Conference Agenda

Teacher induction is internationally recognised as a biographically dense professionalisation phase, in which trainee teachers are expected to transform academic knowledge into professional practice while simultaneously developing a stable professional identity (Keller-Schneider & Hericks, 2011; Schubarth & Wachs, 2020). In Bavaria, Germany, this phase takes the form of a highly structured and comparatively long (appr. 2 years) preparatory service, characterised by intensive school-based practice, continuous formal assessment, and legally regulated support structures. While this model is designed to ensure professional competence and quality assurance, research consistently shows that the preparatory service is also associated with high and sustained occupational strain among trainee teachers (Schubarth & Wachs, 2020).

This strain can increase the risk of emotional exhaustion, which is highly prevalent among teachers and has been linked to reduced job satisfaction, declining professional engagement (Hakanen et al., 2006), and an increased likelihood of developing dropout intention (Skaalvik & Skaalvik, 2016). These intentions typically emerge gradually as part of a process of distancing from the professional role (Maué et al., 2024)

Social support is widely regarded as a central resource for buffering strain and supporting professional learning during teacher induction. Defined as interpersonal interactions aimed at alleviating stress and mitigating distress in situations of heightened demands (Knoll & Schwarzer, 2005), social support can take emotional, informational, and instrumental forms, each of which has been shown to foster coping, well-being, and professional development in early career phases (Cohen & Wills, 1985; Richter et al., 2011).

In Bavaria, Germany, such support is institutionally embedded in formal induction structures, most notably through mentoring, which is a mandatory component of the preparatory service. Mentors, as experienced teachers, are formally tasked with supporting trainee teachers’ professional learning through guided lesson observation, feedback, reflection, and supervised teaching, thereby functioning as key support persons within the induction system (Lenhard, 2004).

Despite the prominence of formal mentoring, trainee teachers are embedded in broader social support networks that extend beyond institutionalised structures, including peers, colleagues, family members, and friends, each may fulfil different supportive functions (Malderez et al., 2007; Richter et al., 2011). Research highlights that such networks are central to professional learning and development, as they provide access to pedagogical knowledge, feedback, and emotional reassurance (Celik & Ekinci, 2012). However, the effectiveness of social support depends not merely on its availability but on whether and how it is actively mobilised through help-seeking processes shaped by relational safety and anticipated social costs (Roberts, 1988), particularly for actors with supportive and evaluative responsibilities (Tellez, 1992). From this perspective, dropout thoughts can be understood as situations in which patterns of support mobilisation become visible. Existing research has largely focused on individual support actors, particularly mentors, while paying comparatively little attention to how different sources of support interact within broader networks during such critical situations.

Rather than assuming that formal mentoring automatically constitutes the primary support resource, this paper situates mentoring within a broader support ecosystem and examines how different actors are combined, differentiated, and selectively activated in response to dropout thoughts. In doing so, it contributes to international debates on how professional learning and development of new teachers are shaped under conditions of strain. Against this background, the paper addresses the following research question: How do trainee teachers organise and utilise their social support networks when experiencing dropout thoughts during teacher induction, and what role do formal support structures such as mentoring play within these networks?

This proposal presents findings from my doctoral research on how Teacher Learning Communities (TLCs) can strengthen early childhood educators’ professional wellbeing and social-emotional learning (SEL) in demanding work contexts. The study is situated in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and examines TLCs as a collaborative, practice-based professional development model that responds to educators’ lived challenges while supporting sustainable professional growth.

The study is organised around three research questions:

1. What barriers do ECEC educators experience that affect their professional wellbeing, and what coping strategies do they use?

2. How can these barriers and coping strategies inform the design of a TLC that is responsive to educators’ needs?

3. In what ways does participation in the TLC contribute to educators’ professional transformation in relation to wellbeing, SEL skills, and classroom practices?

The overall objective is to document (a) the structural, emotional, and interpersonal conditions shaping wellbeing, (b) educators’ adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies, and (c) how a TLCdesigned and implemented through a participatory, cyclical process can function as a supportive professional space that strengthens educators’ self-awareness, emotion regulation, and professional practices.

