibly philosophies, and how these shape their goals and expectations for collaboration and co-creation. This is relevant insofar as the educational principles any institution practices in educating its students match the ones they use in their own learning and development, and when cooperating with other learners for said development. In short, if the various partners practice what they preach, and they preach different things, the cooperation inevitably faces an extra challenge, and a profound one to boot. Our team set out to turn this into an opportunity. We as educators in a teacher training program that is explicitly veered towards establishing lifelong learning skills in our teacher-trainees, advocate a strong alignment between our own educational practices and our approach to collaborative efforts to learn and build together within an Erasmus+ partnership, in line with the latter framework’s aims for the collaborations it wishes to foster (cf. key action 2 and 3 of the Erasmus+ program.

Faced with the fascinating opportunities this type of partnership entailed, we took some time to look more closely at the situation and performed desk research to acquaint ourselves with the general approach to Quality Assurance. We then decided to introduce an alternative approach based on our own educational philosophies and practices to help sustain motivation and keep management from overextending. We developed our method and introduced it at the first physical meeting, where we walked our partners through the designed method, asked for their consent, and then started up the process the same day to ensure ad hoc support.

Recent scholarship has examined the difficulties research-practice partnerships (RPPs) grapple with, such as their implication in sexist and racist projects (Tanksley & Estrada, 2022) and their potential to suppress onto-epistemological difference (Gamez-Djokic, 2024), pointing to an uncertain present and future for RPPs despite deep attachments to ideas of improvement, inclusion, and empowerment. In this paper, I extend this scholarship to think about the “partnership” in RPP as an assemblage of complex affective attachments, in excess of coordinated practices and interactions across organizational boundaries (Penuel et al., 2015.). I draw on Lauren Berlant’s notion of cruel optimism as a “relation of attachment to compromised conditions of possibility” (Berlant, 2011, p.24) that exists “when something you desire is actually an obstacle to your flourishing” (p.1). I use this framework to understand how actors might approach partnerships as a mode of “endurance” in an object of desire.

This paper asks: (1) what attachments do RPP actors bring to their work?, (2) how are these attachments mediated by RPP norms and practices, and (3) how do these attachments impact the work. Through an examination of three cases, I identify how the partnership was mobilized by attachments to ideas of improvement, (em)power(ment), and civic/civil inclusion, which ultimately served as obstacles to the actors’ and partnership’s “flourishing”.

In the first case, I examine how teacher participants’ metaphorical usage of workforce language, such as “employer” and “boss”, and “employee” and “worker” to describe their and their students’ roles in the partnership exemplify an attachment to an experience of power rooted in capitalistic notions of ownership and control. Although the partnership is organized around creating opportunities of civic inclusion and empowerment, the teachers approached this design as an approximation to a particular kind of dominative power that promised status and feelings of professionalism and (em)power(ment) they felt they lacked. This eroded the possibility of civic and civil inclusion for racial, economic, and gender minorities.

In the second case, I examine Dr. Angello’s[1] critiques of and rationalization of he and his students’ exploitative interactions with partnerships. Dr. Angello openly critiqued the tendency of partnerships like the RPP to exploit, or “pimp”, Black teachers and students as markers of their benevolence and as a successful funding tactic, though he rationalized this as a necessary exchange in order for his students to gain access to various forms of capital. Dr. Angello’s critical consciousness of fraught partnership politics at once attenuates wholesale participation in the “scene of fantasy” of empowerment and civic/civil inclusion at the same time that it “endures” in a form of civic participation that ultimately reifies he and his students’ civil abjection (Wilderson, 2010; Mills, 2014).

In the last case, I examine momentary breaks in the neoliberal “impasse” (Berlant, 2011) invoked by students’ remarks about the “ghostliness” and purpose of turning a former charter school, now-abandoned building, into a mixed-income housing community, and by their calls to “fuck shit up” during Black Lives Matter protests. I argue that these remarks demand an attention to lingering in the ruins of indeterminate urban and education reforms. Ruins and ruination (Navaro-Yashin, 2009) are antithetical to improvement and compel a disarticulation with contemporary modes and genres of living and interaction. In this particular instance, I argue that calls to “let it [the building] be” and “fuck shit up” reject attachments to normative modes of empowerment and civic/civil inclusion and pose a threat to the affective investments in improvement that are both the form and content of the partnership (in this case, a partnership between a university, a high school class, and a non-profit organization focused on affordable housing).

[1] All names are pseudonyms.

A teacher shortage is being experienced globally (Australian Government, 2022; European Commission, 2023; UNESCO, 2023) with resulting challenges for recruitment and retention of teachers. The ability of traditional models of initial teacher education (ITE) to produce classroom ready teachers who remain in the profession is being challenged (Green et al., 2019), with internships or extended placements seen as a way of continuing to forefront experiential learning and increase the quality of graduates (Ledger & Vidovich, 2018). This movement is resulting in a wide range of initiatives that not only continue to prioritise school-university partnerships but do so through the establishment of new forms of sustained, school embedded experiences. These initiatives build on a traditional perspective of teacher internship (Ledger & Vidovich, 2018) but use a range of terminology such as teaching schools in the United Kingdom (Chapman, 2013; Conroy, 2013), teacher training schools in Finland and South Africa (Gravett et al, 2014), and employment based pathways and teaching school hub programs in Australia (Alphacrucis University College, 2024; La Trobe University, 2024; University of Melbourne, 2024).

However, even though a focus on school embedded models is of vital importance to the future of teacher workforce supply, it is currently impossible to research effectively at scale making implementation of what is understood by school and university partners inherently problematic. There are two key reasons for this. First, there is a morass of disconnected terminologies used to explain school embedded models across primarily small-scale research. This inhibits broader understanding of these models and results in an inability to elevate or apply findings in different contexts with confidence. Second, there is no clear synthesis available regarding the key factors and conditions (core ingredients) within school embedded models that directly contribute to enhancing the readiness of initial teacher education students. Identifying these core ingredients and framing them within a shared definition can help to provide a common foundation for partners in new and existing initiatives, which in turn can lead to greater cohesiveness of understanding across future research.

