Conference Agenda

When educational research is conducted from within the classroom, knowing and acting are no longer sequential processes but simultaneous, entangled practices. Across Europe, the idea of “teaching as a research-engaged profession” is being accorded increased importance (Kowalczuk-Walędziak & Ion, 2024). In my presentation, I explore the dual role of classroom teacher and academic researcher within the European context, and discuss my own experiences in taking on this role in my doctoral research study on student led co-design of assessment practices in a German primary school. My unique positionality as a teacher-researcher provided deeper insights and allowed for greater discussion opportunities, otherwise not necessarily afforded to external researchers (as seen in the experiences of French et al., 2019, and Niemi, 2019).

Practitioner inquiry has a long tradition in European educational research, particularly through Scandinavian participatory action research and the British teacher research traditions of Stenhouse and Elliott. Recently, greater attention is being paid to the lived methodological, ethical and identity-related tensions that arise when teachers simultaneously inhabit the roles of educator, insider, and researcher (Janssen et al., 2025; Zólyomi & Széll, 2025). Drawing on my experience as a practising primary classroom teacher undertaking doctoral research with their own students, I explore how this dual role operates not as a fixed position but as a dynamic and negotiated practice shaped by context, relationships and institutional expectations, revealing “the power of practitioner research to inform teachers about their classroom worlds and to transform their thinking and actions” (Baumann & Duffy, 2001, P.613).

The research study is informed by a qualitative, grounded theory approach and draws on data generated through classroom observations, focus group discussions, and informal interviews with students. As both teacher and researcher, I occupied an insider position that afforded sustained access, relational trust, and a deep contextual understanding of classroom practices. Consistent with previous empirical studies of teacher-researchers, this positionality enabled the co-construction of rich, situated data and supported participatory forms of inquiry that foregrounded student voice, agency and autonomy (French et al., 2019; Niemi, 2019).

At the same time, the research process revealed significant tensions inherent in the dual role. These included challenges related to role conflict, power relations and ethical decision-making, particularly when negotiating moments in which pedagogical responsibilities intersected with research aims. Similar tensions have been documented in European studies of practitioner research, where teachers report oscillating between advocacy, facilitation and analytic distance (Zólyomi & Széll, 2025; Dwyer & Buckle, 2009). Reflexive journaling and iterative analytic cycles were therefore central methodological strategies for managing these tensions and for making visible the influence of my professional identity on data generation and interpretation (Meyer & Willis, 2019).

Rather than treating the teacher-researcher position as a source of bias to be minimised, this presentation conceptualises it as a productive epistemic stance through which educational knowledge is generated in close relation to practice. In line with scholarship which positions teachers as legitimate knowledge producers (Banegas & Cad, 2019; Flores, 2018; Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009), my personal experience highlights a potential for teacher-led research to contribute uniquely to knowledge production by bridging the persistent gap between research and practice.

I conclude by offering personal reflections on the implications for research design, ethical review processes and professional learning when inhibiting the dual role of classroom teacher and doctoral researcher. Viewed through the mirror of classroom practice, practitioner research reveals how knowing and acting become mutually constitutive, expanding the conditions under which educational research can be both methodologically rigorous and pedagogically consequential.

This study examines intonation as one modality of voice usage, particularly as a mediator of cues in forming and maintaining an alliance in guidance interaction. The goal is to analyze variation in intonation as an empathy-displaying resource. The research is guided by the views of conversation analysis on prosody and especially intonation, as well as the perceptions of the formation and maintenance of an alliance.

Guidance interaction aims to form an alliance, empowering clients develop agency and pursue to set goals (Vehviläinen, 2020). Alliance refers to the quality and strength of the relationship, including interaction elements of cooperation, such as empathic presence (Vehviläinen, 2020, 122). Vehviläinen (2020, 116–117) identifies three main methods for guidance interaction, i.e., orientation types: supportive, inquiry, and problem-solving. Supportive orientation emphasizes empathy, acceptance, and presence. Inquiry involves questioning, interpreting, and fostering connections. Problem-solving focuses on diagnosing issues, teaching, giving feedback and finding solutions.

Relationship building can be influenced by prosodic modalities, and studies in psychotherapy have acknowledged the role of voice in the development of therapeutic alliances (e.g., Del Giacco et al., 2020; Janusz & Peräkylä, 2020). However, the details about these processes are still largely unknow.

This study examines how intonation functions as a resource for expressing empathy and facilitating alliance formation in career counselling interactions across different orientations. The aim is to enhance understanding of intentional voice use and the recognition of auditory cues that are general regardless of language. The study is guided by the following research questions:

1. In what ways do intonation-mediated cues in the context of guidance orientations affect the maintenance or reforming of an alliance?

1. What kind of emotional experiences does the use of intonation produce in interaction during alliance formation?

1. How does the counsellor identify voice modalities in the different orientations of the guidance?

This study applies conversation analysis to explore prosody, intonation, and alliance formation in guidance interactions, drawing also on methods from psychotherapy and speech research. The data consist of career counselling interactions. Data collection is ongoing (spring 2026) and the desired data amount is ten interactions and 20 Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) interviews.

