PDiE Special Issue – Leadership for Professional Learning:
Expanding our Practical and Methodological Lenses to Advance Democratic Values in Turbulent Times
We invite submissions for article proposals for an upcoming Special Issue of the journal, Professional Development in Education (PDiE), on approaches to the leadership of professional learning that have helped the global education community to negotiate recent turbulence due to recent changes, including but not limited to societal, political, and economic influences on what happens in schools and classrooms. These approaches can include conceptual frameworks and practical tools or examples that offer principles to guide action in light of the complex and dynamic influences on teaching and learning. Of particular interest will be papers that offer new practical “lenses,” such as critical reflection on policy and practice through the point of view of another culture or language, or methodological “lenses,” such as utilising quantitative or mixed methods to deepen and broaden a professional learning literature base that has largely leaned on qualitative methods. Such papers can facilitate adopting new perspectives, through culture, language or methods, that enable us to more fluently speak a language of complexity and negotiate the turbulence and crises that have enveloped education globally. See below for guidelines and timelines. Paper proposals are due 25 November.
This special issue will build on the recent Leadership for Professional Learning symposium titled “Educators and Professionalism in Turbulent Times” held in Santiago, Chile, on 17-19 July 2024. The symposium, hosted by Líderes Educativos at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, highlighted a global problem: the initial preparation and continuing development of educators in times of increasing complexity and challenges. The symposium provided an opportunity for leaders, practitioners, researchers, and policymakers to share innovative ways of negotiating the turbulence facing educators today. Notably, the symposium was held bilingually in English and Spanish, making it possible for a broader audience to participate equally and fully in the dialogue. Papers for the special issue will also be considered in both English or Spanish. The Special Issue will be translated (without cost to the authors), and articles will be published in both languages. Therefore, authors will be invited to submit in either language, inviting reflection through the lens of language.
Reviews of research at the intersection of leadership and professional learning (Hallinger & Kulophas, 2020; Poekert et al., 2020) have characterized the literature as largely qualitative in its methodology and predominated by articles from the USA and UK. Thus, in addition to inviting broader international scholarship through the issue’s intentional bilingualism, the issue aims to address the dearth of quantitative or mixed methods studies in the professional learning literature. Building on a recent contribution to the last LfPL Special Issue that utilised quantitative social network analysis to model professional learning interactions (Banoğlu et al., 2023), this special issue will invite contributions that offer additional methodological lenses to deepen our understanding of the complex influences at play.
Overarching Themes that Emerged from the Symposium
The Symposium engaged participants from different educational contexts in rigorous dialogue that entertained the complexities of their work and allowed for authentic intercambio, or exchange. Attention was paid to the reflexive relationship between the systems and structures of our schools and the language that we use to describe and design them. The equal ability of all participants to engage, regardless of language, role, or title, reinforced the notion that leadership can be exercised individually or collectively by any stakeholder within a system. Additionally, the international exchange also offered opportunities to learn about different educational contexts, providing new lenses to gain insights into our own systems and opening new possibilities for professional learning efforts to shape the context through leadership for professional learning.
What is the relationship between context and the practice of leadership for professional learning?
How can expanded methodologies help us to gain a better understanding of this relationship?
A symposium panel looked at the planning and evaluation of professional learning from multiple levels of the system and how this multifaceted approach is necessary to create the coherence necessary for successful change (King, Poekert, & Pierre, 2023). The key issues involve establishing a system that promotes shared priorities and collaboration among all educational stakeholders, addressing the need for alignment and collective efforts within the educational system. There’s also a focus on the necessary policies and structural changes to support system leadership and foster collaboration beyond traditional school boundaries. In other words, it is insufficient to simply consult different stakeholder perspectives across a system, one must design professional learning efforts in consideration of how the efforts will manifest in the experiences of actors who are operating at multiple levels of the system, such as the individual, the school, the system, and the nation. Multivoicedness supports joint practice development and school improvement (Montecinos et al., 2020). Actors at each level have unique insights, expertise, and motivations to offer as well as limitations on moving their individual and collective professional intentions forward. Professional learning efforts must be designed with consideration across levels, not done to the individuals at each level.
What research-based guidance can we offer to advance a focus on learning while negotiating the priorities across various levels of the education system and the tensions among them?
What methods are available to better share distributed knowledge and leadership across the levels of the education system to inform policy and practice?
Among the most basic human rights is the “pursuit of a fulfilling, motivated, enjoyable, and quality life” (UNESCO, 2022). Through the elevation of this basic principle and the promotion of a rights-based approach to professional and student learning, the symposium dialogues surfaced the importance for leaders to cultivate optimism that our collective efforts can have a meaningful impact. In so doing, leaders help to promote a sense of efficacy that sustains professional learning efforts through a belief in progress. Finding enjoyment in the work of schools is essential to resource the energy and develop resilience to address the struggles that complexity. This involves creating a culture of trust, collaboration, observation, and reflection, adopting asset-based and inclusion-focused approaches, diversifying learning based on teacher needs, and engaging student voices. The conditions for optimal professional learning, such as providing appropriate space and time, are also considered. School cultures that center optimism, efficacy, and enjoyment support the improvement of teaching and learning outcomes as well as the well-being of students, educators, and the broader society.
