Conference Agenda

This scoping review investigates the role of teachers' collaborative competence for Game-Based Learning (GBL), especially for primary education. Over the last 20 years, GBL has gained interest, above all, because it fosters student motivation. GBL is a complex pedagogical approach that lacks its own epistemology, although it is generally considered within the socio-constructivist paradigm. The complexity of this approach is due to its interdisciplinary nature, which requires insights from both game studies and instructional design. Moreover, GBL teachers utilize a variety of approaches and games, including Commercial off-the-shelf games, Serious Games designed for specific learning outcomes, but also opt for Student Game Design, since the act of creation itself fosters learning. Furthermore, teachers use games that range from the digital to the non-digital repertoire. This study excludes gamification, the application of game elements to non-game contexts, so as to maintain a strict focus on the use of actual games in the classroom. Despite its potential, numerous barriers persist for GBL implementation, including difficulties in aligning games with learning goals, a lack of technological openness, and the need for teachers to develop a lusory attitude. Consequently, Professional Development (PD) is essential to help teachers adapt to the unique roles required by GBL.

Grounded in Lave & Wenger’s Situated Learning Theory (1991), this study posits that teacher learning is a social practice embedded in specific educational contexts and communities. This study consequently looks into the current meaning of teacher communities, which are shaped by the professional needs and social dynamics of educators. These communities vary significantly, as they can be live or online and their nature changes based on their history, the frequency of their meetings, and the inclusion of non-teacher members, such as game experts and designers. Teacher collaboration and networking is considered only as a peripheral element in some GBL frameworks like Game Network Analysis (Foster et al., 2019) that focus on the technological and pedagogical knowledge. In contrast, the Nousiainen et al. (2018) model identifies Collaborative Competence as a fundamental pillar alongside pedagogical, technical, and creative skills and attitudes. Collaborative competence is framed as fundamental because it is key to overcome implementation barriers, thanks to the sharing of practical solutions among teachers. However, the collaborative competence defined within this framework treats online and offline training as if they fostered PD similarly, although sharing practices differ significantly in the two settings. By focusing on co-development and community networking, this review explores how teachers’ sharing of ideas, materials and difficulties helps them overcome doubts and fosters a deeper understanding and possible adoption of GBL pedagogy. Moreover, it looks into the specificities of on-site and off-site GBL teacher training.

Therefore, this review addresses three primary research questions: what facilitates GBL PD teacher collaborativeness, what effects collaborative GBL PD foster, and to what extent the Nousiainen model can be generalized.

This paper analyzes the tensions between researchers/teacher educators and practicing teachers in a collaborative project focused on diversity, multilingualism and social justice. The collaborative action research project involves teacher educators working in a teacher education program that explicitly emphasizes these themes. The primary aim is to deepen a common understanding of diversity, multilingualism and social justice within the teacher education program's profile. Specifically, it seeks to understand what characterizes a school that prioritizes these themes in its teaching and operations, as well as what defines collaborative learning in a partnership process involving teacher educators, partner schools, and teacher students.

In this study, diversity encompasses various dimensions, including language, ethnicity, sexuality, religion, gender, ability, and social class. Addressing each student’s uniqueness while adhering to principles of social justice presents challenges in everyday school settings. Social justice, rooted in equality, requires teachers to recognize the importance of norms and representation and to reflect on how power, oppression, and privilege manifest in society and educational contexts (Björkman & Bromseth, 2019; Gorski & Pothini, 2018).

Collaboration with schools where teacher students complete their internships is vital for teacher education programs. Effective partnerships demand consensus, open communication, and a mutual commitment to ongoing development, ensuring that students' internship experiences align with their overall education. This collaboration emphasizes collaborative learning and fosters a partnership for learning (cf. Day et al., 2021). Recognizing that different partners possess varied expertise is also essential for enriching the collaborative process.

The teacher educators involved in this project are active researchers in the field, while the teachers in partner schools are experts in didactic issues and relationships related to everyday school life. Teacher students should have opportunities to develop research-based knowledge in these profile areas during both theoretical courses and internship periods.

In an equitable and mutually reinforcing teacher-researcher collaboration, the ideal is for teachers' reflections and critical questions to continuously enhance and challenge researchers' understandings, while researchers support teachers in their professional development as lifelong learners (Beauchamp & Thomas, 2009). The study assumes that the development work is partnership-based. Although these partnerships are founded on mutual respect, they are not devoid of potential tensions regarding expectations of professional roles and developmental tasks.

