Conference Agenda

Schools in challenging contexts are often located in regions shaped by “socio-economic polarisation and segregation processes” (Bremm et al., 2016, p. 325, own translation). They are characterised by a heterogeneous and predominantly socially disadvantaged pupil body, whose families often have low educational qualifications, are unemployed, receive social benefits, or have a migrant background. Family support in terms of encouragement and learning guidance can therefore be limited (Sacher, 2022). At the same time, school staff perceive pupils’ needs as increasingly diverse, which places high demands on educational practice. Challenges include, for example: unfavourable learning conditions, limited parental involvement, behavioural problems among pupils, and gaps in expertise in addressing special educational needs (Enssen et al., 2024; Wübben Stiftung Bildung, 2023).

To meet these challenges, school administrators are increasingly focusing on school development that is geared towards the needs of pupils (Enssen & Michalla, 2025). Multiprofessional cooperation is widely recognized as a promising approach to improve learning conditions and provide heterogeneity-sensitive support. However, systematic implementation in everyday school practice remains difficult (Hochfeld & Rothland, 2022). This gap between theoretical 'knowing' and practical 'acting' requires specific, science-based impulses to guide development processes in challenging contexts and to support capacity building (Proskawetz et al., 2023).

Within the federal-state initiative “Schule macht stark” (2021–2025), which addressed schools in challenging contexts, collaboration between educational research and practice was structured through workshops with a focus on “extracurricular learning and social space orientation (ALSO; german)”. The workshops supported schools in developing and continuously improving their multiprofessional structures, focusing on collaboration with families and the strengthening of vocational orientation as a cross-sectional task in school. These workshops informed the creation of the Toolkit: Actively Shaping Multiprofessional School Development (hereafter, the toolkit), which “provides conceptual and practical guidance on planning and implementing multiprofessional school development tailored to individual school needs” (Enssen et al., 2026, p. 137, own translation).

Although the tool was co-developed with schools based on their needs, other schools require guidance and support to implement the insights effectively, highlighting broader challenges in education research regarding the transfer, adaptation, and scaling of evidence-based practices in diverse and complex school contexts. The use of the toolkit continues within the nationwide “Startchancen program” (approximately 4000 participating schools, 2024–2034), with a Train-the-Multiplier model being developed to scale the insights gained from the workshops and the toolkit for wider implementation. With the transition from “Schule macht stark” into the “Startchancen program” the research focus shifts towards the changing conditions of educational support. A central goal of the programme is to increase the effectiveness of the support system in the education sector. For this reason, a training concept for multipliers is being developed as part of the scientific support so that they can actively support schools in their multiprofessional school development process. This reflects the core potential of education research: transforming field-tested tools into scalable structures.

The presentation addresses the question: How can research-practice partnerships be used to develop needs-based support tools for multi-professional school development in challenging contexts and scale them up for nationwide transfer?

To answer the question, the presentation focuses on the research-practice-workshops and the resulting toolkit for multiprofessional school development, illustrating their processes, outcomes, and practical applications, with an outlook on scaling the insights through a Train-the-Multiplier concept in the “Startchancen program”.

The purpose of this paper is to present findings from a research study focused on a partnership between a rural university and a school to find solutions to a pressing local problem on school belonging (Goodenow & Grady, 1993) through teacher collaborative inquiry research. The study, in partnership with a local school, was funded by a Government of Canada Social Sciences Research Council Partnership Engage Grant (SSHRC PEG). Cultivating a sense of belonging amongst adolescents is a global issue in schools (OECD, 2020). In this study, we worked with Grade 9 teachers to look specifically at Grade 9 students (age 14-15) who were part of a secondary school housing grades 9–12. As part of the study, using a play-based learning lens, participating teachers engaged in a collaborative inquiry action research cycle into their own pedagogical practices to foster school belonging among Grade 9 students.

Our study had four objectives that were determined in collaboration with the school leadership team: (1) to identify ways in which Grade 9 students experience school belonging; (2) to document Grade 9 teachers’ play-based pedagogies; (3) to document student responses to play-based pedagogies; and (4) to articulate a shared understanding of pedagogical practices, inclusive of teachers and students, that reflect actions to enhance school belonging amongst its Grade 9 community.

We root in literature from the following two areas to inform our paper: (i) the importance of school belonging; (ii) the benefits of play-based pedagogy.