This paper will share insights into these two areas, drawing on critical engagement with international literature explored as part of a rapid review (Cirkony et al, 2022, Garritty et al, 2021; Wollscheid & Tripney, 2021). The review forms the preliminary stage of research into the government funded National Embedded Cross Sector Teacher Education Program pilot (NECSTEP) in Australia, a joint project of Alphacrucis University College and The University of New South Wales (UNSW). The NECSTEP pilot brings together over 70 schools and 200 initial teacher education students, with the author the NECSTEP Research Director. The paper will highlight challenges and implications for school-university partnerships through layering a proposed definition and core ingredients emerging in the literature with an examination of school-based teacher education models across history from the French ‘ecoles normales’, to the spread of the ‘normal schools’, ‘model schools’, apprenticeship traditions and teaching schools (Aspland, 2006, Cornu, 2015; Loukomies et al, 2018; McNamara et al, 2014). In addition, it will critically engage with the recognition given in the literature regarding key epistemological and theoretical approaches for how they inform understanding of the conditions in ‘situated’ spaces that support initial teacher education readiness. This includes the role played by communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991), Dewey’s experiential learning theory, the evolving concept of a third space (Beck, 2020; Daza et al., 2021; Zeichner, 2010), traditions of work-integrated or work-based learning (Dean, 2023; McNamara et al, 2014), and approaches borrowed from other industries such as the clinical model for teacher education (Darling-Hammond, 2009, McLean Davies et al, 2015).

Global and societal change requires the development of basic skills in order to be able to (re-)act proactively, sustainably and in a solution-oriented manner (Fernbach, 2020). In this context, social entrepreneurship is becoming increasingly important. It means recognizing social problems and solving these by using entrepreneurial approaches (Gerholz & Slepcevic-Zach, 2015). (Social) entrepreneurial spirit and personal skills such as initiative, self-confidence, constructive handling of failures, social responsibility and Empathy - which are important for both, a vibrant civil society and a functioning market economy (Lindner, 2016), should not only be addressed at Higher Education Institutions. According to a resolution of the EU Parliament, fostering the development of these skills already at a young age is crucial (EU Parlament, 2015). Therefore implementing corresponding learning environments in classwork is important, which calls for enabling and encouraging practicing teachers in school service as well as teacher trainees to act as multipliers for sustainable, (social) entrepreneurial acting.

This was the starting point of the project ‚Teachers as Changemakers‘, which is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry. As a part of this project we shaped – inspired by the changemaker program in Vienna and Graz (Schlömmer & Dömötör, 2022; Kamsker et al., 2023) – a learning environment for students in university-based primary and vocational teacher training (business education), which is carried out over the course of one term and encompasses partnerships with primary and (upper) secondary schools in the region of Bamberg, Germany. The teacher trainees are trained and support students in schools in finding and pursuing social entrepreneurship projects. The latter complete – accompanied by tandems of teacher trainees – the entire process of a social entrepreneurial challenge: from becoming aware of societal issues and sustainable development goals via coming up with ideas, using the social business model canvas, implementing the idea as well as marketing and pricing activities right through to offering the resulting products and service ideas on a market day and reflecting on the process subsequently. The cooperations with local schools are beneficial for all involved: For the teacher trainees they offer the chance to try out didactic-methological approaches of teaching social entrepreneurship as well as the relationization of theory and practice (Caruso et al., 2022). The schools and practicing teachers in school service get to know the mentionned approaches in a low-threshold way through simply accompanying the lessons conducted by the teacher trainees. And the students in school learn in an action-oriented way plus might develop self-efficacy and competences for taking innovative action and for collective problem-solving (Alden-Rivers et al., 2015; Kalemaki et al., 2019).

The first realization during summer term 2023 has been evaluated formatively and summatively. This contribution aims to i) point out organizational conditions for successful practical phases and to investigate ii) whether the teacher trainees perceive Social Entrepreneurship Education (SEE) differently after the course and which situations made them think about SEE.

Our study is situated within the context of the "eBelong Sense of Belonging in the Context of New Higher Education Alliances" Erasmus+ project. Our primary objective is to explore the transformative potential of Erasmus+ partnerships in fostering a strong sense of academic belonging. While the overarching goal of the project is to assess and enhance the operational culture of higher education alliances, such as CIVIS, with a focus on promoting inclusive culture development, our research capitalizes on this setting to investigate how strategic collaborations transcend traditional educational boundaries, creating unique and collaborative environments. The research helps us understand the evolving dynamics of higher education in the age of globalization, where educational policies and competencies are continually reshaped within national frameworks (Apple, 2001; 2011).

As articulated in the Erasmus+ Program Guide (2024), Cooperation Partnerships aim to empower organizations to enhance the quality and relevance of their activities, strengthen their networks of partners, bolster their capacity to operate at a transnational level, and promote internationalization through the exchange and development of new practices and ideas. Given the multifaceted nature of these objectives, which are taken into account during project planning and implementation, it becomes evident that traditional binaries between different levels and roles are breaking down. The distinctions between local and transnational levels, individual and institutional roles, and norms and rules become intricate challenges in collaborative efforts, particularly when combined with the overarching aim of fostering a sense of belonging among academics (Veles et al, 2019; Veles & Carter, 2016; Smith et al, 2021) .

Our research is guided by the concept of third spaces, as introduced by scholars like Bhabha (1994) and further developed in educational contexts by Soja (1996) and Gutiérrez (2008). This perspective acknowledges that our ideas and knowledge are shaped by the various cultures we encounter, placing us in a perpetual state of cultural hybridity. Bhabha's notion of the third space disrupts traditional binary distinctions, offering an alternative framework for understanding and expressing our identities. We apply this concept to analyze the tensions within Erasmus+ partnerships, both at the individual and institutional levels, as Zeichner (2010) has done in the context of professional practice.

By adopting the concept of the third space as a metaphor, we highlight how the merging point of local/transnational levels and individual/institutional roles creates a dynamic environment where new rules, norms, identities, and practices can emerge. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of third spaces, our research explores how the interplay between diverse educational practices and cultures contributes to the development of a shared sense of identity and community among academics involved in Erasmus partnerships.

Our research questions are: How are Erasmus+ partnerships perceived by participants in terms of cultural and educational integration? In what ways do these collaborations blend local and transnational levels, roles, and norms? How does the concept of belonging evolve within these partnerships? To what extent do Erasmus+ partnerships foster shared identities among academics? Through these questions, we aim to highlight the innovative potential of Erasmus+ partnerships in nurturing a sense of belonging and shaping a new international academic identity in an increasingly interconnected educational world.

The present proposal is a critical reflection on the impact of a partnership, forged in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, on individual practitioners, the partner institutions and the university communities, beyond the project lifetime.

The project eBelong. Sense of belonging in online learning environments (2020-1-RO01-KA226-HE-095475) is an Erasmus+ funded project during a special call in 2020 determined by particular conditions of the pandemic, which proposed building and supporting activities where partners could exchange ideas and build capacities in the field of HE at a time of great challenges. The “forced digitalization” of HE came with many provocations, the key being to ensure continuity of the teaching and learning process under the unexpected conditions imposed by social interaction restrictions.