How can professional learning promote asset-based and inclusion-focused approaches that achieve a sense of self-efficacy and optimism in turbulent times?
What assessment and methodologies can help to better measure well-being as an outcome that merits the consideration of practitioners and policymakers when leading professional learning?
Submission Guidelines:
Editors
Philip Poekert, Ph.D., Lastinger Center for Learning, University of Florida
Carmen Montecinos Sanhueza, Ph.D., Líderes Educativos, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso
The papers included within the special issue will be aligned with the themes that emerged from the symposium. We anticipate publishing a total of approximately 12 papers.
Requirements
We invite article proposals (see below), which will be reviewed by the Special Issue editors.
- Papers will be considered in either English or Spanish. The Special Issue will be translated and published in both languages, and authors are invited to submit in the language of their preference.
- Only articles with a clear focus on leading professional learning with relevance to an international audience will be considered.
- Selected proposals will be invited to submit full manuscripts through the ScholarOne system for full blind peer review.
- Feedback will be made to authors of full manuscripts following peer review as per PDiE normal practice.
Outline of Proposal
Please provide an overview indicating:
- The proposed title of the article
- The name(s) and institution(s) of all contributing authors with the contact author clearly indicated
- The email address of the lead/corresponding author
- An abstract (maximum 200 words) summarising the scope of the article including the approaches to leadership for professional learning taken by the authors to advance democratic values in turbulent times through the consideration of new lenses and methodologies
Further details (maximum 800 words) setting out:
- The type of paper (e.g., empirical study, conceptual framework, comparative analysis, practical tool, research methods, etc.) and its significance for the theory, policy or practice of leading for professional learning.
- Evidence of critical reflection on the approaches advanced in the article such that we avoid presenting “victory narratives” without reflecting on the potential drawbacks or limitations.
- Connections with the overall themes and/or questions that emerged from the symposium as well as literature previously published in PDiE.
- Relevant information regarding the geographical context of the paper and any issues relating to this (national education policy etc).
Timescales
Early submissions are welcome in all cases.
25 November 2024: Paper proposals due
Proposals should be submitted via the Outline for Proposals form. For any questions regarding the proposal outline, please contact Phil Poekert (poekert@ufl.edu) and Carmen Montecinos (carmen.montecinos@pucv.cl). Please do NOT submit proposals to the PDiE ScholarOne portal at this stage. Please indicate clearly that the proposal relates to the 2025 PDiE Special Issue on Leadership for Professional Learning.
15 December 2024
Special issue editors provide feedback to authors and select proposals to proceed to the next stage.
15 December 2024 – 31 March 2025
Editorial team available to respond to drafts for formative feedback while authors/writing teams write full papers.
30 April 2025: Deadline for submission of full papers for peer review
Papers should be formally submitted to PDiE through the ScholarOne portal. Please review the instructions for authors on the journal website for detailed information. Submissions for the special issue should include a word count and be a maximum of 8,000 words, including references.
15 June 2025
Feedback to the authors from peer reviewers
15 June – 31 September 2025
Rounds of review and revision, as necessary. Authors/writing teams revise papers according to feedback from the peer review process. Final papers must be accepted for publication and submitted to PDiE.
31 October 2025
All manuscripts finalised by the publisher, including editorial
December 2025
Anticipated publication of special issue
Citations
Banoğlu, K., Vanderlinde, R., & Çetin, M. (2023). Who chooses whom for professional interaction? A sociometric inquiry into teacher leadership. Professional Development in Education, 49(6), 1053-1071.
Hallinger, P. & Kulophas, D. (2020). The evolving knowledge base on leadership and teacher professional learning: A bibliometric analysis of the literature, 1960-2018. Professional Development in Education, 46(4), 521-540.
King, F., Poekert, P., & Pierre, T. (2023). A pragmatic meta-model to navigate complexity in teachers’ professional learning. Professional Development in Education, 49(6), 958-977.
Montecinos, C., Cortez Muñoz, M., Campos, F., & Godfrey, D. (2020). Multivoicedness as a tool for expanding school leaders’ understandings and practices for school-based professional development. Professional Development in Education, 46(4), 677-690.
Poekert, P.E., Swaffield, S., Demir, E. K., & Wright, S. A. (2020). Leadership for professional learning towards educational equity: a systematic literature review. Professional development in education, 46 (4), 541–562.
UNESCO. (2022). Youth declaration on transforming education. Available at https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/2022/09/tes_youthdeclaration_en.pdf.