Belonging is integral to an individual’s identification of who they are amongst others in particular contexts and is a vital feature of psychological performance (Allen et al., 2018). As schools offer opportunities for students to experience and understand how others might belong, school belonging is a conspicuous presence in the research literature. School belonging is commonly defined as “the extent to which students feel personally accepted, respected, included, and supported by others in the school social environment” (Goodenow & Grady, 1993, p. 80). School belonging is linked with academic development (Li et al., 2020) and motivation (Allen et al., 2018) and future aspirations for life beyond school are shaped (Cuervo et al., 2019). When adolescents feel little belonging at school, learning deteriorates, attendance suffers, and bullying is likely present (Li et al., 2020). While much research acknowledges the importance of school belonging for youth, consensus on how school belonging is cultivated and how teacher pedagogy leads to such conditions is limited.

With play-based pedagogy, teachers purposefully attend to curricular learning goals, while scaffolding opportunities for students to direct their learning (Allee-Herndon et al., 2021). Play-based pedagogy cultivates conditions in which students reflect on themselves as learners in how they draw upon their strengths in response to disciplinary puzzles and content (DeLuca et al., 2020). Much research has focused on play in early childhood contexts (Pyle & Bigelow, 2015) and the connections between play and language-learning in elementary classrooms (Brownell, 2021). As children progress through school, free choice is important and linked to excellent academic performance and positive perceptions of learning (Burrell & Beard, 2018). Knowledge of the impacts of play on adolescents is limited. Finding ways to encourage a sense of school belonging, and for Grade 9 students to engage in behaviours associated with deeper learning, emphasizes the connection between teacher play-based pedagogy and inquiry through action research. In this paper, we focus on teacher participants and the professional learning that emerged in response to the collaborative action research cycle.

This presentation outlines the assumptions and preliminary results of a two-year (2024–2026) traditional research project entitled 'Flying School of Student Internship' (FSSI), implemented at The Maria Grzegorzewska University in Poland within the framework of the Science for Society programme, funded by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Our partnership fits into the RPPs model of design research partnerships (Schlicht-Schmälzle et al., 2024, p. 9), which are focused on developing and improving specific interventions in collaboration with schools, regardless of their geographic location.

The main idea behind this partnership was to foster collaboration between a teacher training university and a school to establish a community of practice — a school-university partnership (Day, 2008) — by creating a learning community (Smith & MacGregor, 2009) and facilitating learning through reflective practice (Schön, 1984). The main goal was to overcome the divide between theory and practice (Fischer-Schöneborn & Ehmke, 2023) and improve the link between them.

The project was created in response to the questionable quality of professional practice in teacher training courses. It was a research and application project involving the implementation of teaching practices by students – pre-service teachers in primary school years 1–3 – in deliberately selected primary schools (public and non-public), together with academic mentors. The research aims to analyse the professional experience gained by the students. Educational action research (Kemmis & McTaggart, 2005; Heck, 2024) was used as the research method, with the research material obtained through in-depth interviews and reflection journals. The analysis focuses on shaping professional pedagogical knowledge through practice.

The analysis focuses on the process of shaping professional pedagogical knowledge through practice and interactions with academic teachers, among others, during internships in schools, involving the joint negotiation of meanings and the creation of a learning community. Three people (four from the academic community and two from schools) played the role of brokers, providing the link by integrating perspectives and translating and transforming knowledge from one world to the other.

Action Research (AR) is widely recognized as a powerful approach for fostering professional learning, promoting evidence-informed practice, and building collaborative school cultures (Mills, 2011, Darling-Hammond, 2006). Literature highlights its potential in enhancing teacher agency, critical reflection, and problem-solving capacities (Carr & Kemmis, 2003), while a lack of such collaborative structures has been linked to teacher isolation and burnout. With this in mind, partnered with a UK organization, Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS), a leading educational organization in Kazakhstan, launched the NIS/SHARE project.

The project aims to foster a culture of inquiry across ten NIS schools and ten mainstream schools offering a platform for professional learning and collaborative research, with teachers receiving training and ongoing mentorship in AR methods. It also seeks to disseminate the knowledge and research expertise accumulated within the project to the broader educational community. Five members of each school were recruited for the project: a principal, a deputy principal, and three teachers.

This study aims to explore the perceived impact of the NIS/SHARE project on teachers’ professional development, classroom practices, and school-level change. The research seeks to answer the following questions: (1) How has the project influenced teachers’ research skills and professional growth? (2) How have teachers used AR to inform and transform their teaching? (3) What changes, if any, have occurred in school culture or practices as a result of the project?

Using a mixed-methods case study design, data collection is currently underway. The first phase involves survey responses from school staff, followed by interviews and focus groups with principals, deputy principal, and teachers. In addition, training materials and project outputs are being analyzed to trace learning trajectories and evidence of change. The findings will inform recommendations for sustaining and scaling AR practices within and beyond the participating schools. By sharing early insights from this ongoing study, we aim to contribute to conversations on how school-based AR can drive meaningful, systemic change in diverse educational contexts.