The University of Bucharest took up the challenge and was coordinating a partnership of 7 European universities from CIVIS A European Civic University (AMU, NKUA, UB, AUM, UniRoma 1, SU and EKTU) which joined forces in this project aiming at a central dilemma that needed to be addressed at that time, namely ensuring social-emotional conditions of learning in HE, as successful learning was not just about the quality of knowledge and skills to be trained, but was very much related to quality of social interactions among key stakeholders in the process, as well as to the emotional engagement of academics and students with teaching and learning experiences.

The eBelong project aimed at:

- IDENTIFYING the best practices that could enhance teaching and learning when using digital tools and create conditions for social and emotional engagement of students in online learning.

- PROVIDING a framework for transforming and adapting learning support services, with a special focus on vulnerable groups.

- CREATING the tools to develop student’s sense of belonging in the context of virtual learning communities.

The target groups were the academics from partner universities, teaching online courses, with a focus on those with reduced digital literacy and limited capacity to transfer all teaching in online environment in an effective way, and the students studying at the partner universities and learning online, who need to develop a sense of belonging, with a focus on those from vulnerable groups.

Challenges were turned into opportunities as collaborative groups of academics from the seven partner universities collected and analysed data to co-create knowledge, support mechanisms and services to be offered across all universities. Activities in the project included:

• Analytical selection of the vulnerabilities in the education system, with a specific attention for the emotional and social impact of the pandemic and the identification of new categories of vulnerable people,
• Mapping of existing digital media used by partner universities for teaching and learning and evaluate their effect on sense of belonging,
• Design thinking as a method to add knowledge about possibilities to enhance the sense of belonging among different categories of students in order to assist course design, support services and creation of digital tools.

The project proposed CoP (communities of practice) as an endless support resource, capable to respond to a diversity of needs, irrespective of the context, and at the same time it raised awareness on the efficiency of CoP in fostering social and emotional engagement with impact on learning productivity.

Our proposal emerges from critical reflection on the challenges and opportunities associated with the Erasmus+ TAP-TS project, and from ongoing work by a number of the co-authors into the need for research that tackles the challenges, opportunities, and potential issues raised by the Erasmus+ Teacher Academy initiative – including significant policy implications for future European teacher education (Galvin et al 2024; Sorensen and Graf, forthcoming).

The Erasmus+ Teacher Academy Project on Teaching Sustainability (TAP-TS) is one of 11 inaugural Erasmus+ Teacher Academies. TAP-TS aims to strengthen capacity for sustainability education among European primary and secondary teachers and teacher educators by facilitating participation in international teacher development courses based on project Learning & Teaching Packages (LTPs). These LTPs are sets of novel OERs which build towards critical and reflective learner-engagements that foster values, agency, and informed sustainable life-choices.

At the core of TAP-TS is the idea of enhancing teacher agency through critical & agentic reflection (c.f. Leijen et al 2020; Papenfuss et al 2019; Lunt 2020). In terms of underpinning principles, all TAP-TS partnership engagements (co-production, piloting and use of LTPs) rest on a vision of professional learning based in a model that is ‘deeply reflective’ (Cavadas et al 2023; Goodwin et al 2023) and ‘values-led’ (Purdy et al 2023). Mutual trust (Hora and Millar 2023) is central to this.

The TAP-TS consortium is diverse in nature and capacity. The partnership connects members from different stages within the European teacher education system (primary and secondary), a ministry agency specialising in supporting teacher continuing development, a leading media house in online education, two secondary schools (which are full and active partners), a civil society organisation specialising in eco-social education, and a quality and monitoring centre with expertise in both education and business spheres. We come from ten European countries, covering almost the full geographically span of the EU.

Assembling, aligning and maintaining this partnership has been an extraordinarily experience.

Within the limits of the presentation, we address:

• The nature and scope of the TAP-TS partnership, its defining characteristics and the thinking behind the selection and recruitment of members. This includes the various continuities resulting from bringing in people who had previously worked together and dealing with the challenges of overlap and ‘gaps’ in our collective;
• Deepening partnership unity and trust – including the formal role here of the TAP-TS Project Advisory Group (PAG) and our Futures Group (FG), as well as the less formal role played by an open & inclusive project ethic and always incorporating elements of sociability and relationship-building into our events and activities;
• The modalities of TAP-TS engagement – including the very considerable efforts involved in making sure that we made good use of the in-partnership expertise in designing, developing, and testing project LTPs to ensure they provided quality OER experiences. Thus, we outline both the TAP-TS Roadmap – which provided the design architecture that informed and guided the LTP and event-specification work – and the TAP-TS MaRIA framework which we are currently developing to guide critically reflective, Follow-Up activity when using TAP-TS LTPs.

The theoretical framework we use to explore the core conditions and detail of our partnership practices is described in some detail below. This is rooted in understandings of social learning which recognise the complexity and particularities of our distinct organisational contexts (Wenger-Trayner et. al., 2023) and the characteristics of strong partnerships as socio-cultural exercises involving learning through boundary-crossing between social worlds (Greenhow et al 2023).The wider issue of Teacher Academy purposing as an exercise in neo-liberal public management practice is addressed through concepts in critical theory drawn from Lynch (2021) and Habermas (2021).

The TUTOR (Teacher’s Upskilling aiming aT a hOlistic inclusivity in leaRning) Project is a three year Erasmus+ research project that draws on the partnership of expert groups and institutions across Ireland, Austria, Greece, Turkey, and EU. The objective is to create partnerships of teacher education and training providers to establish Teacher Academies to support teachers to develop their capabilities in understanding and developing more inclusive learning environments. Inclusive education has traditionally been thought of as being an approach to serving students with disabilities in education (Suleymanov, 2015). TUTOR draws on critical approaches to inclusive education, noting the shift to focus on how socio-cultural systems need to become more inclusive, and in educational contexts supporting full participation in mainstream settings with the support of appropriate adaptations and accommodations (Zigmond, Kloo and Volonino, 2009). ‘Inclusion is an attitude and approach that embraces diversity and differences and promotes equal opportunities for all’ (Inclusion BC, 2019). Drawing on international policy, the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) described inclusion as a process of addressing and responding to the diversity of needs of learners. EU policy acknowledges the need for teachers voices to be included in policy responses to the current classroom diversity (European Commission, 2015). This acknowledges how broader socio-economic and political contexts impact on classrooms such as the precarious global economic, environmental and political context, increased migration, and complex intercultural contexts. TUTOR draws on critical education and transformation education theories by combining the knowledge of different advocacy groups and NGO’s working in partnership with universities to develop and deliver a continuous professional development (CPD) programme of learning for current educators in second level and Further Education and Training (FET) which is situated in current knowledge, context, and practice allowing for transformational educational experiences.

Evaluating Erasmus Mundus Masters Learning in Preparing 21st Century Museum and Heritage Educators for Multicultural, Multidisciplinary, Multifaceted Practice.