The study is grounded in the OECD Teacher Wellbeing Framework as an international lens for conceptualising educator wellbeing as holistic (mental, cognitive, physical, and social) and shaped by work resources such as working conditions, collegial support, relationships, and workload balance (Viac & Fraser, 2020).The framework also positions wellbeing as connected to professional capacity and recognition, and it supports analysing how workplace climate and relationships influence educators’ professional experiences (OECD, 2013; Viac & Fraser, 2020).

To conceptualise SEL beyond individual skills, the study draws on Transformative SEL, which emphasises holistic development alongside equity and justice, and highlights identity and agency as central to meaningful social-emotional development (Jagers et al., 2019). This framing enables connecting educator SEL (e.g., emotion awareness and regulation) with professional agency and broader ethical commitments in educational settings.

Finally, the study is informed by theories of teacher professional learning that conceptualise learning as situated and socially mediated, and that highlight the role of collaboration and school context in teacher learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Opfer & Pedder, 2011). TLCs are framed as a form of community-based professional learning aligned with communities-of-practice perspectives (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Wenger, 1998), offering an organised structure for collective inquiry, reflection, and practice development. Together, these frameworks provide an international and theoretically coherent basis for examining educator wellbeing and SEL through collaborative professional learning structures.

ECEC educators across Europe and globally experience workload pressures, emotional demands, and status-related tensions, often alongside limited professional support structures. By using an international framework (OECD) and positioning TLCs as a scalable professional learning model, this study contributes to European and international debates on workforce sustainability, educator retention, and the integration of wellbeing into professional development systems. The proposal highlights how a TLC when designed around educators expressed needs and implemented through participatory cycles can offer a replicable pathway for strengthening professional wellbeing and SEL-oriented practice in diverse ECEC systems, including those facing similar structural constraints.

The urgency to explore the moral dimensions of Teacher Agency is increasing, driven by various societal challenges such as climate change, inequality, and polarization, which continuously manifest in classrooms. These challenges compel teachers to engage in moral actions, navigate diverse opinions, and address dilemmas when designing lessons or interacting with students, parents, and colleagues from varied backgrounds (Van Vijfeijken et. al., 2021; Leegsma, 2017; Kleijwegt, 2016; Hess & McAvoy, 2015). Despite the growing call for addressing these moral issues, teachers often report feeling unprepared, a sentiment echoed in teacher education studies highlighting a lack of focus on the moral aspects of teaching (Van Stekelenburg et. al. 2024; Sanderse & Cooke, 2019; Malone, 2020; Sanger & Osguthorpe, 2011).

Research acknowledges that teaching is not only an intellectual pursuit but also a deeply moral one. It requires teachers to convey moral values, with the belief that intentional actions can positively impact students' lives (E.g. Oser, 1994; Hansen, 2001; Campbell, 2003; Bullough, 2011; Tirri & Kuustisto, 2022). The concept of agency is central here, defined as the ability to make decisions and facilitate change (Eteläpelto, Vähäsantanen, Hökkä & Paloniemi, 2013; Tao & Gao, 2017). However, while teacher agency has garnered research interest, the moral dimension of teacher agency receives far less attention. An analysis of recent literature reviews, covering the literature on teacher agency of the last 15 years, indicate that moral or ethical contexts are mentioned only sparingly, often treated as residual categories rather than explored deeply (Chisholm, Alford, Halliday & Cox, 2019; Cong-Lem, 2021; Deschênes & Parent, 2022, Miller, Lane Wilt, Allcock, Kurth, Morningstar & Ruppar, 2020; Li, & Ruppar, 2021; Miller-Rushing, & Hufnagel, 2023).

To investigate this gap, the concept of Teacher Moral Agency (TMA) is proposed as a distinct form of teacher agency. Campbell (2003) emphasizes the dual commitment of teachers to uphold high moral standards and act as moral educators. Conversely, Eren and Rakıcıoğlu-Söyleme (2023) take a multi-layered approach, integrating concepts from social cognitive and moral psychological theories to show how moral motivations and perceptions shape teacher agency within personal and social contexts. These diverse approaches to TMA and a lack of explicit attention to the moral dimension of the profession in teacher agency literature, urged us to further explore the field of TMA in literature.