Research evidence indicates that only a limited number of professional development approaches lead to measurable improvements in teachers’ professional practice and, consequently, to statistically significant gains in student learning outcomes. One of these approaches is instructional coaching—an in-service teacher professional development practice in which coaches observe classroom instruction and provide feedback to teachers (Kraft et al, 2018). Instructional coaching has been widely implemented and extensively researched in the United States and the United Kingdom, where it is often embedded within broader systems of teacher professional development and school improvement.

European education policy and research discussions show growing recognition that sustained, practice-based forms of professional development are more effective than short-term, lecture-based training initiatives (Cordingley et al., 2015; OECD, 2019). In line with this shift, instructional coaching and coaching-based professional development practices are present on a smaller scale in some European education systems, such as Estonia and Germany, where coaching or coaching-based approaches have been implemented through programme-based or pilot initiatives (British Council, 2022; Holstein et al., 2021).

In Latvia, teacher professional development is undergoing a gradual shift from one-off training formats towards more practice-oriented forms of professional learning. While instructional coaching as a distinct professional development approach is not systematically implemented, various initiatives have sought to introduce coaching-related forms of professional support. These developments have drawn attention to challenges related to the preparation of professionals in such support roles and the sustainability of these practices.

This highlights a broader European challenge of how instructional coaching approaches, largely developed in Anglo-American contexts, can be meaningfully adapted and sustained within diverse European education systems. Evidence from non–Anglo-American contexts suggests that instructional coaching approaches cannot be transferred between different countries straightforwardly, as teachers’ readiness for coaching—shaped by factors such as fear of classroom observation and limited reflective capacity—may require coaches to adopt different roles and practices in response to local professional cultures (Kho et al., 2019). Despite evidence indicating that the effectiveness of instructional coaching largely depends on the professional competence of those providing the support, research remains limited regarding both the specific knowledge and skills required of instructional coaching providers and the availability of structured, theoretically grounded preparation programmes, particularly within European education systems (Gallucci et al., 2010).

The theoretical framework for this study is grounded in constructivist and transformative learning theories, which conceptualise professional learning as a process of meaning-making through sustained engagement with authentic practice and critical reflection (Cunningham et al., 2019). These perspectives are complemented by adult learning theory and situated learning approaches, which emphasise self-directed, practice-based, and socially mediated learning as central to professional development.

The theoretical framework informs the study by providing a rationale for practice-based instructional coaching preparation and by guiding the analysis of how the programme’s learning activities are designed to support participants’ professional learning.

Based on these theoretical perspectives, an initial set of design principles informed the development of an instructional coaching preparation programme, which serves as the empirical context for the present analytic study.

The aim of the present study is to examine the implementation of this programme in order to analyse how its design and enactment support the development of instructional coaching competencies, and to refine a conceptual model for instructional coach preparation towards a more theoretically coherent and contextually transferable framework.

To operationalise this aim, the study is guided by the following research questions

1. What knowledge and skills are central to the professional role of instructional coaching providers, as identified in research literature and professional practice?

2. How does the design and implementation of a theory-informed instructional coaching preparation programme support the development of these competencies and align with the instructional coaching role?

International youth work in Germany constitutes a highly heterogeneous field, particularly with regard to the pedagogical practitioners involved and their professional backgrounds. For a professional and sustainably high-quality practice in this domain, the adequate qualification and preparation of all pedagogical actors is essential (Thimmel & Schäfer 2021: 109). At the same time, it is striking that comparatively few opportunities exist for the professionalization of practice in international youth work, and that this field receives scant attention in the training of social professions (Thimmel & Friesenhahn 2003: 30).

Following a systematic literature review based on predefined keywords (Jesson et al. 2011), educational research on professionalization identifies networks as a promising field. Networks are recognized as a central context for learning, exchange, reflection, and innovation (e.g. Gruber et al. 2016), as well as for professionalization (e.g. Schulze 2022). At the same time, empirical studies examining the role of networks in the professionalization of pedagogical practitioners in international youth work remain scarce. Within this field, networks primarily consist of individuals representing institutions from non-profit and municipal bodies, associations, federations, and academic institutions, operating across local, regional, national, European, and international levels. Partly shaped by specific funding guidelines (e.g. Erasmus+) and their embedded normative objectives regarding European identity development, the focus lies on encounters between participants from Germany and those from European neighboring and EU countries.

In light of the described research gap, the following research questions are central:

(1) How do pedagogical practitioners out of networks in international youth work perceive these networks as a context for professionalization in international youth work?

(2) How do pedagogical practitioners utilize networks in international youth work for professionalization in this field?

Within this dissertation, networks of international youth work are understood as a context in which individuals, seen as a professionalized milieu (Bohnsack 2020: 102), develop and reproduce collective orientations of pedagogical practice within a "conjunctive space of experience" (Bohnsack et al. 2020: 121). In this sense, professionalization is not the outcome of individual intentional learning processes, but rather an expression of altered habitual logic of action that can be documented and reconstructed through discourse. This does not apply to theoretical knowledge, but to "atheoretical" knowledge (Mannheim 1980), which Polanyi (1966) terms "tacit knowledge" or implicit knowledge. Professional habitualized practice and the establishment of a "modus operandi" (Bohnsack 2021: 63) are hardly conceivable without such implicit knowledge. It manifests in interactions and shared interpretive patterns. Considering diverse networks (cases) enables the inclusion and comparative analysis of varying perspectives within the shared space of experience international youth work.