Dr. Maggie McColl – Senior Lecturer Museum and Heritage Education and Programme Director International Master of Education in Museums and Heritage, University of Glasgow
Dr Elo-Hanna Seljamaa – Associate Professor of Estonian and Comparative Folklore at the University of Tartu, Institute of Cultural Research and Programme Director for Folkloristics and Applied Heritage Studies
Dr. Karl Borromaus Murr – Director of the State Textile and Industry Museum, Augsburg, President of the European Museum Academy and Visiting Lecturer Augsburg and Munich University
Dr. Henrik Zipsane – Managing Director of The European Museum Academy and Adjunct Professor at the University of Science and Technology in Meghalaya, India and guest professor at Linköping University
Julie Robinson – Lecturer in Museum Education and Pedagogy and Practice at The University of Glasgow

In this paper, the authors discuss their shared consortia objectives in designing and developing a structure and syllabus to support masters-level learning shaped by the European Commission’s Erasmus+ goal of ‘fostering excellence and worldwide internationalisation of higher education institutions’ (European Commission, online). The authors share the experiences of partners from The Universities of Glasgow, Tartu, County Cork, Malta, Radboud, Iberoamericana Mexico City and the European Museum Academy as they recall the process involved in creating a multidisciplinary degree to equip the next generation of museum and heritage professionals with the necessary skills to navigate a fast-evolving, economically and politically-challenged sector. The first part of this paper addresses the building of the consortium over several years to include a diverse range of international institutions and organisations already expert and active in the teaching of museum and heritage syllabi. The authors discuss the identification and mapping of museum and heritage education content across the five credit awarding partners (UofG, UT, UCC, UM & RU) and the embedding of practice based experience (EMA & UI) to support current and emerging museum and heritage themes evident on a global landscape. The authors place a spotlight on the collaborative process that enabled them to establish effective partnerships, while reflecting on the challenges and risks involved in these initial stages and how they were dealt with.

The second part of this paper is situated against the backdrop of Education in Museums and Heritage (EDUMaH) and its evolution from idea to successful 2022 European Commission application, garnering 5.4 million euros for 90+ students scholarships. With the first cohort of 23 students commencing their studies in September 2023, the authors outline the broad cultural profile of the first scholarship recipients and share the group’s initial intended hopes when applying to study EDUMaH. This baseline starting point will be explored alongside the same students’ reflective sense of where they have developed to at the end of their first year of study and their hopes for future development going forward. In particular, the authors will delve into the students’ perceived relevance of their accumulative knowledge and skill sets as a result of participation in EDUMaH in readying them for the future workplace. A key focus in the analysis of student perceptions will be the impact of partnership working on the part of the consortium to create a successful student experience.

The authors will share their evaluation of the students’ reflections in terms of their development as compared with the original learning objectives set out by the consortium at the design stage of the programme. These considerations will be used to imagine a way forward for this project and for similar partnerships in higher education.

Violence against children transcends boundaries of age, race, gender, sexual orientation, educational background, and socioeconomic status, remaining widespread despite global efforts for recognition, elimination, and prevention (WHO, 2019). Consent and prevention education, as emphasised in the Australian Human Rights Commission's 2017-2018 report, should be introduced early to counteract a culture of (sexual) assault through violence, targeted incapacitation, or coercion.

School-related gender-based violence (SRGBV), well-documented globally, necessitates early preventive measures, highlighting the importance of educators developing competencies to recognize and intervene in SRGBV situations (UNESCO and UN Women, 2016; UNESCO and UNGEI, 2023). The Gender Equality Strategy for 2020-2025 underscores gender-based violence as a significant challenge rooted in gender inequality, emphasizing prevention through early education and collaboration with men and boys in various fields (UN Women).

The concept of 'consent' is defined as respecting one another’s boundaries to be and feel safe, develop healthy relationships, and preserve dignity, requiring respect, communication, freedom, and equality (Casby & Lyons, 2019). Educating children about consent from a young age is crucial for fostering better relationships and instilling an understanding that individuals have the right to decide what happens to their bodies (Quealy-Gainer, 2020). Consent education extends to online interactions and relationships, addressing cyberbullying, a pervasive issue affecting a growing number of young adults (Trucco, et al., 2020; Subaramaniam et al., 2022). Moreover, several studies highlight the importance of educating children about consent as a preventive measure against abuse (Rizos, 2022).
According to the Council of Europe Charter on Education for Democratic Citizenship and Human Rights Education (2010) and the Plan of Action for the Fourth Phase of the World Programme on Human Rights Education (2022), Human Rights Education (HRE) is a lifelong process promoting knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours for a universal culture of human rights.

Universities play a vital role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals through knowledge generation, sharing and cooperation with other sectors (SDG 17) (Seth, 2023). Nevertheless, to address the global challenge of climate change, considerably larger partnerships with a variety of stakeholders outside of higher education are necessary (Ho et al., 2023). School-university partnerships are perceived to be able to close the gap between theory and practice (Green et al., 2020; Passy et al., 2018). Research shows many positive outcomes of schools' active engagement in research such as practice transformation and social change (Goodnough, 2011). Partnerships between universities and museums can offer opportunities for children from a wide range of backgrounds to cross boundaries and experience other times, places and cultures (Wright, 2020).

We recently completed our 3-year Erasmus+ project ‘UPPScale - University Practice Partnerships: sustaining collaboration across learning environment’, where we investigated partnerships between HEIs and schools, early years settings and community groups. This led to the development of a set of Principles of Collaboration Across Boundaries to encourage effective partnership, in line with SDG 17.16 (UN General Assembly, 2015). As part of the project, we completed six Transnational Partnership Projects (TPPs) – one of them about ‘Place-based learning in the school surroundings’ with partners from Belgium, Czech Republic and England. Within this TPP, two groups of children in Belgium and the Czech Republic conducted their own place-based learning projects. Following the TPP, the English partners invited families and children to explore a local museum through the child-led approach.

Supported by SDG 4.7 (UN General Assembly, 2015), children have the right for suitable and supportive education. Their voices and stands should be respected and hope for the future provided. In our research project, we advocate for children to be seen as capable members of society and explore ways to enable their right to be heard and their ‘views ... given due weight’ (UN General Assembly, 1989, p. 5). Investing in children and innovative learning approaches can prepare them to be future citizens that actively engaged in a sustainable society. Every child should have the chance to participate in real-world projects that span national and international borders and involve a variety of stakeholders (Ho et al., 2023 ).

Place-based learning gives children a sense of their own agency and collective capacity (Smith, 2007), even at young age (Boyd, 2019). It helps to develop a stronger connection to the community, enhances appreciation for the natural world, and increases the commitment to be an active, contributing citizen (Sobel, 2004). With the place-based learning approach, learners are more autonomous. That means they get involved in their own learning agenda as they choose an area of their interest, the way to approach it, and they construct personally meaningful artifacts that are representations of their learning (Grant, 2002). The approach can also be used across the curriculum (Beames et al., 2012) and outside of institutional learning structures. Museums and galleries are ‘valuable places for learning with rich contexts and experiences for making sense of the world’ (Wright, 2020, p. 743).