The primary aim of this study is to enhance our understanding of TMA within the broader context of teacher agency, guided by the central research question: “How is Teacher Moral Agency conceptualized in the literature from 2000 to 2024?” To explore this field, a scoping review will be conducted, informed by two sub-questions: what characterizes studies on teacher moral agency, and how is TMA defined within them?

Recognizing the moral dimensions of teacher agency is crucial for educators, as it empowers them to make informed decisions aligned with their moral values and professional standards. A deeper understanding of TMA can better prepare teachers for the moral challenges they face, fostering more reflective and socially responsible learning environments.

Two key observations emerge from the (above mentioned) recent reviews on teacher agency that inform this study of TMA. First, there is a continuum of perspectives on teacher agency, ranging from individualistic to deterministic views, with a centrist position emphasizing the interplay between a teacher's capabilities and their socio-cultural context, incorporating both ecological (Biesta & Tedder, 2007) and professional (Eteläpelto et al. (2013) approaches. Second, the reviews identify key characteristics of teacher agency, such as action-oriented behavior, intentionality, and the connection to teacher identity, which will be analyzed to clarify how these aspects relate to the concept of TMA as found in the literature.

Introduction. Education research is increasingly challenged to explain how educators translate situated knowledge into collective action under changing institutional conditions. Responding to ECER 2026’s theme “Knowing and Acting”, this study examines how teachers in newly built county-level schools in China make sense of, negotiate, and enact their roles in school culture construction. Here, “school culture construction” refers to an ongoing practice process manifested in explicit projects/activities/outcomes as well as implicit cultural experience during the founding phase. Crucially, the study analyses how this role work functions as a site of practice-based professional learning for teachers who are new to the school context, directly aligning with Network 01’s Special Call on cultivating professional practices for new (and new-to-school) teachers.

Although school culture is often discussed as a relatively stable set of shared assumptions and values, less is known about how teachers learn to become “cultural actors” beyond instructional duties during the turbulent founding phase of newly established schools (Schein, 2010; Schoen & Teddlie, 2008). Across systems, early professional development is shaped not only by formal induction but also by participation in organisational routines, collaborative work, and feedback-rich interactions. Yet existing research often frames teachers’ cultural contributions prescriptively (e.g., as “implementers”), overlooking the transformative professional agency required to navigate and shape changing school cultures (Reinius et al., 2022). Addressing this allows us to understand how such processes cultivate professional self-understanding and judgement beyond mere technical competence (Kelchtermans, 2009).

Theoretical framework. Drawing on social role theory, this paper conceptualises teachers’ participation in culture co-construction not as a single duty but as a role set shaped by organisational expectations and interactional meaning-making (Biddle, 1986; Merton, 1968). We distinguish role cognition (processing perceived norms, evaluations, and expectations) from role positioning (the practice of taking up and adjusting roles through ongoing interaction). We focus on role positioning as the connecting mechanism between “knowing” and “acting” in a new school.

To align with Network 01, we interpret role positioning as workplace learning in a new organisational context: role negotiation is not merely compliance but a learning process through which teachers build professional knowledge and agency to navigate an emerging system (Lichtenstein et al., 1992; Lave & Wenger, 1991). Through legitimate participation in emerging routines and feedback loops, teachers develop professional practices and identity-in-practice (Feiman-Nemser, 2001).

The study addresses two questions: (1) How do teachers in a newly built group school perceive and position their roles in school culture construction? (2) How do teachers negotiate and sustain these role positionings across situations and over time, and what do these dynamics reveal about the knowing–acting link as a pathway of professional learning?

European/international relevance. Many education systems face school founding, restructuring, or rapid reform (e.g., new school openings, school mergers, academisation), in which teachers—often including experienced staff who are nonetheless new to an organisation—must learn professional practices through participation in emergent routines and cultures. This paper offers a role-theoretical vocabulary to analyse such learning-in-practice processes across contexts, not limited to China.