This research focuses on the tensions that arise when both parties discuss issues related to diversity, multilingualism and social justice in a school context. The material consists of 26 transcribed interviews and discussions. The research question is: What kinds of tensions regarding issues of diversity, multilingualism and social justice have been identified in the research collaboration between university researchers and teachers in local schools?

Theoretically and conceptually, we start from the concept of tension. Alsup (2006) identifies various types of tensions in the teacher education context, including those between personal beliefs, skills, and professional role expectations. In this study, tensions are understood broadly to encompass challenges, struggles, frustrations, and general discomfort related to the issues at hand, in line with the definition used in Capello (2020). Previous research indicates that these tensions generate a need for professional identity development and become apparent in interactions between perceived present and future selves, as well as in romanticized perceptions of the teacher and school reality (Anspal et al., 2019; Schatz-Oppenheimer & Dvir, 2014).

The collaborative work studied falls within the framework of a partner school network, reflecting the diverse systems for student teachers' practice found across Europe. Recognizing these different structures and systems is essential, as they influence the opportunities for effective teacher-researcher collaboration and shape the experiences of student teachers during their internships.

The early years of teaching constitute a critical period during which professional identity, instructional competence, and long-term career trajectories are shaped. Entry into the profession, however, is frequently experienced as a demanding and emotionally taxing transition for beginning teachers (UNESCO, 2024), commonly defined as those with fewer than five years of teaching experience. Early-career teachers (ECTs) often confront a complex set of professional expectations that extend well beyond those encountered during pre-service preparation. These include managing diverse classrooms, responding to accountability pressures, engaging with parents and communities, and navigating school cultures that may offer limited structured support. As a result, many ECTs enter the profession feeling insufficiently prepared for the realities of contemporary schooling and the opportunities for Professional growth. There is evidence that ECTs’ Professional Development has a strong alignment with teaching commitment (Nakata et al., 2026), and ECTs’ retention (Mason & Poyatos, 2015).

Evidence from Australia and across Europe suggests that this vulnerability is systemic rather than context-specific. In countries such as England, Germany, the Netherlands, and France, ECTs report high workloads, role ambiguity, and uneven access to induction and mentoring support. Despite variations in teacher education systems and policy frameworks, international research consistently identifies the early-career phase as a period of heightened risk of stress, burnout, and attrition. First-year teaching experiences are particularly influential, as they shape teachers’ instructional practices, professional confidence, and attitudes towards the profession in enduring ways. Negative early experiences can lead to disengagement and early exit, while supportive conditions can foster resilience and sustained commitment (Ronfeldt & McQueen,2017).

For many first-year teachers, the transition from pre-service preparation to full professional responsibility is experienced as abrupt and isolating. Feelings of uncertainty, professional loneliness, and self-doubt are commonly reported, particularly in schools with weak collaborative cultures or where ECTs are assigned challenging teaching loads. These experiences have significant implications for teacher well-being, with consequences not only for individual teachers but also for broader school functioning, including staff stability, collegial relationships, and continuity of student learning. Supporting ECTs during this formative period is therefore both a workforce sustainability issue and an educational quality issue.

Identifying the factors that enable ECTs to navigate the early years of teaching is essential for promoting long-term well-being and professional growth. Professional learning (PL) is widely promoted in policy discourse in New South Wales (NSW) and across European education systems as a key mechanism for supporting early-career development. Induction programmes, mentoring initiatives, and school-based professional learning communities are intended to enhance teachers’ motivation, adaptability, and instructional capacity. However, there remains a limited empirical understanding of how PL functions as a lived experience for ECTs. In particular, it is unclear under what conditions professional learning operates as a meaningful resource rather than an additional demand (Trust & Prestridge, 2021)

This study addresses this gap by examining professional learning through the lens of Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) theory. This theory provides a robust framework for understanding how workplace demands interact with available resources to shape employee wellbeing, engagement, and performance (Bakker et al., 2014). Applied to early career teaching, the theory enables an examination of whether and how professional learning mitigates job demands such as workload intensity, emotional labour, and role uncertainty, or alternatively, exacerbates stress when poorly aligned with ECTs’ needs (Sincock et al., 2026). By employing a qualitative case study approach in NSW schools, this project seeks to generate in-depth insights into how ECTs experience professional learning as a potential well-being resource. The findings are expected to have implications beyond the Australian context, informing policy and practice in European systems similarly concerned with early-career teacher well-being, retention, and sustainable professional growth.