Our original TPP explored how place-based learning projects can be conducted with children in the Early Years and Primary school. Following the TPP, we explored how the place-based learning approach could be used by families and stakeholders in the wider community in a local museum. We also aimed to illustrate ways place-based learning projects can be scaffolded to empower teachers and museum educators to adapt this approach into their practice and engage in cross-sectoral partnerships.

Introduction

UNESCO has been promoting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) since 1992. The Sustainable Development Goals represent a guide for society toward being more accessible for social development, human dignity, and demanding justice at all stages (Emas 2015). The role of education is crucial for altering behaviors and promoting analytical thinking toward a more sustainable society (Kopnina, 2015; Frantz and Mayer, 2014). Throughout their education, students develop the abilities in a multidisciplinary manner to understand the paths to sustainability that have financial, environmental, and social components.

During the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), American students and students from the Netherlands were given a safe environment to explore real issues in various contexts. According to the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA, 2014), a safe environment is a crucial tool in the development of appropriate professional behavior.

For four years, we have been working on our COIL between The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS) and Penn State University Scranton Campus (Penn- State). The courses were matched based on the similarity of course content. The Penn State Scranton students were enrolled in a Child Maltreatment Course. The students from THUAS were pursuing the Minor in Global Perspectives on Child Rearing and Family Support. During the development, evaluation and adjusting of this module we have been aware that one of the elements of education’s sustainable development is the use of innovative teaching methods (Kopnina 2015) and interactive education (Ghilardi-Lopes et al. 2013). The use of interactive education encourages students to apply what they have learned and to have a deeper understanding of how individual actions have implications.

Through the instruction we gave our students during this COIL, we ensured that students understood how sustainable living, gender equality and human rights are connected. The aim of this collaboration was a deeper understanding of global citizenship, respect for cultural diversity, and culture's role in advancing sustainability (United Nations, 2015). We were aware of the fact that behavior change is one of the traits of Education for Sustainable Development. This collaboration prepared our students to be more conscious, responsible citizens who can incorporate what they have learned into their future actions as a professional.

The students researched a non-governmental organization (NGO) in the US and in the Netherlands with an active role in advocacy of Children’s Rights. This was done via a review of current support/programs in their respective NGO’s in the US and the Netherlands. The students had to compare the two NGO’s based on how the image of a child in a country influences the work of the NGO’s with respect to SDG’s. Additionally, the students had to make clear correlations between the images on Child-Rearing, the rights of the child and to link them to sustainable development goals (SDG’s).

Networks hold a meeting during ECER. All interested are welcome.

Globally, in the past two decades, societies have grappled with intricate societal challenges, such as the threats to public health and the repercussions of climate change, prompting an urgent need for citizens to actively pursue sustainability (UNESCO, 2020). Recent findings from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] (2021) underscore that, in navigating a post-truth era, individuals require not only cognitive skills but also transversal skills and attitudes acquired through lifelong learning to thrive. Addressing these pressing issues necessitates the cultivation of scientifically literate citizens capable of participating in public discourse, employing evidence-based reasoning, and making informed decisions to enhance the overall quality of life. Scientific thinking is identified as a means to develop these skills within the context of science education (Hazelkorn et al., 2015).

However, a persistent global concern revolves around the declined interest in science among students, with repercussions extending to the percentage of graduates in STEM education (26%), notably in Europe (OECD, 2019). Prior research (Drymiotou et al., 2021a) suggests that fostering students' interest in science and encouraging the pursuit of STEM careers can be achieved through active engagement in scientific practices with experts, establishing connections between STEM careers and curriculum topics, and contextualizing science concepts in real-life, personally relevant scenarios. Consequently, educational institutions play a pivotal role in providing such opportunities to students, nurturing them into responsible citizens.

To explore avenues for enhancing students’ interest in science, the present study focuses on investigating the potential of Open Schooling as part of the MULTIPLIERS project (https://multipliers-project.org/). Open Schooling, as conceptualized in this project, involves schools opening up to society through bidirectional collaboration with various stakeholders. This collaboration aims to (a) improve community well-being by raising awareness and co-creating solutions to both personal and socially relevant problems; (b) engage in inquiry processes, knowledge construction, creative action, and dissemination at local and global levels; and (c) enrich school curricula and pedagogical approaches while promoting meaningful learning and competence development (Constantinou & Papadouris, 2012). This conceptualization is based on a systematic review of good practices, including EU Open Schooling Calls, EU-funded projects, initiatives in partner countries, and relevant articles, coupled with a needs analysis conducted through focus group interviews with 45 stakeholders.

Guided by this theoretically and empirically rooted conceptualization, the study developed a framework for an Open Schooling Teaching-Learning Sequence (TLS) (Papadouris & Constantinou, 2016, 2017). Consequently, the study aims to investigate the potential of open-schooling educational actions in enhancing students’ interest in science and their understanding of science careers. The research question guiding this investigation is:

Do open schooling educational actions influence:

(a) students' interest in science?

(b) students' career awareness?

Partnerships in education are essential in order to achieve certain educational goals, especially, when it comes to linking the two aspects of education and practice. The UN Sustainable Development Goals 2030 (UN, 2015) emphasise the central importance of partnerships in achieving the global sustainability goals. After all, the current challenges globally, regionally and locally require the joint efforts of all. It is important that partnerships take place on an equal level, as this gives everyone involved the opportunity to learn from each other.

UNESCO biosphere reserves are one setting in which these partnerships between education and practice are realised and further developed. As model and future regions for sustainable development, UNESCO biosphere reserves also strive to work in partnerships to make the region more sustainable.

Education plays an important role as the context of a more complex and globalised world places new demands on educational theory and practice. An understanding of education that goes beyond the mere transfer of knowledge should therefore be established. An essential task of education is to enable people to develop an awareness of global, regional and local interrelations. Critical reflection on these interrelations plays a central role as well. In this context, it is essential to interpret economic, social, political and cultural processes as developments that can be shaped in order to enable individuals to recognise the opportunities for social participation, co-creation and co-responsibility in society (Wintersteiner et al., 2014). This paper focuses on a biosphere reserve that not only imparts knowledge, but also fulfils an educational and research mission (Zollner et al., 2015). The Carinthian part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Salzburger Lungau & Carinthian Nockberge launched the research co-operation SCiENCE_LINK^nockberge in 2013. As part of this co-operation, the Nockberge Biosphere Reserve puts its research and educational mission into practice by working together with the University of Klagenfurt and the Carinthian University of Applied Sciences. The private Institute of Ecology (E.C.O.) co-ordinates the partnership SCiENCE_LINK^Nockberge. As part of the research cooperation, students from the two educational institutions mentioned are given the opportunity to carry out applied research in the context of a scientific thesis on Bachelor- Master- and Doctoral levels. In this way, science is realised cooperatively in a region of experimentation, learning and research. Through these learning processes, the students involved investigate issues in the biosphere reserve region in diverse areas like nature conservation, tourism, education, law, technical innovations, regional and economical development. The participating universities can offer students current and applied topics for qualification theses. In the international landscape, SCiENCE_LINK^nockberge is one of the very few structured and contractually organised partnerships between a biosphere reserve and universities in the sense of co-operative research work and partnership-based knowledge transfer (Falkner & Rauch, 2020).

Abstract

This research explores the co-design, co-development and implementation of a Regenerative Agriculture Mentoring Program (RAMP) that was co-produced in consultation with the agricultural industry and delivered to farmers. The program was highly successful in applying robust educational theory and practice into the agricultural industry in Australia to enhance farmers’ knowledge about approaches to agriculture that encourage greater resilience of the land given the current pressures of climate change. In addition, the program was then used to create a professional learning program for teachers to upskills in regenerative agriculture principles and practices to improve their teaching and learning in the classroom.

Research question

How can industry-based projects be used in educational contexts to enhance teacher knowledge and practice?

Objectives or purposes

• To co-develop, co-develop and implement an educational training program for farmers to transition to more sustainable agricultural practices.
• To transfer the knowledge and skills content of the industry-based program into educational contexts for teacher professional learning.

Perspective(s) or theoretical framework

There is a rapidly growing body of research that is demonstrating an urgent and "fundamental transformation in agriculture is needed" (Gosnell, Gill & Voyer, 2019, p. 2); primarily because the industry contributes an estimated 15 - 30% of greenhouse gases (GHG) (IPCC, 2019; OECD, 2016). It is projected that this could become 50% by mid-century without a targeted effort towards reducing the impact of agricultural practices. Key recommendations from extensive research, point to regenerative agriculture to address these issues for the future resilience of the planet (Gosnell, Gill & Voyer, 2019; Lal, 2020; Massy, 2020; Toensmeier, 2016). Regenerative agriculture is earmarked to effectively adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. It adopts a systems framework to farming that extends beyond "minimising and reducing negative impacts" (Massey, 2020, p.10) to focus on "restoring, improving and enhancing the biological vitality, carry capacity and ecosystem services" (Electris et al., 2019) of the land, and our regions.

Principally in line with Sustainable Development Goals number 2: Zero Hunger and number 13: Climate Action, this paper accepts that "Australian farmers produce enough food to feed 80 million people, including 93 per cent of food consumed in Australia" (Stimpson et al., 2019, p.69). As a significant pillar of the national economy, the agricultural sector also makes a heavy footprint on the natural environment; from changing land and water practices to enhancing the impacts of climate change (OECD, n.d.). Agricultural contributions to climate change are estimated at approximately 25 per cent climbing to a forecasted 50 per cent by mid-century unless urgent and immediate action is taken (OECD, 2019). Furthermore, conventional agricultural practices have been found to be responsible for devastating, large scale global environmental problems and degradation including land use changes resulting in soil erosion, desertification, and climate change. "Transitions to more climate-friendly forms of agriculture [such as regenerative agriculture] have the potential to support ecosystem based adaptation to climate change as well as mitigation through soil carbon sequestration" (Gosnell, Gill & Voyer, 2019, p. 3; see also NGS, 2020; OECD, 2019). Further research affirms that, "global agriculture is already producing enough food to feed 10 billion people. However, about 30% of all food produced is wasted. It is thus important to break the vicious circle of produce, waste, degrade, pollute, and produce more. Therefore, the goal of RA [regenerative agriculture] is to apply the concept of more from less" (Lal, 2020, p.1A). Regenerative agriculture offers an alternative to traditional farming practices which addresses many of the environmental impacts described here.

This paper describes the collaborative partnership for the design and implementation of an evaluation study. The partnership consists of three key partners; a) four non-formal education providers addressing educational disadvantage in Ireland, b) researchers from an Irish University who serve as external evaluators, c) an Irish grant-making and social change organisation. The overarching goal of the participating non-formal education providers is to tackle educational disadvantage among vulnerable populations, with a specific focus on young people from Traveller, Roma, and Migrant backgrounds, as well as those experiencing rural disadvantage. The evaluation study, commissioned by the funding organisation and led by the research team, aims to capture the impact of the educational activities delivered by these providers in order to build an evidence base that will inform future initiatives in education practice and policy.

Early school leavers in Ireland are more likely to experience further marginalisation and barriers to accessing and completing higher and further education, with implications for career choices and employment security (CSO, 2019). Given the interplay between social class, ethnicity and nationality (Kennedy and Smith, 2018), students’ ethnic background can contribute to learning barriers and inequality in access to educational resources and provision. It is crucial to take into account the documented stigmatisation and marginalisation faced by the Traveller and Roma communities in Ireland (UNCRC, 2016), Thus, there is a pressing need for rethinking the approaches that address the challenges faced by groups experiencing educational disadvantage in Ireland. This emphasises the significance of adopting strategies in education that are tailored to their specific needs and circumstances.

Within the partnership, the research team aims to deepen our understanding of effective strategies to support educational progression for the identified target groups facing educational disadvantage. The evaluation framework is grounded in a differentiated Theory of Change Model (TOC) co-designed with the non-formal education providers and monitored by the funding body. Against this backdrop, the project systematically analyses the educational outcomes for each of the participating education providers through the lens of SDG4: Quality Education. In this context, SDG4 is regarded as a facilitator for addressing SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities, while educational activities in the programmes include a variety of SDGs (e.g. SDG5: Gender Equality through the involvement of girls in STEM).

In this paper we explore the following research question:

What are the intricate dynamics of an effective partnership between three types of partners, (academic, funding bodies and charities) in tackling educational disadvantage?

Partnerships in education are not something new. There has been a significant amount of literature about various types, models and approaches of partnership in education and educational research, its different stakeholders (schools, parents, communities, HEIs, private sector, civil society organisations, governments), and diverse areas of cooperation (e.g. Anderson, Freebody 2014; Claypool, McLaughlin 2015; Otrel-Cass, Laing, Wolf 2022).

Quite often, the research paradigms referred to in such literature are engaged and transformative, and do not claim to be neutral. Instead, they explicitly state the positionality of the researcher and other partners. These types of partnership research aim at enacting social change, and promoting equity and social justice (e.g. John 2013). This is the case also in the field of global and sustainability education. UNESCO’s SDG 17 has given them special prominence.

The role of NGOs, or in general - civil society organisations, in working toward the embedding of global and sustainability education in the education system has been investigated by several scholars (Bergmueller 2013; Brown 2013; Rudnicki 2016; Tarozzi 2020). However, the aspect of partnership in research or educational activities in the field of global education was quite rarely given attention.

The presentation summarises the author’s several years of experience in doing research projects in collaboration and partnership with non-governmental organisations dealing with global education in Poland (see: Kuleta-Hulboj, Gontarska 2015; Kuleta-Hulboj, Kielak 2021; Kuleta-Hulboj 2022, 2023). All of these projects focused on global education in Poland and in the long term aimed to strengthen the position and development of global education in the country. In some of them, the author played the role of a hired researcher or consultant, others were designed as a participatory type of research and engaged not only academics and NGO representatives but also teachers, students and public administration officers (e.g. Kuleta-Hulboj, Kielak 2021). Some of the research projects explored the NGOs' activities in global education in Poland (Kuleta-Hulboj 2016, 2017), while others - the condition of global education in Poland, its strengths and weaknesses (Kuleta-Hulboj 2022, 2023) or the place of global and sustainability education in pre-service and in-service teacher training (Kuleta-Hulboj, Kielak 2021). In general, all of them could be labelled “engaged research”.

In the presentation, I would like to focus on the partnership between academia and NGOs aimed at researching, doing and promoting global education in the Polish context. The subject of exploration would be; the nature of the partnership; its strengths and weaknesses, challenges and opportunities; and the roles of different stakeholders. Although the partners from academia and NGOs may have similar interests and goals, they differ in their professional backgrounds, skills and perspectives. They are not the same and their roles differ in the partnership projects. For instance, the NGO partners perform overly advocacy roles while the author as an educational researcher and university teacher is oriented towards educational dimension and knowledge co-production.

Concerning this issue, another aspect to be touched upon is the status of the “hybrid” actors and their roles (Andreotti 2006; Green 2017). This category is used to describe people belonging to different 'educational worlds' (simultaneously or consecutively), such as academia, NGOs, schooling etc. Their knowledge and experience emerge from the intersection and overlap of different roles (e.g. academic, sanctioned as the creation of scientific knowledge; non-governmental, associated with activism and practice, e.g. educational; teacher and others).

The Swedish Government reform project Collaboration for Better Schools (CBS) started in 2015 (The Government remit U2015/3357/S) partly triggered by an OECD (2015) review arguing that many Swedish schools needed qualified support, and that the Swedish school system were in need of urgent reform. The review suggested, among other things, nationwide mobilization for and a unified commitment to school improvement among relevant parties within or linked to the school system. Similar to many other nations (Blossing, 2010; Boyd, 2021; Schueler et al, 2021), the CBS is targeting struggling schools, and, particularly, schools lacking capacity to improve their own education practices, such as teaching and learning for all students regardless of their background and capabilities. In this light, the CBS is hardly unique in 21^st century education largely shaped by a globally structured agenda for education revolving around quality and results for all without exception (Dale, 2005; Rönnström, 2019).

However, although many nations are addressing similar challenges with regard to struggling schools facing difficult challenges, they differ in the ways they respond to, target, intervene in, or support such schools. In Sweden, more than 500 hundred struggling schools (and their local education authorities (LEA)) have been or are participating in the CBS. The Swedish National Agency of Education (NAE) invites selected schools to three-year long multi-level partnerships and research-based collaboration aiming at capacity building (Rogberg et al, 2021). The CBS is largely about capacity building in schools lacking capacity for quality education and necessary change and improvement. The CBS is challenging for the participating schools because of the challenges they face. However, it is also challenging for all parties involved because of the collaborative innovation and the partner relationships required.

Apart from teachers, first teachers, middle managers, principals, school managers and other key agents among LEA’s, and the specially trained agents from the NAE, more than 150 teachers and researchers from Swedish universities are involved in multi-level partnerships. The CBS requires partnerships between school professionals, NAE agents and researchers depending on one another in all phases of the improvement work, such as problematizing, data-analyzing, focusing and goal setting, mobilization and resourcing, iterative intervention and intelligent implementation, and, following up and adjusting interventions. The multi-level partnership developed refers both to a nationwide collaboration within the Swedish school system, and collaboration between different organizational levels of the participating LEA’s. The CBS requires collaboration based on partnerships (Robertson, 2016), but when it started nearly a decade ago there were no prior experience of such required partnerships among the parties involved. Moreover, the NAE and the partner universities had very limited experience of working together with struggling schools facing difficult challenges, and they were usually drawing their resources from research based on successful schools.

Consequently, the CBS required capacity building among all involved in order to support pre-schools and schools lacking capacity for quality education and school improvement. In hindsight, the implementing the CBS has meant that the partners involved have learned the way forward together through the required partnership they formed (Rogberg, 2021). In this paper we describe, analyze and critically examine the CBS as multi-level partnership and research-based collaboration targeting schools facing difficult challenges. In particular, (1) we describe the emergence of partnerships between the partners involved in the CBS, and the nature of the partnerships developed 2015-2024; (2) we analyze and critically examine to what extent the partnerships developed are experienced as enabling or disabling in school improvement; and, (3) we suggest four ways in which partnership-based collaboration is essential to improving capacity building in schools facing difficult challenges.

This proposal is focused on open schooling initiatives and the implementation of the Living Lab (LL) methodology in the context of Science Education. It aims to encourage schools to collaborate with stakeholders in order to foster community well-being. This study focuses on analysing the projects undertaken by students when engaged in open schooling activities following principles of Living Lab methodology, by investigating how the type of prototype and stakeholder support influence students' degree of development in terms of their intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and civic engagement to participate in innovation communities. This investigation involved the participation of six nations, namely Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Portugal, and Spain, each representing different educational systems. A total of 465 primary and secondary students took part in 20 projects that progressed to the Experimentation and Evaluation stages of the LL methodology. Students completed a questionnaire both before and after they carried out their projects. The data analysis revealed the three types of prototypes that students engaged in, namely (a) digital prototypes, (b) physical prototypes, and (c) services with real people. Analyses demonstrated significant impact of digital prototypes on students’ intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and civic engagement and the services involving real people had a notable impact on students' civic engagement. However, physical prototypes had no effect on the intrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, or civic engagement of students. The findings suggest that the development of digital prototypes within a LL project has the potential to make teaching and learning more engaging and motivating for students, improve their self-efficacy, and enhance their participation and involvement in civic-related issues by increasing students' engagement in identifying and resolving issues of public concern. Background: A Living Lab (LL) is a virtual or physical environment in which multiple stakeholders interact to address real-world issues and co-create solutions for societal concerns in the form of technologies, services, and products (Leminen & Westerlund, 2016). Open Schooling (OS) envisions that schools, in cooperation with other stakeholders, will become agents of community well-being by creating new partnerships in their local communities (Sotiriou et al, 2021). Such an approach incorporates a diverse group of participants and brings together schools, researchers, and community stakeholders to create a user-centered ecosystem for open innovation (Alonso & Wong, 2020).

Despite the growing research interest of OS and LLs over the past several years, there are still many undiscovered aspects, especially when students from diverse cultural backgrounds co-operate with stakeholders coming from various organisations and professions in creating prototypes or implementing solutions to address real-world problems. Motivated students, willing to participate in OS research and co-creation activities, are essential for the functioning of a LL, given that the underlying philosophy is that participants’ ideas, experiences, and knowledge, as well as their everyday needs and wants, should be the starting point in innovation (Bergvall-Kareborn & Stahlbrost, 2009).

The first phase of a LL project consists of brainstorming and identifying a community issue requiring attention, followed by the design and creation of a prototype (i.e., Exploration phase), experimentation and testing of their prototype (i.e., Experimentation phase), and evaluation of the product or service (i.e., Evaluation phase). Participants are thereby actively involved as “co-creators” of the product or service; they are involved from the earliest stages of the innovation process, and their experiences and preferences are incorporated into the design of the product or service (Dekker et al., 2020). However, effective co-creation depends on the selection and use of appropriate methodologies and procedures, since they may have a substantial impact on project outcomes (Steen et al., 2011).

The past decade has indeed witnessed ambitious attempts to reform education systems and drive change on a large scale (Fullan, 2009; Qian and Walker, 2020). In response to this trend, an increasing number of district educational departments are orchestrating partnerships between universities and schools to enhance teacher learning and elevate the quality of education. Previous studies have pinpointed the elements that contribute to a beneficial university-school partnership in improving schools (Calabrese & Tan, 2018; Fisher & Firestone, 2006; Peters, 2002; Farrell et al., 2022). These studies often focus on university academics collaborating with teachers in a specific discipline or research group to support teacher learning. However, questions remain about the practical realities and challenges schools encounter when they actively engage in and strive to involve more teachers in such top-down collaborations. How can schools be more effectively motivated to lead the reform process through institutional design? These issues are significant and warrant further investigation.

This study is grounded in a three-year District-University-School (DUS) collaboration project aimed at improving six selected underperforming schools. In this initiative, the District identified six schools with developmental potential within its jurisdiction and commissioned University B to design and implement the improvement project. Guided by research literature and ongoing dialogues between the district and university departments, the project's goal was to enhance middle-level leadership in schools to foster teacher learning and professional development, thereby contributing to overall school improvement. The university team comprised seven researchers and fourteen research assistants. Six researchers were paired to oversee the enhancement work of the project, with a senior professor providing overall planning and guidance. Each school was assigned two research assistants. During the study, the two authors collaborated on two school improvement projects using an identical approach. However, the two schools showed different levels of participation. One school ultimately led the entire school's teachers to actively participate in the school improvement, while the other school always only had the same individual teacher involved in this project. Therefore, we sought to answer the following questions: (1) What conditions can facilitate successful DUS collaboration? (2) Do the conditions for successful collaboration among DUS stakeholders differ from those in US partnerships?

Several key factors have been identified as crucial for successful university-school partnerships. Firstly, shared goals, common planning, mutual respect have been highlighted as essential elements of school-university partnerships (Borthwick et al., 2003). Additionally, the professional and personal learning elements, the degree of congruence between the perspectives of school-based mentors and teacher educators has been emphasized as a factor supporting effective partnership working (Kershner et al., 2013; Marsh, 2019). The importance of fostering research engagement in partnership schools through networking and value creation that foster equality in partnerships has also been highlighted as a means to promote effective university-school partnerships (Shinners, 2006; Maskit & Orland-Barak, 2015; Cornelissen et al., 2017). But currently, few studies have revealed what are the effective conditions for partnerships between schools and universities initiated from a regional top-down perspective. This article argues that in top-down District-University-School partnerships, the District, as a representative of the district government, can utilize its administrative authority and resources to facilitate collaboration between universities and schools for school improvement. However, this top-down approach may also undermine the school's confidence in the university, leading to tepid participation in the collaborative effort. In the DUS partnership context, successful cooperation is predicated on the university members' accurate assessment of the school's needs and strategic planning for teacher and school development.

Education is a key driver of resilience against the backdrop of increasing uncertainty provoked by economic inequalities and enduring forms of social injustice. Education can offer hope, and a means to a prosperous future. Yet for many children living in poverty, school is a site in which economic inequalities are reproduced and children experience further exclusion and stigma as a result. Some 22.4% of European households with dependent children were at risk of poverty or social exclusion in 2022 (Eurostat 2023). In the UK, 29% of children (nine in every class of 30) are living in poverty (CPAG, 2023). Poverty has been exacerbated by multiple crises including the Covid-19 pandemic, creating inequalities in educational attainment and uncertain futures for families (JRF, 2023).

The Cost of the School Day project (CoSD), developed by two charities, the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and Children North East (CNE), aimed to understand the barriers and challenges faced by poor children during the school day and to use this evidence to help schools reduce costs and remove stigmatising practices to bring about a fair education for children living in poverty. The CoSD team developed partnerships with schools, local and national governments, and a range of organisations, bodies and charities in order to shape policy and practice. 

Starting with the assumption that all activity is ‘social/collective’ (Daniels, 2004, p.123) and governed by rules and divisions of labour (Engeström and Sannino, 2010, p. 6); this paper will analyse how the partnerships within the CoSD project worked (affordances and ‘contradictions’) and examine the relational aspects in engaging across the partnership (Rickinson and Edwards, 2021) and how this ultimately led to change, improving the lives of children, young people and their families and enabling them to thrive and succeed.

The Cost of the School Day project (CoSD) is led by Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), a UK based charity that campaigns to end child poverty in the UK. Most education in the UK is free of charge, but there are costs incurred in respect of meals, uniforms, travel and resources that can negatively impact upon the experience of education for children and young people. The project is based on Children North East’s ‘Poverty Proofing’ model, which has been shown to be effective in surfacing stigmatising practices which negatively impact children living in poverty and achieving change in schools (Mazzoli Smith & Todd, 2016; Mazzoli Smith & Todd, 2019).

The CoSD team developed partnerships with schools, local and national governments, and a range of organisations, bodies and charities in order to shape policy and practice. For the purpose of this paper, we will be focussing on the partnership between the schools taking part and the Child Poverty Action Group. Cultural Historical Activity Theory (Engestrom) and the later work of Rickinson and Edwards on relational agency and the ‘relational features of evidence use’ (2021) were chosen as the theoretical approaches enabling us to understand the affordances that led to success as well as the challenges faced.